Small sailboats visiting Portsmouth Harbour

[Seajet]

...perhaps even before I evolve out of dinghies (I've been dithering between the merits of Wayfarers & Ospreys), I must accept that in the modern world, there's next to nothing one can do in a busy tideway without some i/c auxilliary shunt to guarantee velocity...

...or I could just give Portsmouth a miss.

Maybe Waterloo to Wareham, instead? Only 2 1/2 hours, and there'd be the pleasant relative calm of Poole Harbour in which to acquaint my crew to the boat, before ant rough & tumble develops...

Thanks for all the input. Only had 6 hours sleep since I woke up on Christmas Eve...so, I'm off air till tomorrow.

Dan,

Wareham is of course a tiny backwater railway compared to Portsmouth, and you'd need at least one eye on the local weirdo tide table, but it has a lot going for it !

 

[Nicholas123]

Nicholas123,

how about reading your own posts as I repeated above ?!

It might be great 'fun' to come along with you and find out your personal geography of Portsmouth Harbour; I obviously don't have a clue, only having been a regular visitor - and resident on both a mooring in Spider Lake and a flat on Southsea seafront - since 1975.

I don't need to re-read my posts but you do need to explain where I said I tack back & forth across Portsmouth Harbour entrance.(the entrance being the bit around Fort Blockhouse or possibly extending to the ballast stake once you have traversed the small boat channel) for the sake of this argument. A claim you have repeatedly made.
For someone with the vast experience you claim you have seemed very pessimistic about the whole proposal that the op made.Uncharacteristically pessimistic considering your usually gung ho attitude to almost anything considered boating.
I can't be bothered with this thread anymore because it has descended into farce & I don't think you & I sailing together would be a good idea because one of us would end up throwing the other one overboard .

 

[Seajet]

Nicholas123,

I think after a short discussion we'd get on fine, but in the meantime you're welcome to carry on tacking !

 

[alahol2]

ripvan,

what a lovely boat in your photo !

Any idea of her name and story please ?

Looks like the re-fitted J-class 'Endeavour'.

 

[Simondjuk]

Classic! Six pages before those making the most noise extracted their heads far enough to even realise what sort of boat the question involved! Pantomime stuff!

Dan, The Gosport ferry is fine, even the last one on a Friday night. There may be few who are returning from the Gunwharf bars a little the worse for wear, but unless your crew are especially sensitive, I'm sure they'll cope.

If you decide to try and sail into the harbour, I'm sure one of the marinas would let you put a sailing dinghy alongside for a short stay at no cost if you were perhaps visiting their onsite bar for a coffee or lunch.

 

[ripvan1]

Looks like the re-fitted J-class 'Endeavour'.

spot on - returning to her temporary base at the old camper's & nicholsons in july after the races off iow - pity they weren't tacking back and forth tho'

 

[Bav34]

Dan, The Gosport ferry is fine, even the last one on a Friday night. There may be few who are returning from the Gunwharf bars a little the worse for wear, but unless your crew are especially sensitive, I'm sure they'll cope.

But surely that would make Seajet wrong? He's only slagged it off twice in one post whereas the reality is exactly what you report.

Bit like him thinking that Ballast is a buoy And that your boat will be stolen within minutes of leaving it unattended.

But he DOES have a flat nearby which apparently gives some degree of expertise.

 

[laika]

If I understand this thread correctly the boat in question has no motor? Might be worth an emali to QHM for advice. A few years ago I was denied permission to sail in with an overheating engine. I thought it was doable without tacking into the main channel (can't remember conditions, I think NE) but QHM took a more conservative view allowing for possible wind shifts and funnelling through the entrance and told us to go somewhere else. Could be that any breeze they wouldn't mind you sailing in on they'd be less happy about you sailing out on.

Obvious statement but without a decent engine you'd be picking your time going in. Even in a large-ish boat with a decent engine I try and avoid going in on the 3rd and 4th hours of the ebb. I wouldn't try it at springs with a little outboard.

As for berthing inside the ferry pontoon, others will undoubtedly know better than me how it is enforced (or not) but there are notices warning of heinous charges for mooring.

 

[Seajet]

But surely that would make Seajet wrong? He's only slagged it off twice in one post whereas the reality is exactly what you report.

Bit like him thinking that Ballast is a buoy And that your boat will be stolen within minutes of leaving it unattended.

But he DOES have a flat nearby which apparently gives some degree of expertise.

Thanks, and Ballast was a buoy long before you were a twinkle in some milkmans' eye; I agreed with L'escargot that it's now a beacon !

I have never 'slagged off' Portsmouth, it remains a great place in my book, just requires one to be clued up in both sailing and social terms - would you like to hear about my WWII veteran Dad and I being under serious rifle fire when strolling around Old Portsmouth ?!

 

[Bav34]

I have never 'slagged off' Portsmouth

I'd stick to the Gosport ferry, though a return trip on that after closing time has its' own hazards !

you meant that hard by the rail terminus ?

I would leave my worst enemys' tender there !

Still seems to me the Gosport ferry is best bet, but if late at night carry something casual like a broadsword & machine gun...

I wouldn't want to leave a boat I was fond of too long on that hard

As for the Gosport ferry, if unlucky one is really unlucky !

?

 

[Seajet]

?

Bav,

sorry if you found light hearted banter too much to comprehend, Portsmouth is generally a great place, especially if one is into History like me.

However even nowadays I'd think twice about taking the Gosport ferry at closing time and would never advise a lone woman to take it.

I've lived on Southsea seafront and had a mooring in Portsmouth, how about you ?

 

[Seajet]

Bav,

now would you like to hear about Dad and I being shot at in Old Portsmouth ?

My Dad was sniper grade with a rifle and he thought it reasonably serious as chunks of brick wall came off around us, so we legged it.

Portsmouth is generally a lovely place to wander around; now Southampton is a different matter, and I'll be happy never to darken its' doors ever again !

 

[VicS]

I've lived on Southsea seafront and had a mooring in Portsmouth, how about you ?

I had a mooring in Portsmouth... briefly

After about 3 months one of the local toerags nicked the outboard, compass, echosounder, log, and a few other bits and pieces.

Portsmouth is a great place

 

[Bav34]

I've lived on Southsea seafront and had a mooring in Portsmouth, how about you ?

I don't really see the relevance but ..... (Enough info provided)

Anything else you'd like to know about me?

 

[Seajet]

Anything else you'd like to know about me?

Yes, why do you find getting in and out of Portsmouth so difficult then ?!

 

[Bav34]

Yes, why do you find getting in and out of Portsmouth so difficult then ?!

I don't.

However using your logic of having to live on the local seafront to be qualified to give advice, however odd, I could never help you, or anyone else, get your boat into the Breton port where she is now based.

 

[Seajet]

I don't.

However using your logic of having to live on the local seafront to be qualified to give advice, however odd, I could never help you, or anyone else, get your boat into the Breton port where she is now based.

Bav,

I have been visiting Brittany since a teenager which was a distintinctly worrying time ago - let's consider the discussion closed, if you must please free to PM me, but I and I'm sure others have had enough.

 

[blackbeard]

...Maybe Waterloo to Wareham, instead? Only 2 1/2 hours, and there'd be the pleasant relative calm of Poole Harbour in which to acquaint my crew to the boat, before ant rough & tumble develops...

What a lovely thread.
Quite fun to devise some other places than Pompey for picking up /dropping crew. Wareham is a charming town but it's a long and very tide dependent trip up the Frome to get to/from Wareham by water and you would need a motor of some sort (yes I have actually SAILED up to Wareham but it depends very much on tide and wind, and I'm told that more boats moor now in the river than formerly so the channel is effectively narrower, so tacking, as you would need to if under sail, is even more impractical).
Why not Poole town? if the Quay is a bit too busy for you, a small boat could use Baiter point where there's a slip, though if you want to use the slip you might have to pay. The marina (Poole Quay Boat Haven) might help perhaps, for a fee probably.
Or there's Lymington - charming town though the railway is a branch line I think, but as it serves the ferry as well as the town, the service might be OK. If you you the town station it's not too far to the town quay, and to just touch a pontoon to pick up people I doubt if anyone would mind or ask for money. If you use the ferry station someone might have a sense of humour failure.
If you really like rivers, Beaulieu (going to the top is tidal and requires motor, bottom by the wall near the weir is uneven).
Surely Southampton might offer something?
Anyway, have fun!

 

[Seajet]

What a lovely thread.
Quite fun to devise some other places than Pompey for picking up /dropping crew. Wareham is a charming town but it's a long and very tide dependent trip up the Frome to get to/from Wareham by water and you would need a motor of some sort (yes I have actually SAILED up to Wareham but it depends very much on tide and wind, and I'm told that more boats moor now in the river than formerly so the channel is effectively narrower, so tacking, as you would need to if under sail, is even more impractical).
Why not Poole town? if the Quay is a bit too busy for you, a small boat could use Baiter point where there's a slip, though if you want to use the slip you might have to pay. The marina (Poole Quay Boat Haven) might help perhaps, for a fee probably.
Or there's Lymington - charming town though the railway is a branch line I think, but as it serves the ferry as well as the town, the service might be OK. If you you the town station it's not too far to the town quay, and to just touch a pontoon to pick up people I doubt if anyone would mind or ask for money. If you use the ferry station someone might have a sense of humour failure.
If you really like rivers, Beaulieu (going to the top is tidal and requires motor, bottom by the wall near the weir is uneven).
Surely Southampton might offer something?
Anyway, have fun!

blackbeard,

that must have been a handy sort of boat to sail up the Frome among the wind shadows ! what was / is she please ?!

 

[Bav34]

Bav,

I have been visiting Brittany since a teenager which was a distintinctly worrying time ago - let's consider the discussion closed, if you must please free to PM me, but I and I'm sure others have had enough.

No problem.

You get to spout rubbish, deny it, get challenged , ask a question, get an answer you don't like, then consider the matter closed.

It is.