Isle Of Wight - Solo Across The Solent
A paddle to the IOW is something that's been on my trip list for ages. The thing is, it means crossing one of, if not
the busiest shipping lane in the world!
The Solent is a pretty large expanse of water that separates the Mainland from the Isle Of Wight. It varies in width from about 1 mile at its narrowest to about 5miles at its widest. The tempting thing is to make a quick hop across the narrow bit, from Hurst Point to Colwell Bay at the Solents western end. It is only 1 mile across but has some serious tidal races! The tides are very strong in that whole area as they funnel through the gap.
The tides in the east Solent are still pretty strong but a lot more manageable for a small paddlecraft. The distance is much greater, however, about 4-5 miles at the widest point. I opted to put in at Stokes Bay and head directly across..
Before I decided to make the trip, I had to have a close look at the Tidal Streams Atlas, Tide Tables and Admiralty Chart. It is important to know what sort of speed and direction the tide will be heading and what time it will do so.
I found an really great site with all the info I needed in one place -
http://www.visitmyharbour.com/VisitMyHarbour.com is an excellent resource.. Within minutes I was registered and plotting my route!
I drew my own mini chart that told me all I needed to know -
The arrows next to the times, show the tide direction with the speed in knots written to the right. My RYA Day Skipper Theory course from 18 years ago comes in handy at times
High Tide at Portsmouth was around 1300. This would give a huge area of slack water in the whole east Solent between 10:30 & 11:30, with tides starting to slow down as from 9:30. The winds where expected to be light to mod from the west, but picking up around mid afternoon. I had just enough time to squeeze in my adventure, before the strong winds would be blowing against the tide.. Wind against tide really is the worst situation for a small paddlecraft, so I'd have to be quick!!
I arrived at Stokes Bay car park at about 9:00am
It was empty even though it was a bank holiday weekend :mrgreen:
The whole area is fairly low key, which is great because I hate crowds!
Looking east.
Looking west..
Both pics above give a good idea of the distance I was just about to paddle across!
Coastrunner with distant Isle 'O' Wight in the background!
After I had packed my lunch, brew making kit and safety gear, Daytime Flare, PLB, Hi Vis Vest and Kayak paddle, I was ready for the off!!
I could see a huge tanker motoring into the Solent already!
I put in at about 10:00...Within minutes I was a few hundred meters from the mainland paddling across the tide which was head west to east and slowing towards slack water. A light breeze was slowing my progress a bit.
I didn't take many pics at first because a huge Battle Ship was motoring eastwards and I had to paddle as fast as I could to get passed his bow! :shock:
Looking back at the Battle Ship and distant Stokes Bay.. You can see a small warehouse on the shore that would be my transit point to head back towards later.
After about 45 mins of hard paddling I was about half way and my mind started to fill with serious doubts and what could go wrong and I had a mini argument with myself, my head was telling me to turn back :? But my heart just said... Paddle, paddle, paddle 8-)
Looking back at Stokes Bay. I could only just see my transit, a tiny white dot!
The IOW was getting bigger as I moved closer towards Fishbourne.
By now the water was totally slack and the wind was almost zero as I was in the wind shadow of the IOW itself.
The WightLink Car Ferry
I was heading towards the wooded area 'Chapelcorner Copse'...
I could see a lovely sheltered beach that would be a perfect lunch stop
Touch down on a 'foreign' land :mrgreen:
I arrived at about 11:30.. taking 1.5 hours.
The island had a totally different feel to Stokes Bay, almost sub tropical feeling!
My location on Google Map..
This pic shows the mainland in the distance and I still had to get back there!
I didn't stay for long, as by now the tide was heading westwards and the wind would soon start to pick up, blowing over the tide!
At Noon,I set off back to England
I couldn't really see my distant transit, the small warehouse, so I just headed in that general direction, due north until I could make it out!
Looking back at my lunch stop..
I had a long way to go but atleast I could just make out my transit point!
By now the Solent was packed with craft of all kind and the chop was very confused and messy. Huge tankers, yachts, gin palaces, hover craft, hydrofoils, jet skis, speed boats..... Oh, and 1 single SUP
About mid way back I managed to get a google location on the iphone.. You can see that the tide was pushing me quite a way off course, I was heading more nor'west than I wanted!
All the sailing boats were friendly and would wave, some seemed amazed that I was out there on my SUP
This pic shows how far off course I was, the my transit, warehouse to the right of the dunes...
The mainland was looking pretty close by now but the tide was getting closer to its 1.5 - 2 knots and was pushing me about 1 mile off course towards Lee On Solent. By this time I had decided just to head there, rather than battle the tide directly to Stokes Bay.. The tide would be much less closer to the shore, so I could paddle eastwards along the coats to the van, getting pushed by the increasing westerly wind!
Looking back at IOW.... By now the wind was against tide and getting more and more choppy and confused, but I didn't have far to go to 'England'
Lucky I had the kayak paddle, which I decided to use as it was too much to stand up and make good headway.
Landed at Lee On Solent at 2:00pm
I still hadn't completed my trip though, because I was just over 1 mile west of the van, so now I had to hug the coast to avoid the worst of the tide and slowly slog back to the van. The chop was small but so confused and messy. It was a real hard slog!
After a while I could see that van, which was a VERY welcome sight indeed!! :mrgreen:
I'd made it! Stokes Bay! It took about 1 hour to paddle the last bit, landing at the van at 3pm!
I just sit there for a while looking over to Fishbourne thinking about my achievement :mrgreen:
Then.....
I walked a short distance to the Bayside Café and treated myself to this ---
While I was eating, the wind had picked up to a solid f3-f4 and was against a strong tide.. I picked my weather window just right. If I had been 1 hour later things would have been a whole different kettle of fish!!
All in all, it was an amazing days paddle and I felt chuffed at what I had managed, but totally shattered :!:
