Chichester Cruise

On a lovely sunny late September day, 6 of us arrived at HISC for our last cruise of the season - Dave Rabbetts, Nick Kidd, Steve Fletcher, Simon Barker, Owen Dimond and myself.

We received a warn welcome from Theo and his team at HISC and launched at 10.30. Thankfullythere was a bit more wind than originally forecast at 8mph from the NE, and we made good progress beating up the Chichester channel, with the help of the incoming tide, landing as planned at Cobnor Point to regroup. On landing I received a message from Simon to say he

and Nick had been delayed by a broken UJ suffered by Nick on launching, this was quickly replaced and they were on their way.

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Due to this slight delay and the fairly light wind we decided to push on to Dell Quay, and miss out the Bosham coffee stop.

Setting off again we had a great time beating through the many boats moored line astern along the channel near Itchenor, then on to Dell Quay and our lunch stop at the Crown and Anchor, landing just before HT at 12.30. Most opted for a small portion fish and chips, which was just right.

Launching again at 1.40 still in sunshine but with a bit less wind we then had a run back up to Longmore Point, then back through the moorings to regroup again at Cobnor Point, despite the lighter wind we had made good progress with the help of the outgoing tide. After a short break the wind picked up a bit and we enjoyed a nice broad reach for the last leg back to base, landing at 3.30.

Despite fairly light winds it had been a very enjoyable days cruising, in this scenic estuary with unseasonably warm sunshine, we had covered 16.2 miles in about 3 hours sailing time.

A great way to round off another successful cruising season.

Richard