Squaring the travel time to time on the water circle

[solent clown]

We have a couple of boats on the Itchen, and very happy we are too here, walkiing distance from home etc and on a friendly independent marina.
The trouble is our lack of experience has thrown up a conundrum that is making us think about where we will base the 31ft westerly.

a 10 minute walk to our 24ft trident, and we are underway TIDES PERMITTING

several hours later we arrive at say the needles, ready to get out of the solent... Or go back to catch the next tide. We seem to be taking all our time now trying to get further when we cannot spare the overnights right now.
We love the Solent so wish to keep the trident and sailing dinghy etc where we are.
With the westerly, if we moored it at say Langstone in a deep water mooring, it is not too expensive, and a 25 minute car journey from home to give us a an infinitely better tidal window, and a headstart of at least three hours be we going east or west.
We can afford to keep both boats, and wish to do so.
Apart from the bugbear of tendering to a deep water mooring, are there any other major flaws in this plan?
The time/distance on the water versus cost equation seems to work in our favour.
Walking distance is fine for the little trident, but for striking out further it seems to make sense to moor further out with the bigger boat?
Assume, as is fact, that we have zero experience of deep water mooring. (apart from knowing how to get on and off of one, I refer to actual long term use etc)

 

[solent clown]

not to mention, roving the solent in a 12ft dinghy is high adventure, but getting all the way out in a 24ft yacht is becoming a chore when thoughts are on new
horizons

 

[sarabande]

My guess is that as you become more adventurous you will want to head westwards not towards the rising sun. Have you looked at the tidal flows at the entrance to Langstone and Chichester ?

Perhaps better to go for an hour's travel and see how that opens the planning window.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

If you';e after easy W bound access, how about Lymington or Keyhaven?

 

[KeithH]

As has already been mentioned, you need to consider the tidal stream rates both at Chichester and at Langstone, so exit and entrance will, to some extent, be governed by tides. The flow rate out at springs is significant! It might take an hour to get from a Chi mooring to the sea.

What about Portsmouth/Gosport? That might get you better access to the middle of the Solent

And, has been mentioned, the western end of the Solent is arguably better served from Lymington (or Beaulieu?) , but travel time and parking need to be considered.

 

[maby]

As has already been mentioned, you need to consider the tidal stream rates both at Chichester and at Langstone, so exit and entrance will, to some extent, be governed by tides. The flow rate out at springs is significant! It might take an hour to get from a Chi mooring to the sea.

What about Portsmouth/Gosport? That might get you better access to the middle of the Solent

And, has been mentioned, the western end of the Solent is arguably better served from Lymington (or Beaulieu?) , but travel time and parking need to be considered.

I suspect that both Portsmouth and Gosport will be quite a lot more expensive than Langstone for a given class of mooring.

 

[solent clown]

I suspect that both Portsmouth and Gosport will be quite a lot more expensive than Langstone for a given class of mooring.

yes you have hit the nail on the head there, if we go cheaper langstone, we can afford to do this and keep the trident. My son is going to be having it, and I want to spend a couple of years getting him familiar with it and sailing generally, so keeping that close to home makes sense. I also have a great emotional attachment to where we moor now and will always keep a boat there. I suppose as things progress, the few hours going out of the solent may matter less if we are going to be away for a few days instead of just across a couple of tides.
The lack of glamour of the Langstone side also has an appeal, sounds quiet! I take on board all the stuff about tides, from what I have read it is trickier in rough weather.
We looked at lymington, would be lovely, but pricy in comparison, and it is a drive I really dislike from southampton. Hythe was another consideration for deep water, at least we would be less hindered by the tide, and we could sail a dinghy out to the mooring from our marina in half an hour.

 

[maby]

... Hythe was another consideration for deep water, at least we would be less hindered by the tide, and we could sail a dinghy out to the mooring from our marina in half an hour.

We spent several months in Hythe and quite liked it. In the end, there were two things that stopped us staying there - congestion for the lock and the ruddy starlings! You really can be held up for a long time trying to get out through that lock in the summer - we popped in from Ocean Village to take on fuel and were then queued up for nearly three quarters of an hour waiting for a slot to get out again. But ultimately it was the birds that drove us away - Hythe is surrounded by blackberry bushes and in the late summer it is the home for hundreds of starlings that first gorge themselves on fruit, then roost in your rigging, peppering your decks with black poo... We were having to scrub the decks with strong chemicals two or three times per week to get them clean - and we came away with stains on the sail bag that we could never remove. Pity really - other than that we really liked the place!

 

[smert]

You might be able to get a mooring on the Hamble for not a lot. Avoid the marinas obviously, but the Pink Ferry people do moorings that were only slightly more than a berth at Kemps. If you are lucky you might even get a Crown Estate mooring - speak to the Harbour Master nicely and get yourself on the waiting list! We were offered a mooring after less than a year.

You will then be an hour or so closer to the open water on an all tide mooring.

 

[Jungle Jim]

Southampton Sailing Club at Woolston have moorings that may be deep enough, their boats are just past the poo jetty. You could sail the Trident down and swop over, beats loading everything in a dinghy

Mid-river pontoons on the Hamble can be sensibly priced I believe (you may have to shop around), those in the lower reaches are maybe 20 minutes from Calshot if I recall correctly.

 

[solent clown]

You might be able to get a mooring on the Hamble for not a lot. Avoid the marinas obviously, but the Pink Ferry people do moorings that were only slightly more than a berth at Kemps. If you are lucky you might even get a Crown Estate mooring - speak to the Harbour Master nicely and get yourself on the waiting list! We were offered a mooring after less than a year.

You will then be an hour or so closer to the open water on an all tide mooring.

never occurred to us to try that, will have a go

 

[solent clown]

Southampton Sailing Club at Woolston have moorings that may be deep enough, their boats are just past the poo jetty. You could sail the Trident down and swop over, beats loading everything in a dinghy

Mid-river pontoons on the Hamble can be sensibly priced I believe (you may have to shop around), those in the lower reaches are maybe 20 minutes from Calshot if I recall correctly.

we are on that one at the enquiry stage :encouragement:

 

[solent clown]

We spent several months in Hythe and quite liked it. In the end, there were two things that stopped us staying there - congestion for the lock and the ruddy starlings! You really can be held up for a long time trying to get out through that lock in the summer - we popped in from Ocean Village to take on fuel and were then queued up for nearly three quarters of an hour waiting for a slot to get out again. But ultimately it was the birds that drove us away - Hythe is surrounded by blackberry bushes and in the late summer it is the home for hundreds of starlings that first gorge themselves on fruit, then roost in your rigging, peppering your decks with black poo... We were having to scrub the decks with strong chemicals two or three times per week to get them clean - and we came away with stains on the sail bag that we could never remove. Pity really - other than that we really liked the place!

sounds yukky! we were thinking more about the swing moorings outside towards marchwood, or maybe up the test. It is one of those joing the various sailing club and wait scenarios I think. We might dinghy up around on the weekend and ask about