Possible to anchor up by Portchester Castle?

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lampshuk

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I fancy going to see Portchester Castle (in Portsmouth - in case there's another one somewhere else) this weekend - a friend of mind built an exhibition to do with shipwrecks - and I was wondering whether it's possible to anchor in a (non-drying) location and row across to the jetty on the E side. Navionics shows an anchor site, but on closer inspection it is a user-added one, so not sure if it's really possible to do so.

I suppose it's only about 2 miles to walk from Port Solent, but it would be much cooler to row.

Any locals got any tips? We are a bilge-keel Moody 31, drawing 4ft. Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks,

Martin.
 
The dredged channel isn't particularly wide and flanked by Portchester club moorings and trots. The jetty belongs to the club. I don't use Navonics so can't comment on the Anchorage shown. From personal experience I know how easy it is to get stuck on the putty. With a bulge keeler, and carefully working your tidal calcs you might find somewhere to anchor for a couple of hours around HW (~4.00pm) at the edge of the channel, but it's not something I'd consider. You might park your dinghy on the waiting pontoon or even lock out of Port Solent in it if you're really keen on visiting by boat. Contacting the club might even get a place on the trots vacated by a member on holiday, they have a reputation as a good friendly club.
 
I'd agree with Topcat, the channel is narrow and the club moorings extend some distance south of the castle. I'm sure you'll find that the club welcomes visitors and you may be allowed to stay on their pontoon which is on the opposite side of the channel from the slipway or use a mooring. Trafalgar Wharf is another possibility but it dries.
 
You don't need an anchorage to be marked as such on the chart for you to anchor there. Good seamanship says you don't anchor in a fairway or to cause an obstruction. After that it's just a question of seamanship. Is it sheltered? What's the nature of the seabed (AKA is it good 'holding'?) is there sufficient depth of water (not too deep and you're not going to dry out unintentionally. )

I like anchoring in obscure places. Especially in coves near headlands in settled conditions. It's rare for any of them to be marked on the chart as a 'suggested' anchorage. I've anchored mid channel when becalmed in a yacht race.

I'm not familiar enough with the area you are asking about to comment. Look at the chart?

For the sake of completeness I should point out that occasionally you get an area where anchoring is forbidden. It will be marked as such on the chart. (Read the notes!)
 
Having piqued my interest I've looked at the chart. (The Navionics one anyway.)

I agree that there's not a lot of room outside the channel but you 'might' find a spot on Neaps where you could anchor opposite the jetty.

There's an area NE of post #80 just S of the area in question where a boat with 4' draft could anchor on Neaps well out of the channel and without drying out at any state of the tide. Do the tidal calcs and choose your spot carefully on springs....

It's not far by dinghy to the jetty from there.

You must look at the chart, tidal curve, and time of anchoring and make your own decisions though.
 
As a long term resident of the area we sometimes see people anchored overnight or longer in the vicinity of piles 68-71. There is more water than the chart suggests. With a two metre draft we have anchored here at low water springs waiting for Port Solent lock, as do a number of other boats. Just go and take a look I'm sure you will be fine. There are some moorings laid there but be very careful before using them as I know of at least one that was laid well over ten years ago and has not been used or maintained since. The tide in that area is not particularly strong.
 
Thanks, all. Very good advice all round.
Since it's neapish, LW Portsmouth still has 1m+ HoT, so I think it's viable.
The rise isn't too great, so the additional scope is manageable and won't leave me drifting out onto the mud. Hopefully.

Thanks for the tip about piles 68-71, han and JM. That's more or less where I was thinking of.

But as TC says, the proper thing to do is give Portchester Club a call, which I will do forthwith.
I'll report back.

By the way: I was using Google satellite view to check out the terrain and if you go into 3D then zoom in to the Dockyard there are some spectacular views.
Mind the cranes don't have your eye out, though!
 
I'd forgotten that Portsmouth had now been updated on Google maps -> satellite view -> 3D to the full 3D.

Isn't it great how it's managed to capture the 3D effect of masts and even some of the memorial stones within Portchester Castle.

(Click and hold the shift key whilst dragging a point on the 3D map view to rotate in any direction)..
 
Well, sitting off the Castle now. Can't help feeling I've cheated a bit, since we are tied up to the pontoon of the very hospitable Portchester SC. Thanks to Steven the Mooring Officer and Club member Ivan for the kind invitation. Looking forward to the Castle tomorrow and a beer at the clubhouse. And thanks to TC, of course, for the suggestion. Night - night. M.
 
Just for completeness:
My wife and I spent a very enjoyable half-day looking around Portchester Castle: amazing history going back to Roman times, the Hundred Years and Napoleonic wars etc. Best audio guide I've used.
Great views of Portsmouth harbour
There's a new exhibit about to start, which we missed, unfortunately.
Tea and cake at St Mary's Church (more fascinating history) in the Castle grounds, rounded off with a great beer at lunchtime in the very hospitable Portchester SC bar (once we figured out how to get in!).
Highly recommended - and best to contact the club beforehand to get access codes.

About the berth:
At LW (neaps-ish) there was 2.1m on the deep (channel) side of the pontoon, so about 0.9m @ CD.
Only a short row across to the shore, but it means crossing the Port Solent channel, which got rather busy at times. Anyone who's played Frogger knows the problem.
To get access to the shore there's a boat ramp that was accessible at LW neaps. Thin layer of mud on top of hard standing. With more water you can use the shoreside pontoon, of course.
Pictures attached - I hope.
IMG_0015.jpgIMG_9986.jpgIMG_9987.jpg20170714_205022_resize.jpg

To round it off, on our way out down Portsmouth Harbour there was some kind of display going on (was it Navy Day? Does that even exist any more?) so we were treated to the sight of a tug doing "doughnuts" (I bet the Captain had been dying to do that all year) and a helicopter winchman being swung around like a conker. Of course, we were missing the masthead-height flypast by the Sea Harriers I remember from my youth, but my wife was impressed. Though she was distressingly skeptical when I tried to persuade her I had arranged it for her entertainment.
 
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The tug doing "doughnuts" was probably the new big one, Tempest, that's been provided for the new carrier (when it arrives!!). It has been doing that on and off for the past few months under the guise of crew training. Also fitted with grey fendering so as not to leave any unsightly marks on the carrier's hull!
 
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Yes, exactly. The name looked like "Sid Tempest". Very impressive circular "wake". Will definitely go back to Pompey to check out the QE when she arrives.
 
Not at all.
You've set me thinking now, because I was reverse-engineering the depth from memory and 2.1m depth would imply the sounder reading 0.8m, and I always get a bit twitchy when it reads <1m, so would have remembered. I think I wrote it down in the log (in a rare fit of conscientiousness) so will go back and double-check when next I am on the boat.
 
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