Beaulieu marina / visitor info.....and any tips for this week.

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TactilePaul

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Heading for the river for a night or two with 3 adult teenagers, The Bucklers Hard website is saying no visitors due to covid, !? it looks like the IT staff went on strike about 2 years ago!?
anyway, wondered if anyone could share some info or tips, I'm guessing that midweek before school closes should be easy as regards to finding somewhere, I seem to remember there are some nice bouys up there somewhere owned by John Lewes that rarely get used?, Is Bucklers Hard marina accepting visitors? is it worth £4/m ?, kids might want a pub!, got a tender and paddle board, forcast is as good as can be!!
thanks.
 
strange, !, just been back to their website, and its all up to date, new phase of marina open!, I must have loaded a very old version of their website earlier!, must have been a bad link from somewhere!. it went up 50p /m in a flash!!!, still keen for any tips. thanks
 
was still open in another window!, just incase no one beleived me!!!
 

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Not certain a lot going on at BH -by a pub if you mean the master builder varied reports -ok for a drink. I guess it rather depends on weather if you just want peace and quiet. Personally Lymington has more to offer I suspect apart from a motor museum and old house to view which is a bus ride or dinghy trip away .Stock up with supplies before your visit .
 
TactilePaul said:
Heading for the river for a night or two with 3 adult teenagers, The Bucklers Hard website is saying no visitors due to covid, !? it looks like the IT staff went on strike about 2 years ago!?
anyway, wondered if anyone could share some info or tips, I'm guessing that midweek before school closes should be easy as regards to finding somewhere, I seem to remember there are some nice bouys up there somewhere owned by John Lewes that rarely get used?, Is Bucklers Hard marina accepting visitors? is it worth £4/m ?, kids might want a pub!, got a tender and paddle board, forcast is as good as can be!!
thanks.
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Better of with Yarmouth or Lymington with 3 young adults on board unless they really want peace and quiet.
 
thanks, yes I agree RE lymington and yarmouth, having said that, I did wonder where all the people were on saturday night, the pubs were empty in yarmouth on a sunny June saturday!, heading back there this evening, but they expressed an interest in the river.. thanks..
 
We are based at Bucklers and yes it's very open with lots of visiting boats. I think it is a beautiful location, seals, sea eagles etc, the tides can get a bit interesting at times. For food you have the Master Builders in Bucklers hard itself, it's just been renovated good beer and food but it can be pricey, Thurs night outside of the chandlery there is a Pizza van, Fri eve a Chilli van and Sat a Fish and Chip van, all very healthy (not) but good fresh cooked food.
There is a pop up bar, the solent cellar which opens Thurs /Fri and Sat, 4pm - till dusk

Places To Eat | Cafés, Tea Rooms & Pubs | Beaulieu River, New Forest

lots of paddle boarding in the marina too.
 
We were there a couple of weekends ago.

On the positive side:
It's a pretty spot.
Onsite museum is worth a visit and there is an onsite pub
The shower/toilet facilities are excellent.
Harbour staff are great,
They've got a nice little shop full of the essentials.

Things to consider
It's remote - there's very little in the immediate area, which means teenagers might get bored.
WiFi is good when it works (but it didn't for most of our weekend).
Not much to do in the rain!
Some of the moorings above the marina have marginal depth. I draw 1.9m and was touching the bottom at neaps
The visitor moorings below the marina are a longish dinghy ride up to the marina
They were pretty strict on their "please leave by midday". This could cause some interesting planning if LW is around midday (unless you're shoal draft) due to the constrained depths at the entrance of the Beaulieu river.

Hope this helps.
 
We’ve been there recently. I’d only add that those ultra helpful staff come at a price. We’re 9.2m and it was over £40 for a night. Yarmouth and Lymington are cheaper, you just won’t have staff to take your lines for you.
 
Chiara’s slave said:
We’re 9.2m and it was over £40 for a night. Yarmouth and Lymington are cheaper,
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£45.50 at Yarmouth for a finger berth with electric, or £41 for the rafting area. The Bucklers hard price includes electricity. Obviously you can make it cheaper by not plugging in, but I wouldn't say that offers better value!
 
lustyd said:
£45.50 at Yarmouth for a finger berth with electric, or £41 for the rafting area. The Bucklers hard price includes electricity. Obviously you can make it cheaper by not plugging in, but I wouldn't say that offers better value!
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We used to enjoy the mid river pontoon before it was removed to extend the marina. It was a reasonable price too. I guess that's what they call 'progress' :(
 
No I think that's called overpopulation. Unfortunately in this instance a culling is frowned upon so we have to accept things like marinas, pandemics and global warming ?‍♀️
 
lustyd said:
£45.50 at Yarmouth for a finger berth with electric, or £41 for the rafting area. The Bucklers hard price includes electricity. Obviously you can make it cheaper by not plugging in, but I wouldn't say that offers better value!
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You dont get a finger berth at Beaulieu, you get an alongside walk ashore, which is £37 at Yarmouth. Unless you’re me, in which case Scott won't have my boat in the harbour, so I use the club moorings east of the pier. Call RSYC And they'll maybe help you there.
 
Thanks, I hear the same thing over and over, its beautiful, the staff are great, but you pay the price. Well we can confirm this!, its a set up that I am completely on board with, I don't want to save a £10 in return for miserable staff who can't afford their rent., its how France works, the campsite we go to there always has the same staff who love their job , its nearly 100euros/night ! ( i just hope they are generous to their staff!?, i recon so, thats how you get the good, competent polite ones staying on!)
had a really nice stay up river from marina, the staff were great on the radio, they sent us up to bouy 177, utter silence, you can hear conversations from boats 3 places along !(worth remembering!!)
Kids loved it apart from one huge problem on the hottest day of the year- jellyfish!, no they dont sting, but there are literally millions in the river ATM, one every 10cm..
 
It’s a charming place there is no doubt. We’d go more often but for the price, the length of the river from the solent (we’re outboard powered, and massively overpowered under sail) and my wife is terrified of some of the other eejits in the narrow channel, who take their half of the water out of the middle. It’s a worry when you have a 22ft beam.
 
To hitch a ride on your thread, I've been as far as Bucklers Hard in a yacht but interested in taking a rib up to an event at the motor museum a week Sunday (3rd July). Wondered whether there was anywhere near the top of the river someone could recommend to tie up without getting our feet wet or being chased off by the owners. With our timings, there will be more water when we leave so didn't want to wade calf deep on arrival only to be up to our chest when leaving!
 
We've been up the river and tied alongside the sluice/quay on the starboard side in Beaulieu village a few times several years ago. It's only really accessible at high tide (or with sufficient rise). We only really stayed long enough to go and get an icecream and for the kids to feed the donkeys.
Not sure what earliest arrival/latest departure would be. Looks like it dries around 2 - 2.5 metres up there according to the chart.
 
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