dkm
Well-Known Member
Does anyone have experience of mooring at the top of the Medina whilst the IOW festival is on? how viable is it? Island Harbour want £33/meter whilst the festival is on!.....rip off
IOW festival
- Thread starter dkm
- Start date
lisilou
Well-Known Member
And you have to take the 3 nights. We looked at doing it last year but in the end, decided it wasn't worth the hassle especially factoring in the weather.
L
)
oGaryo
Well-Known Member
We looked in to this and the cost put us off. We ended up booking a berth in East Cowes and taking a water taxi to / from the festival. The arrangement worked really well and East Cowes charged standard visitor berthing fees of 20 something quid a night with electricity.
Only point of note is it's about a 30 min walk to the main stage through the mud past the camping areas, an experience in itself looking in on the state of the tents and thinking thank goodness that's not us
l'escargot
Well-Known Member
Newport Town Quay dries but walk ashore pontoons and a 5 minute walk to the festival site. Some people moor in the river near the festival site but it also dries, you will be sat on mud for about 6 out of 12 hours and without mud shoes unable to get on or off your boat. A lot of people moor at the Folly - rafted on mid river pontoons - with a 15 to 20 minute walk to the festival site - or marinas in Cowes and water taxi or bus to the festival site. Do a search on the forum, there is lots of info - it comes up each year - there was also a link to a PDF on the web somewhere of an article done by Sailing Today which they did a few years ago.
Island Harbour fill up each year, despite the cost, it almost becomes part of the festival site.
andy59
Well-Known Member
Are you happy to let your boat dry out on the mud , Tides are between springs and neaps , saturday night low tide about 9.15 .
colhel
Well-Known Member
We found the bus service seemes very reliable on the IOW. Do they lay on special services for the festival?
oGaryo
Well-Known Member
yep, from East Cowes down by the Red Funnel car park or thereabouts.. or at least they did last year
Adrian
Well-Known Member
We stayed at Island Harbour Last year, the position is great but there simply aren't enough showers/toilets for the number of people that are there (they also allow people to camp in front of the shower block), not only that half the toilets were blocked and the showers were cold, we used the boat facilities all weekend. If it wasn't for the fact i'd been given tickets for the festival i wouldn't have paid the mooring fee.
Having said all that, had i been camping i would have paid double to get off the site, never seen mud like it!
l'escargot
Well-Known Member
Yes, from all 5 ferries and water taxis up the river from Cowes too.
viago
Well-Known Member
Elessar
Well-Known Member
anchored in the river last year. Could hear it well and see the screen, but not the stage due to the trees. Had a great time.
I have a shaft drive boat now and the mud isn't soft enough for drying shafts out - fine for my old outdrives.
matm
Well-Known Member
We went to IH last year and won't do it again. It was a bit pokey and they'd put boats everywhere making getting out of the lock in an F6+ a little interesting.
Going to head for EC this year methinks..
M
Going to head for EC this year methinks..
M
henryf
Well-Known Member
We did the festival a couple of years ago. I too assumed it would be Island harbour - until I got a quote from them !!
In the end we stayed in Cowes Yacht Haven, paid the same rate we would do any other weekend in the summer and got a 20 minute taxi ride into Newport. We were dropped off by the quayside and walked 5 minutes to the entrance gate.
The weather was lovely, breakfast on the boat relaxed and we made a weekend of it, (we only went to the festival for 1 of the days). I would do the same again if attending.
Henry
In the end we stayed in Cowes Yacht Haven, paid the same rate we would do any other weekend in the summer and got a 20 minute taxi ride into Newport. We were dropped off by the quayside and walked 5 minutes to the entrance gate.
The weather was lovely, breakfast on the boat relaxed and we made a weekend of it, (we only went to the festival for 1 of the days). I would do the same again if attending.
Henry
matm
Well-Known Member
We did the festival a couple of years ago. I too assumed it would be Island harbour - until I got a quote from them !!
In the end we stayed in Cowes Yacht Haven, paid the same rate we would do any other weekend in the summer and got a 20 minute taxi ride into Newport. We were dropped off by the quayside and walked 5 minutes to the entrance gate.
The weather was lovely, breakfast on the boat relaxed and we made a weekend of it, (we only went to the festival for 1 of the days). I would do the same again if attending.
Henry
Hadn't considered CYH as I thought it was too much of a pain crossing the river on the chain ferry and then bussing it down. In IH it was still a 30odd min walk thru tent haven to get in so now don't see the advantage esp given the price and the hassle. Thought EC was an option but your approach seems very attractive.
Talking to Ben at the moment re a 1-2m berth at CYH anyway (Med might wait until later this year) so might look at a different plan for the festival. TBH only going this year 'cos Bon Jovi are there who SWMBO is a fan of.
Last edited:
henryf
Well-Known Member
Newport is at the head of the Medina so it's no problem to get a taxi up the western side of the river. The return taxi was also a simple enough affair. The taxi drivers we came across weren't taking the Michael, we just got one from the rank by the fast cat terminal in Cowes.
Obviously there is loads to do around Cowes and during the festival nothing changes, prices remain the same. Once the festival is over you start to see people heading back to the mainland via the ferries but they just pass through. We were in Yarmouth on the Monday after the festival and saw people in various states waiting for the ferry.
Henry
Obviously there is loads to do around Cowes and during the festival nothing changes, prices remain the same. Once the festival is over you start to see people heading back to the mainland via the ferries but they just pass through. We were in Yarmouth on the Monday after the festival and saw people in various states waiting for the ferry.
Henry
matm
Well-Known Member
Once the festival is over you start to see people heading back to the mainland via the ferries but they just pass through. We were in Yarmouth on the Monday after the festival and saw people in various states waiting for the ferry.
Henry
Toyed with the idea of offering passenger rides back to PS or Southampton as there was a lengthy queue at IH for the water taxi. Then looked at the state of some of the guys that had camped in the quagmire and decided that I wasn't feeling that generous!
Getting too old for this but foolishly look forward to it again..
l'escargot
Well-Known Member
No need to cross the river, there are scheduled buses every 8 minutes from the Co-Op right opposite CYH & Newport, they also put on extra Festival Buses. You can pick up taxis there as well.
Nick_H
Well-Known Member
We went to the festival for the first couple of years after it re-started, and before Island Harbour had cottoned on to its commercial potential, so we paid their normal berthing rates. The first year you could walk 10-15 mins along the river to a small festival entrance on that side, but the following year that entrance was closed so you had to walk round by road which made it a much longer walk.
It was really nice to stay in Island Harbour though, the marina had a bit of a festival buzz about it, and I guess it probly still does if you're prepared to pay the high fees. Second year we were berthed on the furthest pontoon so our cockpit overlooked the "lake" area which was very quiet and picturesque in the morning sun, and teeming with bird life, which made an interesting contrast with the noise and crowds of the festival. I think there's a load more houses been built since though.
It was really nice to stay in Island Harbour though, the marina had a bit of a festival buzz about it, and I guess it probly still does if you're prepared to pay the high fees. Second year we were berthed on the furthest pontoon so our cockpit overlooked the "lake" area which was very quiet and picturesque in the morning sun, and teeming with bird life, which made an interesting contrast with the noise and crowds of the festival. I think there's a load more houses been built since though.
dkm
Well-Known Member
thanks for the comments, seems like a berth at Cowes then
GRR
Well-Known Member
I'm not too sure I fancy being up the Medina when it dries out. There is quite a bit of debris like shopping trolleys etc that i would not want to sit on.
I did hear the river was less muddy than the festival site last year
Also they keep turning the stage away from the river.
I did hear the river was less muddy than the festival site last year
Also they keep turning the stage away from the river.