Another Solent vs Poole Harbour thread

[Wing Mark]

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For me, the solent is a great place to visit, but I think the charm would rub off if I was there. I loved Poole for all the reasons mentioned above - it has great sailing of it's own in harbour and around the area and is a great setting off point. It is no problem to have a good sail to the folly, a few beers then a good sail back the following day. Or you can sail down to any of the coves, have a spot of lunch and a great meal and be pushed back by a kind tide and wind.
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'The Solent' is not 'one place', it's a whole bunch of destinations.
There's a dozen good places to go on am off-season weekend or midweek.

High season, it tends to be crowded, but it's a good base for going South or West for a long weekend. or more.
I don't think of it as a destination, except that I have friends i n the area.

Poole lacks the variety of all-weather, off season one night destinations.
But some parts of the Solent region, e.g. the Itchen are a bloody long way from the sea.
From that point of view, Haslar and Lymington stand out.

IMHO there is a great deal to be said for basing your boat as close as possible to home and minimising drive time, the whole Central South Coast from Poole to Brighton is pretty awful for driving..
The other thing is, unless you have a club mooring or similar, there's no reason not to consider changing after a few years.

Poole Harbour is of course, Not Very Deep in the main, based there, it would influence choice of boat?

 

[Moodysailor]

'The Solent' is not 'one place', it's a whole bunch of destinations.
There's a dozen good places to go on am off-season weekend or midweek.

High season, it tends to be crowded, but it's a good base for going South or West for a long weekend. or more.
I don't think of it as a destination, except that I have friends i n the area.

Poole lacks the variety of all-weather, off season one night destinations.
But some parts of the Solent region, e.g. the Itchen are a bloody long way from the sea.
From that point of view, Haslar and Lymington stand out.

IMHO there is a great deal to be said for basing your boat as close as possible to home and minimising drive time, the whole Central South Coast from Poole to Brighton is pretty awful for driving..
The other thing is, unless you have a club mooring or similar, there's no reason not to consider changing after a few years.

Poole Harbour is of course, Not Very Deep in the main, based there, it would influence choice of boat?

It didn't say it was 'one place', but however you cut it - when you can cross from one end to the other in daylight during off-season it's not a particularly big boating area. And that (plus the crowds) can be a turn-of for some. But that is also part of what makes the solent so great and why it attracts so many people, as you point out. Personally, I've never had an issue boating year-round in Poole and surrounding areas, each area is very different and it's horses for courses. You just have to adjust your sailing, and expectations to match the area.

As I said - my preference (and what I did) would be to keep my boat in Poole and visit the solent, for me that preserves the best of both. I always had the feeling when sailing back that I wanted to visit again and explore more, and that - to me - is one of the greatest allures of the sea. I'm not saying one area is better than the other, to have such different areas so close really is fortunate.

The OP did cover depth/draught, as did others. If you draw more than 2mtr both solent and Poole have restrictions, under that opens up more opportunities.

I totally agree on your comment around proximity to your boat, which is why I now live in Devon

 

[Romeo]

Got to pity you south coast types. Until you can move house, keep the boat closest to the place you currently live. More likely to spend more time on it, if it is near at hand.

 

[baart]

Decision has been made, Poole it is At least for a few seasons, waiting for a contract from Salterns. Now just need to sort out winter storage for next year as they may struggle with space for us.

 

[TopBanana]

baart, I'm based in Poole and love it. Spent one winter at Elkins boatyard Christchurch and that worked out very well.

 

[Stemar]

I like the Solent because there are so many places to go within an easy day's sail, and Milady isn't a huge fan of the getting there bit. Poole's nice too, but I could turn Moodysailor's comment on its head and say that it's a great place to visit, but I think the charm would rub off if I was there. Each to his own, and I do, perhaps, have an unfair advantage in that I'm retired, so I can avoid weekends.

Also, anyone who doesn't think Poole can get busy obviously hasn't done what I did once. I got the tide a bit wrong and was struggling in against the beginning of the ebb, when I met the racing fleets coming the other way in the entrance. It was a bit like my first time out as the only one who sort of knew what he was doing in the Solent, when I met the RTI coming the other way, but with less space and a chain ferry to play with as well.

 

[baart]

Spent one winter at Elkins boatyard Christchurch

Not sure I could get there with my 1.7m draft. Will look at the charts. The price is very encouraging,

 

[Tranona]

Decision has been made, Poole it is At least for a few seasons, waiting for a contract from Salterns. Now just need to sort out winter storage for next year as they may struggle with space for us.

Davis's Boatyard in Cobbs Quay is arguably the best. Have been there on and off over the last 40 odd years.

 

[LadyInBed]

Several Poole boats head up to Ridge Wharf, Wareham (R Frome) for winter. 1.7 will just make it.

 

[baart]

I will make some phone calls this week to see what's possible. If I am reading the prices correctly Town Quay offers winter afloat deal at 178£ per meter for 5 months. I am not too keen on staying afloat in winter months but at that price maybe? Although it is quite exposed, isn't it?

 

[Stemar]

I bought my Snapdragon from there. We were launched, "OK, check for leaks. Right, off you go, got a lot more boats to launch", so off we went.

I was below, trying to figure out how to get the depth sounder working, when, from the helm, "We've stopped". Maybe 5 minutes after launch, on my first boat, just after high water . Fortunately, a kindly Moody pulled us off and the rest of the trip home was great.

 

[Tranona]

I will make some phone calls this week to see what's possible. If I am reading the prices correctly Town Quay offers winter afloat deal at 178£ per meter for 5 months. I am not too keen on staying afloat in winter months but at that price maybe? Although it is quite exposed, isn't it?

Davis's is about £50 a week for 10m plus of course cranage and a small charge for cradle if you need it. 10% discount if you pre pay the winter 5 months. Ridge is usually a bit cheaper - I have not checked for a couple of years but access by road from the east is a PITA and limited for water with 1.7m. Nothing wrong with staying afloat. Most of us do this in the PYC marina with maybe a a couple of weeks out each year. Poole Quay is exposed but boats are well protected by the bund wall.