(A single handed sail in a West Wight Potter called Wight Rabbit)

Monday 13 June 1987

Chichester bar: 1404 4.9m; 1935 1.0m; springs

1325: Motored to bar from Itchenor. Anchored. Refuelled outboard. 1355: BBC forecast: engine noise interfered with reception, so stopped motoring long enough to find ‘variable 3, becoming E 3/4’. 1435: Set sail after lunch, course 260m, wind E to SE, 2+. Sunny. 1615: Horse Sand Fort, 4 miles in 1 hr 40min or 2.4 kts. Crossed main channel between forts in 25 mins. No shipping. Wind SE 3. Once passed Ryde Pier still difficult to see Wootton Beacon as it is black against a dark coast with the sun reflecting on the water. 1755: Forecast 3 becoming cyclonic W 3/5. 1810: Picked up Wootton Beacon. Motored in at LW — 1hr. Picked up a mooring near Royal Victoria Yacht Club pontoon. Boat soon dried out on mud. Evening meal of tinned mince, mixed vet, rice pudding and fresh fruit, cooked on Camping Gaz stove which I fix onto a plywood base for additional stability (cost £10). I keep hot water in a stainless steel thermos so I can have hot drinks when I need them. 2030: Enough water to get ashore to phone home (LW + 1hr) 2110: Motored to a quieter spot for the night. Nice sunset, peaceful night.

Tuesday 14 June

Chichester bar: 0211 4.8m; 0757 0.7m 1451 5.0m; 2022 1.1m

0555: Forecast wind variable, cyclonic E, becoming W 7. Red sunrise, sheltered so not much wind. Breakfast of sausages and beans plus sandwich and coffee. Refilled thermos with boiling water. 0600: Motored past Wootton Beacon. Anchored to east as ferries do a 180º turn near the beacon after leaving Wootton. 0628: Anchor dragging, so moved further E and more inshore to reset. 0700: Put on wet weather clothing as wind made it look like a wet crossing. Set sail beating NE to SE. 0748: Close to Kemp buoy — orange not yellow as on chart. Rougher water near N Sturbridge buoy. Met 2 ferries going in opposite directions near ‘half way’ point. Wind f4. RORO and another large vessel ahead. Anchored near 8a anchorage but swinging about quite a bit with changes in wind and tide. Kept at least half a mile from them. Altered course from aiming for Spit Sand Fort more towards Hamilton Bank as I had decided to go into Portsmouth for shelter as wind seemed to be getting stronger and I felt like having a rest before getting too tired (I am 60). Picked up the Portsmouth Channel at QR buoy opposite Clarence pier. A flag on Fort Block House — a signal that a RN vessel was leaving? No shipping in or out so no problem even though the entrance is a bit narrow. The flag was a white ensign.

Tide and wind in my favour — picked up a mooring near Ballast buoy close to Gosport ferry pier at 0930. Sailed 5 miles in 2.5 hrs or at 2.kts. Re-stowed anchor. I should have done this before crossing the Solent as I might have needed it in a hurry. Refreshments and a rest. 1017: Motored out of Portsmouth keeping to the small boat channel. Crossed the main Portsmouth channel at the narrowest point between buoys F1R5s and F1G5s to gap between barrier over Horse Sands. Wind f3/4 S of E. Heavy going. Refuelled. Up sails. More comfortable sailing off the wind than motoring into it. Difficult to get to the E with wind against tide at f4. Forts in transit at one stage with Langstone Fairway buoy. RB beacon 2-3 cables to port, but at another stage as close as 1 cable on a different tack. 1300: Could see Langstone Fairway buoy, so decided to go in. Wind on starboard quarter (HW -2hrs; springs). Tide very fast. Fishing boat on starboard side of channel appeared to be coming out fast with a large bow wave. No room for me to go any further to starboard despite a steep‑to shore in this area. Luckily the fishing boat was moored to an almost submerged buoy which was causing the ‘bow wave’. Even if I had got my Suzuki 4 hp working I don’t think I would have had much control of the boat if I did have to go about against that wind and tide. Quieter water near the ferry crossing. 1330: Picked up a mooring in the Kench as there is a phone nearby on the roadside. 1755: Forecast SE 5-6 becoming SW. Not too good and I had already decided that I had had enough exercise for one day.

Wednesday 15 June

Chichester bar: 0256 4.8m; 0845 0.8m 1539 5.0m; 2108 1.2m

0555: Forecast variable 3, becoming SW 4/5. Decided it would be too windy outside of the harbour and difficult to get back into Langstone and possibly over Chichester bar at ETA 10 - 11 am or HW -4 hrs. 0700: Took down mast. Tide ebbing fast out of Sinah Lake. 0800: Motored up Langstone channel which did not show the perches as on BA chart 3418. There were two green buoys not shown on my chart (dated 1984). Went aground near one buoy — gravel sounding bottom on 09 area opposite S Binness Island. 0915: Tide still ebbing. Not enough water to get far along South Lake. Muddy bottom with areas of shingle. Tide from Langstone side carried me to a narrow gap between obstructions — remains of old railway bridge. Even with only 6-8” of water there was a strong current under the bridge and I had to fend off the boat against the barnacle covered bridge supports. Anchored near the yellow ‘Bridge’ buoy. Up‑mast. Had to wait for tide to rise to get into New Cut channel. 1130: Motored past Northney Marina, wind f3+. Anchored near Oar Rythe. Refuelled. Before reaching N Pilsey G buoy I cut across Pilsey Sand towards Stocker Lake and picked up the main channel past NE Sand Head (F1R 10s buoy). 1330: Picked up my mooring at Itchenor.

LESSONS

1 Need enough fuel, water and food for 3 days as I originally only intended to be out for two. Two changes of clothing. I got wet wading ashore to phone home on Tuesday. Luckily managed to remain dry on Wednesday.

2 I was picking up BBC forecasts more frequently than on my Selsey trip in June.

3 Nice to have an outboard to fall back on. Uses about 5 litre in 3 hours, enough for about 12 miles.

REFERENCES

British Admiralty charts 2050 Eastern Solent, 294 Eastern Solent, 3418 Langstone and Chichester harbours. Stanfords No 11 chart of the Solent. Adlard Coles’ Creeks and Harbours of the Solent