Sinking off Shoreham

I tend to mention safety issues and mishaps on this blog, perhaps to remind myself not to be complacent about the dangers of being out at sea in a small boat. To put things in perspective, the largest group of people who drown in the UK are out walking or jogging and happen to fall in. But complacency at sea can provide the biggest risk.

I remind myself that accidents happen at sea. I recently posted on PicoMicroYacht's voyage from Littlehampton to Hove in which, at the end of my voyage, I went past Shoreham harbour in the dark, running into a fishing line off the pier. I was carefully looking out for craft entering or exiting the harbour and neglected to think about the fishermen. Bright lights shone down at me as they wondered what was going on.What if, distracted by dealing with the line, a fishing boat had exited and run down PicoMicroYacht?

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch recently reported on the sinking of a small fishing boat off Shoreham port. This was in the dark, in the early hours of the morning.

The navigation lights of the boat were inadequate and they were not keeping watch as they fished for mackerel. The boat was run down by a 144 ton scallop fishing boat because the person on watch was distracted by looking at their laptop.

The scallop dredging fishing boat

The small fishing boat was swamped by the bow wave of the larger vessel and sank in two minutes. Although there were life jackets on board, these were not worn.  Only one out of the crew survived to tell the story, having clung to a buoy and being rescued five hours later.

The MAIB provide their account of the sinking and what went wrong

Onwards to Newhaven

PicoMicroYacht was launched off the beach and gingerly passed the Brighton marina as boats were coming in and out. I looked wistfully into the marina entrance.

The wind moderated and the sea became glassy. I was careful not to run aground on this shore because the ledges could be hard chalk.

Along this coast kayaks would come off the beaches and some were fishing. It was hot.

It was only about seven miles to row and the Newhaven pier was close.  An inflatable dinghy was out and about, reminding me that go to sea, you only need a very calm day, the back of a car, a pump and of course a mobile phone with the battery working and in a waterproof phone bag (see note)

Soon I was in the harbour, having called up on channel 12 to check whether the harbour was clear, and also the marina on channel 80. I was met by a marina worker, who helped me to my pontoon. We chatted about boats. His was a 37 foot motorboat that he had recently bought to do up and live on  - sounded like hard work, but I was ever so slightly envious.

Radio use approaching Newhaven

He reminded me of the potentially rough water off Beachy Head, particularly on an ebb tide when the water coming from the east speeds up and passes over shoals. I realised that if I was to take the flood up to Eastbourne I should be well past the Head before the tide changes if there was any sort of sea or swell.

These kayakers know it can be lumpy off Beachy Head - From the Chelsea Kayak website

note: personally I would advocate lifejackets, a portable ship radio (having gone on a course to make it legal), flares, a waterproof torch and telling someone what you are up to.

Beaching at Brighton

PicoMicroYacht was launched off the beach in Hove for a short hop to Brighton Marina.

I was helped into the sea by Jim, one of the 'fourdaysrunning' charity fundraisers, who was running 120 kilometers along the South Downs. Remarkable fit, he seemed not to be bothered  by walking down the beach after a long run.

The bank holiday sun had brought people to Brighton in droves and it was a little more peaceful out at sea.

The sun was setting as I passed the funfair at the end of Brighton Pier, listening to the screams (editors note - I have suggested this should be qualified - everything was alright).

On reaching Brighton Marina I called up on Channel 80. I found out they do not take craft without engines so PicoMicroYacht was beached just to the west of the marina.

 I looked back and saw Brighton Pier silhouetted against an orange sky, the end to a fantastic day with the fourdayrunners and my little voyage along the Brighton seafront.

The video below shows the launch at Hove, the Brighton Pier and the end of the voyage (Steve Reich's 'Piano Phase' is used as the background music).

A Cautious Evening Voyage to Hove

PicoMicroYacht was to go east from Littlehampton to Hove, this part of the coast sheltered from westerly winds by Selsey bill.

 I found the hourly tidal streams for the  east English Channel on visitMyHarbour.com.

This indicated the tide would start going east about five hours after high tide at Littlehampton. However, there was one snag. To take advantage of the tide would mean  going against the advice for first timer's  to enter and exit the harbour at around high tide.

The entrance to Littlehampton is not to trifled with. At spring tides the ebb can accelerate to six knots. and tidal streams sweep across the entrance. Just outside the harbour the bar is thought to dry to one metre.

As the tide rushes out of the harbour it meets the cross tide and any swell in the English Channel. At low tide there is the danger of breaking waves and insufficient depth over the bar.

This boat got it wrong and ended up perched on the training wall ....

I was somewhat overcautious and decided that it would be best to launch from the beach to the east of to the harbour. To make this possible I went slightly early, because the beach can extend to about a third of mile at low tide over softening sand, making launching more arduous.

Before I left I looked over harbour and saw that the tide seemed fairly benign. But I had decided to be cautious this time.

PicoMicroYacht was deposited by the sea and then dragged the last few feet for launching.

It was an evening row, planned to take five hours, starting at 5.30 pm. The sun would set at about 8.00 pm, which would give a further hour of twilight and an hour and a half rowing in the dark.

A large Union Jack flew over the beach as PicoMicroyacht departed.

Rowing along this coast is fairly straightforward. I had to look out for shallow water extending quite far from the shore and went aground on a few occasions. I keep the daggerboard kept down so it can be readily used to right the boat if it capsized.  The PicoMicroYacht is very strongly  built so it can survive a few groundings without damage. There were also the odd obstructions to avoid and many pot markers to enjoy rowing round.

Buoy marking a large metal obstruction between Littlehampton and Worthing

As I reached Worthing Pier, the sun set.

I enjoy evening rowing in good weather. There are no substantial noises or obstructions to interfere with the sunset and the twilight fades gradually over an hour in beautiful grey blues and oranges.

Then the sky shows the brightest starts or planets and as the sky darkens I can look up and observe the constellations. All this takes me closer to the physical world, in a little boat.

By the time I had reached Shoreham it was dark. I crept round the harbour entrance going slowly in case another boat exited at speed. Glancing round I saw right in front of me the silver appearance of a thin line obliquely crossing the boat. Just in time I was able to row backwards to avoid damaging someones fishing tackle.

The final row to Hove involved staring at the beach to make out the buildings that would mark my destination.

It was a long but relaxing row.

There is not really anything to see in this video but I like the music

When the wind and waves are with you

Over the next few days PicoMicroYacht will be voyaging from Littlehampton to Eastbourne. So the weather has to be good enough and it seems to be.

There are light winds, the tide is turning to neaps and in this part of the English Channel there is no residual swell.

Of course it is always good to follow the Shipping Forecast, but I enjoy looking at other websites, such as the surfer ones. If it is bad new for surfers, then it is good new for PicoMicroYacht.  Saturday to Monday looks particularly dismal for the surfers, but not for PicoMicroYacht.

So it won't be like this as I row along the coast.....

From MagicSeaWeed

More like this, as on the beach filmed near Brighton  .....

PicoMicroYacht at Littlehampton contemplates the daring of J. B. Dashwood

PicoMicroYacht is now at Littlehampton, having reached the sea. It is time to turn left and row up the English Channel to Eastbourne.

PicoMicroYacht is to diverge from the route  that J. B. Dashwood used 151 years ago, as described in his charming waterways travelogue  'The Thames to the Solent.'

J. B. Dashwood had wanted to turn right to reach the Solent in time to see the display of the Channel Fleet at Anchor, this huge fleet assembled to be inspected by the Royalty.

His original plan had been to go along the Portsmouth Canal, which started from the River Arun at Ford and went Chichester. As indicated in a previous post, he was thwarted by the canal having dried up.

An old map showing Selsey Bill in relation to Littlehampton - dangerous shoals make it difficult to pass round the Bill safely in poor weather conditions

Consequently, J B Dashwood had to go by sea round the dangerous Selsey Bill, but was strongly advised against it. His American designed Una boat was not really constructed for proper coastal sailing and the open deck would have left it vulnerable to swamping. Nevertheless, he persevered and rounded the Bill unscathed. Either daring or foolhardy, he nearly came to grief in high seas on reaching the the Solent.

A Una boat sailing in front of the Royal Yacht about the year that Dashwood went by boat from London to the South Coast via the Wey and Arun Canal

He was delighted to get to the Solent in time to catch views of the Channel Fleet as it assembled. This fleet was there to protect England from attack by the French. Huge steam and sail powered ironclad ships were at anchor, such as HMS Penelope.

HMS Penelope, an ironclad corvette designed for shallow sea sailing, built in the year Dashwood saw the Channel Fleet Display. The black hull is clad by  an iron belt, up to six inches thick.

As he wrote:

'On rounding the point we espied in the distance the Channel Fleet in 'beauteous order range.' It was a most imposing sight, these magnificent ships, all getting up their steam for a rehearsal preparatory to the grand review.'

Later on they had another chance to see the fleet:

'The fleet was now returning to Spithead with a full press of canvass, which had a very grand effect, and it was excessively interesting to watch these great ships each drop into their respective place, and then at once come to an anchor.'

J B Dashwood's boat Caprice viewing the Channel Fleet

Pulborough to Littlehampton

At last PicoMicroYacht was set free to go down the River Arun to Littlehampton to reach the sea. The 'Lost Route to the Sea' was nearly complete.

PicoMicroYacht was to be launched at Pulborough, about 20 miles upstream from Littlehampton. As the map shows, the 'Lost Route' originally joined up with the Portsmouth and Arundel canal at Ford, but this canal dried up and was abandoned in the mid 19th Century.

When I got  Pulborough, I realised the slipway was too steep to trailor PicoMicroYacht down without it careering out of control.

The solution was to tie a rope to a ring at the top of the slipway and then use my weight on the way down as a counter balance. Our weights almost exactly balance and so I was able to rope down gradually and reach the bottom without mishap.

When I got going I found the overcast day meant that that there was little light for photography, but the river was peaceful and calm.

Gradually the tide took hold and time went quickly as I reached Arundel, four miles from the sea.

Arundel Castle appeared as I turned a bend in the river

The tide seemed to accelerate through Arundel bridge and I could see waves breaking in front of it. I spotted a gap to the left of the stream, which lessened the impact. But the water was troubled through the bridge..

Emerging the other side, the remainder of the voyage went even more quickly.  The weather was deteriorating and I was glad to be in Littlehampton.

'Sail on silver girl
Sail on by
Your time has come to shine
All your dreams are on their way
See how they shine'

Paul Simon, 1970

A note on the tides in the River Arun

The River Arun is tidal for over twenty miles from the coast, with a drop of only about 16 feet. The tides run fast, up to about five knots, so you have to be careful to avoid going against it in places.

Height map of the River Arun surrounding geography, showing also the gap in the South Downs, letting the river through

The tides need careful consideration. An incoming tide takes a while  to reach inland. For this reason high tide becomes later and later further up the river, such that high tide is four hours later in Pulborough than Littlehampton.

I set off from Pulborough well before high tide, stemming the tide as I rowed downstream. However, a mitigating factor was that further up the river there was less tide. After a while the tide turned and accelerated all the way until I reached Littlehampton.

Another aspect to watch is the way the tide accelerates as the river narrows, particularly when going through bridges, as in the video above.