East Head, Chichester Harbour

[Seajet]

How daft can small-boat crews be, to anchor in a busy spot without a riding light? Surely staying visible is top amongst the unbreakable rules of responsible cruising. If mini-cruisers drop their hooks and hope not to be flattened, isn't that akin to Russian Roulette?

Dan,

you'd be surprised how many people with boats small or large don't use anchor lights...

There can be excuses / reasons like flat batteries of course, though that would usually be down to bad planning; I have a nifty light on a lead which plugs into the 12v socket, it has a sensor to turn on at dusk, off at dawn; sometime I'll replace it with a brighter less power hungry LED version.

However I do think this change to the anchorage with the electronic charts directing boats straight through the anchored boats is an accident waiting to happen, in fact I think it IS going to happen !

 

[Seajet]

Phew ?!

I've just spoken to the HarbourMaster, he assures me the channel has only moved about 10 metres to the North, and even if people are following their chart plotters instead of looking at the buoys, they still should be clear of the anchorage.

There is a new buoy, 'Snow Hill' marking the N end of the anchorage.

 

[Greenheart]

"Snow Hill"? Odd choice of name. It's a Central London police station, isn't it?

 

[Moonshining]

Spiffing, but what about what I see as a potential major 'gotcha', I use the harbour but never use that website, and I rather doubt many others going to and from Chi marina do...

I think I'll contact the harbour office tomorrow, though it's hard to think how they can really warn people; has this been an actual NTM ?

NTM's 2 and 5 of 2010. You mean you don't memorise them all?

No, me neither, but my email search picked them up. I hadn't even noticed any changes, despite going past them many times. Shows how observant I am.

 

[Bav34]

I've just spoken to the HarbourMaster, he assures me the channel has only moved about 10 metres to the North, and even if people are following their chart plotters instead of looking at the buoys, they still should be clear of the anchorage.

There is a new buoy, 'Snow Hill' marking the N end of the anchorage.

Interested in the 10 metre statement.

We were sailing in on a northerly so, with no outbound traffic, I was sailing right alongside the port hand marks and I have to repeat, the phm's on my 2007 chartplotter were way to the south.

Of course it's a question of scale and recognising that we're not talking about a particularly wide channel I'm still VERY surprised that we're only talking about 10 metres.

If I get a chance I'll take a photo of my track vs the 2007 bouy positions.

Here's Snowhill.

 

[lustyd]

How daft can small-boat crews be, to anchor in a busy spot without a riding light? Surely staying visible is top amongst the unbreakable rules of responsible cruising. If mini-cruisers drop their hooks and hope not to be flattened, isn't that akin to Russian Roulette?

How daft can a skipper be, motoring through an anchorage on a dark and cloudy night without using a torch to confirm that there are no boats whose bulbs have blown or batteries have run down. If people motor in the dark and hope not to hit something, isn't that akin to Russian Roulette?

Perspective is everything

Edit to add, only one of the skippers in this scenario can guarantee avoiding a collision through his actions - it's not the guy asleep and safely at anchor.

 

[Seajet]

How daft can a skipper be, motoring through an anchorage on a dark and cloudy night without using a torch to confirm that there are no boats whose bulbs have blown or batteries have run down. If people motor in the dark and hope not to hit something, isn't that akin to Russian Roulette?

Perspective is everything

Edit to add, only one of the skippers in this scenario can guarantee avoiding a collision through his actions - it's not the guy asleep and safely at anchor.

LustyD,

you are of course quite right - though one needs a searchlight, not a torch; such things are cheap from Homebase now, though they are a pain with only mains rechargers, at least mine is.

However, one has to plan on the prat in order to survive in this game !

So if anchoring there ( and I wouldn't, I know better places ) or let's say somewhere similar, I'd be pro-active about it and try very hard to be off any bee-line track, in the case of our boats trying to be in shallow water unless the bottom is rocky.

I'd make rather sure to have an anchor light up, and make sure it's visible 360 degrees; I also have reflective tape on my hatch garage, and lots of it on the lifebuoy at the pushpit.

If taking the place of the moving boat, well it's worth noting any anchorages - or what look likely spots - on the chart, have a searchlight ready and a sketch of buoys & lights expected to refer to quickly, avoiding 'head down' time peering at the chart.

Incidentally I have radar but it would be useless for this - and head down again instead of looking out - and did have a night vision monocular, which failed after very little use, the supplier going bust in the meantime; avoid 'Yukon' models !

 

[lustyd]

You're right, when anchoring you must be out of the way. The reflective tape is a good idea too. B&Q have a 1000000 candlepower lamp with 12v charger as well as mains.
As for the anchor light - of course switch it on, but you cannot know it will still be on when someone comes along hence my comment about only one skipper having the power to avoid the situation.

 

[Simondjuk]

How daft can a skipper be, motoring through an anchorage on a dark and cloudy night without using a torch to confirm that there are no boats whose bulbs have blown or batteries have run down. If people motor in the dark and hope not to hit something, isn't that akin to Russian Roulette?

Perspective is everything

Edit to add, only one of the skippers in this scenario can guarantee avoiding a collision through his actions - it's not the guy asleep and safely at anchor.

Safely at anchor with no light lit, and come the morning, no sign of an unlit one either at the masthead or hanging in the rigging? I consider that to be dangerously at anchor. No anchor ball once daylight came either.

The daftness was all his, since clearly my speed was appropriate to what I could see, hence why I picked him out before I hit him. No need for the use of torches or searchlights if you can see a few boat lengths and stop before you cover all of them. Needlessly robbing oneself of night vision just makes everything more difficult. Also, backscatter from searchlights can hide almost as much as the beam reveals. A good quality, well focusing LED torch with an output of about 700 lumens is much better.

There's little excuse for anyone not to show an anchor light these days. You can run an LED from a single AA battery for hours on end, they have burn times of tens of thousands of hours meaning that failure is very infrequent, and even then most LED bulbs suited to anchor light purposes have multiple SMLEDs which means that a complete failure is even rarer.

If the onus was on vessels to see rather than be seen, we'd all have headlights fitted to our boats, but it's not and we don't.

 

[Sans Bateau]

innesker, now my fellow forumites have made you think twice (maybe) about anchoring at East Head, perhaps you should read the pilot books carefully and really scare yourself when you learn of the massive dangerous overfalls one can experience when entering Chichester Harbour, why do people keep their boats here?

Alternatively enter the harbour in the right conditions, be sensible about anchoring as you would anywhere else and enjoy. East Head is not my favourite place, but I do see the attraction, far too busy to be peaceful. Where is the best spot? I'll keep that to myself.

 

[lustyd]

Safely at anchor with no light lit, and come the morning, no sign of an unlit one either at the masthead or hanging in the rigging? I consider that to be dangerously at anchor. No anchor ball once daylight came either.

The daftness was all his, since clearly my speed was appropriate to what I could see, hence why I picked him out before I hit him. No need for the use of torches or searchlights if you can see a few boat lengths and stop before you cover all of them. Needlessly robbing oneself of night vision just makes everything more difficult. Also, backscatter from searchlights can hide almost as much as the beam reveals. A good quality, well focusing LED torch with an output of about 700 lumens is much better.

There's little excuse for anyone not to show an anchor light these days. You can run an LED from a single AA battery for hours on end, they have burn times of tens of thousands of hours meaning that failure is very infrequent, and even then most LED bulbs suited to anchor light purposes have multiple SMLEDs which means that a complete failure is even rarer.

If the onus was on vessels to see rather than be seen, we'd all have headlights fitted to our boats, but it's not and we don't.

hehe sorry didn't even notice it was you that posted that, wasn't implying you did anything wrong either way. You're right that there should be a light of course but my point was that even if they had had a light the bulb may have blown and you'd be in the same situation whether the boat had a moron in charge or a good skipper who did everything right. You're right about the LED lights as well, but keep in mind that one LED bulb is around 1/20 the value of my boat Needless to say, I'll be keeping the tungsten! As you said, a good skipper will have the light on and the other good skipper will be going slow enough for the conditions

Hopefully the OP hasn't been put off, East Head is a lovely place to anchor once the daytime crowd has gone home, and Chi entrance isn't bad if you get the tide/wind right. In fact, you almost have to plan to get it wrong like I did this weekend trying to get back for the tide at Emsworth!

 

[stuartwineberg]

Lovely

Firstly I have dragged anchor more times here than anywhere else in the Solent so do bed it in. Also as mentioned elsewhere it gets horrendously crowded during the day in the Summer. That said I witnessed a 6pm miracle. Suddenly, as the sun dropped what seemed like hundreds of boats headed for the exit and by about 6-30 we had the place pretty much to oursleves and the photos of the boat taken from the dinghy against the setting sun are still the highlight of my collection - wonderful spot if you wait for the crowds to leave.

Oh yes - home to some of the most aggressive stand on dinghy sailors in creation - do gibe them room

 

[lustyd]

Oh yes - home to some of the most aggressive stand on dinghy sailors in creation - do gibe them room

I actually had a dinghy sailor appologise to me this weekend. He was stand on and I gave way quite happily but he still shouted sorry and thanks as I passed behind. I don't think I was imagining it....

 

[Simondjuk]

hehe sorry didn't even notice it was you that posted that, wasn't implying you did anything wrong either way. You're right that there should be a light of course but my point was that even if they had had a light the bulb may have blown and you'd be in the same situation whether the boat had a moron in charge or a good skipper who did everything right. You're right about the LED lights as well, but keep in mind that one LED bulb is around 1/20 the value of my boat Needless to say, I'll be keeping the tungsten! As you said, a good skipper will have the light on and the other good skipper will be going slow enough for the conditions

Hopefully the OP hasn't been put off, East Head is a lovely place to anchor once the daytime crowd has gone home, and Chi entrance isn't bad if you get the tide/wind right. In fact, you almost have to plan to get it wrong like I did this weekend trying to get back for the tide at Emsworth!

No need to apologise and no worries, mate. I was just concerned that I'd given the impression that I was steaming through the pitch blackness at 6 knots, beer in hand, cabin lights blazing up from the companionway and impossible to see beyond, with gay abandon, when in fact I was creeping along, peering into the gloom, cursing the drizzly mist for making the searchlight about as much use as if I'd shone it directly into my own face and the big LED torch marginally better, but still not great help. I must have been going steadily, I didn't even have the chute up.

As for the LED anchor light, I got one of those dusk to dawn hanging jobbies, which retail at about £30 off eBay for a fiver because it flickered. Solution, bend the sensor to a slightly different position so that it didn't keep lighting up and immediately telling itself it was dawn, turn itself off, telling itself it was dusk, lighting up... and so on. An LED bulb for it is about £4. One LED, self-switching anchor light for under a tenner and a 30 second repair.