erbster
Well-Known Member
First night on the pin aboard Aurora for our family.
What a lovely spot!
What a lovely spot!
Was anyone else at East Head on Fri night?
- Thread starter erbster
- Start date
DJE
Well-Known Member
We were there. Right up the shallow end by the yellow beacon. Quite a sunset.
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VicS
Well-Known Member
It is nice when it's not too crowded. I intended to spend Friday night there myself but plans changed. I bet its packed solid there tonight.
Not much shelter from anything from the SW through north to north east
erbster
Well-Known Member
We were motoring down as the sun set. Nearly 11pm by the time we dropped the pin. I was surprised that some boats did not have an anchor light. I counted 23 boats this morning when we got up.
Ru88ell
Well-Known Member
Lustyd was there according to his FB feed.
lustyd
Well-Known Member
Did I say East Head? Don't think I did! I went past East Head on Friday and saw about a BILLION yachts (OK about 25) so carried on to the "secret" on around the corner which had 2 boats when I arrived. The sunset was indeed magical and I will post pics later
derekgillard
Well-Known Member
I also passed East Head and went to anchor round the corner , it was magical.....
lustyd
Well-Known Member
Were you the catamaran or the other yacht?
Mwinda
Well-Known Member
."...and saw about a BILLION yachts (OK about 25)"
So..... When East Head is busy, is there likely to be space on the inside for a 1 meter bilger (happy to take the ground), or is it all stacked up all the way to the shore?
Fancy going there (kids, beach...) but would rather not be going around in circles trying to find a spot!
So..... When East Head is busy, is there likely to be space on the inside for a 1 meter bilger (happy to take the ground), or is it all stacked up all the way to the shore?
Fancy going there (kids, beach...) but would rather not be going around in circles trying to find a spot!
lustyd
Well-Known Member
If you're happy to ground then you'll be fine. There are other anchorages very near so it's not a wasted trip even if you don't get in at East Head but generally people just start to anchor further and further out. The reason I don't like it is the poor anchoring of many yachts there so someone will definitely drag on any given weekend and usually a few will.
That said, the sunset was spectacular
Garold
Well-Known Member
If you can take the ground, you have much more area to anchor in.
Even if you don't want to entirely dry out, you can anchor on top of the high ground near the middle of the anchorage, which most boats have to avoid.
It seemed very busy with racing in/around the harbour on Sunday morning.
Cheers
Garold
FairweatherDave
Well-Known Member
I would agree about the shallow area although I prefer to dry out and leg stretch on the beach. We regularly dry out here in our 1m bilge keeler. We arrived just after low tide the other weekend and despite knowing where the shallows are just off the beach managed to go aground for 10 minutes. The secret is to come in to the anchorage from the west, getting very close in, starting by the steep bank where it is deep (and can be fast flowing). The real issue is on a nice day the masses of dinghies and other really shallow draft boats drawn up and where to plant your anchor ashore. But if you arrive mid tide and late afternoon or mid morning there is plenty of space in the shallows however many bigger boats are there. And if you don't fancy the crowds go to Pilsey or Chaldock. But at Pilsey be wary what you dry out on, we saw a boat topple over dramatically while a woman was below cooking, I presume a bilge keeler on a bit of a ledge...., and I would certainly not dry out at Chaldock for the same reason.
Mwinda
Well-Known Member
Can you dry out off the beach on the East side, where the beach is facing NE? Drying height on my chart is 3.8M, but I presume that is gently sloping up?
lustyd
Well-Known Member
Not really. There's a hump in the water which is charted. There is then a bit which is deeper than that between hump and beach. Then there's a bit which although sloping is almost completely flat which is maybe 20-30 yards from front to back, then the area of beach which is always dry.
Use your depth gauge when there and look at other boats and you won't go wrong.
lustyd
Well-Known Member
Sorry, my "not really" was about the sloping. You can dry out very happily there if you like drying out
FairweatherDave
Well-Known Member
To be honest, if it is a weekend you will have company dried out on the beach. It is not a problem at all. The "hump" is what I was refering to too but don't let anything here put you off. It is an easy place to dry out. You could get neaped if you dry out too close to the high water line. And we managed to dry out higher than our anchor despite an off shore wind due to the swirl of tidal current following the shore out to sea. I use a kedge sometimes to avoid that problem, laying it out and digging in by hand at low water. We might just be there this Saturday night, I know we won't be alone.....
Mwinda
Well-Known Member
Yes I was wondering about a kedge. My twin anchoring experiences have been mixed (!) but laying it out by hand seems a good plan.
We'll probably be there Sat too!
We'll probably be there Sat too!
DJE
Well-Known Member
I have dried out there several times without using an anchor as long as I know that I will be around when the tide returns. I just drive the boat onto the sand on a falling tide and hold her there with the engine until it is clear that she isn't going to move any more. The keels normally sink into the sand by a few inches so when she initially refloats she is in a hole that I can't get out of without a bit more tide.
erbster
Well-Known Member
We came back to East Head on Sunday for lunch and it was absolutely heaving. We dropped anchor on the bank outside the anchorage to the South and West of the East Head buoy. Whilst we were there, the harbourmaster came round in his rib and was collecting dues from many of the boats. I did not know there was anything to pay to anchor in this area. Is there a limit to the area where one is liable to pay? Is it only mobos who pay? (He did not ask us, nor did he seem to be visiting other sailing boats). I would probably not have anchored there had I known I might have to pay...
jac
Well-Known Member
Don't they demand Harbour Dues in Chichester? Was it those that were being collected ?
