A dash down the coast.

We had stayed at Chichester longer than intended but a weather window opened up so the plan is to go to Brighton, Eastbourne, Ramsgate and back across the Thames Estuary in four hops.

We couldn’t have an early start from Chichester as we needed to work out several tides windows. 

1. Getting out of the marina.

2. Going over the bar.

3. Hitting the Looe Channel as the tide turned.

4. Not arriving at Brighton Marina near low tide.

This meant we would not be able to meet up with friends Margaret and Chris in Brighton. We had planned to travel the day before but knew we wouldn’t be arriving before eight in the evening so a meet-up was out of the question.

As we left the Marina the lock was on free flow, that is always a bonus. I actually had all the fenders and ropes away before we went through the lock.

Once again travelling through Chichester Harbour was picturesque but you needed your wits about you as there were several fleets racing.

 We got out of the marina no problem and across the bar but it was incredibly bumpy and bouncy over the bar. Once over the bar we tried sailing but to no avail as the wind was behind us and was very flukey. We noticed that the other boat around us weren’t sailing but more importantly heading in the same direction. It’s always good when heading for a tidal gate that others are heading in that direction. Makes you feel you’ve done your calculations correct.

A first for us, we saw a water spout. Not the most brilliant of photos. I'm glad we didn't get too near.

Not the most pleasant of journeys. It was wet and bumpy with not a lot of wind. We also had a problem with the chart plotter as the screen kept moving from the chart to the home page, which was 

most disconcerting.  To say the least.

The entrance to Brighton Marina was as always like being in a washing machine. They also have a weird way of numbering their berths. We found it but had to ask a passing gentleman if he could read the numbers on the pontoon as we couldn’t. We had picked the right one and he took our lines, which was an added bonus. I’m afraid that Brighton Marina is rather tired and needs a bit of sprucing up.

We set off for Eastbourne knowing it would be a bit of a rough journey - it was. It wasn't helped by the fact the chart plotter was switching itself off repeatedly. We did have paper charts but it wasn't much fun as we didn't always have knowledge of our depth.

John helmed for the entire journey normally we share two hours on and two off. You can tell how rough it was as I didn't venture down stairs to make tea. However once we went round Beachy Head everything went smooth. We were also treated to the view of a couple of porpoises and a very friendly seal. I tried to get a picture of him but didn't manage it. he came and swam round the back of the boat and was having a good look at us.

The weather forecast meant that we wouldn't be continuing with our four hops but would be staying in Eastbourne for a while. We also wanted to try and sort out the chart plotter. Despite seeing someone from Raymarine it wasn’t possible to fix. It is now 6 months out of warranty.

Once again the weather intervened and we ended up staying in Eastbourne for 7 days we weren’t the only ones. A yacht did venture out but returned within a couple of hours. The problem was very high winds, so we were able to get around and see a couple of new places. Also we were in Eastbourne for the annual air show.

There was a pop up museum in town run by English Heritage. This was excellent, we found that Eastbourne was actually built as a tourist resort. It has links with the Devonshire Family (Chatsworth House).

We also had a super day out at Pevensey Castle. A case of renovation rules okay as it started off with the Romans and then was used both during and after the Norman Conquest. It was by the sea in those days.

From Eastbourne we set off for Ramsgate. In retrospect we should have waited another day as the sea was quite rough. We motor sailed the entire way. The chart plotter is getting worse!

We are quite familiar with Ramsgate Harbour now, we were fully moored within 20 minutes of entering the harbour. 

Once at Ramsgate we wanted to visit The Roman fort near Sandwich. We have made such good use of our English Heritage cards. Another fascinating day. Although not much of the fort left the information was excellent.

Hats off to Raymarine. There was a fault with the chart plotter and they replaced it.

Sailing Information

Chichester to Brighton  41.8 miles 9 hours
Brighton Marina - Premier Marina - not their best.
Basic toilet facilities - not enough for number of boats
Friendly staff
Lots of eating places out of marina
Asda nearby
Can't arrive two hours either side of low water

Brighton to Eastbourne 21.4 nm 4 hours 35 minutes
Lock 24/7
lots of eating places
Asda near by.

Eastbourne to Ramsgate 60.8nm 7hours 46 minutes

See previous blog for information about Ramsgate.

Moving on to Chichester 8th August 2019

When we woke up, we found another neighbour had arrived in the night, Queen Elizabeth. She had arrived very quietly.

Quite impressed by the size of this racing yacht, we think it was here for Cowes weeks.

The weather is still not our friend, the wind for the next few days is going to be gale force so we want to be tucked up somewhere safe. Chichester fits the bill, we did want to visit there and it had been on our rough plan but there will be no anchoring as we had hoped. So we set off for journey down Southampton water and across the Solent towards Chichester.

On the way down we heard Queen Elizabeth doing a radio check, not every day you hear that.

Sadly today was not going to be a sailing day as the wind was on the nose (again). It didn’t seem too long before we were approaching Chichester Harbour. This was another place I had treble checked the calculations as there was a bar to go over to enter. As we were going through the bar a small fishing boat was anchored bang in the channel. Very inconsiderate I thought.

It was very pretty in the harbour, for non sailing friends this is a natural harbour not one made of stone. We were keeping carefully to the channel. As well as making sure we were in the channel we had to contend with lots of dinghies as there were lots of races going on.

In order to get to the lock of the marina we had to go down a marked fairway, making sure we kept near to the green marker poles as it is tide dependent. There were lots of boats of all shapes and sizes waiting to go on. We contacted the lock keeper and waited to be called in. We were the first boat for the lock and a very big cruiser came in behind us. He filled the lock so there were just the two of us. In this lock the ropes are passed down to you, this is a first for us.

These pictures show the approach to the lock when the tide is out. Shows why you need to keep near the posts even when the tide is in.

Chichester Marina is huge and we were at the far end. A first for us we actually ran aground very near our pontoon, John quickly went into reverse and we were back in deeper water. We both were holding our breath as we went in again with John keeping as near to the berthed boats as possible. We got in successfully but the depth was very near our limit. Once in our berth we were in a depth of 2.6m.

This was a huge marina but they didn’t make it seem huge it was very well organised. There were several shower blocks of an excellent standard. En-suite showers with underfloor heating, plus real hair driers. There were also waste bins at the end of each pontoon. We were lucky as we were quite near the laundry room. Although £4 a wash and £2 a dry, the driers were incredibly efficient and you could choose the dry you wanted.also a lovely comfortable chair to sit in.

The grounds of the marina were also lovely with plenty of places for us to walk. There was also an on-site restaurant which we didn’t get to, but was obviously very popular. In addition there was also the Yacht Club.

Whilst in the lock the lock keeper directed us to a pub a couple of miles away. We did find that, John was impressed with not only the menu but the look of everyone’s food. Sadly as we had been walking I didn’t have enough money on me for food, just enough for a pint each.

We had a super day in Chichester, the bus stop is on the main road outside the marina. Be warned its quite a hike to leave the marina grounds. We wandered round Chichester and visited the free museum - Novium. It's a lovely little museum complete with Roman dig in the ground floor.

The cathedral was also free, which isn't always the case. We had a walk round there including the Bishop's Garden. They have a very nice coffee bar in the cloisters.

To finish we had a quick walk round the walls, made me smile as we are used to the walls at York or Berwick upon Tweed. But all in all Chichester is worth a visit.

Whilst at the Marina we took the opportunity to walk the harbour. You can hire bikes from the marina.

This boat was our neighbour, just loved the name of the boat.

Sailing Information
Southampton - Chichester Marina 28.9 nm 5 hours 40 minutes
Premier Marina - used our Premier Great Escapes nights
Excellent facilities (ensuite, underfloor heating). More than one shower block and we never had to queue.
Good laundry - can choose the heat and length of dry you want. £4 wash , £2 dry. Comfortable laundry room.
Friendly staff
Lovely grounds for a walk
No shops near by so make sure you have the basics
Restaurant on grounds and lovely pub in walking distance
Not accessible two hours either side of low tide.

Southampton 1st August 2019

What is a plan for if not for changing?

We had planned to spend a night or two mooring at Newton Creek, however we would have needed to use the dingy and outboard and John had been advised to avoid weights so we thought best not.

The revised plan was to go to Southampton. Town Quay is an ABP Marina therefore a sister marina to Ipswich, which means 7 nights free mooring. The tides might we could go early in the morning or later in the afternoon. We elected to go earlier but as it was only a short hop we didn't have to set the alarm too early - 05.30. For some reason we both woke up before five and as we were wide awake thought we might as well get up and going.

The first job was to refuel - at this excellent marina this can be done at anytime. We had to give the night watchman a call ten minutes before we wanted fuel. We were fully fuelled up and on our way by 05.53. The morning was incredibly still and I couldn't resist taking these photos of the reflections of the boats in the marina.

The channel out of Lymington is very well marked and I love the name of some of the markers.

There was no wind but the tide was with us and we were shooting down the Solent at  7 1/2 knots. It was a cold morning and our jackets soon went on.

 Before long we turned up for Southampton, it was a bit like going up the Thames as it is industrial in parts.

The Red Funnel Ferries and Fast Cats are definitely a feature and we were passed by three of each. Apart from that there was not a great deal of traffic until we nearly reached our destination when a large ship was backing out of it's berth. I had to mill about a bit till it had passed in front of us and I could safey pass behind. As we approached Town Quay I passed the wheel to John as it was a bit awkward going in. Things was made worse as we were about to go up our pontoon and another boat was leaving, so john had to do some quick reversing as there wasn't a lot of manovering space. At to the mix, because wed arrived early the boat in the berth we were allocated hadn't left. We were given another temporary berth but someone was in that so we grabbed the empty berth next to it. So were tied up by 09.20.

The marina was quite busy as boats were gathering for the fastnet race. It was not that long before we got into the berth where we would be for the next week. John was still in a lot of pain so we toddled of to Southampton Hospital. Here they feel it is definitely his rotary cuff, but there is little that can be done until we get home as he will need to be referred. They gave him some very strong painkillers. Rather than set off straight away we are going to take this week to give it a good rest.

It will give us time to explore Southampton as we normally see bits of it in a rush at the boat show. We also spent a night here before we went to New York on the Queen Mary and John remembered a pub where we had lovely fish and chips. We found it again, the fish and chips were as good as we remembered. However John was on diet coke as he wasn't allowed alcohol. I managed a pint!

Speaking of the Queen Mary, we saw she was coming in, once again we were awake early so we got up and went to see her docking. We were amazed how many people were there before 6 am to watch her and three other cruise ships arrive. She had come over from New York.

She is moored very close to us and absolutely dwarfs the boats in our marina. If you look closely you can see both Rascal and John.

We also went to watch her go that evening, again there are lots of people. I have discovered that there  are cruise ship watchers similar to train spotters. she had to reverse out and covered near the whole width of the river. she was on her way to the Fjords.

Although this is a nice marina it is incredibly bouncy at times. We have decided it is the fast cats, but some pilots make us bounce more than others and when I say bounce I mean bounce.

We are taking it easy exploring Southampton. I hadn't realised that Jane Austen lived here for a while. The walls are quite something they must have been very extensive when build. The information boards and plaques are good and are walks end up being quite slow as we are reading as we go.

As a couple of our knives have failed and had to be replaced we had a trip to IKEA. John feels that is a hour of his life he'll never get back. But we have some new cutlery at a reasonable price.  In the same area is a cinema so we were back the following day (Meerkat day) and went to see the new Spiderman film. I enjoyed it far more than I thought, quite humorous. It is a super cinema - very luxurious seats that lean back and has leg rests that come out.

We've generally taken it easy whilst we have been here, a train trip to Portsmouth so I could see the D Day museum had been on the cards but I felt that would wait for another year.

Sailing Information
Lymington to Southampton 18.3 nm approx. 3 1/2 hours
Not sure of price as we had 7 free nights
Friendly staff
Clean facilities - basic compared with other marinas.
Laundry room - cant remember the price as I didn't use it
Free gas bbq to use with bench and seats
Quite bouncy as there is a lot of wash
Coop, Lidil and Tesco Express in good walking distance
In the centre of town very quickly