How Not to Cross the English Channel:

Cross on a diagonal, outside of the shipping separation zone at night.

Once you are outside the separation zone you enter a cone of ships that are all turning to line up with the separation zone and are jockeying for position or are leaving the separation zone and turning to get on course.

Faster ships overtake the slower ones, so you often have ships that are alongside each other and it is inevitable that you will have a ship on either side of you.

Crossing that on a diagonal, when the ships are not following a straight line, makes you guess at whether the ship will go in front of you or behind you (read you will cross in front of it!).

At night, your ability to judge distance is really challenged.

Ships do have “range” lights, with the forward one being lower that the stern light.

When they line up (lower in front) it is cause for alarm. If they stay lined up you've got a bit of an issue.

The worst thing, however, is when the lights are converging at a slow rate, meaning the ship is turning in your direction and you have no idea if they will go in front or behind you.

If you know where they are going you could guess their turn

This can become a great guessing game and one that all on board take an interest in “playing”.

Of course, taking the diagonal also means you are sailing a greater distance, decreasing your chances of making a daylight passage.

To sum up, do not cross at night, outside the shipping separation zones at a diagonal!