oldrascal
Active Member
To bowdlerise the well know luvvie saying in the acting world, I am "resting between sailing boats" at the moment until some peace and some sign of a pulse returns to my investments and I can "splash the cash" on a new sailing boat.
So in the meantime, I drive an adorable 17ft Dell Quay Dory which I dry berth at Chichester Marina. Now it might not be glamorous, but for a mobo it is just a great and wonderous thing. It has a massive amount of room, is totally stable (Cathedral hulls) and cost me not very much - at least I get to scratch that itch. And it is one of the few powered vessels that doesn't seem to antagonise the sailing fraternity who always smile and wave. But then she is an old lady from another era.
I went out at midday with SWMBO and children making for East Head to throw out the hook and enjoy a swim and picnic at anchor. Now I know that Chichester Harbour is pretty fraught at the weekend, what with dinghy racing out of CYC, Itchenor, Cobnor and so on. As it was half-tide and there was plenty of shoal water, I was pretty impressed with the general skill level of nearly every sailboat that I came across in avoiding these fleets and generally showing good spirit. Having read some of the threads , I wish that I could buck the trend and say the same about the mobos - some compliments about skill and thoughtful and courteous behavior for example. But no such luck. Here is a wee list of what truly shocked me:
**
Locking out of Chi Marina with nearly the whole lock width being taken up by a 52ft triple-deck monster with just enough room for the Dory to fit alongside. The thing was so unwieldy as the lock level dropped, that the skipper/crew couldn't control it with the inevitable squashy consequences. Luckily the Dory is made of stout stuff.
I followed this stinkpot out of the lock and had to drop back by a hundred yards as the skipper opened the throttles. This produced so much turbulance in the approach channel that it was tossing the Dory around in a reasonably uncomfortable way. I have no idea what speed he was making down channel but his wash was throwing about even big yachts on their moorings.
**
I saw several mobos ploughing through the moored boats on Itchenor Reach at speeds clearly well in excess of the statutory 8 knots - more like 15 knots or so looking at their wakes. And having no thoughts or care about cutting straight across the paths of a fine fleet of Sunbeams, Swallows and Xs who were having a cracking time.
**
We were peacefully at anchor off East Head amongst 20 or so other boats, enjoying the sun and peace and quiet. I noticed how careful most new arrivals made their way at a snail's pace through the fleet before heading up and throwing out the hook. It is always a pleasure to see good sailing skills. But then, sure enough, a newcomer in a biggish mobo stormed through the anchored boats at 10 -15 knots before fetching up near the beach. No sooner was his anchor down, than we had the joy of sharing his taste in blaring hip-hop music. Just like Ibiza - luvverly.
**
In open water coming back from East Head and approaching Deep End, I spotted a big RIB on a reciprocal course. As we had boats under sail either side of us and had liitle room to manoeuver, I steered to starboard a touch to initiate a port-to-port crossing as the RIB's intentions were not clear. As the RIB was cracking on, the gap closed pretty rapidly and I started to worry that the RIB hadn't seen us as he was still making a beeline for us. I began to consider taking violent evasive action but he altered course at the last moment and passed within a boat's width giving us the pleasure of the rooster tails from his matched 250HP outboards. Prat.
My previous 'home' was a 37 foot sloop kept at Port Hamble - and in spite of the large amount of traffic in Southampton Water and the Solent, I have never seen so much intense thoughtlessness as I saw today in one 4-hour period in Chichester Harbour. I have come home wistful and not a little dismayed. Now where did I put that unpretentious little Burgundy?
So in the meantime, I drive an adorable 17ft Dell Quay Dory which I dry berth at Chichester Marina. Now it might not be glamorous, but for a mobo it is just a great and wonderous thing. It has a massive amount of room, is totally stable (Cathedral hulls) and cost me not very much - at least I get to scratch that itch. And it is one of the few powered vessels that doesn't seem to antagonise the sailing fraternity who always smile and wave. But then she is an old lady from another era.
I went out at midday with SWMBO and children making for East Head to throw out the hook and enjoy a swim and picnic at anchor. Now I know that Chichester Harbour is pretty fraught at the weekend, what with dinghy racing out of CYC, Itchenor, Cobnor and so on. As it was half-tide and there was plenty of shoal water, I was pretty impressed with the general skill level of nearly every sailboat that I came across in avoiding these fleets and generally showing good spirit. Having read some of the threads , I wish that I could buck the trend and say the same about the mobos - some compliments about skill and thoughtful and courteous behavior for example. But no such luck. Here is a wee list of what truly shocked me:
**
Locking out of Chi Marina with nearly the whole lock width being taken up by a 52ft triple-deck monster with just enough room for the Dory to fit alongside. The thing was so unwieldy as the lock level dropped, that the skipper/crew couldn't control it with the inevitable squashy consequences. Luckily the Dory is made of stout stuff.
I followed this stinkpot out of the lock and had to drop back by a hundred yards as the skipper opened the throttles. This produced so much turbulance in the approach channel that it was tossing the Dory around in a reasonably uncomfortable way. I have no idea what speed he was making down channel but his wash was throwing about even big yachts on their moorings.
**
I saw several mobos ploughing through the moored boats on Itchenor Reach at speeds clearly well in excess of the statutory 8 knots - more like 15 knots or so looking at their wakes. And having no thoughts or care about cutting straight across the paths of a fine fleet of Sunbeams, Swallows and Xs who were having a cracking time.
**
We were peacefully at anchor off East Head amongst 20 or so other boats, enjoying the sun and peace and quiet. I noticed how careful most new arrivals made their way at a snail's pace through the fleet before heading up and throwing out the hook. It is always a pleasure to see good sailing skills. But then, sure enough, a newcomer in a biggish mobo stormed through the anchored boats at 10 -15 knots before fetching up near the beach. No sooner was his anchor down, than we had the joy of sharing his taste in blaring hip-hop music. Just like Ibiza - luvverly.
**
In open water coming back from East Head and approaching Deep End, I spotted a big RIB on a reciprocal course. As we had boats under sail either side of us and had liitle room to manoeuver, I steered to starboard a touch to initiate a port-to-port crossing as the RIB's intentions were not clear. As the RIB was cracking on, the gap closed pretty rapidly and I started to worry that the RIB hadn't seen us as he was still making a beeline for us. I began to consider taking violent evasive action but he altered course at the last moment and passed within a boat's width giving us the pleasure of the rooster tails from his matched 250HP outboards. Prat.
My previous 'home' was a 37 foot sloop kept at Port Hamble - and in spite of the large amount of traffic in Southampton Water and the Solent, I have never seen so much intense thoughtlessness as I saw today in one 4-hour period in Chichester Harbour. I have come home wistful and not a little dismayed. Now where did I put that unpretentious little Burgundy?
