LOW TIME PVT PLT MAKES AN EARLY DSCNT PRIOR TO FAF ON APCH PROC VOR DME APCH.

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IT WAS MY FIRST IFR FLT; SINCE RECEIVING MY INST RATING. CONDITIONS AT DEP AND ARR ARPTS WERE VMC (CURRENT AND FORECASTED) BUT I WAS DETERMINED TO FILE IFR TO GAIN EXPERIENCE. I PRACTICED THE FLT ON MY HOME COMPUTER SIMULATOR. I PLANNED AN ALTERNATE 1 WK IN ADVANCE; TO COVER ALL CONTINGENCIES FOR OUR PLANNED WINDOW OF FLT. UPON REACHING ENRTE ALT; I TUNED IN THE ATIS FOR THE DEST. I WAS SHOCKED TO HEAR '300 FT OVCST; 1 MI IN FOG.' MY PERSONAL MINIMUMS WERE WRITTEN DOWN IN ADVANCE AND AN ATTEMPT OF THIS LOW IMC WAS OUT OF THE QUESTION -- PARTICULARLY SINCE A MISSED APCH WOULD REQUIRE HOLDING OVER THE OCEAN IN A SINGLE ENG ACFT. MY SPOUSE SUGGESTED THAT WE TRY OUR ALTERNATE. ATIS THERE RPTED 800 FT BROKEN AND 2 MI. I ASKED MY SPOUSE TO GET OUT THE ALTERNATE APCH PLATES (SPOUSE IS A PVT PLT OF SIMILAR EXPERIENCE LEVEL AND INST STUDENT; AND IN FLT IS ASKING A LOT OF QUESTIONS). (SPOUSE'S FIRST TIME IN IMC.) I INFORMED ATC THAT I WANTED TO GO TO THE ALTERNATE; WHICH WAS IMMEDIATELY GRANTED. WE CHANGED OVER TO APCH CTL. APCH GAVE US VECTORS FOR THE VOR APCH. I HAD ALREADY STARTED PUTTING IN THE ILS FREQS; SO I HAD TO START OVER ON SETTING UP THE PANEL. (MAYBE THIS CONFUSED MY SPOUSE; WHO IMMEDIATELY GOT OUT OUR HAND-HELD GPS. THERE IS NO DME ON THE VOR AT THE ALTERNATE; AND THE BACK-UP DME WOULD HELP CONFIRM THE FAF.) APCH INSTRUCTED ME TO MAINTAIN 2500 FT UNTIL ESTABLISHED; CLRED FOR THE APCH; RPT FAF INBOUND. THE CLOUDS STARTED AT 2000 FT MSL. I INTERCEPTED THE APCH COURSE AND STARTED THE DSCNT. WE ENTERED THE CLOUDS AND HELD THE MDA (640 FT). WE RPTED THE FAF. I WORRIED AS TIME PASSED THAT WE WOULD NOT SEE THE ARPT. I THOUGHT I FORGOT TO TAKE THE TIME; BUT REASSURED MYSELF THAT VOR STATION PASSAGE WAS THE MISSED APCH. NAV INDICATION 'TO' AND GPS INDICATED ARPT STILL AHEAD. WE BROKE OUT OF THE 600 FT CLOUDS TO FIND 800 FT BROKEN AROUND THE ARPT. SAW THE ARPT AND LANDED SAFELY. SPOUSE WAS THRILLED AND REALLY IMPRESSED. I; TOO; WAS ELATED. IT WASN'T UNTIL HRS LATER; AS WE CONTINUED OUR TRIP IN A RENTAL CAR AND REVIEWED THE FLT; THAT I REALIZED I HAD DSNDED TO MDA BEFORE THE FAF. IN MY TRAINING I HAD A TENDENCY TO DSND TOO SLOWLY ON NON PRECISION APCHS; AND ARRIVE AT MDA JUST BEFORE THE ARPT. I WAS SO MINDFUL OF THE NEED TO GIVE MYSELF PLENTY OF TIME IN THIS CASE THAT I MADE A MAJOR MISTAKE. THIS OCCURRENCE WAS CAUSED BY INEXPERIENCE; BUT I COULD HAVE (AND WILL IN THE FUTURE) DO BETTER COCKPIT COORD; REVIEW ALL POSSIBLE PLATES FOR MYSELF BEFORE HAND; AND WALK MY SPOUSE THROUGH MY PLANS ON THE GND; TO AVOID (MINIMIZE) QUESTIONS AT CRITICAL TIMES.