The tide was kind today, even if the wind was from the wrong direction! Departure was at a leisurely 10:30 from Chichester to catch the east going tide around Selsey Bill. The wind however started at SE, then backed to NE. Guess what my course was? Correct! Wind on the nose the whole way. It was a sunny if cold day, though, so the sailing was enjoyable.

Arriving in Littlehampton, I was doing 5+ knots under a reefed headsail only; as I'd dropped the mainsail, I sped up a bit! Vigorous but fun. The photo shows the view aft - gives you a slight impression of the angle of heel!

The visitors' pontoon was empty - relief! - and mooring worked like clockwork. It never does when there's someone watching, but today I wished there'd been a video camera running. I use a technique called a "stern bridle", as recommmended by Duncan Wells in Stress Free Sailing which I cannot recommend highly enough. If you can, get the Kindle edition which has embedded video of the ideas. Here's an example on YouTube of leaving a berth with a bow bridle. (Similar to how I berthed, but sadly the stern bridle one isn't on YouTube - it's more useful!) Forgive the corny music!

Log of this passage