Chichester moorings

[Tidewaiter2]

You forgot the Chinese takeaway...

Tom,

Depending on your boat, I reckon you'd be missing out then.

Over the years I've had the odd summer, winter or both in Emsworth Marina, and it's a delightful spot to be in. 01243 377727 ( no connection ).

Downsides;

Restricted entrance due to sill - yes it could be too restrictive to a deep keel boat, especially one that wanted frequent trips ( I say that as I'm still daft enough to be surprised how many boats stay static all year ). There is an accurate tide guage at the sill, if one can't see it from the berth there's a short walk to right by it. My boat draws just over 2' keel up so, fine for me.

Very narrow finger pontoons which dive alarminglywhen even a lightweight person steps on them gently, so it can become very like a high-stakes game of 'It's a Knockout', especially in winter - it takes a very brave / foolish person to walk to the end of one of these if there isn't a boat tied on at least one side.

Narrow berths too - sorts the men from the boys, especially as most berths are at 90 degrees to approach.

Plus sides;

The chandlery this began with. 01243 375500 ( I have no connection ).

The yard Seanick offered one can get fastenings etc from.

The place next to it Seanick mentioned does stainless steel to buy or get fabrications done.

As far as I know, there's still an electronics / instruments place beside the chandlery, Greenham Marine.

A real sun-trap in summer, no traffic noise, a great place to be.

A very pleasant walk past the mill-pond into Emsworth, with an unfeasibly good choice of pubs almost all serving good food ( Lord Raglan for excellent value, Bluebell for top quality but tiny needs booking, Sussex Brewery for O'Hagans sausage afficionados, etc ).

Good walks all round in fact.

Indian Restaurant in town square, v.good when I tried it.

Top restaurant Inn On The Quay ( if you wonder about prices you probably shouldn't be there ) and another, Spencers, just past ( see below )

The best Fish & Chip takeaway I know ( go past the roundabout towards the railway station )

That reminds me, excellent rail link.

Interesting town to walk around, with museum, craft / art etc & I'm told a good fabric /materials shop, whatever that is.

Late night One Stop shop ( just past roundabout towards rail station ).

Good Cafe's serving excellent breakfasts etc.

Off licence.

Supermarket ( forget which ).

Reasonable Hardware / ironmongers.

Etc !

Not last or least, Emsworth Marina was established by Admiral Sir Percy Gick.

To my shame, I used to see his Rolls parked up, and think 'another stuffed shirt'.

It was only when I read hs obituary ( written by Jenny Duxford, his assistant / Manageress of the Marina until a few years ago ) that this was the guy who fought through hell in his Swordfish biplane, and with his Nav /Observer whose name I sadly don't know, torpedoed the Bismarck's rudder, leading to her destruction !

Do you get that lot at Chichester Marina or even Port Solent ?! I'm not on commission, so obviously a mug.

........and they deliver to the end of the pontoon. oh and there is another posher Indian next to the real one where the cognasciti go.
Big Coop open in high street til 22.00hrs, PO therein office hours + the Tesco exprees up by the fire station u mention. Real fruit n veg shop and butchers in high st- butchers not as good as our village one mind- but our one supplies the Savoy from village farms, so we're just a bit spoilt!

Nearest Greenham Regis office now at Northshore Yachts- George has gone into semi retirement in Harbour Chandlers back rooms!
Jenny was a character, thats for sure, but run a taut ship.

EYH legend from ancient berth holders is that the lower entrance wiv the tide gauge is down to the Admiral, a JCB, a strong SW gale F9 on a dark night with low water springs.

?Original entrance halfway up A pontoon was a different kettle of fish, but our entrance of choice til we joined the nabobs on B pontoon( but dont mention getting pinned on the crane berth in a strong N wind!!!!)

So nowhere else got ice or snow in Chi?- it encourages careful berth holders who own slip on crampons, and keeps the 'yah bah, soooper, hurrahs' Hamble Scramble mob away coupled with the tidal access which means you have to work the tides.
The vast majority of EYH berth holders are really nice, genuine boat owners who we have been lucky enough to share the last 10 seasons or so with.

EYH or the Hamble- EYH every time- just a week ago, warm enough for lunch in the cockpit-OK, coats & hats on but...
We have often put off going home for another night or until the small hours, just to savour another peaceful Sunday evening in the cockpit.

 

[Lucky Duck]

'seajet'

What is the depth of water retained by cill once you are in the marina?

 

[Tidewaiter2]

the mud is soft, but is the water deep?

'seajet'

What is the depth of water retained by cill once you are in the marina?

Around B pontoon at LW- not fully dredged due to Tarquin going belly up and not paying their share, 1.5, maybe 2m depending which end.
About 2m most of the rest, which has been dredged properly,at LW-would u agree Seajet?

it's the approach channel thats the issue sometimes, about 50?m west of the scrubbing piles outside the lower entrance- we've scraped a ? stone ridge about 3hrs before HW leaving sometimes in the mid channel.
But then, we are terrible mud pluggers!

 

[Seajet]

Jenny was a character, thats for sure, but run a taut ship - Yes I know exactly what you mean, fortunately once she saw

A, we weren't a pushover,

B, we weren't going to trash the place,

She actually was very pleasant, we got on very well but it took some effort to discover that !

I heard the same stories about the entrance, in fact I think it's on an internet site somewhere but I heard it at 'genuine 3rd hand '.

As for the enquiry re. depth retained, I'm not up to speed but there are quite large boats there, my late chum kept his Folkboat there but some boats are a lot deeper, depends very much which berth you get / request / deserve !

I would guestimate a min' of 3' LW, settling into soft mud if deeper than that, some berths a fair bit more but obviously more in demand.

I've never seen a boat leaning on a pontoon there as at some shallow places with hard bottoms beneath mud ( say Ryde esp' in early days ) and once inside depth doesn't seem a particular snag.

There used to be a photo' of a fairly large fin keeler which gambled on getting over the sill and lost; she had an uncomfortable LW but as far as I know that's all, the photo' was posted up by the ( basic but quite OK, don't expect Port Solent ) loos & showers as a warning !

The tide guage is visible on approach BTW ( the sort of thing I find binoculars very handy for ) and there are a couple of drying posts just outside the sill.

One annoying thing was that there was rarely anyone to answer the phone or VHF on a Saturday, so it was a case of either the visitors' berth - hammerhead directly ahead at very close range, 90 degrees on almost as soon as one enters, or trying to divine by signs as to whether a boat is absent for the weekend or not.

This may have changed, I haven't visited by boat for a few years I realise now thinking about it, certainly worth a phone call first if considering a visit.

Another thing I forgot to mention is there's at least one bank ( NatWest ) with a cashpoint.

 

[Tidewaiter2]

Visitors right, then left, straight on, then right hand down a bit

Jenny was a character, thats for sure, but run a taut ship - Yes I know exactly what you mean, fortunately once she saw

A, we weren't a pushover,

B, we weren't going to trash the place,

She actually was very pleasant, we got on very well but it took some effort to discover that !

I heard the same stories about the entrance, in fact I think it's on an internet site somewhere but I heard it at 'genuine 3rd hand '.

As for the enquiry re. depth retained, I'm not up to speed but there are quite large boats there, my late chum kept his Folkboat there but some boats are a lot deeper, depends very much which berth you get / request / deserve !

I would guestimate a min' of 3' LW, settling into soft mud if deeper than that, some berths a fair bit more but obviously more in demand.

One annoying thing was that there was rarely anyone to anser the phone or VHF on a Saturday, so it was a case of either the visitors' berth - hammerhead directly ahead at very close range, 90 degrees on almost as soon as one enters, or trying to divine by signs asto whether a boat is absent for the weekend or not.

This may have changed, I haven't visited by boat for a few years I realise now thinking about it, certainly worth a phone call first if considering a visit.

EYH has a weekend dutyman now=Tony, but he has a job list and a clipboard, so is often out on pontoons! They never were good at vhf watch, phone better.
New V shaped V pontoon inside now, to right beyond the fuel berth, at the base of B pontoon(whose denziens do not bite). Right by the new toilet/shwr block now being built for Easter.

We cracked the Jenny ice when we lived out on our mooring, came in for a SBS, ended up on the crane berth as no other empty berths, and still brought her back a little present from the Show as a ta.

 

[VicS]

For stainless sheet go past my door and on to Olly Taylor, who fabricates in stainless.

Deleted

 

[Seajet]

VicS,

the strong impression I got from Seanick's posts is that Olly Taylor is next to him at Emsworth Shipyard, ie at Emsworth Marina.

 

[mcframe]

Tom,
Not last or least, Emsworth Marina was established by Admiral Sir Percy Gick.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1381964/Rear-Admiral-Philip-Gick.html

"He had also come close to being court-martialled, after telling a gunnery officer to "bugger their Lordships' orders and do as we have always done".
Gick got away with a reprimand, of which he later commented coolly: "Added to those I had already got, [it] made very little difference."

"Gick was accordingly appointed Staff Officer Anti-Piracy (although when the signal from the Admiralty arrived, it had omitted the word "anti"). With the aid of a well-armed team (including a professor of classics) Gick intercepted the pirates at sea.
"The drill was quite simply that, when a strange craft came close to us and answered a challenge with a burst of fire, they received about 10 times the amount they could possibly muster," he recorded later.
"By the time we got on board most of them were dead or dying; we took the junk back with one or two still alive and saw fit to get them to their homes to spread the rumour that there was not much future in piracy." In time, the pirates gave up"

"Among his first acts was to persuade Gracie Fields to come on board and sing for them. They were also suitably impressed when he became the only naval officer to be fined for speeding in the Suez Canal."

I didn't know that.

 

[Seajet]

mcframe,

Ta for that, I'd forgotten !

I suspect there may be the odd one or two sympathisers with Sir Percy on these forums...

Personally I've always suggested a couple of tempting target container ships could be done up in a similar way to 'Atlantic Conveyor', with walls of containers protecting, but this time hiding, Harriers.

Yes, 'Q ships'.

Atlantic Conveyor carrying Sea Harrier fighters & GR3 Ground Attack Harriers to the Falklands, nb Sea Harrier kept armed on the foredeck in case of unwelcome visitors, the rest of the Harriers were in covers to protect them from the South Atlantic spray.

Of course, readers will know the Conveyor was lost after the Harriers had luckily transferred, she was hit by an Exocet with the loss of her great Captain and 11 crew.



I can't help thinking a Harrier rising with rocket pods at the ready would have a laxative effect on Somali pirates...but as this idiot government have binned a national let alone defence treasure we'll never know.

But the bankers are doing just fine...

 

[VicS]

VicS,

the strong impression I got from Seanick's posts is that Olly Taylor is next to him at Emsworth Shipyard, ie at Emsworth Marina.

You are right I had missed the fact that he had moved from Thornham marina!

Oly has moved too. He was on the old main road just outside Emsworth

(About time I paid the boat a visit .. not been down there since October!)

 

[Seajet]

Another thing I forgot to mention ( sure there are more but I'll try to make this the last I think ) is that there's a good slipway, with vehicle access, and a place by it to leave tenders afloat ; it would be a case of contacting the marina office first, as the slip is also used by the hoist.

 

[Tom Price]

"The tide guage is visible on approach BTW ( the sort of thing I find binoculars very handy for . . ."

Binoculars???

More than a mile before you reach the DEPTH GAUGES showing depth over the cill (LHS in anachronistic Roman numerals, RHS in almost equally dated feet and inches) you pass the Emsworth Beacon off to port at the start of moorings in the Emsworth Channel; this has a gauge.

Much nearer is the Echo Beacon marking the wreck of the last Emsworth oyster boat. This also has a gauge and is impossible to misread as you leave it close to stb'd.

But what do these markers and their numbers mean?
I wait for a friendly and knowledgeable local to explain it all to us . . .

(Come in Tidewaiter)

 

[Seajet]

Call me cynical or cautious if you like, I choose to go by guages which won't go out of calibration, and are actually right by the hazard ( sill ) of interest...

 

[Tidewaiter2]

How deep is a piece of string?

Call me cynical or cautious if you like, I choose to go by guages which won't go out of calibration, and are actually right by the hazard ( sill ) of interest...

Yep, esp since it got repainted!
Mind you, 'won't go out of calibration'- have you seen us leaving in a strong W or SW wind?

The big Traders used to belt the sill beacons frequently= it is very narrow for the fatter mariner(in boat terms, that is ) since the sill was refurbed and the poles firmly attached to the ends.
It was a close run thing when the 'George Campbell' used to come in and out too, before she was sold down West last autumn.

Tom, Roman Numerals are just a Classical way of writing one foot, two two foot, three foot, Boing!
Remember, domestic happiness is remembering to switch the keel hoist motor power on before leaving your berth.

I've always wondered what those numbers on the Emsworth and Echo beacon gauges meant too?
I thought it might be how many vacant covers were left that evening in Fat Olives or T'Bluebell? But I could never afford to book dinner to check it.

 

[Tom Price]

"Call me cynical or cautious if you like, I choose to go by guages which won't go out of calibration, and are actually right by the hazard ( sill ) of interest"

Gauges may suffer damage, the local HM may need a reminder to clean the weed off, but recalibration rarely happens. Yet here's an example . . .

To remind you, amongst many eulogies of Emsworth's delights already posted I questioned the significance of several tide gauges located in the approaches.
Today offered a chance to get afloat: sunny, not too cold, wind W4 . . why waste it? This is what I logged:

The seaward marker, West Pole tripod, has a tide gauge. Nothing on the next (Chichester) pile, and Eastoke beacon on the beach has had its gauge removed, presumably because outlying shallows, marked with a buoy, demand clearance.

Hidden amongst the first of the Sailing Club's moorings, opposite their pontoon, is an Easterly cardinal with tidegauge, and 3 miles further North, where Sweare Deep runs off to the NW, is is a Southerly post, also with tidegauge. What do these markers mean?

I could rant about the decline of useful info in today's pilot books which seem more concerned to list pubs and restaurants. Certainly Featherstone and Cunliffe didn't furnish what I was looking for, and I had to dig out the last edition of Adlard Coles' "Creeks & Harbours of the Solent" to find that these gauges all show depth above datum, NOT actual depth at the spot. Moreover, the sill at EYH dries 2.1 metres, which my readings today confirmed. Problem solved, except . . .

After groping my way thro' the Emsworth moorings, with a sharp eye on the echosounder, rounding the green Echo beacon its gauge didn't fit the pattern; old books suggest that it gives advance warning of the depth on the marina sill, but that wasn't true either, as I found when I reached the entrance. Returning close enough to touch the Echo post I dangled a leadline and found that it now shows actual depth at the spot. So it has been recalibrated at some time.

Does that tie up all the loose ends? Not quite, for there are rumours that one end the marina sill is deeper than the other, and that the other entrance behind A pontoon is deeper still; presumably that's where local knowledge scores over the bookworm!

PS Harbourmaster confirms that Echo is now a depth gauge NOT a tide gauge. Also that a new sensor for CHIMET is on order, may be fitted sometime in February.
And a new edition of Chart 3418 is now available.

 

[Seajet]

its gauge didn't fit the pattern; old books suggest that it gives advance warning of the depth on the marina sill, but that wasn't true either, as I found when I reached the entrance. Returning close enough to touch the Echo post I dangled a leadline and found that it now shows actual depth at the spot. So it has been recalibrated at some time

Hence my suggestion to use the guage at the sill ?!!!

If one is interested, it's simple enough to walk up and look at the sill when the tide is out, though as the aptly named Tidewaiter says, the guage bars are unlikely to be far out, as they're attached to the sill...

What more do you want, a microwave guidance beam like we had for Sea Harriers recovering to aircraft carriers in fog, or a laser ?!

 

[Tom Price]

those

"What more do you want, a microwave guidance beam like we had for Sea Harriers recovering to aircraft carriers in fog, or a laser ?!"

What I want is for EYH berth-holders to realise that they can work out acesssibility from data posted in at least 3 places on the way up the channel, thus reducing congestion at the entrance on a fine Bank Holiday Monday afternoon as peeps find that they are too early.

being a Yachtmaster yourself the calculation shouldn't tax you, even if the spelling does.

 

[Seajet]

acesssibility

Tom,

I don't really have a problem with spelling, punctuation or getting into places which give good indications of their entrance depth...Never had a problem getting into Emsworth Marina as I use eyesight, judgement and yes binoculars; if you're so bothered about my having a yachtmaster offshore ticket ( people should not fixate on reading 'profile's, god knows what you'd say if I'd added 'Chief Dinghy Instructor for BAe & Int 14 crew, on hot dinghies as owner or crew since 1972 ) while you don't, go and get one !

It is of course only slightly harder than becoming a qualified Astronaut, and there are 'refresher' week long courses available, to take ahead of the YMO course and exam.

I would strongly advise taking it ASAP in relatively wintery conditions, as that way one gets the top instructors and fellow pupils will be serious, not just out for a sun tan.

Hope this helps,

seajet OUT.

 

[Tidewaiter2]

Relax Folks, it's getting hot in here!

We all sail differently, and have different keel profiles and comfort zones.
'different ships, different long splices' remember.
Lets share the useful info on each other's posts, note it for use if need be, and move on.

We've used both top and bottom EYH entrances, (had one of the 3 dead in front of it on A for 3 years) and it's all down to the conditions on the day.

I speak as one who had to 360 rotate a 37' sans bow thruster in the actual jaws of the top entrance @ HW due to an unexpected strong gust of wind at exactly the wrong moment!
Character building, as i was solo and only going round for some diesel!

Fortunately only audience was Neil waiting on the fuel pontoon to top me up and no scrapes to explain to SWMBO.

 

[bromleybysea]

Just my experience of SeaTeach last summer. I cracked the glass in the forehatch and as it was pretty elderly anyway, decided on a full replacement, ordered from SeaTeach. A week later it still hadn't come and as I was about to go on my holidays contacted them to discover that it hadn't been sent due to an admin c**k-up. So I drove down to Emsworth the following day leaving the east coast at sparrow-fart. They couldn't have been more apologetic, gave me 20% off the hatch and anything else I wanted. I thought they were great.