Plymouth to Keyhaven

Hi everyone,

Yesterday we departed the Tamar River and Plymouth to sail to Keyhaven in the western Solent.  The passage took 23 hours and was timed to arrive on a rising tide.  We're currently anchored east of Hurst Castle waiting for the tide to rise.  We'll then go into the Keyhaven River to pick up a mooring kindly offered by OCC friends John and Chris of sv Sara II.

Here are the usual plots...

Zen Again Track

Zen Again Speed

The speed plot is interesting.  As normal it shows our speed over the ground.  The sine wave isn't due to our boat speed changing - it is the effect of tide.  We sailed through two periods of adverse tide with one period with positive tide in the middle.  This ensured we arrived with the tide flooding into the Solent.  That flood is obvious at the end of the plot.

Here are the vital statistics...

• Distances/Speeds
• Route Distance = 120nm
• Logged Distance = 132nm
• GPS Distance = 119nm
• Duration = 23 hours
• Average boat speed = 5.7kt
• Average ground speed = 5.2kt
• Weather
• Minimum wind speed = 10 kt
• Average wind speed = 18 knots
• Maximum wind speed = 28kt
• Apparent wind angle range = 0 to 180
• Seas up to 2m
• Overcast with frequent drizzle
• Engine
• Total = 4 hours
• Driving = 4 hours (down the river and out of Plymouth harbour)
• Charging = 0 hours

Isle of Wight ahead in the murk

Passing the Needles

We were kept busy throughout the passage with traffic - cargo ships, fishing boats and yachts.  All except a few yachts had AIS transmitters which was a big help in poor visibility which ranged from 1nm to 2nm.

As we approached the Solent several yachts were ahead and behind us.  We entered via the main channel which was straight-forward.  We had 2 knots of current with us in the channel.  As we passed Hurst Castle we turned to port, got out of the channel and anchored in 3m over mud.  We're now waiting for the tide to rise enough for us to get over the bar and into the river.