Port Solent ?

We have spent 3 summer seasons there and the only serious issue that prevents us from berthing there is the Lock.

High season especially Bank Holiday

Saturday afternoons and Sundays 1100 hrs to 1500 hrs dont bother trying to get out.
You may have to wait several hours until free flow.

Sunday/Bank Holiday Mon dont expect to get a lock in after 1600.

May have to wait 2 hours and they will not allow you to berth outside even to let crew off.

If you dont have to boat at week ends or are flexible 2-3 hours about getting back on a sunny Sunday afternoon then it is almost perfect.

I really do think it is a great Marina but feel strongly about the odd few days a years.

Fights do break out between boat crews and who was or wasnt in the queue first.

I have seen grown men fighting and falling out due to frustration, thats not what boating is about to me and not acceptable for once a year never mind every sunny day !
 
Blimey, is it that bad, Daka? I thought most of the fighting was done by Pompey yoof getting slaughtered at the Boardwalk bars.
Its a year or two since I went in there but if I remember correctly you radio'd ahead and the lock called you forward when it was your turn? Still a complete PITA on weekends and bank hols as you say
 
Another good reason for being in the Med Mike - just com and go when you feel like it

Martyn

Sorry about the minor thread drift.
 
Nearly forgot,

One sunny day they ran out of petrol.

We had driven by car 5 hours to spend a day in the solent but they hadnt any fuel left.

I had a couple of Jerry cans and set about refueling to and from Tescos.

Security Guard tried to stop me filling up due to the danger !

No problem I said I'll move onto the fuel berth to do it, and carry on with the Jerry can runs.
Of course that blocked the Diesel berth so I was told by the Marina Manager to carry on at the berth.
Operation complete by about 1100 hrs and then there was a 1 1/2 hour 'list' to get out the Lock.


Mike, I really found it that bad during hot/sunny weekends, the rest of the time I rate it very highly.
Pete
 
You can avoid or mitigate the outbound queue if you keep an ear open on the VHF before your planned lock out time (easy to forget, I know). As soon as the number of lock out requests exceeds the capacity of the next lock, the lockmaster will issue numbers. If you hear that happening, you can (with a bit of guesswork) book your slot for a few locks ahead.

Inbound not so easy. Avoid the busiest times - like late afternoon Sunday (or bank holiday), especially at low water.
 
Cracking solution, does a handheld work from the M25 /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Coming back, just call at the 'calling perch' and go back to Gun-wharf quay for a pint or two. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Really, don't underestimate the lock if you are predominantly a weekend boater, it seriously detracted from our enjoyment to the point that we moved after a few months. The marina is nice enough in a "newly built multi-use development" kind of way, but i wouldn't say it oozes with character. Good facilities on site, couldn't be more sheltered, easy road access, so lots of plus points too I guess.
 
Have you considered Gosport Marina, come and go as you please. Not as many places to shop or eat but then that might be a plus. In the solent in 5 minutes. If we get stuck in Gosport for any reason then Port Solent is only 20 minutes by car. Since moving to Gosport from Lymington some years back I find we have a much bigger incentive to get out to somewhere where there are better pubs etc. Works for me.
 
It's proper name is Porto Solente, on account of it being a teensy bit poncy. We've been there for several seasons tho now in med. But mite be back you never know. Good restaurants, plenty to do on iffy days, handy for london boaters, fairly ok traffic wise. The lock can be a bit painful as others say, though tis mainly weekenders so go early.
 
To be fair, the lock's a lot better since they started keeping the Sunsail fleet on the outer waiting pontoon during the summer months.
 
Whats wrong with the Ouse or the Humber then? Lovely boating areas
 
[ QUOTE ]
It's proper name is Porto Solente [unquote]

CORRECTION: Bowskill called it 'Port Solvent' - much funnier, like the rest of his Solent pilotbook.

I used to have a private berth in the far corner costing a third of the marina price. They still exist - not everyone in those posey apartments wants a little floating pontoon. Financially advantageous BUT storage ashore was extra. I also worked locally and sailed every weekend with different crew.

That was before Sunsail moved outside. My routine was to lock out onto the holding pontoon and crew would meet me there or in The Harbour Lights down the road. After breakfast we'd slip and the 40 mins going down the harbour was used for crew briefing, stowing gear, togging up etcet.

The unwind coming back on Sunday afternoon was equally useful, our target being to lock in by 1400 latest and have lunch in the berth. That and stowing, unloading and cleaning ship took a couple of hours and bods were not unhappy to be on the road by 4.0pm.

We only were only trapped in the Bank-holiday queue once, but it is a fact that the more often you use your boat, the better treatment you get from lock staff, and we were sailing for over 45 weekends annually - nuff sed!

There is more traffic now and much less room outside since Sunsail relocated, but I still recommend the place if only for that particular bonus of sailing out of Portsmouth/Gosport/Hardway et all: the shelter afforded by the Wight in heavy weather. Bashing across Hayling Bay into a near-gale is NOT an enjoyable alternative!
 
I was there last weekend for the first time, and though the whole place smelled like a take away.
Might be better if they operated 2 locks by the sound of it!
 
Porto Solente/ port solvent

hm, spose it's a matter of opinion which is funnier.

I have heard porto solente in many places around the solent with the clear humourous connotation being it's a slightly pretentious imitation of a spanish marina.

"Port Solvent" er is ambiguous, no? Is it a play on the number of solvents being used by the local glue-sniffers? I didn't see any... Or is the joke that the occupants of the marina are barely solvent?

Heyho, perhaps you compulsive weekenders have a different sense of humour. Or is this another attribute of those who bought marina berths in port solent? - the other one being their complusion to broadcast the price of said berth. Oh, i'm behind again....
 
Re: Porto Solente/ port solvent

Gosport, as someone suggested, might be an alternative to PS as long as you don't mind sitting in traffic on the only road in and out of Gosport. I wouldn't mind betting you could lock out and motor down to Gilkicker at 8-9 knots (10 if you wish except thru the trots) and be in the Solent as fast as sitting in almost stationary traffic, trying to reach Gosport. Also, when docking at Gosport you can get a fair tide running which makes it fun berthing! And then there's the bouncing about caused by all the other boats, large and small. At least, PS is benign by comparison.
 
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