Crossing it required more than wading or jumping: it required a vessel capable of sustaining a crew through those conditions.

A minimum crossing of four to seven miles of open Pacific water represents a genuine maritime challenge.

For reference, the distance from Manhattan to Staten Island via the Verrazano-Narrows is about two miles; the English Channel at its narrowest is about 20 miles.

The Channel Islands crossing was between these extremes — substantial but not extreme by the standards of documented historical ocean crossings in traditional watercraft.

People crossed it.