We are enjoying exploring the harbours around the Solent, however there appears to be little in the way of an Internet connection! Even at Chichester it was a struggle so I apologise for the lack of news in recent days! We have been still been on the move.
Ichenor was good fun and lovely and sunny. Martyn spent most of his time in the dingy - I'm still not convinced it will seat us both without sinking and am waiting for a less public place to test it out! We managed to do a few jobs including some painting, not that you can tell now. Mostly we bummed about doing nothing. It's a great place for it as the boats passing by appear as an endless stream. We sat happily for hours watching them pass. We now know that our batteries are pretty much at the end of their life. I refer only to the batteries that supply the lights, fridge etc. We were on candle power by the second night listening to the fridge trying to squeeze some life out. We were ready to head into Chichester Marina for a good old recharge and a warm shower!
We had been in Itchenor a day longer than originally planned so didn't leave until Wednesday, it just happened to be my Birthday so I was looking forward to a tea time treat at the on site restaurant.
Martyn had phoned through just before we set off and we had been advised to tie up on the visitor pontoon outside and head up to the office to be allocated a berth. Just as we released the ropes we spotted a sail boat heading down the channel in the same direction we wanted to go. We let it through and followed it on route to Chichester. It was slow.....! Approx 2-3 knots! We got behind the only boat we had seen on the channel in two days doing less than 8 knots! Chichester Marina can only be accessed 5 hours before and after high tide, not really a problem. Access is usually by a lock but at certain states of tide they have what they call free flow when both gates are open and you just go through if the light is on green. We had got up early to try and hit free flow... Guess what? We missed it - we really are far to polite some times! It wasn't a problem, I'm just not a big fan of locks. The boat in front tied up on the pontoon and went in to sort their berth out, we followed. We entered the office and stood patiently awaiting our turn. The lady from the sail boat turned around to look at us at one point, so I smiled hello and received a look that is quite hard to describe. Something resembling horror and disgust! Very charming. As I said maybe we should start to be a little ruder! They even insisted on going through the lock alone. It really is a shame that some people must try so hard to be unpleasant! I wasn't about to let it ruin my day though. The people in the office were lovely and we got a discount on the mooring which made up for the unpleasantness of the woman. Locking through was quite amusing. We didn't know the protocol for this lock, everywhere seems to have one though. I was ready with my bow line to tie on, Martyn usually gets the stern. Except the lock keeper was trying to hand me a line and insisted it went on the stern. So I am in the wrong place, doing the wrong thing as usual. We got sorted in the end and awaited the big ascent.... I think we went up half an inch, it was so funny! All that palaver for half an inch!!
We found our berth easily enough and Martyn went to sort the electric out. We had been given a code to enter into a bollard on the pontoon to get the electric, it didn't work! We had been using the inverter at Itchenor so Martyn set about going through everything on the boat that might be the cause of the failure. No joy! He eventually called the marina and by the time I had had my shower power was restored. All was well again, and it wasn't our fault! It turned out that electrical faults are quite regular. Not surprising considering the tale Martyn told me later. As I headed off down the pontoon I overhead a chap on sailing boat preparing his crew for a trip out. He was giving them their instructions and advising what would happen as they left the berth etc - all very authoritative and knowledgeable. When I got back to the boat Martyn was giggling to himself. He too had heard the chap talking to his crew and watched as they released their lines and set off.... With the electric lead still plugged in....! The lead actually broke off leaving the plug in the socket! Apparently the chap was last seen quickly pulling in the wire quickly trying to disguise the event! It doesn't always pay to be too clever!
We knew there was a small shop on site where we might pick up a few provisions so we headed off to stock up. We would have been fine if we only needed cold beer and a navy times! We made do with our existing provisions and went back out to enjoy a couple of drinks in the bar. A lovely day was had and I greatly enjoyed my Ribeye steak later that evening. We drank the final bottle of champagne which had been given to me as a good bye gift, after that it was 'goodnight Vienna!' Neither of us can remember going to bed! I blame the champagne!
We awoke to the sound of rain on the roof. We had intended going back to Itchenor on Thursday for the cheap mooring but neither of us were moving too quickly. We missed the morning penning out time and decided to stay and head into Chichester for the day. We thought we would walk.... Shouldn't take long.... We arrived in Chichester around 3.45! We had left around 2pm.. Chichester marina? Not so close to Chichester!!! We followed the canal path which was OK but quite overgrown in places. There were lot's of moorhens and ducks, it was a bit like being back in Hebden Bridge to be honest. We were quite tired when we arrived so stopped for refreshment before heading into the city. I have to say I thought Chichester was lovely! So many nice shops and buildings, we were quite impressed. We had some tea at the Slug and Lettuce before getting a taxi back. It was all a bit frivolous for two unemployed people but I made the excuse that it was still my birthday!
This morning we were up early again ready to diesel up and head for Southsea. We had quite an audience this morning on the lock. I have to say the lock thing really makes me giggle, when you're used to places like Ocean lock and the lock at Hull Marina the protocol seems excessive to say the least! We had two people waiting to give us the ropes this morning and make sure we were in the right place, all for a 30 second descent! We were back into the channel through all the boats and back out to sea. It's such a different feeling when you get back on the big water. I would highly recommend the Chichester channel to anyone wanting an adventure, there's so much more to go at than we did as well. It's a very beautiful place and one that I would love to go back to.
We followed a very nice Dutch sailing boat out to sea and set on our course for Southsea, literally just around the corner (or buoy!). I'll tell you more about our adventures here later!
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