sailing and swimming

Nobody has mentioned Alum bay yet. Very nice to swim there...clean and clear and not too much tide. Bit of a way to get to but very nice.

Or if it's a really calm day then go around to freshwater bay..also great for a swim.

Newtown does get busy but if you are there early enough..as in before lunch you will always find a spot or if calm stay just outside to the west by the D Day loading ramp.
 
I have friends who swum mid atlantic. I am just a tad jealous, but working on that bucket list entry.
 
A cautionary tale.

There was a charter boat in the Med. They were becalmed, so dropped the sails and went for a swim. All great fun until the wind came back. Not much, but enough to take the boat off downwind faster than anyone could swim...
 
solent clown said:
Alum bay is very pretty. What is the story with anchoring or mooring there? I seem to recall someone telling us it is private or "clubby"
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No rules there...just turn up and drop the hook. But keep an eye on the charts as there is a rock near the beach! I was anchored there some years ago about 100 meters off the beach in about 4 meters when a couple of kids came rowing past in a dingy. I thought nothing of it until i heard them laughing so i looked up and saw one of them standing on a rock with just his ankles underwater about 3 meters to my side! I moved quickly!

Don't stay there overnight as the kelp can wrap around an anchor making ti hard to get out.
 
I remember letting my early teens sons have a swim about a mile off Broadstairs. I just hove to and we all bobbed along with the tide. I kept a look out for great whites and jelly fish while they cooled off. Then they climbed aboard and we plodded across the estuary. Happy days
 
Newtown River is OK on the flood, but it runs fast and the river can be quite busy. On the ebb it's murky and full of weed from the shore. Echo the comments about making sure you have an extraction plan.
Alum Bay is fine, but the holding is dodgy.
Bembridge Harbour is a favourite. If you can dry out, anchor fore-and-aft on the beach just inside Bembridge Spit by the Sailing Club. The sand's a bit muddy at low water, but it's a lovely spot to do some bottom maintenance. Again, the harbour can be quite busy, and avoid the entrance which is doubly so (and it upsets the HM if you swim there).
Chichester Harbour (East Head) of course, so long as you avoid the muddy bits.
And finally, of course, when you go further afield to Devon, she can go Swimming in Beer.

And as others have said: wherever you feel like it and conditions allow. A couple of weeks ago we paused at Eddystone Light and I went swimming with jellyfish. Not quite 3 miles deep or cavorting with dolphins, but a very refreshing experience.

This summer I used a Solar hot water shower (ie black bag you fill with water then leave out in the sun) and it was brilliant. Piping hot from lunchtime onwards. Quite a revelation.

I have heard it said (in particular, by my wife) that you should plug your ears if swimming in areas where the harmful bacterial or particulate concentration is likely to be high (or for example if snorkelling to remove barnacles etc). So now I have some silicone earplugs. And one of these days I will use them. At least then I won't be able to hear her laughing as she sails off and leaves me behind.
 
Errr..i'd not being going into Bembridge harbour and touch that mud for anything.

if you chat to the harbour master of guys who work in the marina they will tell you that they are strictly forbidden form touching the mud. Bembridge harbour was the main coal port for the whole of the IOW and as such the whole harbour and it's mud are dangerously polluted and even toxic in some places.

Thats not my opinion but based upon facts and talking the the marina staff. yes i know you pays your money and takes your choice but i won't be getting wet in there.
 
Sailorsam101 said:
if you chat to the harbour master of guys who work in the marina they will tell you that they are strictly forbidden form touching the mud. Bembridge harbour was the main coal port for the whole of the IOW and as such the whole harbour and it's mud are dangerously polluted and even toxic in some places.
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Ooerr. That's rather alarming. I did a web search and there does seem to have been a quite extensive survey some time ago that raises the sort of issues I would expect in any river estuary, but doesn't mention toxic coal deposits. http://bashha.org.uk/pdfs/WaterQuality2.pdf

But I don't doubt what you've posted.

I'll give the HM a call. I owe him a quick phone call anyway.
 
Just to round this off: I called the Harbour Office and spoke to one of the staff. Not the HM, I think, but an assistant.
He said that he's worked there for 9 years and never heard about a pollution/toxicity issue, and in fact had taken his kids swimming there (near the mouth, not up at the marina end) on Monday afternoon.

I have no expert knowledge of Bembridge, so my recommendation is based on a couple of weekends in the last 5 years spent removing weed and barnacles from our bottom, and 40+ years ago making mud pies and sandcastles while my Dad did the same to our old Westerly Berwick. Then we'd all join in the family fun, slapping on some good, old-fashioned, properly toxic antifouling. Quite a lot of it went on the boat, too.
 
Sandy said:
I have friends who swum mid atlantic. I am just a tad jealous, but working on that bucket list entry.
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We took turns to be the one person on the boat when we did it about with Brazil and Africa being about the same distance away. But it's only swimming a mile and a half away from solid ground - straight down.
 
Whenever I visit Cornwall, I'm dazzled by the clarity of the water.

I've swum a lot in the Solent and round the island this year. Bembridge was idyllic this week.

Seaview (below) can't be beaten for Solent swimming.

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But as ever, I'm surprised by how rarely I see yachts anchored off Ventnor. I believe the holding off the beach is pretty good in light conditions, at which times swimming is a joy. Very nice food at the Spyglass Inn, too.

If I had a yacht to anchor there, I'd very happily swim for my supper and back out afterwards.

P.S., Pete7's photograph in post 7, appears to show Scratchell's Bay, which (if memory serves) is accessible only from the water, a fact that seems to encourage nude bathing. Although for that matter, from Whale Chine to Blackgang was thick with naturists when we walked that way last year...although I'm not sure the area's much good for swimming. :hopeless:
 
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