Chichester Bar

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ebbtide

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Have just been walking on West Pole Sands, taking advantage of LW Springs and high pressure (1031mb) to have a good reccy.

As I promulgated in YM over 10 years ago, the so-called Inner Swashway along Hayling Beach is still blocked and there is no advantage in sailing close to the groynes, in fact you will encounter a high bank as you round Eastoke Beacon.

Best water, still showing at 0.7m above datum, is very close ( a couple of boat's lengths) to Chichester Bar Beacon itself. That's the single pile, not to be confused with the West Pole tripod.

However, there are drying sands immediately inshore (North) of this gap, and some more drying ridges which cause breaking seas, immediately to seaward. Accordingly a course precisely E-W should keep you clear of both.

So leaving harbour the tide gauge on Eastoke Beacon (not easy to read due to small digits - am pressing HM for improvement) provides key data to this passage by showing 0.7m less than actually exists.

Warning: these sands do change after a gale; feel free to check with me for an update.
 
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However, there are drying sands immediately inshore (North) of this gap, and some more drying ridges which cause breaking seas, immediately to seaward. Accordingly a course precisely E-W should keep you clear of both.


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Hi - just to confirm, Can you therefore avoid going to West Pole tripod, and turn West at the bar beacon on leaving? I hadn't realised thare was a gap in the sandbanks at this point.
 
Yes!
But it's not very wide, isn't consistent, and in some conditions the breakers on either side make it a brown trouser job!! That's when you go right out round the West Pole tripod of course, whatever the depth.
 
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Yes!
But it's not very wide, isn't consistent, and in some conditions the breakers on either side make it a brown trouser job!! That's when you go right out round the West Pole tripod of course, whatever the depth.

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I'm not that brave. I generally aim for a about half way between West Pole and the Bar beacon.

Is the "deep" water roughly where it says 10s 10m on the chart below?



New-Harbour-Beacons-web.jpg
 
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Apologies to Malaprop - didn't mean to make light of the good info. Many yachts do seem to take the short cut depending on tide. I watched several cut quite a chunk off last Monday at high water. I just wonder if it's worth it for the distance saved.

It would be interesting to know more about the possible route from East Head (Mid Winner/East Winner)? across to the Bar Beacon. I've seen that done at high-ish water, although again, not sure I would want to..
 
We came in ( with the keel fully up!) last Sun at LW on predicted 0.8m on a heading more or less due North. Found it as Malaprop says but also went over a hump to the south of the tripole beacon itself to same depth 1.9M as the shallowest we saw on the bar itself, not that I was trying to keep to the deepest water scour especially.

I normally turn after the single pile as it avoids the bunching that sometimes occurs at the Tripod, but sometimes you do get a bit of a rollercoaster beam sea.

As the gravel hump opposite HSC continues to grow and creeps north more, I think the narrowing gap between north winner green and fishery cardinal, will lead more people will go out via the flat sand route between winner gravel hump and east head. This route was only just awash on Sunday at 0.8M tide so is more than ok for me from half tide and I see the fishermen always use this route from/to the east after half tide.

Brian
 
I always leave and arrive around high water, I need 2.4m of tide to get in and out of Mill Rythe, so there's always plenty of water from about halfway to the Bar beacon. The advantage of turning early is when you're motoring out, the wind usually being on the nose, and being able to turn it off and get sailing. The most usual reason for talking the long way around is breaking waves, particularly west of the west pole beacon, not lack of water.
 
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:)


It would be interesting to know more about the possible route from East Head (Mid Winner/East Winner)? across to the Bar Beacon. I've seen that done at high-ish water, although again, not sure I would want to..

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That was probably me - drawing only about .75 of a metre I can go places the other boats cant reach.... (though I cant get up to windward so well either!).

There is a narrow channel that runs between E Head and W Winner which is unmarked for the good reason that it shifts almost every tide. I find it by following the edge of the sand down from E Head, usually about 2/3rds the way from the E Head mark and the first of the green Winner buoys. At HW there is plenty of depth, and provided you dont go too near the Winner, no nasty surprises. From the Northern end, I take a course on the Nab, watching the sounder carefully until I am abreast the Hayling LB station, I then head towards the old Bar Beacon (the Inner one), to keep clear of the shoals off the Wittering Beach. At Hw I usually find at least 4 metres all the way in. Definitely not to be done more than 2 hours off HW as it all dries, and the channel does shift around quite a bit. My 'ruleof thumb' is that if the tide has covered all but the northern tip of the Winner bank, then it is safe for me to go. But then a sail a triple keeler and it doesnt matter too much if I get it wrong. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

But dont take my word for it. Before you try it, take a good walk round or pull round in the dinghy near LW and get some bearings of your own and make your own mind up whether I am a total loony for doing it /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Very interesting. I once crewed on a fin keel westerly tasked on a YMI prep course to sail through one of the intertidal channels in Langstone harbour where the chart was totally green. Great fun when we werent skippering. When we got through the instructor remarked how he had never done it before except in a tender with a lead line.
 
I draw 1.2 keel up and use it, my go nogo marker is the amount of swell and amount left dry on the winner gravel hump as I go past East Head. I turn left before the yellow race bouy and keep that and Nab on transit till opposite Chi Beacon post.

Will prob use it Tuesday morning if crew are not too late getting down to the yacht.


Brian
 
It was actually a biggish Westerly using known transits. I see that BrianHumber does it too.
Funnily enough I noticed a few mobos anchored over there on a rising tide yesterday.
Thanks for the info.
 
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Funnily enough I noticed a few mobos anchored over there on a rising tide yesterday

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Did you see the mobo getting blown on just west of EH spit buoy? We've gone and helped but we draw too much .... especially as he was roostertailing sand/stones along the beech!
 
<<Did you see the mobo getting blown on just west of EH spit buoy?>>

No, what time did that span? We were being very unsaily and tucked ourselves as close in to Hayling Bay as we dared, so that the boys could wakeboard off the little rib. Although they did enjoy it and the ladies were happy to be just "boating", I was very envious of the sailing to be had!

Hope he didn't sustain too much damage in that North Easterly. We started to turn for a Wayfarer that turned turtle with not much hope of righting it but a big rib got there ahead of us.
 
It was worth it for me last Saturday. I was hard on starboard tack, sailing east, and couldn't be bothered to put in another one so sailed in between bar beacon and pole 1 hour before HW springs. Lowest depth was about 3.8 m, about 50 yards west of a transit line between the pole and the beacon.
 
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