64 CLASSIC BOAT MAY 2015ONBOARD
COTENTIN PENINSULA
Steps to making a passage plan to Cherbourg
Planning stage
For the purposes of this guide we have
a typical pilotage plan from
Portsmouth, but either of the western
Solent ports of Lymington or
Yarmouth make good departure
points. In southwesterlies it makes
sense to be as far west as possible to
keep the wind on the beam and of
course Poole, Weymouth or
Dartmouth are better still for having
an easy and fast sail under ideal
conditions. You should also choose
whether it will be a night passage or a
day sail. Novices will find a night
passage tiring so factor that in as well.
The good thing about a passage to
Cherbourg from the Solent is that it is
conveniently around 60nM from the
Needles Fairway buoy as it is from
the West Princessa W’y cardinal a
mile south of Bembridge Ledge on the
east of the Isle of Wight. So assuming
an average speed of five knots the
effect of tide can largely be ignored
in these plans. That will change on
the EP on the chart of course!Weather
As with all plans, start watching the
weather early. And don’t feel concerned
about deciding not to go. But your
experience and the boat will determine
what weather conditions you are
comfortable in. Use synoptic charts
from the Met Office reproduced
with easy access on sites like
findafishingboat.com. Viewing these for
a few days beforehand gives you a good
sense of weather patterns.Pilotage and passage notes
From Portsmouth follow the four port
channel markers before steering 180º to
pass between the Spit Sand and Horse
Sand forts. When No Man’s Land fort
bears 333º(M), steer 153º(M) reciprocally
to keep the fort on that bearing. At
Bembridge Ledge E Cardinal (8nM from
Portsm’th) steer 215º(M) for 1nM to the
W Princessa W’y cardinal. Then steer
210º(M) to Cherbourg.
Make an EP once an hour and
take fixes on Dunnose cliffs and St
Cartherine’s Pt – visible for 15nMoffshore. Use these fixes to help
calibrate your leeway.
HW Cherbourg is an average 3¼ hrs
before Dover with stronger streams (up
to 4 knots) 5nM north of the harbour
entrances at each side of its
breakwaters. In clear visability the port
lies between the hadlands of Cap de la
Hague (W) and Pointe De Barfleur (E).
The western entrance is easier,
especially in a tideway.
Approaching at night look for the lights
of Barfleur and Cap de la Hague whose
loom comes up as St Catherine’s fades.Publications for navigating
Reeds Almanac; Reeve-Fowkes Manual
of Tides for the Central or Western
Channel; Admiralty leisure folios 5600;
The Channel Islands 1112; Cherbourg
peninsula 1106; Passage chart 2656;
Admiralty tidal stream atlas 250;
East of Cotentin peninsula 2135;
Barfleur and Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue
1349; Imray North Brittany C33a;
Channel islands; and Imray
The Shell Channel pilot.IMRAY CHARTSCB323 Cherbourg.indd 64 24/03/2015 14:21