For the first proper sailing trip of the season, I was joined by my long-time diving buddy Trev. I did have trip to Emsworth in March but, without a mast, it wasn’t a sailing trip! However, the winds did suggest a return to Chichester harbour.

We drove down from the midlands amid bucketing rain and strong winds; it took faith in the forecast to believe we would be sailing the next day as we sat in the saloon hearing the rain hammering on the coach roof. Still, the steak and red wine helped take our minds off the weather.

In fact, the rain lasted longer than forecast and it was not until late morning we set off. To avoid sailing dead downwind, we shaped our course out past the Horse Sand Fort before gybing towards Chichester entrance. Conditions were lively there, with big rollers breaking on the sands to the West of the entrance. Once inside the harbour, the winds were still blustery but the water was flat and we made our way to Itchenor.

The plan was to pick up a visitor mooring and test the tender with a trip ashore for dinner at the Ship Inn. We had some trouble identifying the visitor moorings and eventually determined that they were all occupied by fishing boats. However there was no shortage of buoys to pick up – I’m used to the fairway thick with boats, but most seemed still ashore.

We found a good spot only a biscuit toss from the pontoon, pumped up the dinghy and went ashore. The Ship provided a pleasant welcome, nice beer and good food, after which we took a stroll round the village before returning to Molly.

The next morning we decided to hop across to Bembridge, as Trev had never visited “The Island” and, after wrestling the dinghy down into the locker, we set off. We were dead downwind leaving the harbour and Molly was goose-winged out to West Pole, whereupon we gybed onto a lovely reach across to the Isle of Wight. As we approached Bembridge, I could hear nothing on the radio and there was no answer at the marina. The website informed me I could book a berth online, but only by giving more than 24 hours notice. I worked all this our as Trevor guided Molly through the channel into the marina, so we made a somewhat precipitate approach to the nearest available berth and tied up. It was just as quiet at Bembridge as it had been at Itchenor and it made a lovely change to moor on the easier to access South side of the pontoon.

This gave us plenty of time for a lovely walk up to Seaview and along the beach before looping back along footpaths through the countryside, followed by a pleasant meal at the Vine Inn.

Our triangle was completed the following morning by our departure on the high tide and a short hop back to Gosport. This was my first run into Molly’s new berth, which involves a whole lot less manoeuvring in reverse.