15th May
Weighed anchor at 9:30 am and headed out of Chichester Harbour with the tide running with us. The sea was very choppy at the Chichester Bar but once clear we unfurled our sails and set course for Portsmouth Harbour.
Carole took the helm with the sails setting nicely. About half an hour later she called me and said that the steering had jammed and she could not change course. After a quick look around I noticed that the autopilot had been engaged. Carole must have put it on with her foot when she got herself comfortable! (The control panel for the Autopilot was moved over the winter to make room for the new chart plotter on the binnacle.) After a quick smile, I switched it off and we had full control again.
We managed to sail quite efficiently despite the constant rain and hail and it seemed like that heavy rain cloud followed us all the way into port. Once through the harbour entrance, the wind and rain subsided and we found a berth in Gosport Marina. Our first task was to shower and we were delighted to find that they were clean, hot and the best so far of our trip.
The forecast for the following day was again wet and windy, so we decided to take the ferry across to Portsmouth Gun Quays Wharf and visit the Spinnaker Tower. This proved to be a good choice as it gave us great views of the whole area (took a few photos) and the audio phones gave us a good insight to its history.