I recently (early April) took a trip to France and the CI in a PA28. I had been twice before to L2k and Deauville. On the way out we crossed the shortest distance at 6500ft which left us only a few seconds out of gliding distance. Similarly heading into the CI zone from France we took a circuitous route from Dinard to fly along the coast to the north before crossing at a requested and granted 5000ft again giving us minimal time out of gliding range.
On the way back we were delayed a couple of days by weather in Guernsey and whilst there wasn't too much get-home-itis we did want to leave. On the day of departure I was faced with a choice of a clear run across the Channel with 2000ft cloud at Southampton, or sketchy weather in Northern France. I chose the Channel (we wore life jackets and PLB but had no raft). Jersey zone allowed me 5000 ft inside the zone and I elected to avoid flying under the class A corridor and instead thread the needle between the danger area and the class A (thanks skydemon) at FL80. Needless to say the engine didn't quit and we arrived back safely although in sporadic IMC from Isle of Wight to Elstree - glad of the IR(R).
As people have mentioned attitude to risk is personal. The extra time to fly the shortest water crossing for me was around 30 minutes but the weather was sketchier. Often for L2K it might only be 5 mins and I'll happily spend the extra money for less time over water. I will also probably invest in a raft and some immersion training.
Happy landings.