Hythe Marina Residential

[TheCoach]

Hi all,

as mentioned on my Island Harbour thread we have finally exchanged on our house so are committed to moving! Yay Relocating down to the Solent, and as well as Island Harbour are interested in Hythe Marina.

We are downsizing to spend a couple of years pre retirement exploring the boating/waterside life so we can see how it works out before making any big commitments to property or larger boats. We have discounted Ocean Village and Port Solent as we want something a bit more rural just as that suits our lifestyle. Would love Chi/Itchenor etc but way over budget for waterside properties

So something like a waterside mews with a mooring outside the patio door and instant access to a boat is a definite option for us and Hythe ticks a lot of boxes.

Had some great feedback and generous offers of help on the IH thread, so thought I would also start one up for Hythe and see what peoples views/experiences are on living there but also on having a boat there and using as a base for exploring the south coast.

Cheers,

TC

 

[Skysail]

I sailed out of Hythe for 10 years and liked it. You had to sail down Southampton Water to reach the Solent, but that Is an interesting stretch of water, and the upper reaches are also available. Once on the Solent you could go anywhere, tide permittting. So we covered the South Coast, France, Channel Islands, Ireland. So it was good for weekends and longer periods.

Hythe Village has most amenities, except a good chandler (10 years ago). The marina lock has to be considered, but it keeps the weather out! Car parking was good, and boat owners were a friendly lot. And the New Forest is a good attraction.

 

[Elessar]

Hi all,

as mentioned on my Island Harbour thread we have finally exchanged on our house so are committed to moving! Yay Relocating down to the Solent, and as well as Island Harbour are interested in Hythe Marina.

We are downsizing to spend a couple of years pre retirement exploring the boating/waterside life so we can see how it works out before making any big commitments to property or larger boats. We have discounted Ocean Village and Port Solent as we want something a bit more rural just as that suits our lifestyle. Would love Chi/Itchenor etc but way over budget for waterside properties

So something like a waterside mews with a mooring outside the patio door and instant access to a boat is a definite option for us and Hythe ticks a lot of boxes.

Had some great feedback and generous offers of help on the IH thread, so thought I would also start one up for Hythe and see what peoples views/experiences are on living there but also on having a boat there and using as a base for exploring the south coast.

Cheers,

TC

Send a pm to Z1ppy he lives there but (like many previously prolific posters) frequents the forum little these days.

 

[Portland Billy]

Definitely recommend Hythe. We've used it as a holiday mooring a couple of times.
Efficient friendly staff. Well kept marina - the village has very reasonable restaurants and pubs.
I would consider moving there if my circumstances allowed.

 

[z1ppy]

@TheCoach replied to your PM.

 

[[164147]]

Isn't Hythe tidal with a lock?

 

[petem]

We kept our boat at Hythe for a few months.

Pros...

• Great access to the Solent (unlike Port Solent, etc).
• Okayish onsite marina bar / restaurant.
• Nice countryside on the doorstep.
• Pleasant and helpful marina staff.
• Good bogs / showers.

Cons...

• We found Hythe village to be a bit grim in the evening with a shortage of pubs and restaurants (the chippy and Indian seemed OK though). Pontoons equally quiet in the evenings.
• The lock.
• No chandler onsite (also a Pro ).
• Boat repairers reluctant to travel there for work.

 

[petem]

Isn't Hythe tidal with a lock?

Yes.

 

[[164147]]

Wouldn't berth in a marina with a lock. Time on the water is short enough without queuing to get in and out.

 

[TheCoach]

Wouldn't berth in a marina with a lock. Time on the water is short enough without queuing to get in and out.

I think the difference with us would be as we are residential we have a huge amount of flexibility on when we go in and out. Its not the same as having to rush down on a Friday night/Sat morning and get back in by a Sunday night ready for the commute back to wherever.

Also a locked marina gives a nice protected mooring which means you can use the boat effectively as an "extra room" for the house. It may be slightly naive but the idea of setting the laptop up in the boat and working from there a few days a week sounds like a nice variation to sitting in my home office looking at the wall

And from what I have read so far Hythe Marina lock is pretty good for wait times mostly and doesn't have quite the same horror stories as say Chi marina at peak bank holidays - but even then, as I say, when you are a resident you can just be so much more flexible about departure/arrival times I think.

Cheers,

TC

 

[ashtead]

Does Hythe suffer the same problems as port Solent in terms of not being able to exit without a 2 hour wait in the summer weekends? If I was thinking of Hythe I just wonder what road access is like ? Isn’t it prone to delays ? I guess this rather depends as a retiree or semi retiree how much you want to escape by land and to where. I would have thought Emsworth a more idyllic location if you fancy a locked marina but maybe it’s the living at the marina which is attraction ? Clearly if you fancy marina views properties in east cowes and Bembridge have these aplenty.

 

[markc]

I moored in Hythe for a couple of years. I thought it was a nice marina and well protected. Road access was fine at weekends and as Pete says, lots of beautiful countryside on the doorstep. I did find the lock to be a pain... having come from the Thames, I was very used to gong in and out of locks, but found most other users were far less confident and therefore slower. This did cause delays during busy weekends, both waiting to leave and to come back in. For this reason I moved to Ocean Village. However, if I lived in the marina and was more flexible on time then I would be less bothered by lock waiting times. If you can see Southampton water from your windows, there's always lots of boaty things to see - a great way to while away time

The village is only a short walk as is the Hythe ferry (I presume it's still running, it's been a while!) for trips to Southampton. As it's next to the New Forest there are loads of lovey places to visit via short car journey if you're leaving the boat tied up. I would certainly consider it if I wanted a house in a marina.

 

[TheCoach]

Does Hythe suffer the same problems as port Solent in terms of not being able to exit without a 2 hour wait in the summer weekends? If I was thinking of Hythe I just wonder what road access is like ? Isn’t it prone to delays ? I guess this rather depends as a retiree or semi retiree how much you want to escape by land and to where. I would have thought Emsworth a more idyllic location if you fancy a locked marina but maybe it’s the living at the marina which is attraction ? Clearly if you fancy marina views properties in east cowes and Bembridge have these aplenty.

The challenge is anything "with views" bumps the price significantly , but the point is a fair one - we are definitely looking on the Island as well and per my other thread looking at Island Harbour as well. I have had a look around Chi harbour including Emsworth but not found anything that isn't really spendy

The unique opportunity with the "marina living" is the ability to have the boat outside your door and that is more of an attraction that the access to restaurants/bars etc as if we are residential we don't need that so much.

The marinas seem to be the most cost effective way into "waterside" properties with the compromise that you sacrifice personal outdoor space and detached dwellings.

Re road access, in a place far away and a world long ago (ie last year before Covid ) my work commute would be around the M25 so traffic is kinda a relative thing for me

Cheers

TC

 

[TheCoach]

We kept our boat at Hythe for a few months.

Pros...

• Great access to the Solent (unlike Port Solent, etc).
• Okayish onsite marina bar / restaurant.
• Nice countryside on the doorstep.
• Pleasant and helpful marina staff.
• Good bogs / showers.

Cons...

• We found Hythe village to be a bit grim in the evening with a shortage of pubs and restaurants (the chippy and Indian seemed OK though). Pontoons equally quiet in the evenings.
• The lock.
• No chandler onsite (also a Pro ).
• Boat repairers reluctant to travel there for work.

Thanks @petem that's a useful summary

Cheers,

TC

 

[wombat88]

Howzabout renting a houseboat on Chichester Canal or even in the marina? I have no idea of the spondoolies involved.

 

[Solent Sailor]

I used to sail out of Hythe a few years ago, and the lock was a downright pain to be quite honest. If you have all the time in the world then perhaps its fine, but for anyone not wanting to hang around quite a lot, it was not ideal.

Don't underestimate quite how far up Southampton water it is - it really is quite a long way. Much further than you would think if you want to be out in the Solent quickly. If you just want to get out and potter around, then again, I'm sure its fine.

Hythe itself is pretty grim, but it is on the edge of the Forest which is its saving grace. Again, takes longer to get from there to the M27 than you'd think - although the same could easily be said for other places like Hamble!

Have you thought about places like Moricornium Quay in Poole? Much prettier and closer to town in my opinion if you could find somewhere like that.

 

[TheCoach]

@wombat88 probably looking for something a bit more permanent than a liveaboard style (at least this time around) but thanks for the suggestion

@Solent Sailor interesting feedback on the lock will see what the collective views are - guess it is swings and roundabouts really (or lockins and lockouts )

Re travel times down the Solent that's a fair point although in a planing mobo I am guessing less of an issue? The location next to the New Forest is definitely an upside for us as we are quite "outdoorsy" and enjoy walking, camping, wandering off for picnics in the woods with the dog etc so Hythe provides quite a nice base for this.

Poole would be lovely but again is quite pricey - I hadn't looked at Moricornium so will do that - though on first glance it looks mainly apartments but will do a bit of digging

The advantage we have this time round is location is quite flexible - we even look at West Coast Scotland , but that is possibly a bit far out for the moment

Cheers,

TC.

 

[petem]

We didn't experience queues for the lock when we were there.

As for the run down Southampton Water, the speed limit ends a few hundred meters south west of the marina and it's only 4 miles to open water so takes minutes and is a good run to warm the engine up.

We quite often used to turn left when we left the marina for a potter about. And of course you've got the Hamble and Itchen close by.

 

[ashtead]

I have found Poole quite depressing but if venturing that far surely Lymington is the place to be -plenty of dog walks to Keyhaven , easy shopping, good marinas if pricey and while no houses overlooking plenty of houses nearby for a walk down etc. Only problem to my mind with Lymington is Ringwood but otherwise it has everything in terms of location etc.

 

[[164147]]

Good luck getting a berth in a marina in Lymington!

Not sure why Ringwood is a problem? If you live outside of the New Forest then Lyndhurst is a bottleneck getting in and out but you can go via Beaulieu instead.