Beaulieu in October

[laika]

We just moved back to the Solent after 7 years because I thought we’d do more sailing if there were more places to go.

Motored (no wind) to the beaulieu today. River patrol guy who was not overly blessed with cheer and charm tells us there are no visitors buoys (at all, not just available ones) north of where we met him (around gins farm), the marina is full and all the visitors buoys south of there were taken.

He hadn’t mentioned it but we called up the river office to ask if there were any vacant resident moorings. No joy.

I was iffy about anchoring at springs with a dodgy depth gauge but by fortunate happenstance we grabbed a visitors buoy someone was leaving near the anchorage

So what happened to the buoys north of the marina? And what the heck is with the river being “full” in October??? I could overlook the staycation madness in august but "full" in october? Is this the end of south coast yachting as we knew it?

 

[mainsail1]

Well, it was full when I called by telephone last week and they said the marina is full all winter.

 

[Povremeni pomorac]

Very expensive place. Another thing that puts me off buying my own, as well as the "R" word- responsibility.

 

[neilf39]

Starting to take in yachts for the winter so they will be taking up berths freed by resident boats going ashore. Since the new marina layout they have removed the buoys north of it and stopped landings at the quay in the village too. I think many are also making use of the last of the good weather so still a bit busy. Booking well in advance has become the norm for many of the usual destinations this year. Whether it will improve next year when going abroad may be a bit easier is hard to say.

 

[xcw]

Such a shame, I used to love going down to the mid river pontoon at Bucklers Hard in the autumn, row ashore and a brisk walk down to Beaulieu for a couple of pints. Another place ruined (IMHO) and off the list. I am not prepared to book weeks in advance just to get an overnight mooring.

 

[DJE]

Portsmouth and the Solent both looked very busy yesterday ( sunny and calm after last week's gales). But there were a few free berths at Lymington Town Quay last night.

 

[stuartwineberg]

Completely confused by this thread. Just called and booked for next Friday and Saturday, no problem, plenty of availability.

 

[stuartwineberg]

More generally, this year we have had no issues with getting a visitors buoy, of which there are many downstream of Bucklers or, with about a weeks notice, getting on the marina with the very notable exception of weekends which have been nigh on impossible especially Saturday. That said the new set up imho is excellent, new pontoons, dockmasters all over the place taking lines, refurbished facilities and the previous mid river pontoons now walk ashore.

 

[laika]

Completely confused by this thread. Just called and booked for next Friday and Saturday, no problem, plenty of availability.

Your confusion may be due to missing the thrust of my observation. I wasn’t trying to pre-book a week in advance. That’s not something I’ve ever wanted or needed to do. August sure I expect places to be crowded but October? Never recall no buoys being available in the beaulieu when I was last Solent based even on a Saturday once the kids were back at school. Perhaps October weekends being crowded has been par for course over the last 7 years since we’ve been away.

Did they remove all the visitors buoys near to and north of bucklers hard or was mirthless river guy not telling me the whole story? The web site seems to call the 8 visitor buoys downstream of needs ore “visitor buoys” but talks about others further upstream. Was yer man just being pedantic?

 

[Boathook]

Your confusion may be due to missing the thrust of my observation. I wasn’t trying to pre-book a week in advance. That’s not something I’ve ever wanted or needed to do. August sure I expect places to be crowded but October? Never recall no buoys being available in the beaulieu when I was last Solent based even on a Saturday once the kids were back at school. Perhaps October weekends being crowded has been par for course over the last 7 years since we’ve been away.

Did they remove all the visitors buoys near to and north of bucklers hard or was mirthless river guy not telling me the whole story? The web site seems to call the 8 visitor buoys downstream of needs ore “visitor buoys” but talks about others further upstream. Was yer man just being pedantic?

A few years back in late October I went to Newtown mid week and it was busy with all buoys taken and not much space for anchoring. Solent, weekend and nice weather means busy and has ben like this for quite a few years.

 

[Wing Mark]

A few years back in late October I went to Newtown mid week and it was busy with all buoys taken and not much space for anchoring. Solent, weekend and nice weather means busy and has ben like this for quite a few years.

'few years' as in more than 25.
Sun comes out.
Wind a bit iffy, people go from Gosport to Beaulieu/Bembridge/Newtown/Yarmouth

Decent F3/4/5 forecast and people would go further.
Lots of people are making the same decisions based on the same info and the same constraints.
I used to really enjoy trips within the Solent on a Tuesday to Thursday in November to March.
When I lived there in the 80s and 90s.
Plus Ca Change!

 

[stuartwineberg]

Your confusion may be due to missing the thrust of my observation. I wasn’t trying to pre-book a week in advance. That’s not something I’ve ever wanted or needed to do. August sure I expect places to be crowded but October? Never recall no buoys being available in the beaulieu when I was last Solent based even on a Saturday once the kids were back at school. Perhaps October weekends being crowded has been par for course over the last 7 years since we’ve been away.

Did they remove all the visitors buoys near to and north of bucklers hard or was mirthless river guy not telling me the whole story? The web site seems to call the 8 visitor buoys downstream of needs ore “visitor buoys” but talks about others further upstream. Was yer man just being pedantic?

there are 8 buoys near needs ore which are a flat rate £10 and don’t have access to the marina facilities. Then a good selection of buoys going all the way up to at least gins which are sold by length but allow use of the marina facilities. Unsure what is N of the marina. Most of the marinas in the Solent are prebook (and prepay) now. You can try pot luck of course but post lockdown demand is very high for local mooring. I hope it will be easier in coming years as more people travel abroad.

 

[Never Grumble]

are the buoys still outside at Yarmouth. I think they take them in for the winter.

 

[FairweatherDave]

I guess it depends what you draw Laika. And it depends on which person you dealt with ...... some are friendly and those same ones on a different day might be grumpy, bit like me! But for us drawing only 1m and bilge keel we can get the last moorings marked V right as high as you can go. Equally we have anchored several times this summer down near the visitor bouys just after the entrance so I regard Beaulieu as a safe bet whatever. But we are not trying to use the marina facilities either.

 

[laika]

But for us drawing only 1m and bilge keel we can get the last moorings marked V right as high as you can go.

So there *are* still visitor buoys upstream of the marina? And yer man was being obtuse when I asked about "visitor buoys", presumably because the beaulieu website distinguished between "visitor buoys" (the 8 downstream of needs ore) and "swinging moorings for visitors" (all the others) and I'd only used the term "visitor buoys"?

It's been a while since we were there but we used to be happy at springs a couple of "visitor swinging moorings" beyond the first bend upstream of where those pontoons were pre expansion of the marina

 

[FairweatherDave]

I do suspect you are correct! But maybe he was trying to do you a favour....you will never know.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

are the buoys still outside at Yarmouth. I think they take them in for the winter.

Certainly there today! (11 Oct 2021). And only one taker.

 

[Never Grumble]

Certainly there today! (11 Oct 2021). And only one taker.

I quite like going on the buoys and avoiding all the rafting up in the harbour.