Ventnor Habour / Haven IOW

freebird1

freebird1

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 Feb 2004
Messages
225
Location
Langstone Harbour, England
Visit site
Does anyone have any info or experience on this retreat? There is not a great deal on the internet; even less current / up to date. Has anyone visited? Are there any pilotage notes available? Charges / facilities? Any help would be appreciated. I am looking for new Solent destinations for next year.
 
Hi there.

I've been there a couple of times, it is a tiny harbour so only suitable for smaller boats that can also dry if left through low tide.

If you are bigger than 30ft it is tight, but there are buoys outside that can take larger vessels and get the harbour master to take you ashore, or take your dingy.

I can't remember prices but I think they are quite cheap, staff are very friendly.

If you go, have fun

Jim
 
Quite small harbour and even smaller now they have built the harbour masters office in the harbour and wrecked any chance of locals using the slipway. Depth was okay for the rib, but we only draw 3 feet. Was a local water taxi to take you the 20 yards from the mooring bouys to the shore.

Pete
 
You can walk across the entrance at low tide:

qzm9hj.jpg


the fish factory and commercial boats have now taken most of the space

rkndhd.jpg


and rendered the slipway next to useless

2h6dao3.jpg


You could almost think that it was a fiddle between the local fishermen and the council if they hadn't put a sign up telling you what the purpose of it was!

23kdwgg.jpg


I think they may have written it in the wrong order.
 
[ QUOTE ]
You could almost think that it was a fiddle between the local fishermen and the council if they hadn't put a sign up telling you what the purpose of it was!

[/ QUOTE ]
I wasn't actually going to say that. I was going to leave out the bit that says 'You could almost think that'. But then I thought it would be quite wrong to say that, as it's so obviously not true.
On a completely different note, does anyone else find it difficult to type with your fingers crossed?
 
Well the haven was only £2.2 million and the fish factory £486,000 (projected) so with a 125 year lease and an annual rent of £12500 (or 2.5% of turnover) they'll be showing a profit in just over 200 years -and thats without taking visitors mooring fees into account. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

IW council sure know how to cut a deal.
 
We spent two months there as a base for our 11m cruising cat. Had to turn round outside and back in, as there was little manoevering room even before the fish factory pier was built. Access only 4 hours either side of high water as the sandbank at the entrance gets in the way and if it has not been dredged for a while access may be impossible.
Problems with depth - at low water just under 1m inside the haven AND we had to move out as our insurance company refused to continue cover because it is completely exposed to south easterlies.
There are/were 8 bouys offshore supposedly to hold up to 12m boats in up to F4 winds. Not many takers there!
But it is cheap and the harbour master will haggle.
Finally, no facilities at all. From memory, even the public toilets close down over winter.
 
Thankyou for the photographs. They help a lot. I get the impression that the fishing jetty may have been part of the plan all along. It is rather inconveniently placed for any leisure use of the harbour, either the slip way or visiting boats. Secondly, I have found references to the Ventor Yacht Club, but it seems to have vanished in to thin air. Thirdly, the IOW council website promised a web site for the harbour.... last year. And finally, I can't get a reply to my enquiries with the council. This all speaks volumes. You would have thought that the council would have been keen to cash in on the £2.2m investment, but clearly there seems to be 'other' factors at work... What a golden opportunity wasted.

Thanks for the replies. It seems unlikely that I could hold a small (10 boat) rally there now, even if it were cheap.
 
[ QUOTE ]
... I have found references to the Ventor Yacht Club, but it seems to have vanished in to thin air...

[/ QUOTE ]
I think you will find that Ventnor Yacht Club is a bit of an anachronism, established for reasons other that boating and doesn't exist in the same way as other yacht clubs. They don't have premises, unless the noticeboard on the shed outside of the Spyglass qualifies as premises, and they don't actively participate in the usual activities of the many other sailing/yacht clubs on the island.
 
I once found a (mobile) phone number for the harbourmaster but I cant find it now.

You could try putting a question on the Ventnor-blog forum Somebody must know something about it locally. "Ventnor Harbourmaster" is a registered user of that forum so in theory you could contact him by PM from the forum.
 
"It seems unlikely that I could hold a small (10 boat) rally there now, even if it were cheap. "

Got it in one! Ventnor Haven is a joke, and not a very funny one. Great shame coz if it had been done right it would have brought loads of visitors to what's actually an interesting little town every weekend from April to October.
 
Yes, not much water at low tide, is there? Even the harbour taxi has to go and anchor outside of the harbour....

460464786_25f94ccc96.jpg

Predicted tide height of 1.3m at the time this was taken...

Rick
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top