Beautiful Beaulieu

 

On our competent crew course mentioned in the previous post, our colourblind instructor Roger refused to take us into the Beaulieu river, despite its beauty, because he said it was too expensive. Perhaps that's why I have always had a slight hankering to go there. Nowadays as well as the many moorings there is also a marina at Buckler's Hard and that's where we went, although in the end Sam was so worn out by his adventures in Gosport that he didn't get off the boat.

It was another short voyage from Gosport with only about 40 minutes of actual sailing before the wind died yet again, and then a gentle motor up the river with the last of the flood. It is indeed very beautiful, and rather expensive. We were on the work pontoon which would have been a good option to get Sam ashore. I was disappointed by the walks around the area though. On Monday 28th, our arrival day, I went for a short walk after dinner (and after Sam had gone to bed at 8.30pm) but found that the path to Beaulieu itself was awash with puddles in places, and had high hedges on both sides and no view of the river. I'd just managed to divert down to the waterside to take the photo below when the heavens opened and I was totally soaked. Remembering that the boat had most of its hatches open, I tucked my phone into my knickers and started running back, but my eyes were so full of water I couldn't see at all, and had to slow down. Fortunately David had managed to close all the hatches although things were a bit damp. Not as wet as me though.

Upper Beaulieu river, 10 seconds before the rain started

Tuesday was fortunately grey and cool so I was able to work on the CA Newsletter, which took a large chunk of the day. I'd been hoping to meet up with Peta, the CA's PR lady, who lives close by, but in the end she was too busy which was perhaps just as well. By 3pm I'd sent off the PDF and thought perhaps I'd stride off down the Solent Way towards Gins Farm. That proved just as dull as the path in the other direction however, so I returned to Buckler's Hard and did a bit of tourism. I got two discounts in the museum, one for being old and one for being on a boat, so it was worth visiting.

The people in the pub seemed a bit wooden

Is it me or do the boatbuilder's cottages look a bit like Orford?

They launched warships from these slipways

Going to Gosport

I've been falling a bit behind with this blog but we're now in Portland (of which more later) with time to catch up with Stuff. Hooray!

Passing the Horse Sand fort

So on Saturday 26th we left Chichester Marina. Because we were in a very tight berth I thought it as best to slip our lines before calling the lock, but that was a mistake as they have a waiting list and call you in by number. Still, by 11am we were out of the lock and motoring down past Itchenor, exactly on plan. The river was much fuller of water and therefore more confusing then we came in, but although David was tempted by a shallow creek which is not actually a way out, we managed to cross the bar safely and then sail the relatively short distance to the Portsmouth entrance. 

At some point we had to cross or round the Horse Sand Barrier. I was of the opinion that going through the very well-buoyed gap in the submarine barrier at HW springs would be safe, but David thought otherwise, so we went around the Horse Sand fort to the south of the barrier.

Westerlys on the rally were scattered across Hornet, Haslar, Gosport Marina and probably other spots. Our allocated berth was Gosport Marina (once Camper & Nicholson's, and last time we were in there was on our competent crew course with the Westerly Sailing School in 1987!) It had been suggested that we go instead to the joint forces club at Hornet to be handy for the WOA meal, but we had decided to stick with the wide pontoons and hopefully better facilities of Premier Marinas (our fourth Premier in a row). They put us on the main walkway between two pontoons, which was great for Sam and also getting the full benefit of the swell which comes in from the passing shipping. We arrived just after 3pm which gave me just time to join a walking tour of Portsmouth, organised by two WOA members. Of course as they hadn't run it before it took longer than they thought, but it was a fascinating couple of hours. I felt bad leaving Sam for that long, though.

On the Sunday, with a group meal planned, I felt it was a good time to get Sam off and have a shower, despite the numerous heavy rainshowers. The getting off bit worked fine, the shower less so, as it transpired that the main doorway into the marina office was so narrow that Sam's wheelchair wouldn't go through.The entrance seems to have been an afterthought in the relatively new building, as it doesn't actually have a door, so rain can flood in. Hmmm. Sam walked through to the accessible shower room, which did have a wide door and was ok although most of the lightbulbs seemed to have failed.

The walk down to Hornet was damp but pleasant with a great view over Portsmouth, the club sort-of accessible via a ramp at the back and a corridor which was, guess what, too narrow for the wheelchair so Sam had to walk again.... although there was a nice accessible loo, and the meal enjoyable despite being in socially distanced tables of six. I was a bit worried about getting him back on board but with the help of another Westerly owner on the ramp and by lifing Sam from the pontoon straight down into the cabin, all was more or less well.

Former bathhouse, old Portsmouth

Original port of Portsmouth

New Portsmouth - Gunwharf Quay

 

New viewed from the old. There was once an outside lift on the Spinnaker Tower but it got stuck halfway on its inaugural trip and it's not there now

Peace in Chichester

Finally on Wednesday we escaped Brighton and headed for Chichester Harbour. We had hoped to go to Birdham Pool which is said to be full of character, but it is up a tiny creek which really wouldn't give us access until about 9.30pm. So slightly reluctantly we opted for Chichester Marina instead, which is right next door but has a dredged channel, giving us more options. It's also the place where we first got Sam on to a boat after his stroke, on Rob and Jo Pudney's Storm.

There are four tidal constraints on the route from Brighton to Chichester and not being familiar with the area it's difficult to juggle priorities. We had to leave Brighton with enough water in the entrance, given the current dredging. We needed a fair tide for as much of the route as possible and especially either a fair tide or slack water at the Looe Channel, which is the narrow route passing close to Selsey Bill. We needed enough water to get over the bar at the entrance to Chichester Harbour, which has somewhere between 0.8 and 1.5m over it depending on when it was last dredged. And we needed enough water to get into Chichester Marina up their channel, which has less than 1m of depth at low water. 

After some debate we followed a suggestion from Gill, the rally organiser, leaving Brighton at HW, about 1030. This gave us time to sail gently most of the way to the Looe Channel, catch the last of the fair tide there, continue to sail slowly with just the foresail and not much tidal current to the harbour entrance, and then creep over the bar rather slowly at only an hour after low water. Still, there was 1m of tide even at low and we never saw less than 1.5m under the keel. I think David held his breath all the way in but there was no problem. Then we continued gently up through the harbour and locked into Chichester Marina about 1900. As one last challenge our berth was extremely tight but once we had straightened the boat we had just enough room for fenders on both sides.

And what a lovely spot this is, despite the vast number of boats in the marina and the very distant roar of a couple of A roads. Much more our kind of place than Brighton. Unfortunately we had a wobbly and narrow finger pontoon so there was no chance to get Sam off (there's a "boat show" at the marina over the weekend which restricts the options for berthing), but at least he could see trees and hear birds from the cockpit. I enjoyed a walk to Birdham Pool, which I can see might have been a major challenge for access for Sam as well as Kalessin, and on the Friday a slow and slightly muddy run along the towpath of the Chichester canal (disused) which was full of wildlife and nesting birds.

On Thursday Rob and Jo came down to say hello. Jo has early onset Alzheimer's, which must be the cruellest disease there is, but she managed to get on board and seemed delighted to be there and to see us. We were certainly delighted to see both of them, Rob's kindness in 2013 is a major reason we are still sailing now, and it seems a long time since we met up in Piriac. They haven't sailed since 2019 but they have been up in small aircraft and Rob is taking flying lessons. Onwards and upwards....

First good sail of the trip so far

The Chichester Marina channel an hour or two after LW

Birdham Pool, lovely but impracticable for us

Wildlife on the Chichester Canal...

...and the canal's exit to the harbour

 

In the pit: Brighton Marina

Many years ago I was taken on a cross-channel sail by the printer of the magazine I then worked on (Motor), together with the editor and deputy editor. We had a lovely meal in the France et Fuschias in Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, a bumpy and cold passage back, and when we came back into Brighton Marina, with me wearing six layers lent by almost every member of the crew, we passed a lady sunbathing on the foredeck of her motor yacht in a bikini.

Brighton Marina village from above. Mostly Asda car park

The England Coast Path at its finest, under the concrete ramps

It's not quite as sheltered in here as I remembered, but it is just as deep behind the vertical piling, and probably a good deal more tatty. We were really hoping to head from here to Birdham Pool in Chichester Harbour and I thought we might go on Sunday because the weather on Monday and Tuesday looked pretty dire. But it would have meant four or more nights in a rural marina with limited options for eating, drinking or provisions and it seemed unfair to inflict that on the crew, so we are here in Brighton until Wednesday morning at least.

The marina was designed in the late 1960s and opened in 1979. I guess therefore accessibility was not high on the list of requirements and that has not improved a great deal in subsequent years, although we are on a wide finger pontoon. The access to the mooring pontoons is via a central floating jetty leading to a fixed ramp, then an adjustable ramp, and then a roadway. Having tried it I can report that the fixed ramp is just too steep for me to get Sam up it in a wheelchair. I did it, but had that feeling halfway up that I had run out of puff and was possibly about to have a heart attack. If you wait until high water, the fixed ramp is just as steep (because it's fixed), but the movable ramp is also uphill, which just seems unfair.

The main access into the marina village is via Marina Way, a dual concrete road on stilts which curves down from the A259. Underneath it are various pedestrian steps and ramps, all of them, once again, too steep for me to get Sam up. So I believe the only way to get Sam out of here, other than by boat, is by bus or taxi. There are many, many shops, none of which I want to go to, and another depressing Asda.

On the upside, the accessible shower (which is at pontoon level) is good, and after our heart-attack climb out of the pit we had a glass of wine overlooking the boats. 

Downland path

Brighton looking surprisingly distant

And on Sunday morning I found my way out of the marina, up to East Brighton Country Park (which actually seems to consist mainly of sports facilities, schools and a caravan site) and finally on the Downs, 100m above sea level. It was supposed to be a run, although most of the uphill section was more like a walk. Lovely to get out though.

Today, Monday, we have seen gusts up to 24 knots and lots of rain. As you can see I have been catching up with the blog, and also trying to find crew for the section from Portland to Dartmouth as Bob and Elaine can sadly no longer make it (Bob has a long-awaited shoulder op). If you're reading this and you'd like a little adventure between July 4 and 8, please get in touch!

Really the south: Eastbourne

Finally the Westerlys are coming together, with a S coast and E coast fleet meeting at Sovereign Harbour, Eastbourne. This is a huge, completely artificial harbour surrounded by hectares of apartments, an Asda and a selection of shops. The harbour itself is run by Premier Marinas who gave us an excellent berth on the "dogleg", a main walkway quite close to the exit. We're behind a Westerly Konsort Duo which also has a disabled crew member, although she can walk a little further than Sam.

The passage from Dover was very bright, very hot and considerably lacking in wind. Once we rounded Dungeness we were truly in the South, IMHO. We locked in around 3pm on Wednesday along with loads of other Westerlys and enjoyed a few drinks on the beach with the assembled crews in the early evening - just as well we didn't stay too late, as the heavens opened and it has been either raining or very wet and muggy ever since.

In stowing the sail I put my foot on the spray hood, breaking an evidently fragile connection. Thursday saw us tracking down a possible replacement fitting. It turns out that Sea Screw Ltd, a specialist seller of marine fittings, is just a couple of miles away. So I ordered replacement fittings and collected them on my run on Friday. They aren't perfect but I have bodged them into place somehow. I didn't run as far as Eastbourne itself, which was looking misty and slightly more distant than I had hoped.

On the Thursday evening we got together again for a socially distanced barbecue on the beach. The crews were divided into those who had Cobb barbecues, and those who didn't but were fascinated by them. Our relatively new grill plate earned its keep by delivering perfectly grilled burgers which actually tasted barbecued. It also delivered well grilled sausages, but we were already quite full by the time they were done and despite being Asda's finest they were a bit slimy.

Having purchased expensive gas (£37!) and expensive diesel from the marina we locked out on Saturday morning to head to Brighton.

 

Broken connection

Aluminium connector from Sea Screw

 

Fixed hood

Turning the corner: Dover

In all the time we have been sailing our own boats we have never sailed the South Coast of England. We generally get to Ramsgate and go to France. Why wouldn't you? I think we last went to Dover in 2005 when the Channel was unattractively bumpy...

So this trip is breaking new ground for us. Dover is only a short hop from Ramsgate and with not much wind around, the main excitement was the discussions with Dover Port Control about when and where you can enter. With a ferry, even in these Covid times, leaving every few minutes you can never assume there is going to be a gap. Theoretically a new marina should have opened two years ago, it's all there and new and shiny, but it is being badly affected by wave surge and now won't open until 2022 at the earliest. So we were in the Granville dock, accessible three or four hours each side of HW. It's close to the A20 but otherwise relatively secluded. 

New harbour, not in use. Such a waste...

Old marina office by Granville dock, also not in use.

View from the Western Heights

Dover looking posh

The building conspicuously labelled "Marina Office" is no longer the marina office because the staff moved to the new office last week so that they could operate the new lock into the Wellington Dock. The result is very confusing. For example, there is an accessible shower in the Granville Portakabins, but the ramp is at the far end where you can get out, but not in, through the security gate. In the end a marina employee had to come around and let us in so that Sam could get a welcome but rather dribbly shower.

Dover has come up in the world since 2005 but the town centre is still a bit full of fast food outlets and charity shops. I had a nice walk to the Western Heights on the Monday evening and a run to the White Cliffs on the eastern side (walking up the hilliest bits) on Tuesday.

SYH to Ramsgate

Arranging crew for this entire trip has been made easier by the fact that the Commodore of the WOA, David Jibb, has been unable to get out to his boat in Calais, so has volunteered to crew for us from Kent to Portland. However, he wasn’t very keen on travelling up to Suffolk in order to sail back to Kent again (he lives in Deal). After several dead ends, our beloved youngest son and favourite crew Ben volunteered to do the Thames estuary crossing. Hooray!

Last weekend we had a delightful evening at Shotley, enjoying a barbecue with the growing Westerly fleet, and this Friday we rose at the crack of dawn in order to set off from SYH to Ramsgate. We had a good fast passage with SW winds until we got to North Foreland, where the wind went due S and the tide turned foul. Then we crawled the last five miles or so at about three knots. The entrance was horribly choppy but we got there in the end. Unfortunately we are on an ordinary finger pontoon which is very wobbly so Sam hasn't been ashore here - a senior bod for the marina did ask late on Saturday if we wanted to move to a sturdier location but it was really not worth it by then.

After lunch on Saturday I walked with Ben to the station and enjoyed a wander through the town on the way back. It's actually quite a long way.

I've been suffering sciatic pain but it's easing off a bit, so on Sunday morning I set off for a run  to Broadstairs at beach level and back along the top of the cliff. It was hot, but good to be exploring new territory. I had lots of pauses to rest my leg, admire the views, and read the information boards. 

 

Our crew, WOA Commodore David Jibb, joined us in the afternoon. We're very glad to have him on board, especially as he arrived with a feast of asparagus with poached eggs and hollandaise sauce, followed by scrummy cakes and raspberries! There are quite a few Westerlys here now but they are quite scattered around, so we didn't get together until we had drinks on the seawall at 5pm on Sunday.

Tomorrow we're off to Dover, with a civilised departure around 9am.

Off we go

In October 2020 the Westerly Owners Association started planning its cruise for summer of 2021. Thanks to the terrific foresight of Bill Miller, sadly not on the cruise because of ill health, it decided to do a cruise based only in England, from Lowestoft to Falmouth in easy stages. The plan was that you could drop in and drop out as required and join any legs that suited you. The timing was great for us, fitting between issues of Cruising magazine. 

Kittiwakes nesting behind the pilot berth in the Trawl Dock

Lowestoft Haven Marina seen from across Lake Lothing

So we have joined, and over the Bank Holiday weekend, along with crew of Alex and David, we did the first leg up to Lowestoft. It was memorable for a number of things: pushing tide as we went north in order to get there in time for the 1900 bridge lift, seeing scoters on route (David knows all about birds) and kittiwakes nesting as we went aground in the Trawl Dock while waiting for the bridge, and enjoying a barbecue with two actual other Westerlys, one honorary Westerly which is actually a Hallberg-Rassy, and one East Coast chair who came by road.

On the Sunday morning I ran the Vitality 10k around Lowestoft, and what a delight it was to be running in a place away from home with lots to look at, a stretch along the seafront where I passed (!) other runners on the same event, and cool, pleasant conditions.

Camilla pausing in mid-10k

From Lowestoft we went down to the Deben, picking up the slimiest mooring on the river at Ramsholt, and enjoyed a delightful and peaceful evening, with a small ceremony to scatter the ashes of an aged parent, before an 0410 departure the next morning. I wasn't quite together enough to take photos, but it was almost worth getting up that early to see the moon laying a last track across the water and the solitary sound of a cuckoo, before seeing the sun bouncing up like a big red balloon as we passed Bawdsey.