Anchoring ban in Beaulieu River

Little Grebe said:
No more anchoring the lowest reach according to their website citing damage to eel grass.

To compensate they appear to have increased the number of visitors' moorings in that neck of the woods but then increased the price from £10 to £15

https://www.beaulieuriver.co.uk/news/anchoring-in-the-river/
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With regard to price that doesn't seem to be unreasonable. Tobermory moorings, for example, have been that price for a number of years. As the moorings have taken the best spots in the harbour, anchoraing is now severely limited to first come first served.

Donald
 
Aja said:
With regard to price that doesn't seem to be unreasonable. Tobermory moorings, for example, have been that price for a number of years. As the moorings have taken the best spots in the harbour, anchoraing is now severely limited to first come first served.

Donald
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To me that is a bit of a rip-off. I appreciate the convenience of moorings, but I also enjoy anchoring. Both have their pros and cons. However when mooring buoys take all the anchoring space, then I think of Dick Turpin as there is almost no where else to go.
 
If the moorings are in demand and have 'replaced' conventional anchoring (for whatever reason) then the next thing they will consider is putting in pontoons - as you can get considerably more boats on them than on swing moorings.

I have never quite understood why marinas were built in the best (and often only) anchoring spots but then cynicism sets in and the answers are more obvious.

Jonathan
 
The loss of this anchorage is very sad... we spent many years sailing the Solent, and as much as we loved anchoring at Newtown Creek, once the season got going, it was always too crowded for our taste, and Beaulieu was our second favourite as it hardly ever seemed to be too crowded. Really enjoyed that anchorage at HW springs when the sand bar was just awash and you felt you were anchored in the Solent but with untroubled waters, watching the comings and goings of the big ships and tall sail boats.

I'm surprised this thread is not getting more reaction considering the number of Solent users on this forum. But then, perhaps it tells us something about the ratio of those that anchor (who are perhaps in decline?) versus those that prefer a marina or picking up a mooring. Of course, when good anchorages are lost to moorings, it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

The mooring buoy cost, although not ideal. is not the main concern in Beaulieu as you had to pay to anchor anyway... £6 back in 2013 if my memory serves me correct... more last year I assume? So £15 for the mooring is not outrageous. It's about loosing that choice of exactly where you would like to drop your hook and spend the night, loosing that skill on where best to pick your anchoring spot etc. Also, in a storm (we once rode out F9 in Chi Harbour, unruffled) we would always prefer to lie to our own anchor rather than a mooring whose maintenance is unknown.

I suppose the upside of this trend is that 'which anchor' threads on this forum will be a thing of the past within a few years!
 
I have never found that anchoring spot to be very attractive. Reasons: Slap of wavelets under the stern disturbs sleep, wind against tide issues including swinging room limitations into channel in a north wind, busy with passing traffic, often there at Springs so tide quite strong for manual hauling up of anchor. There again maybe for shallow draft yacht’s it could be better or I should have tried harder to make it work.
 
Telstarr said:
The loss of this anchorage is very sad... we spent many years sailing the Solent, and as much as we loved anchoring at Newtown Creek, once the season got going, it was always too crowded for our taste, and Beaulieu was our second favourite as it hardly ever seemed to be too crowded. Really enjoyed that anchorage at HW springs when the sand bar was just awash and you felt you were anchored in the Solent but with untroubled waters, watching the comings and goings of the big ships and tall sail boats.

I'm surprised this thread is not getting more reaction considering the number of Solent users on this forum. But then, perhaps it tells us something about the ratio of those that anchor (who are perhaps in decline?) versus those that prefer a marina or picking up a mooring. Of course, when good anchorages are lost to moorings, it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

The mooring buoy cost, although not ideal. is not the main concern in Beaulieu as you had to pay to anchor anyway... £6 back in 2013 if my memory serves me correct... more last year I assume? So £15 for the mooring is not outrageous. It's about loosing that choice of exactly where you would like to drop your hook and spend the night, loosing that skill on where best to pick your anchoring spot etc. Also, in a storm (we once rode out F9 in Chi Harbour, unruffled) we would always prefer to lie to our own anchor rather than a mooring whose maintenance is unknown.

I suppose the upside of this trend is that 'which anchor' threads on this forum will be a thing of the past within a few years!
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Agree with everything here. I'm devastated.
 
I agree, this was one of my favourite anchorages - it's quite magical, and handy for people who want to be on their way not go all the way up to Bucklers Hard with high fees and a ghastly pub.

Yet another sign the Montagu dynasty ought to have ££££ as their coat of arms.
 
Telstarr said:
I'm surprised this thread is not getting more reaction considering the number of Solent users on this forum. But then, perhaps it tells us something about the ratio of those that anchor (who are perhaps in decline?) versus those that prefer a marina or picking up a mooring. Of course, when good anchorages are lost to moorings, it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.
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It is sad to see anchoring areas disappearing. We cruise in different and new areas so it is hard to pick a long term trend, but anchoring does seem to be on the decline.

In the last three months of full time anchoring we have shared anchorages with only two other boats, and one had its own helicopter, so not your typical YBW member :).

It was a little windy last night. Perhaps it is my imagination but there seems to be more reluctance to anchor in stronger conditions, surprising given the better equipment now available. Personally, I would not have felt safe last night on a visitor’s mooring so filling a bay with moorings decreases my options.
 
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You make a very good point about relying on visitors moorings.

When I was involved with BORG and the Studland discussions some people suggested loads of EFM ' Environmetally Friendly Moorings - basically an elastic band to a screw in the seabed.

On investigation these proved totally unsuitable for Studland.

Before this came to light I called my normal insurers asking how they'd feel if I used a vistors mooring and had problems.

" What sort of boats will be using these moorings ? "

' Well it's near Sunseekers yard so could be say 100' and worth a few million £ '

Click, brrrr :)

One never knows what sort of boat has been there before in what sort of gale.
 
noelex said:
It is sad to see anchoring areas disappearing. We cruise in different and new areas so it is hard to pick a long term trend, but anchoring does seem to be on the decline.

In the last three months of full time anchoring we have shared anchorages with only two other boats, and one had its own helicopter, so not your typical YBW member :).

It was a little windy last night. Perhaps it is my imagination but there seems to be more reluctance to anchor in stronger conditions, surprising given the better equipment now available. Personally, I would not have felt safe last night on a visitor’s mooring so filling a bay with moorings decreases my options.
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I too would feel saver on my anchor then a visitor mooring or even on a pontoon in a blow ,but Noelex lets not complain, more room for people like us , :)
 
noelex said:
It is sad to see anchoring areas disappearing. We cruise in different and new areas so it is hard to pick a long term trend, but anchoring does seem to be on the decline.
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I suspect a lot of this is caused by demographic changes. Nowadays most people want shore power, a decent mobile signal, the ability to walk ashore rather than pump up the flubber, decent showers, easy access to eateries/shops/pub, and so on.
 
Aja said:
With regard to price that doesn't seem to be unreasonable. Tobermory moorings, for example, have been that price for a number of years. As the moorings have taken the best spots in the harbour, anchoraing is now severely limited to first come first served.
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To be fair, the majority of Tobermory is very deep, and the moorings are in water of about 20m depth, so I'm not sure how many yachts would be anchoring in that area anyway (as a 'young lad' decades ago, I was the youngster tasked with helping to retrieve the anchor, and it was ****** hard work).
 
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