Eastern Solent route

The distance between Portsmouth and Fishbourne is 6.25 nautical miles and there are 1853 metres in a nautical mile. A statutory (land) mile is 1609 metres. Choice of route is determined almost always by the height of the tide. Occasionally in very rough seas, it is more comfortable to take the "low water passage" but normally the ship steers a course between two sandbanks along a channel called the Swashway. The ship needs at least a metre and a half of water under the keel for safety, so if the depth is less than about 4.0 metres, the captain will usually take the low water route, which adds about three-quarters of a mile onto the journey.

Western solent route

Smaller car ferries cross the western Solent between Lymington on the mainland and Yarmouth on the west of the island. In the late 1930's, the voith schneider propulsion system was pioneered in this country on the Lymington - Yarmouth route, using a truly double-ended car ferry.  Nowadays this crossing is served by three car ferries (pictured above), All with old Anglo-Saxon names - Caedmon, Cenred and Cenwulf.

Radar

There are two radars on board, one facing forwards and the other facing aft. They are the captain's "eyes" in poor visibility and at night, and should detect large and small boats, the shoreline, buoys and beacons. Look at the photograph. The screen looks like a television screen and shows everything around the ship like an electronic "bird's eye view". With practice, the captain can tell how far ahead or behind he will pass other shipping, as well as distances and directions to land objects or buoys. Different ranges are used for different parts of the crossing. As the ferry approaches port, the apparent size of the channels and approaches can be enlarged to make docking easier and safer. 

In foggy weather, radar helps the captain to navigate safely on the right course, and to avoid collisions with other ships and boats using the Solent. In the photograph, the ship is in the middle of the numbered circle, and the line from the centre represents the direction in which the ship is heading (in this case, straight towards the beacon marking the approach to Fishbourne). The picture was taken about halfway between Portsmouth and Fishbourne, near the north Sturbridge buoy. Ryde pier is clearly visible bearing approximately 230¡, and the entrance to Portsmouth harbour is bearing approximately 030¡. 

In good visibility, the captain normally uses the local landmarks to steer by: Ryde Pier, Quarr Abbey and Osborne House sailing to the island, Spit Sand Fort, Southsea Castle and the fun fair on Clarence Pier when returning.

Sailing a ferry across the Solent is not as easy as it looks! The captain has to consider many things - height of the tide (high Or low), other ships using the same stretch of water, the weather ... Think you could do it?!

Steering the ship

These Wightlink vessels are steered and pushed along by propellers, which hang down vertically under the ship, unlike a conventional boat where the propellers protrude horizontally from the stern. This system is called the voith schnieder propulsion system and although it is expensive to install and run, it offers excellent manoeuvrability, including the ability to hold the vessel stationary, even in stormy conditions. 

The vessel does not require a rudder, because in normal forward motion during a crossing, the speed wheels are on full ahead and steerage is provided by sideways thrust on the two aft propellers to push the stern one way or the other. This is important on the Portsmouth-Fishbourne route which is a short crossing and requires the captain to do a lot of manoeuvring both leaving and entering the port.

The system is operated by four wheels not unlike a steering wheel in a car which are mounted on consoles on the bridge (see above). These can be seen from the forward ends of the bridge deck.