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.
Breakers on the sand bank next to Chichester entrance
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.
Goose-winged at West PoleWind turbine blade carrier
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.
Plenty of space at Bembridge
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.
The fully refurbished mast is ready for stepping! Sporting glossy new varnish, rot fixed and anchor light replaced, it looked absolutely lovely. I had decided that rather than having the mast delivered to the club, I would take Molly to the mast and have a winter weekend away. I had been watching the weather leading up to the proposed date and was delighted to be treated to calm and settled conditions, even sun!
So it was. I slipped the moorings in Gosport and motored out into the Solent, through the dolphin, past Langstone and made Chichester bar beacon in good time across a waveless sea and warm sun. The warmth turned out to be due to the lack of wind; I had been motoring downwind, so the apparent wind was almost nil – as soon as I turned up into Chichester, I noticed the bite even though the breeze was not strong.
Motoring out of Portsmouth. Andy “the arm” Autohelm was sporting a new rain cover freshly made by Niki. Not really needed on this occasion but very smart!
My destination was Emsworth marina, reached by a tidal channel and crossing a cill. Without the moorings to guide, the channel was harder to follow, but I soon slid into my assigned berth.
Doesn’t look like February
I then spent the rest of the afternoon dressing the mast ready for stepping the next day. This took quite some time – the “knitting” needed unravelling and laying out neatly and I wanted to make sure the job was done right, as it would be massively inconvenient to discover a mistake after the mast was raised.
The “knitting”
I completed the task in good time, before taking an early evening walk into the town of Emsworth – very picturesque but not much to see in the dark. I made a mental note to come back in the summer with Niki. Returning to Molly, I was heartily glad of the heating system as the clear day gave way to a cold night.
The following morning, I was greeted by the yard manager who was ready first thing to step the mast, so I chugged over to the crane quay and the mast was very efficiently stood in its proper position. I then had the rest of the day to rig the sails and spars, a task which I completed just after high tide in the early afternoon, with only a few mistakes and “replays”. The task always takes longer than expected!
Lowering the mast into position
Emsworth is a lovely place. It’s very peaceful and there is a lot of wildlife around. I especially love the coots with their comedy party hooter calls. However, there is an ever present rumble of traffic from the nearby main road, which the brain quickly tunes out but is always evident whenever I shot a film clip. The water is also very active and it feels like being moored in a river when the water pours in or out over the two cills.
On the falling tide, water rushing over the cill. It created quite a strong current on my berth.
I made my farewell to the boatyard, and as I motored out, Nick the shipwright noticed that I had left my GoPro bolted to a post on the pontoon and grabbing it, dashed onto the last boat and handed it to me as I passed by. Phew!
Nick ready to hand me my camera back, as I passed
I had Chichester harbour almost to myself, with one or two motor boats and a lone racing dinghy being all I encountered in what is usually a very busy stretch of water. I made for my favoured anchorage at Pilsey Island near Itchenor.
Sunset reflected on the mud
Once securely anchored, I completed the final rigging task, that of bending on the main sail. I had envisioned sitting head to wind at anchor and therefore attaching the main sail would be a breeze. However, I had not taken the tide into account and Molly Sat broadside on to the wind, which made my task much more interesting! Nevertheless, I completed just as the sun made a spectacular sunset. This is always a marvellous place to spend the evening, but was particularly magical tonight as the wind stilled and the sky was filled with pastel colours with the sounds of the wading birds drifting across the waters. I retired to bed after a welcome hot chilli I had brought with, happy that Molly was complete again and ready for the new season.
A Crabber 26 (not Molly) dodging the ferries as she passes down the SolentThe transit posts for HMS Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales, which stand just outside the entrance to Portsmouth harbour
We’ve been fortunate to experience some really good late September weather and I’ve lately enjoyed two trips with extended family. The first trip was with my parents and the second with my father-in-law.
Niki with my mum at the helm
My dad is an experienced sailor, so my parents were keen to come and see Molly for themselves. Taking advantage of the UK’s unexpected bank holiday for the Queen’s funeral, Niki, myself and my parents set out on an almost windless but wonderfully sunny day. It was a great pleasure to show them our local patch. We put the sails up, despite the lack of wind, drifted on the tide towards the Island and put the anchor down in Priory Bay for some lunch. Later, the wind filled in a little and we blew the chance of getting home early in order to enjoy the breeze and sail a little.
Lunch in the sun!
The next trip, only a few days later with just myself and my father-in-law, Jeff, was an overnighter. A moderate northerly breeze and a mid-morning tide gave us the chance to sail over to Chichester, just as I had done with Niki the previous weekend, but this time staying in a marina.
Dog walkers on the beach at East Head – the West Pole mark visible in the distance Pilot cutter Verano entering Chichester: a larger and more handsome sister ship to MollyVerano Beating into the entrance
In complete contrast to the previous trip, it seemed as though we had the sea and Chichester harbour almost to ourselves and saw only a few others out sailing. We weaved our way into the harbour against the falling tide, past a practically empty East Head, passed through picturesque Itchenor and crept up the shallow straight channel to Chichester marina. I had wanted to visit Birdham Pool, but we were too late for the tide (on the list for another time!).
Molly moored before entering the marina
Chichester marina is nestled far up in the tidal reaches of the harbour and is accessed by a lock. I was told my 2.5m draught was too much for the marina, so I lifted the plate. However, this made manoeuvring rather tricky, especially astern, so I compromised on half-plate.
In the lock at Chichester marina
Jeff and I were soon ensconced on our berth and repaired to Chichester Yacht Club for a meal and few well-earned pints of beer.
Low tide outside Chichester YC, looking towards Birdham Pool
The following morning was breezy and we worked our way out against the last of the flood, though the fleets of boats on their moorings and the armadas of dinghies rallying for their Saturday racing.
A Solent Sunbeam racing in Chichester harbourPreparing for their start
It was a reach through the harbour and a dead run out of the mouth. As it was high tide, we did not run all way out to West Pole but bore away west after we had passed the bar. I had a reef in, to make sure things were relaxed and Molly swept along beautifully with the ebb under her and the wind on her beam.
Jeff at the helm, before the loss of “Peaky”
As we passed Langstone entrance. Jeff lost his cap. I immediately decided to practice man overboard. I started the engine, threw off the sheets and we reversed course. We made it back to the hat, but the jib was flogging and I could not furl it. I took my eyes off the hat for only a moment and then sadly we could not find it again I went forward to sort out the tangled lines and got smacked in the face by a sheet for my troubles. Now we had lost a hat and my glasses were smashed!
I finally managed to furl the jib, sort out the lines and we resumed our course. A few important lessons learned. On the positive side, I was pleased to be able to start engine and reverse course accurately back to the casualty. However, I’m not sure how we would have recovered the hat – Jeff is not too nimble and has no sea experience. I hadn’t had time to grab a boat hook and I don’t think I’d have had time to fetch it before the hat sank. The hat disappeared from view quite quickly, but a human casualty would at least have a life jacket to keep them afloat. I have a sling available but getting a human casualty aboard would be a daunting prospect. The experience also showed the importance of at least one crew having the sole job of keeping eyes locked on the casualty. It would have been much less dramatic if I had been able to furl the foresails, probably it would have helped if I furled the jib whilst turning through the wind, but there is an enormous amount of friction on the jib furling line – I need to look at ways to improve this situation.
The track tells it all. I’m quite pleased with the two neat circles. You can also see the track when we motored head to wind as I got to grips with the jib Approaching Southsea beach
On the recommendation of a comment to my previous post, which mentioned passing through the boat channel off Southsea, Jeff and I made for the tiny gap of the small boat channel, which is much closer inshore.
“Steer towards the shore, aim at the shore end of the pier”, I told Jeff. “Are you sure it’s deep enough? – there’s only 5m here!”, he replied. In fact, as we approached the beach, the depth changed little, and we bore away to pass through the narrow gate, only a biscuit toss from the shore. Our course took us close by the end of the pier and along the shore to the head below Southsea Castle, where the shore turns north into Portsmouth harbour. We carried straight on though, so as to cross the shipping channel at right angles and have space to drop our sails.
It was an interesting passage – I always enjoy passing close to the shore and seeing the goings on, but there is little navigational benefit going that way and the wind was more fluky that close to the shore. I’ll save it to amuse guests on the boat in future.
A pair of rugs going out to sea, in this case to guide a warship into Portsmouth harbour
Having recently travelled down to the western Solent, I thought a trip in the opposite direction was called for. The tide and wind were good for a day trip, so we slipped our warps and took a left turn out of Portsmouth harbour. With the wind behind us and a fair tide under us, we passed through the small boat channel off Southsea and set a course directly for West Pole, outside Chichester harbour. There were plenty of others with the same idea and as we approached, we could see the entrance was also thick with dinghies – evidently a big race meeting was in progress.
A large fleet of Laser dinghies crossing the start line outside Chichester harbour A 20′ wooden sloop leaving Chichester harbour
Last time I went to Chichester harbour, I took the easy option and anchored at East Head, among the crowds. It hadn’t been a particularly comfortable spot, owing to the amount of passing traffic and someone had suggested a different spot. The inner harbour had surprisingly few anchored boats as we passed by East Head and turned north up the Thorney channel, into the lee of Pilsey Island and dropped anchor.
Kite surfer flying past
We had a very comfortable lunch stop before slinging our. hook just before high tide, to ride the ebb back to Portsmouth. The wind had backed a little towards the west and I thought we’d have to beat, but Molly was able to fetch directly back the way we came.
It was a gloriously sunny late summer afternoon and we arrived back at Portsmouth in a most beautiful golden glow, having had another very satisfying leg. No sooner were we secured on our berth, than we pottered down to the Castle tavern in Gosport for a well-earned meal to round off the day.
This mark, seemingly amid open sea, called Dolphin, marks the southern edge of a 50m wide passage through an underwater barrier which extends from the Southsea shore to the Horse Sand FortThe Southsea hovercraft and two car ferries plying their way in the golden hour of a late summer afternoon Ploughing a straight(ish) furrow….
This was Alice’s first sailing trip since we took over Molly, and she was very pleasantly surprised with the accommodation; as it was just me and her, I gave her the forepeak, much to her satisfaction. The weather was ideal, with warm sun and a nice SW sailing breeze. We had a leisurely start and enjoyed the hustle and bustle of Portsmouth harbour as we followed the steady stream of boats leaving harbour on the falling tide.
Once we were clear of the Isle of Wight ferry and hovercraft tracks, we turned to port and made for the boat passage through the old submarine barrier that stretches south from the shore near Southsea pier out to Horse Sand Fort a mile and a half offshore. From there, it was a spirited run east, past Winner sand at the entrance to Langstone Harbour and on to Chichester. In no time at all, we reached West Pole, marking the southerly extreme of the channel into Chichester harbour, and gybed round to reach up the channel. On previous occasions when I’ve followed this track, I have been in Aurora (our previous boat, a cape cutter 19) and not worried about depth. This time, though on a neap tide, it was nearly low water, and I paid close attention to the depth as we crossed the bar. With the sea flat, there was plenty of water and we soon slipped past Hayling Island sailing club and turned to starboard towards the popular anchorage at East Head. As expected on a sunny Weekend afternoon, the spot was thick with boats at anchor, among which weaved a multitude of sailing dinghies.
Busy East Head
With plate up, Alice motored us into the wind towards the sandy beach, but unfortunately, I underestimated our speed and Molly touched the bottom. I quickly dropped the anchor and ran astern to see if we could motor off, but Alice had already tried this and Molly was firmly aground, so I returned to the bow and heaved on the warp to keep the bow pointing into the F4 breeze. We were secure and I knew the tide was already rising, so there was nothing for it but to have some lunch! With a little more water, I checked the anchor had set and then increased the scope to ensure good holding. I suggested moving up the Thorney Channel to get a little more shelter behind Pilsey Island, but Alice preferred the existing location.
We passed a relaxing afternoon and later made a paella(ish) from ingredients we had bought in Gosport. I say “ish” because the low-cost, German-owned supermarket with a four letter name famously is always short of an ingredient or two, in this case risotto rice and saffron. Nevertheless, we had tasty rice and fish with sugar snap peas, all from the thermal cooker.
Morning swim
I expected the wind to ease off at nightfall, but it maintained steady 15-20kts all night. This made for a less peaceful night than I had hoped, but further increased my confidence in Spock, our (relatively new) Vulcan anchor. By my reckoning, Spock needs to provide 13 nights at anchor to pay for himself; this was night three.
We awoke to another fine morning with a steady SSW breeze. It was due to veer towards SW, so I was keen to set off and avoid beating if possible. We left in good time, but not before Alice had a refreshing swim.
It was a tad bumpy at the entrance to Chichester, but the sea was quite smooth once we reached deeper water south of west pole. The wind direction was perfect for fetch back across to Portsmouth. Most of the boats in the procession leaving Chichester turned off before this and followed a track closer to the shore, heading for the small boat passage we used yesterday. I had decided that instead we would enjoy the sail and take a longer track to pass outside the Horse Sand Fort.
We had a marvellous sail with both jibs and single-reefed main, with Molly cutting confidently through the small waves. We were making 6kt for much of the time and I was expecting an increase in speed when we bore away onto a reach after the fort, but the wind was noticeably lighter in the shelter of the Island.
Alice helmed for most of the sailing and took Molly into the harbour, as I put out the warps and fenders. We made a very efficient return to harbour, dropping main as we turned off the channel towards the club. However, with the water very low, I could not turn Molly to reverse up the fairway to our berth and ended up going in forwards. This means our next adventure begins by going astern…
Meandering Molly 