コーンウォール・クラバー26で海峡横断80マイル – ポーツマスからオルダニー島へ + クルージングガイド

コーンウォール・クラバー26で海峡横断80マイル – ポーツマスからオルダニー島へ + クルージングガイド

Three sailors, one Cornish crabber called Molly of Miler, and a very busy stretch of the channel. With clear skies, calm seas, and plenty of shipping to dodge, we set out from Portsmouth and made our way to Bray in Old. Here’s how the crossing went. Just after 4:00 a.m., we’ve slipped our moorings at Gosport, and Molly is on her way. Today’s passage will be to Ordiny, a distance of just about 80 miles. So, it’s not quite light yet the right of Portsmouth to our port as we go out. And aboard today, Nikki is joining me. And at the helm right now is Brian. Morning. So we’ve got a light northwesterly wind about 8 knots. So I think we’ll be using engine for a fair bit of the passage. Let’s see. [Music] [Music] Bye-bye Portsmouth. The lights of Ride twinkling in the distance. North. Time for a cup of tea, I think. Drawing level with Benbridge. We’re punching a bit of tide here. If we get round the corner, we’ll have the tide with us. Many anchored ships just on the east side of the island. And in the distance, I can see a ferry coming in. And then behind us, been watching these two cargo ships come out. They seem to be racing each other. [Music] A big one and a little one. I’m glad we’re well out of their track, though. [Music] It’s 6:00 a.m. and we’re passing the anchor ships. Got a couple of uh racing yachts evidently been around the island practicing for cows week. There’s a ferry coming in looking to the north. Portsmouth dropping away coming to the corner of the island. So to the lifeboat station and the south side of the island is opening up at last and ahead of us just there that’s the Benbridge ledge boy which we’re going to turn about and then it’ll be off across the channel away from the land. You can see quite a few ships out there in the shipping channel. So, we’re going to have to keep a close eye on the AIS to make sure that we give them a wide birth. Sped up considerably. 6.7 knots now. Yes. Well, there’s a little bit of wind. Yeah. And we’re starting to pick up a fair tide. Yeah. Yeah. The SOG is more than the uh log now. We’ll be turning in a minute. Yep. And then we’re on the way. Autopilot on and go to sleep. All go to sleep. Yeah, the sun is up. It’s a rather nice morning. That’s the corner of the aisle of white. We’ve just turned around and the wind has suddenly filled in beautifully. So, the engine’s off and we’re sailing. So, we got a bit of tide under us. So, about six knots through the water and about over seven over the ground. That’s the south side of the island. Can see some uh boats anchored up. Very nice. So, this is absolutely glorious. We’ve got uh lovely wind right on the beam. So, the boat’s sailing beautifully, making six knots through the water, but we’ve got more than a knot of tide on us as well. So, we’ve making seven knots over the ground. Absolutely flying along. can see the shipping there. That’s all eastbound. 1 2 3 4 five beginans. So, we’re going to have to pay attention to uh the AIS and just make sure that we uh pass through their track safely. Ready for the second hot drink of the day. having a coffee prepared for us with the galley slave. The galley slave is awake finally. Yes. So, uh hopefully we’ll get a bacon roll as well. You play your cards, right? Got to play my cards, right? A tiny bit of sail. He’s doing nicely. Doing very well. The wind’s been a bit up and down, but we’ve uh had some quite nice sailing. It’s the wind’s dropped a bit, so I’ve got the engine on to maintain speed. We can see the quite a lot of shipping on the AIS. So, there’s a cruise liner over there which is moving at over 20 knots and that’s obviously not going to trouble us at all, but this container ship over here, we’ve been keeping an eye on that. And uh for some reason, they appear to have come to an almost complete stop. Uh we’re not quite sure why, but we’ve altered course to uh increase our uh separation from them. Hopefully, also indicate that we can see them. But I think in uh short while we’re going to have to think more carefully about how we’re going to get through the busy shipping areas. Sepan Oceanania over there, the container ship. It’s a little bit concerned we’d be a bit close. We look like we’re miles off, but because we’re being swept down tide, uh we’re actually going to pass about half a mile from it. So, I’ve altered course again to increase that distance to make sure that we are clear. Uh there’s quite a few ships uh crossing our track in front of us. So, we’re going to have to uh alter course accordingly in due time. Have to see when we get a bit closer. pass that cargo ship easily enough. She’s moving quite slowly. I’m not sure why she stopped. Maybe she’s got a slot in Southampton which he’s waiting for. Brian’s theory. Looking over to the south, we’ve got a ship over there called Precision. Now, that one we’re on a closing course with, but I don’t think we need to make any corrections. to the south of us. then what it should be quite some distance away but moving quite quickly. Um AIS is so useful because we can track them before we can even see them. So these two vessels here are going to be well clear of us. Um so we’ll be more than 3 miles from these at the closest point of approach. But in the distance over back there’s a vessel which will be according to calculations quite close to but in 2 hours time. So we’ve got time to alter course and uh we’ll pass through these and then there seem to be actually more ships passing west. So there’s a gap and then there’s um a stream of west going shipping that we’ve got to pass through. Less than 45 miles to run and we’re just coming to the area where we’re going to cross the track of the west going traffic and I’ve also course to be uh more southerntherly so that we avoid the shipping that’s coming. So we’re going to pass well turn of uh there’s two ships over there. Uh but there are more in that direction and I’ll change course now. Uh hopefully increase the closest point of approach. So we’ll just monitor that and adjust course again if necessary. made a large Porsche correction for this one here, Tramow, because uh it was looking like it was going to come uncomfortably close. And the reason for that is because he changed course um which made life a bit awkward. So, we’ve had to turn again. So, we’re now practically facing directly into the current and uh sort of having our boat speed currently. But that does mean at least that uh he will overtake us and then we can probably turn back and uh cross his way. I’ve been making a note of the time he’s bearing from us and his course over the ground on the AIS so that I can see where what’s going on. So you can see there change course 15° We’re about 25 miles out from Bing now. Still got some more shipping to pass. Wind is frustratingly uh down. So definitely continue motoring. It’s about 3:00 in the afternoon and we have I would estimate about 4 and 1/2 hours to go. I’ve got this cargo ship coming up and closest point of approach was too close. So, I’ve changed course by 30°. Hopefully, the skipper will see me having done that. And uh when I can see a stern. I will turn back onto my original course. At the same time though, we’ve got a ferry, passenger ferry, which is uh coming up behind us on an almost parallel course between these two ships. I’m running pretty much parallel to that one. and the passenger ferry over there running parallel to us as well. This will be the last section of the uh busy shipping area, I think. [Music] French coast just coming into view now. We’re uh just under 25 miles from that’s uh the edge of the Sherberg Peninsula. I can just see is a gray smudge on the horizon. Heat. Heat. It looks like give it any more red. [Music] Another. Yes. Bouncing about a bit. [Music] [Music] All these now well in sight. We are just less than four miles out. Uh we’ve been doing the last uh last four or five miles at more than 8 knots. So we’ve been roaring along this last bit having gone pretty slowly in the middle of the day because of the foul tide. So, we’ve just got to get behind the island and into Bray Harbor and then we will decide whether to pick up a moing or to anchor and then it’ll be time for a well and beer. Come to the last mile now. see the wall down the side of Bray Harbor and those rather spiky looking rocks. So, we’re going to go in and take stock. Maybe we’ll anchor. Maybe we’ll pick up a moing. Let’s see. We’ll decide. This is the uh longest job that Andy the arm has ever had to do. So about 70 miles continuously. Performed faultlessly actually. Um so yeah, well done. Well done, Andy. Put it on standby and steering on manual. coordinating time group. Yeah, really are. arrived in Bray, welcomed by the harbor master who waited for us before knocking off duty and showed us to the last boy that was available. So Ray quite busy as you might expect end of July. Lots of moorings all occupied for now. I should imagine quite a few of these people will be gone in the morning. And then over on that side there is an anchorage over there where all those boats are. There’s a few more in boys and then there’s anchoring space behind the boat quite cramped and I wasn’t sure about how we would swing in there. So given that we were tired and there was a moing available, we took it and then tomorrow we’ll go ashore into the town. Bray’s fabulous natural harbor is augmented by a long man-made wall. This offers very good protection from all weathers except for strong northeasterly. It does have a tendency to be very rolly though when the wind is in the north. As we found out, Molly faced into a moderate northeasterly coming over the harbor wall and rolled terribly as the swell came down the harbor. The moorings were busy during our visit, but there were usually some available. Alternatively, there’s space to anchor on the south side of the harbor, though this can be busy, too. Moring costs are reasonable, and we paid about 25 quid a night for this 8 m boat in July 2025. The Channel Islands are part of the common travel area, so you don’t need a passport if traveling to and from mainland Britain. However, you do need to clear customs, though no one seemed bothered about Q flags. Nevertheless, we did carry our passports in case we needed to divert into Sherborg for some reason. The formalities are very simple. As you come ashore, there’s a silver box from which you take a customs form to fill in, which is then deposited into the yellow customs box, and that’s it. The harbor has simple and clean facilities, including toilets, showers, and a laundry, which are open all day. The harbor staff are very friendly and helpful. The town of Bray is small, but here you’ll find shops for revicting as well as several excellent pubs and restaurants. There’s a well stocked Chandler, which also provides diesel from the key in the inner drying harbor. Take the opportunity to fill your tank with tax-free fuel at high water. About 20 minutes walk uphill is the main town of Ordin St. Anne. It’s a very picturesque place which reminded me somewhat of a mixture of Cornwall and Britany. No surprise really. We were very surprised though how quiet the town and indeed the whole island was given it was high season. We had a lovely meal at the hotel, browsed the shops and also visited the excellent Alden Island Museum. Alden, the northernmost of the Channel Islands, has a history shaped by its strategic location in the English Channel. Evidence of prehistoric settlements show the islands been inhabited for thousands of years. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Ordin position between France and Britain led to the building of extensive Victorian fortifications and also the harbor at Bray. World War II dramatically altered the island’s life. In 1940, residents were evacuated to Britain as German forces occupied Ordin, turning it into a heavily fortified outpost of Hitler’s Atlantic Wall. The occupiers built labor camps where many prisoners suffered and died. After liberation in 1945, Aldin was resettled, but its pre-war population never fully returned. All of this is reflected in the contents of the museum with numerous artifacts illustrating this fascinating past. The museum gives an excellent overview of the island which puts the historic sites into their context. The following day, we hired ebikes from the very relaxed cycle and surf shop in Saint Anne. This is a great way to cover more ground. The island is not too hilly and unpowered bikes would have been just fine, too. And in half a day, we were able to see the whole island at a leisurely pace. One of the most fascinating locations on the island is Longis Beach, which is a beautiful bay overlooked by a site called the Nunnery. though it’s never been a convert. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the place was fortified by the British military in the conflicts with the French and most recently the occupying German forces fortified the site against landing troops during their World War II occupation. Remains of all these times can clearly be seen and it’s a fascinating place to visit. The race in full flood. We’re looking southeast and that is a northerly flow there. In the background about 8 miles away is the coast of France. The northern end of this rocky island is marked by the Kznard lighthouse. Its 35 m tower built just over 100 years ago to warn mariners shining its white light north out to sea. If you’re still watching, then thank you very much and I hope you’ve enjoyed this. If you have, please take a moment to hit the like button. And if you’re not already, please also subscribe to the channel. I have more content coming, so stay tuned.

Join us for a spectacular 80-mile passage across the English Channel as we sail our **Cornish Crabber 26 gaff-rigged yacht** from **Portsmouth to Alderney** in the Channel Islands. This video is a must-watch for anyone passionate about sailing, coastal cruising, or planning their own Channel crossing. From detailed navigation and shipping-lane tactics to an insider’s guide to Alderney’s welcoming harbour and historic highlights, this film captures the full experience of offshore sailing aboard a traditional gaff cutter.

### Channel Crossing & Navigation

Watch as we slip lines in Portsmouth before first light and set out across one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. The video shows real-time navigation, AIS plotting, and the techniques we use to avoid fast-moving container ships and ferries. Although not a Traffic Separation Scheme, careful navigation is needed, calculating tidal streams, to keep our small yacht moving efficiently under sail. The **Cornish Crabber 26**, with her classic gaff rig and sturdy build, proves why she’s a favourite for both coastal and offshore cruising. Beautiful footage capture her under full canvas,, as she eats up the miles in open water.

### Arriving in Alderney – Moorings, Customs & Facilities

After nearly 17 hours at sea we reach **Braye Harbour**, Alderney’s superb natural anchorage enhanced by an impressive Victorian breakwater. We share practical tips for visiting yachts:

* **Moorings & Anchorage** – Good shelter in most conditions (except strong northeasterlies), though it can be rolly when the swell sets in. Expect around £25 per night for an 8 m boat in high season, with options to anchor on the south side if moorings are busy.
* **Customs & Immigration** – Alderney is part of the Common Travel Area, so no passport is required from the UK, but you must complete a simple customs declaration ashore—just fill in the form and pop it in the yellow box.
* **Harbour Facilities** – Clean showers, toilets, laundry and even free lockers for lifejackets. Friendly harbour staff are on hand to help and diesel is available tax-free from the inner harbour at high tide.

### Exploring Alderney – History & Highlights

Come ashore with us to discover Alderney’s unique charm. Braye village offers pubs, restaurants, shops and a well-stocked chandlery. A short uphill walk leads to **St Anne**, a picturesque town reminiscent of both Cornwall and Brittany. We visit the **Alderney Museum**, where exhibits trace the island’s story from prehistoric settlement and Roman trade to Victorian fortifications and the dark years of German occupation during World War II.

Cycling around the island is effortless with e-bikes from **Cycle and Surf**, allowing a leisurely half-day tour. Highlights include **Longis Beach** and the ancient site known as **The Nunnery**, where Roman, British and German fortifications stand side by side, and the striking black-and-white **Quesnard Lighthouse**, guarding Alderney’s rocky northern tip.

Whether you’re planning your own **Channel Islands sailing adventure**, researching **Cornish Crabber cruising**, or simply love traditional sailing footage, this video offers inspiration and practical know-how. Hit **Like** if you enjoy classic yacht passages, and **subscribe** for more sailing videos, navigation tips, and gaff-rigged adventures across Britain and beyond.