Managed to escape from work early and having already packed the car, took off for Chichester mid afternoon. All day at work the rain had been hammering down, interspersed with a few bright and dry periods, so with one eye nervously on the skies I stocked up at Tesco.
It was relatively dry and bright when I got to the boat and loaded clothes, stores and fuel aboard. Brad, Peter Tiplady and Colin Wood were already in their berths so general drinks and nibbles were consumed until Brad Colin and I adjourned to CYC for a meal were as well as good company, good food and too much beer we enjoyed a fantastic sunset.
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| Sunset at CYC Don't forget - you can click on the photos to see them full scale. |
We adjourned quite early that night and got a good nights rest.
Friday 24th
Tony needed some supplies so he and I de camped early to Tesco where we also had breakfast - very welcome it was to......
We returned to the marina and Brad did sterling work, helping launch the continual stream of boats that seemed to arrive in ones, twos and in one spurt 5 together. This was in between showers and cold strong winds - I don't know if we were wetter and colder on the pontoon than we would have been had we just jumped in...
Almost all were launched by late afternoon and the camp site in the field behind was set up and flourishing. We all adjourned as planned to CYC for a group meal, where I made a short, hopefully, welcome speech and introductions were made. Brad and I seemed to make it our mission to make sure all the bar staff had finished before we left as well.
Saturday 25th
What a difference! The day dawned bright and sunny with not a lot of wind. By briefing time the wind had piped up a bit but just right for a first day out. In spite of best efforts to miss the Bank Holiday queue for the lock we could n't leave our berths for sometime - then almost as soon as we had been called the lock went to free flow so the whole fleet popped out into the harbour quite quickly. As a result, after about 20 minutes I abandoned the idea of heading up towards Dell Quay - the wait for the lock and the free flow departure had ensured the flood tide was slackening and the fleet was quite tightly bunched so we turned down the harbour and headed for our lunch time stop at East Head.
The light wind required some judicious tacking in the moorings and more than one resorted to the engine.
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| 5M Peterboat and a Dabber |
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| Moonstone leading the pack |
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| A collection of Coasters |
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| Wide angle - Itchenor Reach |
Lunch was taken at East Head and the fleet set off for the journey back to the marina by about mid afternoon - all apart from Little Dipper who had got someone's warp stuck up inside the centreboard casing.
Valiant efforts by Richard Goldsmith trying to tow them off resulted in him falling in and all too soon the ebb had left them high and dry with a partially down centre board. There was nothing to do apart from ensure they had food and water, warm clothing and wait for the water to come back - Roger and Anita are very experienced and when I phoned to check on them later they were sat on the beach having a BBQ and drinking wine ......
After a diversion to help a RIB back to its mooring I got back to the marina and soon the tented village on the green emerged and the BBQs were lit.
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| Note the ladder rack BBQ set up |
Bill Pidgeon brought his rather unique fair ground gazebo and the band were soon in full swing.
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| Setting Up |
At one point it seemed that anyone who entered the bandstand picked up an instrument and started playing - on occasions more players than audience.....
Many of the passers by stopped to stare and even take photos - we certainly caused a stir.
Sunday 26th
Another sunny and warm day - quite a bit of wind but nothing too much to handle. Roger and Anita had finally made it back at about midnight and so the maintenance crew set to . Many hands make many decisions...
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| "I reckon if you just pull this......" |
before we decided (I think it was Bill P) to put a rope around from the stern under the boat. After a couple of near misses pulling on both end (when one end relaxed un-expectedly you can imagine the result on the other.....) we tied it off on a cleat at the end of a finger pontoon and all pulled the other end on a much wider and longer main walkway - RESULT.
The plan was to go up to the top end of the harbour beyond Dell Quay and then down to the Thorney Channel for lunch but many of us had a nice sail up and then picked up a buoy and spent a lazy lunch and early afternoon before heading back in.
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| Stephen and his father |
Most of the remainder at the marina decamped to take advantage of CYC hospitality again and after much wine and beer another day was done.
Monday 27th
Another bright and sunny day - some went sailing but most had to pull out and be away but all in all a great success - 24 boats and about 45 - 50 people, skippers, crews and visitors - a great weekend.
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