"Where do you keep your boat?"

"Chichester Harbour."

Ah! . . . I've been to Chichester Harbour . . . do you go out through the lock?"

"What lock?" . . .

Later I realised he must have visited Chichester Yacht Basin, which yachts enter and leave through a lock, and thought the marina was "The Harbour". Apart from those with an interest in maps and a desire to explore, and those who sail their boats there, that's about as much as most people know about the area. Even those who sail regularly around the Solent have been heard to confess, following a first visit, that they never realised it existed. And yet it is one of the most beautiful sailing areas I know, and also recognised nationally as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is flanked to the north by the low hills of the South Downs which provide a lovely back-drop when approaching from the open sea, but the surrounding shores are level and so there are none of the katabatic winds often experienced in West Country or Scottish waters. Chichester Cathedral spire can be seen from various parts of the harbour, but the harbour itself is not dominated by any large towns and the coastline is rural, with a number of small villages - Bosham, Dell Quay, Itchenor, West Wittering, Thorney, Prinstead, Chidham, Emsworth and Langstone. Although Emsworth is part of a larger urban area, this is not visible from the harbour.

A glance at the attached map will show the harbour as shaped roughly like the palm of an open hand, with the narrow entrance from the sea at the wrist. Immediately inside the entrance is a large stretch of open water from which the two main fairways diverge, Emsworth more or less straight ahead to the north, and Itchenor towards the north east. Off these fairways are many smaller creeks up which one can find peace and quiet, even on the busiest days.

The best site for launching at any state of the tide is Itchenor, which has a good hard, car park, pub, and the Harbour Master's office, where you will also need to go if you haven't paid your harbour dues. These are not exorbitant - £3.50 for a week or a week-end in 2005, or around £16 per annum. Other launching sites are tidal and only accessible about two hours either side of HW - Dell Quay and Emsworth have good hards, but parking might be a problem in Emsworth at busy times. Free and quiet launching can be achieved from the end of Warblington Rd, Emsworth, but this is very tidal. Northney Marina just over the bridge on Hayling Island is popular with some members who like the extra security for their cars and trailers, but at £18 a time.

For the non-sailing members of the family there is plenty to do. There are lovely walks around the harbour shoreline, or go up onto the Downs where you will get wonderful views across not just Chichester harbour, but also Langstone and Portsmouth harbours, and the Isle of Wight. Bicycles can be hired from Fishbourne, where you can also visit the remains of a famous Roman villa. Chichester provides a very good shopping centre, with its four main streets radiating from the Market Cross, and while there, don't forget to visit the cathedral. Chichester has a number of interesting museums and a famous theatre. Within about 20 miles are two very interesting open air museums. At Houghton, near Arundel, is a working museum of Sussex industries, including steam engines, a boat builder, pottery, old radios, etc. Much of the equipment is used to make or repair spare parts for other parts of the museum. At Singleton is a museum of Medieval buildings moved there and re-built from other parts of Sussex and Kent, old methods of farming, etc. Wildlife watching around the harbour is always interesting. The peeping of oyster-catcher and the cry of curlew are frequently heard and Chichester is internationally recognised for its bird life. Seals have been increasing steadily in numbers over the last 15 years or so and while there used to be just one creek where they could be found, they are now appearing all over the harbour, but you'll probably have to be in boat to see those.

For children there are sandy beaches at East Head, an area of sand dunes near the harbour entrance. This area is very popular and gets crowded in Summer, but is magic on a week-day in term-time when there is nobody about and the skylarks are singing. Another sandy beach can be found on Pilsey Island, a small island off the southern end of Thorney Peninsular, just inside the entrance to the Thorney Channel. This is now a nature reserve and not open to the public, but you can walk around the edge, outside the fence. If you like islands there is another you can visit about two hours either side of HW, Fowley Island, just south of Emsworth. This has its own little harbour so you can sail right into the centre of the island.

There are a number of commercial campsites around the harbour area, but none immediately by the water, except for Fishery Creek campsite on the southern end of Hayling Island, and that is only accessible by boat one hour either side of HW. There is an enormous caravan city at the top of Mill Rythe with a small area available for tents, but that also would be very tidal and the launching area looked soft and muddy when I visited last Summer. Mill Rythe is very pretty, but I don't like the caravans.

I haven't mentioned Cobnor yet, where we are holding our 50th anniversary celebrations. This is a private campsite and dinghy park where I am lucky enough to keep my boat, but vacant dinghy park spaces are not readily available. Individual camping is not permitted, but groups and clubs can book the field in advance for their own activities. It's a beautiful, sheltered site surrounded by trees with easy access to the water. A concrete ramp descends to the beach and an electric capstan facilitates recovery of boat and trailer. However, to prevent ruts forming in the approaching tracks and on the hard itself, making things difficult for everybody, the Beale family who own the land don't allow cars on the hard or the ramp, and discourage the launching of heavy boats. Cobnor is an important site for water voles, which are becoming scarce.

From Chichester in reasonable weather one can cruise in a dinghy across to Bembridge on the Isle of Wight, or further west to explore the Solent harbours. One needs to take care on leaving the harbour on the ebb, particularly at Springs, that conditions outside won't be too rough, because it could be impossible to get back in again, even with an outboard. Likewise when approaching Chichester from the sea, one should aim to arrive with the tide flooding. If heading west, as most people are from Chichester, it's best in any case to leave a couple of hours before HW, as the current outside starts running westward two hours before HW. Another way to reach the Solent, if you can lower your mast, is to go under Langstone Bridge, then find your way through the Langstone creeks to Hilsea, where you will need to lower your mast again to go under a succession of low bridges through a canal which runs alongside the M27 and eventually takes you into Portsmouth Harbour. You will need to start this expedition about two hours before HW to be sure of getting all the way through before the water runs out, and take care if the current is running strongly. It is, however, a useful route if the weather is bad on the open sea.

Chichester Harbour provides an excellent training ground for novice sailors, or those who normally sail on inland waters, to learn about working the tides, and a lot of fun and adventures can be had without going out to sea at all. It does get very busy in the Summer months, but as everybody seems to go to East Head, there are lots of quiet creeks where you can escape the crowds, even on bank holiday week-ends. A lot more information can be gained by visiting the harbour website, www.conservancy.co.uk where you can even find out what the weather is like on Chichester Bar.