Berthing options in the South

[Never Grumble]

Our problem with Wicormarine was being on a river pontoon the boat was always afloat at 1.8m but the risk was not being to ashore due to long patch of dried out mud -if they now have walk ashore this issue plus the hassle of launching hard dinghy,rigging outboard,multiple dinghy trips etc vanish, if I had time on my hands Birdham looks lovely provided you don’t draw to much. If you want a marina you might find a cheaper one in a group say Eastbourne and then visit their other group marinas in summer. We quite liked Brixham but perhaps too far. Portland is soulless and restaurant is abysmal unless just buying a beer earlier evening.

@Torqemada I'm much happier at Wicorm than I was at Birdham. Dont get me wrong Birdham is a lovely spot to sit on your boat in the sun, but the lock restrictions became an issue, making it often difficult to get out for as day sail and its a long slog to West Pole, even longer if you are against the flood tide. The other thing being Chichester harbour entrance bar and that sometimes not being able to get in might become a problem, of course I have work deadlines/limited holiday so if you don't have those then being able to come and go as you please makes these less of an issue.

Good luck wherever you decide.

 

[dk]

Chichester & Birdham are both in a lovely place and the Chi club is excellent, but the queues for the locks, especially Chi Marina, can be really tedious in the summer. Lovely sail there and back from the Solent though once you fight your way through the dinghies racing from HISC that is!

 

[RobF]

I'm also in Bristol (Stoke Gifford). Do PM me if you fancy meeting up over a beverage of your choice and discussing marinas. I think I've been to nearly all of them between Brighton and Falmouth.

I currently keep my boat (35ft Dehler) in Plymouth which is about £1.5k cheaper per annum than keeping it in the Solent. Previously was in Chichester harbour for a number of years, and before that in Poole and before that in Portishead.

 

[Stemar]

Chichester & Birdham are both in a lovely place

Totally agree. That's why I'd rather keep my boat somewhere else and have Chichester Harbour as a destination

 

[Torquemada]

In the end, after calling just about every marina within the Solent and finding most of them full, we ended up getting a berth at Haslar as it seemed the best of the available options based on people's experiences. Gives us somewhere nice to park our new (well, new to us anyway) Sadler 32, and a year to get ourselves on waiting lists for the places you all recommended and see what becomes available. Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

[ashtead]

Welcome to Haslar - you might check out the Haslar yacht club if you like cruising etc as a way of seeing other locations. We have been there for many years and while other locations are cheaper the convenience of marina works for us and our Moody.

 

[wizard]

I'm also in Bristol (Stoke Gifford). Do PM me if you fancy meeting up over a beverage of your choice and discussing marinas. I think I've been to nearly all of them between Brighton and Falmouth.

I currently keep my boat (35ft Dehler) in Plymouth which is about £1.5k cheaper per annum than keeping it in the Solent. Previously was in Chichester harbour for a number of years, and before that in Poole and before that in Portishead.

Where are you now out of interest?