The 2014 plan for Chichester is as follows :-

We will meet on the beach at East Head on Saturday pm for barbecue in the evening. We can also practice boules so that we stand a chance of beating Phil Linsell next year! If too blowy from the North East like last year we may retreat to Chichester marina

On Sunday the plan is to go up the Thorney channel again. This time we will go up to Thorney Marina where we will be put in their pool. We have to get there near high tide which will be at 1200. In the evening there is a meal arranged at the Boaters’ Café. This will be a carvery with beef, lamb,chicken or nut roast for £7 a head which must be a bargain! The café is well known locally, is very friendly and has some nice ales. Jackets and ties can be dispensed with! The lock gate will be opened before high tide on Monday (1230) so there will still be a reasonable amount of tide left for west going boats.

Look forward to seeing you and lets hope we get some good weather. Please let me know if you are attending.

High tide Portsmouth 1127 Sat, 1200 Sun, 1230 Mon

Contact :-

Tim Reeder

07836 298144

We have at least 3 boats coming to Chichester. I know there are lots more who are planning to do so.

Please, please let me know if you are coming by the 18th August. It will be first come first serve if we have space issues at Thornham!

The long term weather forecast is looking good and it should be fun.

Looking forward to seeing you.

Thanks

Tim

We have a good turnout for the weekend. We have around about 12 boats coming depending on the weather. Quite a few are coming by car to Thornham on Sunday evening.

We will be barbecuing on the beach at East Head on Saturday. The forecast is going round to the north a bit but hopefully we will be on the putty by the time it blows up. If things are too blowy we will retire to Chichester marina again. Please use channel 72 or mobile if you want to keep in touch.

On Sunday we should have a good time in the evening at the Boaters Café. The charge at Thornham marina will be a flat rate of £15 per boat. The meals will be £7 per head. All need to be payable by cheque or cash so please bring some spondulics!

Look forward to seeing you all.

Tim

We had a really good time this year at Chichester..

We had the amazing total of 19 boats turn up at East Head for a barbecue. It blew again from slightly the wrong direction but there was enough west in it to make staying possible. We had many familiar faces and some not seen for a few years which was very enjoyable. During the night the wind dropped and we awoke to being on the beach in bright morning sunlight with no wind - a classic East Head morning. Given the vile forecast for Monday many boats left for their home ports, but 6 of us carried on to the next venue at Thornham Marina.

Jeannette who runs the place was out on the pontoons to welcome us all in. We all stayed out on the half tide pontoons. Some of us had quite a drop when the tide went out as were moored in the main channel - nothing that a bit of ladder work could not cope with! We then enjoyed a very convivial session at the Boaters’ Café for an evening carvery. Most of the crews that had gone to their home ports plus some extras turned up by car and we had 36 sitting down for the meal. The surroundings were very enyoyable and we were all amazed at how Clare and her very few helpers managed to serve us all with such brilliant food - I think someone counted about nine different vegs. We all agreed that we had found a very successful place to go to with a large crowd.

The following day we awoke to light rain that got heavier and heavier. Most of us had to get back to moorings in Chichester Harbour, which was challenging enough – the rain meant you could hardly know where you were even for locals like me. Poor Juno had to get back to Langstone and ended up giving a thorough test to the rough weather handling of a Moody 31.

All in all we had a great time and thanks are due to Jeannette et al at Thornham, Clare et al at the Boaters but above all to all members for turning up.

There are a few photos on the gallery feel free to add more via Flickr

Boats attending :- Speedwell, Juno, Heart of Glass, Rascal, Foca, Shemar, Sophia, Penlu, Bonaire, Zephyr, Frith, Niquaydi, Vol au vent, Delphine, Jay, Tilly May, Baldur, Lesa and a 22 apologies on holiday and can’t check name!

By Car / foot

Tara, Sandy Lady, John Lansbury, John Coyle, Betty Blue

Tim Reeder