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.