Brighton Marina to Studland Bay

18 – 26 May 2022

An exciting time for us, as this is the first time sailing south and closer to our end goal of French Polynesia.

Two days before our planned departure date of the 18th of May, we ordered £340.00 worth of food and drinks to last us for the month. We fill Susie Jane’s fuel tanks, another £300+, fill the water tanks, and take all the laundry to the laundrette.

We aim to sail from Brighton to Chichester (approximately 8 hours of sailing) and anchor off. The plan is to leave Brighton Marina two hours past low water (at approximately 9:45), as the marina fills up with silt, leaving a very embarrassing moment of being stuck in the mud (see images below). Being stuck in the muck has happened to us before. The shame of having motorboats and jetskis pass by and shouting mediocrities is enough to make any person avoid such miscalculations.

Hein and Judy (Sander’s parents), who are sailing with us on their Beneteau Oceanis 423 Erica up and until we have crossed Biscay, draw a depth of 2.15m ( the length of the keel), which needs consideration while entering Chichester. In Brighton, the tidal difference is between 6-6.5 meters of water on high tide. Having that much water above the actual chart datum (measured depth without tidal influence) is perfect, but you might only have .01m below your keel when you move into low waters. So watching tides has now become second nature. 

If we arrive a couple of minutes after 18:00, Erica will wedge herself into the mud. Susie Jane only draws 1.7m, but it is a good practice to have enough water under your keel. Minute 99, a new plan is drafted to allow for less of a rushed sail and no tidal calculations.

Plan B, we sail over to Studland Bay; this would take us approximately 13 hours at 5knots an hour. Sadly, we would miss out on the Isle of Wight, but this is our new way of life, dictated by wind and tides.

By 10:30, the waters have started to rise, and we can leave. We have very little wind during the first part of the journey and experience a light sea state. After dinner, we noticed the darker skies approaching (this was forecasted). We start seeing the skies light up with lightning from three different directions by nightfall. We go from full sails on our main and genoa to fully reefed (as little sail area on the sails). Just in time, as about 20 min after, the weather is on us.

Sander and I have never encountered weather and seas like this. Luckily the children are fast asleep and unaware of the chaos outside. Sailing broad reach (wind on the port quarter (left of the boat)) and waves coming in along the starboard (right of the ship) quarter, we could not see anything except for the lightning flashes. And then, the gods decided it was time for a good storm. The skies opened up, and we started experiencing winds between 28 to 35 knots (on land, this would feel like when trees are swayed about and twigs break). Susie Jane cuts through the water and shows us what she can do. We managed to lose sight of how low the boom was hanging, and it fell onto one of our solar panels; two hours later, the skies opened up to a beautiful full moon. However, the sea state remained with long waves rolling us from side to side. Once we had passed the Isle of Wight to our starboard and started to see the coastline, we went back into a calm sea and wind.

On arrival to Studland Bay, we start off anchoring as all the mooring balls have occupants. As one of the boats leave, we frantically scuttle to hook that mooring ball, only to realize that you are not allowed to moor on these mooring balls if your boat weighs more than 10 tons. We are about 13 tons (due to 300 litres of fuel, 568 litres of water, and bilges filled with food and beverages).

So we let go of the mooring buoy and anchor off. Ready for breakfast, we open up bubbles (thank you, Rob, Finn, and Paula) and take a nap. But this is not what will happen. Instead, we dinghy our children (who have been aboard for more than 24 hours) to the beach for well-deserved playtime, with two happy children playing in the sand and splashing about in the water. Sander and I get to relax for a moment and appreciate what we have done.

For the next couple of days, we stay in Studland Bay, getting on with some jobs we have not completed and a couple of new ones. While hoisting the outboard (9.9 horsepower and weighs a ton), I became frazzled in all the hoisting and pulling and lifting, and I failed to notice the fuel line was stuck. Just like that, she got me for it. The connector snapped off, hit me in the eye, and ended with a good squirt of fuel. As a result, Sander and Ava had to spend the rest of the next day finding a new connector. Before, we would have hopped into our car and made our way to the closest chandlery, but this was different. Our now modus transportus, beloved dingy ‘Billy Bob’, is without its fuel line, so we are stuck on the boat. Luckily for Hein and Judy being close by and able to take Sander and Ava to the beach, where they then need to walk, take a bus, then a ferry, and another bus to the chandlery that stocks the part.

The next item on the list is the watermaker. We opted for the Schenker Zen 30, as it has an energy recovery system. She provides us with 30 litres of water every hour, and the power drawn is less than 200 watts. While we were in the Netherlands, Hein and I started to connect her up. A couple more days of work in Brighton, and she was ready to go. It would be best to never swim in marina water, point and period. People do not always take their boats to the pump-out facilities and instead dump their black and grey water into the marina. Testing our new watermaker with this water was not a good idea. So on she goes in Studland Bay. Everything works, except for a couple of jubilee clips I had not fasted enough. We take our first sip of water, and it tastes better than the water we used to fill our tanks. Big sigh of relief and another tick in the box.

Now we get to sit and relax. Enjoy the views and the start of our adventure.