All photos by Terry Pullen or Judy Porter as stated in individual pop-up.  Hover mouse over image for description. Right click image for larger version in separate window.

Six Wanderers had expressed a prior interest in the August 23rd Chichester Harbour Cruise. On the day only half that number attended, I believe the wet and windy weather during the week before the cruise, of this the wettest August for a very long time,  accounted for two of the absent boats.  The other one got as far as Arundel before frustratingly having to abort and return home. In the event the weather gods smiled on us and we were treated to an absolutely splendid days sailing in this lovely harbour with plenty of hot sunshine and a day long steady F3 from the south.

Two boats gathered on a deserted Itchenor public hard at 9am, ourselves and Wendy and Graham Davis [W1527]. Bev Woolard [W1432] with crew Susie and Mark were to launch from Bosham SC and we would all meet on the water. After a briefing with Graham and Wendy and a similar conversation held over the mobile with Bev we slipped away from the Itchenor shore at about 10:15.

The Bosham Channel was very quiet with little moving. We passed some early stirrings at Cobnor where Bosham SC were preparing for their afternoon regatta but otherwise we had an idyllic sail up the channel at low water. About twenty minutes after launch we spied Bev's Wanderer making its gentle passage down
the channel and having formed into our little 'fleet' of three we sailed out into Itchenor Reach and headed for the vast expanse of sand at Stoker's Lake just off East Head [National Trust].

We have landed on this sand bank before on a few occasions and when the sun is out, you squint with half closed your eyes and imagine a palm tree or two - well you get the picture. This sand bank only appears at low water springs and I hoped that we would be in time for a coffee stop here on our own deserted desert island. However on arrival we had the sun and the imagination but alas, no sand. By the time we got there the bank was just awash with the flood tide and so we altered course and landed at our agreed 'fallback' location of East Head promontory.

For those who don't know this area East Head is a large promontory of sand dunes and Maram Grass owned by the National trust with full public access by foot from west Wittering and of course by boat. It forms the Eastern side of the harbour entrance from the Solent. The beach is a glorious expanse of clean sand with the dunes as a backdrop and shelter from the usual SW winds. It is a popular anchorage and landing area, oh yes - and the sun always shines at East Head, or so has been our experience over the last 12 years of sailing in this area.

We pulled the boats up on the beach, deployed anchors and thermos flasks and retired to the dunes for a coffee break. Again we were amazed by how quiet the harbour was. I had mentioned, in caution, during the briefing of the likelihood of .... having to avoid the racing fleets usually encountered, ..... threading through the array of vessels anchored off East Head and ..... please avoid the swimmers as you come ashore, but this all proved unnecessary as today, inexplicably,  we had the place to ourselves, very rare for an August weekend and much appreciated.

After sitting in the sheltering dunes in the suns heat, did I mention that the sun always shines at East Head, and admiring the views of the South Downs and Goodwood in the distance, we decided to try and make our way against the spring'ish flood tide and pay Hayling Island a visit. This meant crossing the
harbour entrance but if reached successfully we could make use of HISC's splendid new Lottery Funded facilities there being no such luxury at East Head..

Steering a course up-tide and with a steady southerly F3 blowing we had a thrilling reach all the way, the tidal stream was not a problem and we all landed on the quiet little beach westward of HISC's pontoon. Here we spent about 30 minutes or so supping coffee, enjoying the magnificent views of the harbour and making good use of the facilities. The conditions and sail back to East Head were again perfect and we landed about 1:30pm to commence some R&R and have our lunch in the welcoming dunes once again.

After an hour or so of a relaxed and laid back lunch, interspersed with the occasional visit to the boats to adjust anchors warps etc., I suggested that we should  start out return leg. High water was at 4:30pm and I was just a little concerned over the anticipated lack of room at Itchenor Hard for de-rigging. I had reckoned that the state of tide would allow us to sail up the Bosham Channel and say Farwell to Bev and crew before the two remaining boats needed to land back at Itchenor. However this time we should all be able to enter the now flooded area of water off from the main channel and gain access to one of
Bosham's main attractions to sailors - the Mr Whippy ice cream van that always parks, every weekend, with its rear wheels in the water where Bosham 'High street' meets the harbour - this was our goal!

With the favourable wind and flooding tide we had a super run back from East head and entered the Bosham Channel at about 4:40pm having had to sail around the Bosham Regatta area, now in full swing, where we acknowledged several participating Wanderers. The channel was now, contrary to the mornings visit, full of water and as we approached the picturesque harbour side village of Bosham we were, as hoped, able to turn off the main channel and sail directly up to the tail end of Mr Whippy, however I decided it would not be 'the done thing' to tie my painter off to his tow bar. So we stood in both the warm sun and warm shallow water enjoying our melting ice creams while the surprised tourists looked on.  We also had a wry chuckle at the vehicle [there's always one] up to its axels in water that had ignored the warning signs and parked on the shoreline road that always floods at springs!

Having said goodbye to Bev and crew we remaining two boats headed back down the Bosham Channel to Itchenor Reach. A quick hail to Wendy and Graham established that they were in no hurry to end this lovely day's sailing and so we decided to forego our intended landing and set off to locate the obscure entrance to Furzefield Creek, a charming, tranquil little explored area of water just north of and opposite Itchenor and only accessible at high water springs which it was at that very moment.   After a little searching for the elusive withies we both eventually entered this lovely secluded creek and one time watery graveyard for the odd Thames sailing barges, where we were the only boats moving. Our sail took us virtually into the back gardens of some of the large and hidden waterside houses of this area but having now run out of water we turned around and retraced out steps sailed out of the creek on the now falling tide.

We landed at Itchenor Hard about  about an hour after high water at 5:30pm and now had more than sufficient room to derigg it again being still very quiet with little traffic using the hard. It had been one of those memorable days sailing that you experience from time to time and we had covered a lot of water.  As we said our goodbyes to Wendy and Graham they reinforced this thought by confirming that ....."it had been their best days sailing to date". This, from relatively new Wanderer sailors is what cruising in a Wanderer dinghy it is all about.

Terry Pullen Sept. 7th 2004.

Participating boats:-

W1432 - Bev Woolard with daughter Susie and Mark;
W1527 - Wendy and Graham Davis;
W863 - Terry Pullen and Judy Porter [Organisers].