Wareham Town Quay

TwinRudders

TwinRudders

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Hi,

Thinking of going up to Wareham this weekend. Any tips for this trip - anyone have experience of mooring up on the town quay etc?

Boat is Ben/First 285 wilth lifting keel - fully up draws 0.9m. Planning to mosey on up from Poole harbour with the flood on Saturday although weather not looking too good at the moment is it....but would be useful for another time.

Thanks.

Jonny
 
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anyone have experience of mooring up on the town quay etc?


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yes but for some reason I can never recall them, or the trip back, subsequently!

your plans as good as any and you should be fine for water as long as you head back sharpish when the plug gets pulled the second time.

trip boats have now stopped I believe so the whole quay's available
 
Enjoy it! It's the strangest trip I made this year.....As for tips, I'm not sure really other than the obvious of going in on a rising tide. I don't know what the rules are with mooring alongside - the quay is supposed to be reserved for the Brownsea cruise boats but you would see if only I knew how to post pictures /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gifthat - we rafted alongside during wareham carnival and had no problems. The bottom is firm and although you will ground I suspect you won't dry completely because of the fresh water from the river. Watch out when going round the river bends .....yacht masts are easy to see above the reed banks but powerboats aren't. It was a surprisingly busy stretch when I went in Summer. It's a great place to visit and as you go up the very narrow, winding river surrounded by reed-banks you tend to feel that you shouldn't really be there! Allow enough time to get up from Poole though - it's longer than you think! Have fun
 
I always found the shallowest section to be around the church.

Good public house and restaurant adjacent to the quay. Plus numerous other pubs on the high st.

If you stop overnight, the public toilets used to be well cleaned early in the morning.
 
Was last there on Christmas Day: same draft but extreme neaps and dug the occasional groove so you'll have plenty of water on Sat/Sun. It IS a continuous string of moorings with not much room to pass oncoming traffic - and surprisingly boring between the reeds. Nice restaurant at the top by the bridge, and no harbourmaster!
 
Never been right up to Wareham but I've been to Redcliffe Yacht Club several times with 4ft draft and no problems. One to look out for is the right hand bend just before the yacht club just after you pass the red cliff on your left. Keep well over to the right (inside) of the bend as there is a (very hard) obstruction on the left. It has almost exactly 4ft of water over it 1hr before high water on a medium tide! There used to be a couple of red and white striped leading marks in the reeds to guide you past it but not easy to spot.
 
Hi
Lovely place to go to and a really different sort of trip. Matt summed it up. In the reed beds you can play at being Bogart on the African Queen. You will most likely ground at the quay itself.
 
Hi - thanks for all the info.
Just wondering how long you would allow to get up to Wareham - motoring from say Ferry Terminal/Poole Yacht Club. We're coming from Cobbs so have to deal with the bridge... Don't have a chart with me so don't know the exact distance, but am imagining 2 and bit hours??

Bridge opens. 0730

High tide Pottery Pier- Poole Harbour 0940
High tide Wareham 10.51

Thanks,
J
 
Re: Wareham ETA

Allow 30 mins in the River itself where the speed limit is 4 knots. But in the wide part and down to Sandbanks it was an hour at 10 knots.
 
Great atmosphere on the Quay in the summer. Don't know about now.

HW stands from 09:07 to 13:48 this weekend at Poole Quay. Tides are about half an hour after Poole Quay, and you'll get about five hours there. Very shallow for the last half mile. Can't get my current boat up there but my last one (1.1m draft) used to bump all the way up and all the way back that last bit.

Very sheltered from the wind - I've taken people up there when it's been bad and they had a good time. Almost got caught the last time by the tide. Offloaded everyone at the quay and met them at Redcliff, where the water is deeper.
 
Re: Sandbanks ETA

You're right, I've just checked the Log - I overlooked 45 minutes moored to the fuel barge contacting my bank trying to raise a loan! Expensive? Astronomic!
 
Re: Wareham ETA

hehe took me 4 mins from the rockley channel marker to the end of the river last Sunday - but I agree a couple of hours 'door to door' from Poole Bridge in the boat being discussed makes a lot of sense
 
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