Deacons berths

Y pontoons okay... think it has fresh water ?? but it's a bit of a row out... also be careful with the tide it can run quite fast. so moor / depart against the tide, spaces are tight. we used to be moored on the middle pontoon. we had our boat broken into whilst ashore at deacons a few years ago it was behind the train track at the time.
 
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Car parking can be very busy/impossible when the forecast is good at weekends.

Not much in the way of showers/bogz.

Good(ish) eating at the floating resto at the Elephant, and local pubs.

If staying aboard overnight, a lot of noise from the road bridge.

Tides are strong, but it'll improve your ferry gliding technique!

You'll need a tender.
 
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Were at Deacons at the moment on the inside of X pontoon and have run aground at LWS between the pontoons, we draw 5'6", as others have said the tide can be quite strong on the springs and the parking can be a pain when the weathers good apart from that no real problems.
 
"Long way from anywhere else."

Oh no it's not!

Quickest Hamble yotpark to get to from the M3
Boatyard and lots of other yottie services on site.
Only Hamble location with a railway station close at hand
Proper resto on site, not some marina noshery
Fresh fish shop just over the road
BIG chandlery on site
Several pubs a comfortable stumble away, or take your tender to the (not very) Jolly Sailor
BIG shops (Sainsbury, M&S and two of my favourite chandlers - B&Q and Halfords) 5 mins by car.

Plus, motoring up there agin the tide will put enough sparks in your battery to last a season.
 
Have they sorted out/educated people about the chain ferry to X pontoon, it became habit to motor past on the outside of X to check if the ferry was stuck or tied off across the fairway before coming inside to berth and there was nothing worse than coming back from the pub at 11.00pm to find the blinking thing on the wrong side!

Moved to Universal after Shaun Fuller set sail on the ARC and the other guy (Lucus/Marcus?) took over.
 
Have they sorted out/educated people about the chain ferry to X pontoon, it became habit to motor past on the outside of X to check if the ferry was stuck or tied off across the fairway before coming inside to berth and there was nothing worse than coming back from the pub at 11.00pm to find the blinking thing on the wrong side!

Moved to Universal after Shaun Fuller set sail on the ARC and the other guy (Lucus/Marcus?) took over.

There's signs up about it and we haven't found on the wrong side yet, but it's still a bit of a pain to load kit on to the boat.
 
"Long way from anywhere else."

Oh no it's not!

Quickest Hamble yotpark to get to from the M3
Boatyard and lots of other yottie services on site.
Only Hamble location with a railway station close at hand
Proper resto on site, not some marina noshery
Fresh fish shop just over the road
BIG chandlery on site
Several pubs a comfortable stumble away, or take your tender to the (not very) Jolly Sailor
BIG shops (Sainsbury, M&S and two of my favourite chandlers - B&Q and Halfords) 5 mins by car.

Plus, motoring up there agin the tide will put enough sparks in your battery to last a season.

I didn't say it was a long way from anything on shore ... what I meant was it's a long way from getting your sails up .... Hamble equivalent of Port Solent ... you wouldn't want to keep the boat there either! Probably ok if your favourite pastime is sitting on your boat.
 
Dissagree with you... we kept our boat at deacons for X years.... and it was only 30 mins to southampton water... we had no power like the origional poster had so meant we could charge out battery's going down river.... before we arrived.... also on a sunday gave everybody a chance to tidy up / pack bags / empty fridge / and a soon as we arrived we were off up the M27 / A34 home. the trip down river is nice watching the world go by and allows you to sort stuff out ! Also some nice walks on the south side of the river.
 
We were there for two years, quite liked the place. I understand that a bit of pontoon maintenance wouldn't go amiss at the moment, nice staff, we will probably end up there in our declining years with a mobo again (only moved to universal to sell our Merryfisher as broker was on site at the time). Security could do with updating I hear, but otherwise no complaints........apart from 'leccy costs.
 
I didn't say it was a long way from anything on shore ... what I meant was it's a long way from getting your sails up .... Hamble equivalent of Port Solent ... you wouldn't want to keep the boat there either! Probably ok if your favourite pastime is sitting on your boat.

Oh, I can't agree with that. Our boat lives just opposite Deacon's. It's just 20 minutes down the river (at the sanctioned 6 knots) to big water, just the amount of time you need to get fenders up (or down) and get yourself sorted to go to sea. It's perfect in that respect, and it's far enough up river that you aren't buffetted by the Solent swell. Personally, I love it up there.

I would much rather go down the river on the boat, in any case, than sit in traffic jams in the car trying to get down to one of the lower marinas.
 
Sounds far better than I'd previously thought .......... is it expensive? ... I'm currently paying £1300 for a serviced swinging mooring in Gosport (where the boat has recently been hit and damaged) ... but very handy for a quick run to the Solent .... if it compares I'll see if I can get a berth at Deacon's ... 30 footer ... what would that cost?
 
My only criticism is that the kids jump off the bridge in the summer and use the pontoons as rafts to run up and down to get out of the water....

Kids can be quite abusive at times.
 
Sounds far better than I'd previously thought .......... is it expensive? ... I'm currently paying £1300 for a serviced swinging mooring in Gosport (where the boat has recently been hit and damaged) ... but very handy for a quick run to the Solent .... if it compares I'll see if I can get a berth at Deacon's ... 30 footer ... what would that cost?

There will be one available in March as we’re off the Chi Harbour to a swinging mooring :)
 
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