Why Wind & Tide is so important for Passage Planning!

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FREE KZbin PLAYLISTS
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*Recommended Reading:
Knots & Splices:
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RYA Weather Handbook (Northern Hemisphere):
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A Seaman's Guide to the Rule of the Road:
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Reeds Skipper's Handbook:
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The Complete Yachtmaster:
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The Complete Day Skipper:
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ABOUT MARK
I'm a professional sailor & RYA Yachtmaster™ Instructor (Ocean) with over 35 years experience. I've logged over 250,000 nautical miles including competing in three round-the-world yacht races, twice as skipper. I circumnavigated in 2011 on an Ed Dubois designed Clipper 68 and subsequently skippered two Tony Castro designed Clipper 70's in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race in 2013 and 2019, respectively.
I've raced in the Southern Ocean nine times, crossed the North & South Atlantic 8 times and the Pacific 3 times. I've also skippered the RORC Rolex Fastnet Race three times and the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race, Swan World Cup and many other regattas and offshore races including Cowes Week & Marmaris.
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[@rockyrowlands3652]

As a total novice with a view of learning all this, I struggle to understand the effects of tide. Then you mentioned sailing on a tide is like moving on a conveyor belt, which hit the learning nail on the head and I then fully understood the effects of tide. 👍👍👍

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

Good to know. Thank you. And this is why we more often want to be sailing with tide, as sailing against tide makes for slow progress. Much like walking up a down escalator. 👍

[@marcleblond9733]

So great answer clear👍 Thanks so much 🙏

[@yesyoga]

What a wonderful video! I a beginner from California, USA and find this informtion presented in a logical, informative straightforward manner. Thank you!

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

Many thanks 😀

[@abdulkkhan5095]

Thank You very very much ! ! !

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

Very kind. Thank you.

[@davidmunt7066]

Great no nonsense vid, thank you.

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

Thanks David. That's our aim.

[@johnmoore3859]

Superb information delivered in a simple and easily understood manner, probably the best I have found to date. Well done and thanks for taking the time to provide this invaluable information. Now a subscriber

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

Thanks John. Very much appreciated.

[@niyadomanrine9296]

Thanks you very much, you are right

[@KingstoneS318]

This is the best sailing advice ive ever listened to, very well explained thank you so much

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

Thanks Lycia. Very kind of you to say.

[@lubberwalker]

Amazingly I watched this last Saturday. Even though you put a video up of the exact passage in the exact conditions.... Next day at 1500, we (a company of 3), against my recommendations, attempted to head from Lymington to Weymouth with Poole as our fallback, in a WSW F6... on mostly an ebb tide. Exactly the conditions you said not to do it in. Next day was forecast to be worse and we had hoped to eventually get as far as the Dart. Nobody wanted to go east (where we should have made for). We headed for the needles on the end of the flood planning to get through Hurst on near slack and use the tide to get west (even fully expecting the wind over tide). However, the hype word became "fetch" when our latitude got south of Hurst lighthouse and it hit us. Truly big waves and lots of slamming of our flat footed Hanse 418. A modicum of sense prevailed and we returned to base and ate the BBC recipe chilli con carne I'd made at home. That bit was a success. Next day we sat out the gale. Tuesday we set off for Poole with the chance of passing it for Weymouth or heading there on Wednesday. An aside bonus here on Tuesday was at Warden, Needles Channel. No other sail was in sight except one, when MAIDEN! all alone, majestically bedraggled, rounded the needles, back from it's winning circumnavigation. Unable to get our new compressed air horn functioning from it's blasted packaging, the three of us waved, shouted, cheered and clapped the girls as much of a welcome as we could muster, as they headed thru Hurst toward the sails gathering at Cowes on the horizon. The Tuesday Poole passage in the WNW F5/6 was hard and slammy but we got there at the cost of our lady member becoming over attached to the boat bucket for most of it. Next morning (Wed), lots of discussion about the bucket, onward travel westward (but the tides are only 40 minutes different daily and the NE wind strength persistent) or avoiding another extortionate £74 Poole berth cost by exploring brownsea anchorage and heading back next day (Thurs). I proposed going east NOW instead of a day later... The end of the ebb was due at our berth checkout time of noon. We could get south of the island passage all the way to Bembridge and just about squeak over the bar at dusk. Wonderful difference. Nobody sick and an ultra fast comfortable, swept along ride to the white knuckle 0.1m Bembridge bar clearance and our home made curry. Thursday. We scraped over the 0800 top of bembidge tide bar, again by 0.1m, then eased back to Lymington on the ebb tide where our lady partner disembarked a day early. But not before yet again being the only boat to witness Outlaw pass Yarmouth; home from the same race. Thursday evening we untwisted the self tacking jib sheet and decided we'd need to sail next day to test the new knot 😉. Friday we had a rock-fouled anchor, again sheltering from the lunchtime NW wind off Hengistbury Head. Probably we hugged it too much. Our last hurrah was getting it up after an hour of trying different angles and overrunning etc. Next time our passage will be more head over heart. I mean, what's the point of watching sailing tips vids if we then completely ignore them?

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

That's how experience is built, of course! Years ago, I got stuck trying to beat around St Albans Ledge, with two mates, for about 5 hrs in the rain and fog. Eventually gave up and screamed into Weymouth in an hour! Lesson learned. Sounds like you had a blast though! Coincidentally, about twenty years ago now (maybe more) I floated in circles around Christchurch Bay, all night, right next door to Maiden. We were on a Fastnet Qualifier Race.

[@lubberwalker]

@@FreeSailingTutorials I'm reading Tom Cunliffe on an off. He talks about "tiding" the coast as being vastly preferential to demoralising the crew with watches that contain 5 hour stints of heavy duty sailing to largely stay on the spot. I like the romantic idea of long passages and watches but when you can just drop the hook followed by sails and cover almost the same distance,.... the romance pales. Forgotten action. We spronged off and 180° around in the tight Bembridge alongside fairway. It worked perfectly and smoothly and I had great pride and huge superiority until I cleared the over fendered up transom to find the completely unneeded one I'd put to be ultra sure, stuck squarely over the dry air heating exhaust. Defeat from the Jaws of victory.

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

@@lubberwalker We've all done it. I once sailed up the Western Solent with a training crew and every cable there was a brand new fender bobbing up and down in the water, on our track. They'd obviously fallen off the transom where they had been poorly tied on by crew. 4 new fenders made me very popular with the sailing school principal.

[@mattjackson7199]

Hi, thanks for the tutorial, have watched a couple of these now and you are great at explaining things in a clear and concise way. By far the best videos I have watched, there is a lot of dross out there!

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

Thanks Matt. Appreciated.

[@abdulkkhan5095]

Fantastic , a critically important tutorial

[@chrishun2065]

Thanks

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

Thanks Chris. Very kind.

[@Intertracer]

Much better than just an intro or a refresher 👍

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

Thank you.

[@Jujbbyigs8766]

From Tasmania. Excellent!

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

Ive sailed up to Hobart a couple of times. Beautiful place.

[@StephanWittich-il3sb]

Thanks 👌

[@warrenthorp]

Really excellent. Thank you.

[@ianrowley5762]

Thank you this is really useful breaking everything down into smaller sections for learning. I have tried to find a blank tidal curve online any suggestions on where to find one so that I can laminate it?

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

Hi Ian. Thanks. I'm not sure that will help you much as each port's tidal curve is different. If the curve of the port is relatively symmetrical and the tidal highs and lows are every 6 hrs, you can roughly 'guesstimate' using the Rule of 12ths? See video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r6m1gXeVd82Jl8k The best way by far is to buy an Almanac for the area you are sailing, each year.

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

I've created PDF templates for passage planning, pilotage, and pre-departure safety & daily engine checks. If you might find them useful, you can download them on my website. They are dynamic (i.e. you can fill them in electronically or print them off and and fill them in by hand). If you buy the set of three, they are less than £3 each, or subscribe and receive our Pre-Departure Checklist PDF for free. www.freesailingtutorials.com/registration