With Griff for company, today's trip would see us around a fair portion of Chichester Harbour, not frequently visited by us owing to the longer than average drive involved. Chichester does however provide a breath of fresh air and a real change of scenery. We would be wrestling against wind and tide for a fair bit though. A better planner would claim that this was an error. My only defence is that arriving at the pub any earlier would have been indecent!
Bosham
We met on the half tide hard at Bosham and unloaded gear before returning the cars to the pay & display car park nearby - £3.50 for the day. The tide was still flooding so our progress out of Bosham Channel was slowed a little by the last two
hours of flood. With a blustery wind from the north east, blowing a stiff force four with gusts to 20 knots, an in harbour paddle was just the right choice for today, even if it would mean some adverse tide at times.At the mouth of Bosham Channel, we were met by a large amount of sailing boats, many keels boats racing with a mixture of power and sail yachts leaving and entering the harbour. We continued south west towards the harbour entrance and surfed along on the rolling sea kicked up by the wind over tide. Keeping to the northern side of the channel to avoid the worst of the seaway and other boats, we passed closely to Pilsey Island, which was a fall back option for us if the conditions were less favourable. From here, we played in the rolling waves, crossing the channel to arrive at East Head 3.5 miles / one hour after leaving Bosham.
East Head
Sitting on the beach eating sausages and beans with Griff's chocolate coffee for refreshment, I was glad that I had put on my summer spray top - the north easterly wind blew cold when the sun was hidden behind clouds. Many walkers passed and the spot was quite captivating for photography, particularly with the kayaks in frame. The spot although a nature reserve also had possibilities for low impact camping too.
Dell Quay
Having brunched, the next leg took us back up Chichester Channel now decidedly against the wind and the first of the ebb. We stayed on the south side and watched the X Boats beating up the channel to their finish line at Itchenor. Making slow but steady progress, we reached Itchenor ourselves after about an hour, but did not stop as we paddled against a strengthening ebb to reach Dell Quay, 5.5 miles
from East Head, but feeling more like eight or ten. The promise of a pint though at The Anchor pub kept us going and when we glided ashore at Dell Quay, it didn't really seem like 8 miles at all.
After a beer, we set off again, this time enjoying the fair wind and tide, carrying us down the harbour at 2.5 knots before we put a paddle blade in the water. We were swiftly back at Bosham Channel, where again we had to fight the tide, but little wind back to Bosham Quay for our get-out, albeit with a bit of a portage back to the public road for the cars.
This 12 nautical mile paddle made a pleasant change from the norm - a different harbour and a pub en route, something which the winter months seemed to have robbed us of quick a lot. With the return of warmer weather, sitting around outside has regained it's appeal
