We headed off early on Monday morning towards Cowes en route to Chichester, our next stop. Conditions were warm, sunny and extremely calm. The waters of the Solent are some of the busiest in the world but we were early enough to dodge the worst of the bank holiday traffic. We were treated to views of Cowes, Osborne House and Portsmouth’s Spinnaker Tower as we headed further east.
Osborne House (Queen Victoria's holiday cottage)
Traffic
As the crow flies West Wittering beach is probably one of the closest to London. From the foredeck of Distant Drummer it appeared to be covered in upright wooden posts. However as I refocused my binoculars the ‘posts’ were clearly clothed and moving around. The entire stretch of sand was teaming with people enjoying a day by the seaside. Well, it was May bank holiday after all. To our port side we passed Hayling Island sailing club which was our cue to turn to starboard and head for Pilsey Island, a tiny nature reserve and our anchorage for the night.
Anchored off Pilsey Island
We dropped anchor a few yards off the eastern side of Pilsey among half a dozen or so other yachts and motor cruisers. After the obligatory ten minute wait checking transits on the shore we were satisfied that the anchor was holding nicely and we relaxed with a well earned cup of tea.
Landing is allowed on Pilsey and also neighbouring Thorney Island although both restrict visitors to the shore below the high water line. In Pilsey’s case this is to protect its fragile flora and fauna. Thorney is also home to a wealth of wildlife but the restrictions there are also due to the fact that it is home to the British Army’s Baker barracks owned by the Ministry of Defence.
Harbour Master approaching
Chichester harbour is an enormous area of tidal waterways and salt flats supporting a plethora of wading birds, waterfowl and the odd seal. One surfaced right next to our boat later that evening. The whole area is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and has SSSI status (Site of Special Scientific Interest). It is looked after and managed by the Chichester Harbour Trust so we were more than happy to support them through payment of a £5 anchoring fee when the harbour master’s launch pulled alongside to greet us. He also helpfully provided us with an information leaflet about the harbour and reassured us that our chosen anchorage would be fine for that evening in terms of wind and weather. Always good to know from a comfort point of view. As he untied to continue his rounds we were amazed to discover that virtually all the other boats occupying our anchorage had hurriedly heaved up their anchors and headed off; presumably not as keen to support the work of the trust.
Sunset over Thorney Island
The sun set in spectacular fashion and as darkness fell we were treated to a stunning display of stars including ‘The Plough’ constellation directly above our mast head. We later found out that parts of the harbour have ‘Dark Sky’ status and are some of the best places in Britain for star gazing. Exhausted after our cruise from Newtown we headed for bed unlike one of our neighbours on the anchorage (who had conveniently arrived after the threat of visits from the harbourmaster had subsided). Sound carries very well across open water, particularly on a still, starry night, and their storytelling and laughter continued late into the night.
Time to go
The following morning we awoke to an empty anchorage. Our neighbours had made early starts to make the tide out of the harbour. However we are less constrained by depth as DD will happily float in less than a metre of water. Beautiful as it was, we elected to leave Chichester behind and make for Brighton as a favourable tide and a gentle south westerly breeze would prevail pushing us ever eastwards.