Haslar Marina - Good, bad or Ugly?

[BabySharkDooDooDooDooDoo]

I'm looking to spend this season and the early part of next season sailing on the Solent and while I'd love to keep the boat on the Hamble, the finances probably won't stretch to that.

Consequently I was thinking about Haslar Marina, I have spend enough time at Gosport Marina (ex Camper's) to have a fair idea about the drive there and the nature of the surroundings but I don't know anything about the marina apart from having visited by car on one occasion about 15 yeas ago!

I'd welcome advice on mundane things like whether tide runs through the berths, how much space there is between pontoons and the like, any input greatly appreciated!

 

[bobgoode]

Loads of space between the isles; decent size pontoons; can be a bit rolly polly; watch out for the Clipper Venture teams hogging showers. My preference is Chichester...more secure; cheaper and prettier but you have to learn to live with the restrictions.

 

[BabySharkDooDooDooDooDoo]

I really like Chichester (partly because we found our first boat there) but the last time we were there our draft (1.9m) provided a few challenges when trying to move around the marina outside the times when the lock was operating at 'free flow'.

 

[Noahsdad]

Quite happy at Haslar after years in Brighton, year in Port Solent and 18 months at Gosport.
No Clipper crews in Haslar previous poster thinking of Gosport.
Bit of a swell when ferries come in, though the further in towards the office it becomes much less.
Good bar with 2 for one happy hour!
Lightship restaurant does great food.
Pontoons quite narrow compared to some other places.
No haul out facility though discount at a few close by yards.
Free membership of Haslar Yacht club if you become an annual birth holder.
If you get a recommendation from an annual berth holder you both get £500 off your annual.
Feel free to pm me if you want to know anything more specific.
Chris.

 

[TrailerSailer]

Worth also remembering that you get a number of days free parking at other D&R marinas - Cowes and Weymouth/Portland - so you have some options for going further afield.

If you do go there it may be worth getting the annual pass for the Portsmouth naval museums. Not only are they great, but they also run a free shuttle from the submarine museum to Portsmouth saving a few bob

 

[Twister_Ken]

What Noahsdad said.

I'm in Haslar, and reckon it's the best of the Portsmouth Harbour options.

What Noahsdad didn't say is that the creek is sheltered and the ideal place to hoist or stow sails, organise lines and fenders, etc, either before parking or before heading out to sea.

 

[richardbrennan]

Moved to Haslar from Premier a couple of years ago and very happy there. I got fed up with running aground both on and getting to my berth at Premier (some parts badly need dredging), also the car parking can be an issue, and there's not enough male showers, they bring portacabins in for the summer but if I wanted to shower in those I would go to Glastonbury! To be fair, they did offer to move me to a deeper berth further out but I would have then had the tide sluicing through and much more wash to worry about. They are also about to build a second dry stack which I presume will put further pressure on parking and the showers. I have no experience of the impact the Clipper crews have made as I left as they came.

Downside at Haslar, fairways are not quite as wide, although nobody seems to have a problem, and the pontoons are a bit narrower. Also, as already been mentioned, there's no hard standing but you get a discount at Gosport Boat Yard which makes lifting out for a month or so pretty much the same cost as coming ashore at Premier by the time you have paid for the more expensive lift.

Other advantages at Haslar, the staff are great, there's plenty of parking, I rarely have to queue for a shower, and there's two good bars/restaurants although I have to admit to using the Lightship rarely. My berth is also very sheltered and suffers from very little wash or tide although I am pretty well tucked in near the marina office. The're also in the process of refurbishing the showers. Finally, as mentioned there's the free/discounted nights at other D & R marinas and all the berth holders get a couple of tickets for the SBS.

 

[Vanilla]

What Noahsdad said.

I'm in Haslar, and reckon it's the best of the Portsmouth Harbour options.

What Noahsdad didn't say is that the creek is sheltered and the ideal place to hoist or stow sails, organise lines and fenders, etc, either before parking or before heading out to sea.

Fully agree and the staff are really lovely, and extremely helpful. Has a more personal "family-run" feel than most other similar size marinas, in my experience. Both bars/restaurants highly recommended.

 

[Seven Spades]

Forget Hasler, it is a lovely marina and nice people but the location is simply horrid. Go to Ocean village, it is secure, it has all the restaurants and cinemas on site you could possibly want. The thing about Hasler is no matter where you go you seem to be either beating to windward or against the tide or both, only ¼ of the time will you have wind and tide n your favour, whereas at Ocean village, you travel down Southampton Water and then enter the Solent and no matter what the wind direction you will get a cracking sail at some point. If you are looking for something cheaper then you can try Town Quay or Shamrock Quay.

 

[Trident]

Take a look at Royal Clarence Marina - much smaller and friendlier and the island (Rat Island) in front means very little swell or wash even in the worst weather where Haslar I found very rolly - the wave breaks may as well not be there for the outer pontoons. RCM has good showers and heads and is very quiet and with excellent staff and is cheaper than the rest. The only down side is that there is nothing there on shore - no bar, no club etc - but you're only 2 minutes from cafes and pubs if you want a drink or food

 

[Twister_Ken]

Forget Hasler, it is a lovely marina and nice people but the location is simply horrid. Go to Ocean village, it is secure, it has all the restaurants and cinemas on site you could possibly want. The thing about Hasler is no matter where you go you seem to be either beating to windward or against the tide or both, only ¼ of the time will you have wind and tide n your favour, whereas at Ocean village, you travel down Southampton Water and then enter the Solent and no matter what the wind direction you will get a cracking sail at some point. If you are looking for something cheaper then you can try Town Quay or Shamrock Quay.

Eek! An hour each way plugging up and down Southampton Water, before you can go sailing! No thanks.

Whereas Haslar, you can be sailing 15 minutes after slipping lines. You can head off to the east and south of the Island, nip down to Chichester, sail out towards the Nab or the Owers and back, or if you insist you can head into the Solent and play dodgems on the Cowes Hamble axis.

There's also the fact that the UK Americas Cup team is based just across the way at the Camber so there'll be a bit of hi-speed spectating if that's your thing.

Also, if you want to cross the Channel then Portsmouth, Yarmouth or Lymington are much better home ports than mid-Hampshire.

 

[Seven Spades]

What are you talking about we are sailing within 5 minutes of leaving our berth. We don't have to plug away, last time we went to Chi we put up the spinnaker and when we got to the end of Southampton we jibed it and went to the entrance of Chi still under spinnaker. If you go west from Portsmouth harbour you usually have to tack all the way. If you miss the tide and have to tack it can take hours just to get to Cowes.

 

[doris]

Maybe we should start a Haslar branch of the forum.

 

[PhillM]

No experience of Haslar but is it really much cheaper than Hamble?

 

[richardbrennan]

I too find Seven Spades logic difficult to understand. Wherever you go one presumes you have to come back, and on his return from his spinnaker run to Chi he would have been very fortune if the presumably westerly wind suddenly swung round 180 degrees to the East! As for the tides, the're always going to be favourable and unfavourable for six hours a day wherever you start from and one chooses one's departure time and/or destination accordingly.

The one point I would agree with is the vast choice of restaurants within walking distance of Ocean Village and we often spend a night there to take advantage of this; our favourites being Charlie Chan's and Kuti's. There are few decent eating places in Gosport, but the New Bengal is a great Indian and the pizzas in Bobby's are also excellent. As already stated, the restaurants in the marina at Haslar are also pretty good, as is the Boathouse at Premier.

Regarding Royal Clarence, i though there was a restaurant called "Reds" and also a more casual place but they may have closed down. Whenever I have been there it has struck me as fairly soulless and it's a long hike from the car park and showers to the berths.

I suggest the OP has a good look at all the options as everybody is going to have different priorities and there's not going to be one "best buy" that suites all.

 

[Anders_P42]

Another thumbs up for Haslar. Staff very helpful, good restaurants within walking distance and as mobo owner I like the short distance to Solent. It would do my head in idling down the Hamble at 4 knots (to avoid wash). I'm on D pontoon, wash not too bad here.

Gunwarf a short ferry ride away if you want cinema, or if other half wants shops.

Lift, hold and jet wash is provided on site by Sealft2, very reasonable prices. As someone else said hard standing available at Gosport.

Pricing is cheaper than Swanwick by reasonable margin, plus fuel cost saved not having to spend 20 minutes each way up river every time I go out.

Anders

 

[BabySharkDooDooDooDooDoo]

Are the starlings (or their droppings to be precise) much of a problem, I seem to recall mention of a Falconer being employed to scare them away?

Edit - Will have a chat with them and a look round when I am next in the vicinity.

 

[Noahsdad]

That's right they had a Falconer in in late summer evenings.
Seems to put them off as no-where near as bad as Gosport Premier. When I was there I flew a flag from the masthead as did many others.
I'm on E pontoon in Haslar and have only a little swell and very rare for starlings to target us.

 

[Twister_Ken]

No experience of Haslar but is it really much cheaper than Hamble?

By about £2.5K a year in my case (34').

 

[Twister_Ken]

The one point I would agree with is the vast choice of restaurants within walking distance of Ocean Village and we often spend a night there to take advantage of this; our favourites being Charlie Chan's and Kuti's. There are few decent eating places in Gosport, but the New Bengal is a great Indian and the pizzas in Bobby's are also excellent. As already stated, the restaurants in the marina at Haslar are also pretty good, as is the Boathouse at Premier.

In Gosport there's not a great choice. However, a short ferry ride lands you in Portsmouth where Gunwharf Quays has tons of choice, plus you get to see the gilded (and tatooed) youf of both sides of the harbour besporting themselves.