Cruising the River Arun

[Grldtnr]

This is aimed at you CeeDubs, so duck it if you want,
Is it safe to sail the Arun river all standing, some naysayers' claim it is dangerous to do.
I know there are bridges the Littlehampton end, but I am not sure if they can be lifted/twisted for passage.
Just curious,!
Gerald.

[Chris Waite]

I wouldn't say I'm the sage of the Arun river Gerald

But I have travelled its entire navigable length a number of times, if in bits....

1.  The whole stretch is tidal to where the Way and Arun Canal joined the river near Pallingham Quay Farm, Southwest of Billingshurst.  Particularly below Arundel the ebb is considerable - up to perhaps five knots and more.  The flood moves well, but is not so vicious.  It is narrow and the reach from Arundel to Littlehampton is little more than a grumpy, concrete-lined ditch once the ebb is established.

2.  While Arundel was an established port -

 

Its demise was sudden and terminal when the railway bridge was constructed upstream from Littlehampton at the mouth....

THERE ARE (I calculate) SIXTEEN BRIDGES AND NONE OF THEM OPEN - depending on the tide, you are unlikely to get under most of them without lowering your rig.  This sounds dispiriting, but the river above Arundel is glorious and thoroughly recommended.

If you calculate your tides right (ask me) you will not need to do so much sailing anyway.  I've not tried anchoring in midstream over a night or tide, but I know occasionally people do.

Care to share any plans as I'd love to join any such adventure?

Chris      ol–)

[Port-Na-Storm]

Hi Gerald.
Here are a couple of videos I shot while accompanying CW on the River Arun.
The first one is from Arundel (reputed to be the inspiration for Peake's Gormenghast ) upstream as far as we dared before the tide changed direction. We had to allow enough time to stop into the Black Rabbit for a pint on the way back down stream.
You can see how open and beautiful the valley is.
Notice how fast the tide is moving upstream at the beginning. On the way back, riding the ebb, I was instructed to put all cameras and paraphernalia away and on no account miss the slipway as I would likely end up washed out to sea at Littlehampton. Hence no footage beyond the pub.

Paddle Past Gormenghast

In the second video the intrepid trio of CW, Chris Partridge and Myself set off from Pulborough  to discover the source of the Arun, or at least the point where the old Wey & Arun Canal would have joined the river. This is the point the O.S. call Normal Tidal Limit (NTL) and was defined by using a milk bottle half filled with sand and a small flag sticking out the top. Throw the bottle in the flood and when the bottle stopped floating upstream on the tide and was held in equilibrium by the river flow, you had found the spot. I kid you not we had written instructions for that kind of thing.
I knew we were there when my backside started to bump on the gravel.

Pulborough Paddle

I've posted these here before but there's nothing much on the telly so I hope you enjoy.

Grum.

[Chris Partridge]

Graham’s video brought back memories of a very enjoyable day.
CW’s point about the tides is key - you have to get it right.
There is a huge slipway at Littlehampton (where the lifeboat station is) and a car park close by with trailer bays. Unfortunately it is heavily used by the jet ski mob so you need to get there early at weekends. Langstone Cutters have rowed up to the Black Rabbit with the tide on several occasions, but the landing at the pub is stepped which makes mooring a bit perilous.
Chris - is the Arundel Boat Club still operating? If not, is it still possible to use the slipway?

[Chris Waite]

Ho neighbouring Chris; we have to stop meeting like this

The Arundel Boat Club is no more, it is an ex-club, shuffled off this tidal stretch and gone to make a memory.

Not living in Arundel any more, I happened down there in the last week or so and the slip still has it's surrounding fence, but when I was there, there was no lock or even the associated chain on it....

Note to all - when you meet him, the Harbourmaster reckons to charge (to me seemingly outrageous prices) for using the Littlehampton slip and/or being anywhere on the uninspiring reach below Arundel Town Bridge.  Last time I checked, it didn't matter much to him if you were a two hundred foot gravel barge, or an eight foot Sea Hopper - https://find-open.co.uk/littlehampton/harbour-master-office-625984

Chris    

[GregHBBR]

Hi Chris,

Chris Waite wrote

Note to all - when you meet him, the Harbourmaster reckons to charge (to me seemingly outrageous prices) for using the Littlehampton slip and/or being anywhere on the uninspiring reach below Arundel Town Bridge.

Just looked at the harbour map and you're right. Littlehampton Harbour officially extends all the way to the old Town Bridge in Arundel, not just the area that my brother and I often walk/pedal around within half a mile of the sea, when Diana and I visit him and Mary at their home in Rustington.

Last time I checked, it didn't matter much to him if you were a two hundred foot gravel barge, or an eight foot Sea Hopper

Seems to me that it all depends on how you interpret the terms "visit" and "using".

The Harbour site says:

Littlehampton Harbour wrote

Visiting or day launching craft: Harbour dues must be paid  for all craft using the harbour; this includes both craft visiting from sea or launching from within the harbour even if going directly out to sea. If visiting vessels are arriving to a pre-booked Littlehampton Harbour Board visitor mooring, dues can be settled at the office after arrival when paying mooring fees. In all other cases, harbour dues must be paid in advance of entering or launching. Daily harbour dues are currently £12.28 for pleasure craft under 11m long and £15.02 for pleasure craft of 11m and over.

I would argue that if you launch above the Arundel Town Bridge and simply pass over the water, without landing or tying up to any bank or other structure, or demanding opening of the swing bridge, you can escape harbour dues. If you do there's a £12.28 charge, for what would be around £3-£5 at boatyards on the Broads, but often free elsewhere (once the Broads Authority toll has been paid)!

[Grldtnr]

Thanks to the aged sages that replied to my info request, I had thought of joining with my fellow Drascombe owners on the vicarious delights ,of getting lost on the Wey to the sea, but seems it is not to be, maybe I will attempt it by my sliding skiff ,but I do wonder how far I will get up river as the outboard ends of my sculls extend to 2.84 MTRS ( don't know how much that's in old money, but they stick out some! )

Perhaps I should builds forward facing paddle craft, but shall now have to wait balmier times.

Thanks again to the old Oracle's.

[Chris Waite]

I don't want to be a smart-arse Gerald

But you're absolutely right - I've 'done' the Wey from the Thames to Godalming with TimmO and PhilOx -

 

And similarly wanted to continue the canal route to the Pallingham lock and down to Arundel, with portaging where necessary.  I looked into it and eventually drove the distance - there is some evidence much of the way along - footpaths on the old canal bed and small murky overhung stretches of water.  The only restored piece actually runs East-West near Billingshurst - no damn use at all for a North-South trip.

The Southernmost section is so far out in the country, it is only possible to walk it.  Apparently there is one lock with a small sluice nearby that had a paddlewheel on the Arun which was ingeniously linked to a water lifting system to maintain the water level in the canal - I'd like to see that one day.

Even on the Wey my oars were a problem and it is another of the reasons why I came up with the Pedyuloh.  For exploring our narrow inland waterways, the difference between facing backwards with a sixteen foot oar-span and facing forward with a single blade beavering away behind the transom....



Is just night and day

Chris  ol–)

[Grldtnr]

Correct me if I am wrong, but is the Wey navigation now part of a long distance cycle path, ( or is it psychopaths, the off road variety? )
Gerald

[Chris Waite]

Gerald

I've tended to find that the bureaucrats label anything running remotely in the right direction as a 'Cycle Path'.  Many that involve roads also require that you take your life in your hands and probably bend over and kiss your arse goodbye into the bargain.

This is based on a couple of stretches of the South Downs Cycle Path, or whatever the bit along the coastal plain is called.  I've just checked the OS map and there are little red cycles daubed all over the area South-South-West of Arundel; I've ridden to work along one of them for some six years and am lucky to be alive.  They also have a particular penchant for marking out cycle lanes along stretches of road and then when you get to a roundabout, or some other awkward road layout, suddenly they disappear and you are left mixing it with rampaging German saloon cars and the hub caps of articulated trucks

So well considered

Chris     ol–)

[Grldtnr]

Further to my questioning of viable navigation of the Arun, I indeed accomplished the task 3 weeks ago.
I put my Clovelly scull in at Pulborough, then travelled upstream to Stopham Bridge, to meet members of my rowing club coming down from Pallingham quay, getting so far upstream on. 17'6" inch scull with 9'  sculls each side was no mean feat, fallen tree's and assorted other vegetation made the journey quite contentious at times, but somehow I managed to get through Stopham Bridge, and a bit further, when I met the others coming down stream.
After lunch at the pub( a very long one), we look left with the ebb, downstream ,going non stop untill Bury ferry, which stopped running in the '50's, disembarked and dispersed to a local hostelry ,for victuals, and for most B&B for the night, myself I wildcamped on the river bank as nightwatchmen for our boats, very dubious if I should have, but as far as I knew I was on Environment Agency land, so technically wasn't on Parish council land ,a notice forbidding non- parishioners from using it for overnighting, or launching ,retrieving boats from the steps.
Again , late afternoon departure against the flood ,so to maximise the ebb through to Littlehampton, all I can say once I rounded the bend into Amberley and hit the full force, rowing almost to a standstill against the flood I was glad it had changed after the bridge at Amberley, I had gone through the wrong arch and found a dead end, got back out onto the proper bit ,then found it easy going, untill I attempted to land at Arundel town bridge, very hard coming into the pontoon against the ebb.
From then on it was the concrete ditch till Littlehampton, with a very disparate river view, but landed at the lifeboat slip early evening, a row of approx 35 miles in 2 days.

I have a nice collection of blisters on my calloused fingers, but none on my bum!

P.s. ,I am in no hurry to repeat this trip, but happy to have done it, it's a very pretty river ,untill the ditch below Arundel.

[Paul W]

River Wey Navigation.
Rowing it mainly downstream is straightforward and delightful.
I co-ordinated a trip by a 10-oared American whaleboat (CP knows it) from Godalming to the Thames in 2016.
The whaler's "wingspan" (oars out both sides) was 7.3 metres.  Rowing one-sided required about 5.5m.  Narrower stretches (other than locks) are short enough to be done by momentum.
The Wey is "A tranquil waterway, running for 20 miles through the heart of Surrey".
Our participants noted it; "an absolute delight", "very scenic".
We took 2 days from Godalming to Kingston.
There are several watering holes, except between Guildford and Pyrford.
Click here for my illustrated description, log, etc. and feel free to contact me for info. (I lived nearby for many years and return regularly.)

[Grldtnr]

Indeed I have met the Henley Whalers & 'Molly' on several occasions,notably at Seafair Haven in Pembrokeshire, and once at The Semaine de Golfe on the Morbihan, but I might be mistaken.

On the lower stretches of the Arun ,it's relatively easy to get 'Molly' down stream , but it wouldn't be easy going up stream from Pulborough.
I've not done the Wey Navigation yet ,but know there is a rowing club at Godalming.

[Paul W]

>Grldtnr (mainly)
Re The River Wey. 
You may find Guildford Rowing Club is the only one nearby.  They're half a mile upstream of Guildford on the Shalford Rd.  If you find another please tell me.  
AFAIK Gfd RC has no slipway, so unless your boat is light enough to pick up, you'd probably need to launch at Dapdune Wharfe (in Guildford) or Stoke Lock (a couple of miles downstream of Gfd).

[Grldtnr]

Soz, always get Guildford and Goldaming mixed up, just the same with Bungay & Beccles,  yes Guildford R C are in Shalford, it's a long time since I was in the area.
Shall visit the river next time I am near the YHA at Holmbury St. Mary, I likely would have a bike with me.

[Chris Waite]

They must have moved most of the 'narrow' boats out of the way for you, Paul!

I found several occasions as we neared Godalming particularly, where overgrown trees and moored barges between them meant bringing the oars inboard and more piddling around than paddling; all very ungainly.

The other thing is that somehow, momentum seems to work much better in a substantial whaler, with a cox steering downstream, than one oarsman does facing aft in a light rudderless skiff going against the flow....

I stand by my Pedyuloh; or in fact

Sit facing forwards

Chris ol–)

[Paul W]

Nothing was moved for us, Chris.
That boat is 1.93 metres beam.  Not so different to a narrow boat.
Teamwork is important.  "Crew! - Two  firm strokes, then handles over heads.  Two.  One.  Now!"
All oars folded neatly alongside. :)
You're right about momentum.  Boat + 11 humans takes a bit of stopping too!

Going solo?  -  Keep pedaling.

[Chris Adeney]

Relating to the above I have recently read a book republished by the Wey and Arun Canal trust called The Thames To The Solent by canal and sea which is about a trip undertaken in 1868 in a small sailing boat. Apparently the canal closed in 1868 and was abandoned in 1871 so we have missed our opportunity by a bit although the canal society are trying to reopen it. An interesting book well worth reading. Chris A.

[Chris Waite]

They'll have the odd problem reopening it Chris

One of the first obstacles up at the top end near Godlaming, is that

A housing estate has been built over it

Chris

[Port-Na-Storm]

A number of years ago an intrepid trio of navigators set off from Pulborough and ventured through the upper reaches of the River Arun searching for legendary spot where the old Wey and Arun canal joined the river.
Some say they are still looking, some say they were waylaid by pirates, other that they went to the pub.

Thankfully some ancient grainy footage showing their exploits still remains.

Enjoy.

Pulborough Paddle