HISC - Chichester Sandy Point / Black Point - Anchoring

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stevepremia

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Just posted this on the PBO forum by mistake......

Quick question as I am planning for the summer if it were to arrive! I read that HISC own Sandy Point / Black Point! If so how would that affect me if I were to anchor and dry out on the beach (assuming weather, tide and wind etc allowing) to the West of the club house? I have a shallow draft and can dry out comfortably. Would I face the wrath of the club which I know has a reputation for being....shall we say 'protective' of their land! Any advice would be gratefully received.
 
How enraged do Chichester Harbour's masters get, about anchoring just anywhere, other than in official areas? Are the rules waived if the boat is very small?

I'm fascinated by the idea: floating up somewhere like the Nutbourne Channel, grounding deliberately, then sitting out the ebb while RIBs full of officious officials bellow furiously and impotently through megaphones, just out of earshot, across several hundred meters of mud that can't be crossed on foot...:rolleyes:

...granted, one couldn't make much use of being there, trapped by the mud...

...so possibly no policy exists for expressing how forbidden it is, to stop in a place nobody wants to go?

Perhaps it's only forbidden if one drops anchor? Once aground, one can hardly wish one's self free...but if one dropped the hook, it must've been intentional.

I think I'd rather enjoy twelve hours of exquisite peace on the weedy mud-flats; just my boat, stove, coffee-pot and binoculars. Will I get into trouble?
 
dancrane said:
How enraged do Chichester Harbour's masters get, about anchoring just anywhere, other than in official areas?
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Why should they at all? I'm not a Chi expert, but in general you can anchor wherever you like in tidal waters. It's because the seahorse-huggers are attempting to abridge that ancient right that they piss people off to the extent they do.

I do know that in Chi harbour they say not to anchor in the channels among moorings; not sure if that's a byelaw or just good advice, but it is good advice as you'll only snag your gear on the sinkers and ground chains if you try it, and get in other people's way.

Even if there is some fascist anti-anchoring rule in Chichester that I'm unaware of, I can't imagine anyone being too bothered about a little green dinghy putting a grapnel down to make a brew.

Pete
 
From my experience on Drascombe rallies and asking for myself for occasional nights the harbour authorites are quite happy for small 22' Drascombes or less to dry out/put out an anchor in non designated areas. There are some lovely sheltered spots. Dry out for boat side BBQ, even a game of rounders then float off again in the morning.

They wouldn't look kindly to larger boats doing it though or for extended periods of time... It's obviously best to always ask!
 
Zagato said:
the harbour authorites are quite happy for small 22' Drascombes or less to dry out/put out an anchor in non designated areas.

They wouldn't look kindly to larger boats doing it though or for extended periods of time
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OK, so there apparently is some sort of general anchoring restriction there, then? Except inside an actual port, the idea of "designated areas" for anchoring, outside which you need somebody's specific permission, is not a concept I like the sound of.

Pete
 
We do/have/continually anchor all around Chichester harbour have done for years, whats the problem? Just apply common sense (as already discussed). As for using anything belonging to HISC, then expect a demand for payment.
 
All sounds fair enough, thanks.

I was thinking back thirty years, to the amazing infrequency of seeing any boats at the top of the Bosham channel. We had a house from which the top half-mile was visible, yet it was almost never visited at high tide, let alone stopped at during the ebb.

I suppose acres of slightly stinky mud aren't that appealing to visitors, so no rule has been necessary...but I'd also imagined the harbour conservancy, or RSPB had waded in to prevent 'trespassing' on wildfowl feeding grounds, something like that.

Long may it be free to visit, and God willing, not visited by too many people!

(How much are the harbour dues for occasional visitors? Used to be a fiver a day, I think...:rolleyes:)
 
stevepremia said:
'protective' of their land! Any advice would be gratefully received.
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I'm pretty sure that anything below MHWS isn't their land. It belongs to the Crown Estate. But if you are there when they are frantically trying to launch a world championship fleet of up to 100 racing dinghies then the legal nicieties would, I expect, rapidly become irrelevant.
 
dancrane said:
Is Langstone dealt with quite separately? It's so vast and empty, I'd think small boats can stay a week without catching the official eye at all.
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Langstone and Chichester are quite separate authorities. However I understand that there is an 'acceptance' that boats paying annual dues in one harbour can visit the other for reasonable periods. How this might apply to visitors I have no idea ...... but I suspect your latter statement is accurate.
 
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Yes, the 'acceptance' is not only kind and a good thing, it is based upon us few cruisers (and Langstone SC's dinghy racing fleet) that sail in both harbours. Indeed, my mooring is 'between the bridges' which means it lives in Chichester Harbour but, as a sailing cruiser, it can only leave through Langstone Harbour.

Langstone Harbour authorities apply a little-known concept of 'common sense' to us and we get to sing their praises live on internet forums... :-)

And the entrance to Langstone is slightly simpler than the entry to Chichester harbour. Just avoid the max flows of the ebb and you'll be fine with both.
 
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