Muddy marvellous

While the tide can be a real pain for cruisers in UK waters, it can also be a joy, giving parts of the coastline ever-changing characters during its different states. This is certainly true of Chichester Harbour, which, due to the huge expanses of mudflats exposed at low water, has a very different feel compared with high water. Whatever state of the tide though, it is a beautiful place to sail; a sort of mini cruising ground with a good selection of picturesque villages to anchor off and secluded creeks to explore.

I kept my boat here on and off for five years, so I got to know the area fairly intimately. In addition to being a lovely, sheltered place to sail, Chichester’s fairly extreme tides mean that, if you have a boat that can dry out, there are numerous cheap berths to be found in some of the shallower creeks. This, however, is just a minor benefit – the real beauty of Chichester is, well, its beauty – the mixture of white sands and mudflats, the