WestErn Solent Anchorage (or buoy) suggestions

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Wandering Star

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Hi Folks,

Next weekend I'm crewing for a forumite on a passage from Ipswich to (potentially) Ireland and then N.Spain. We hope to swerve into the Solent and spend a couple of days on anchor or possibly on a buoy. The boat (Rustler 36) draws 5' 6" and has a long encapsulated keel so grounding for a short while on a squishy bottom (ooh, err, missus) might be ok. Don't mind paying a fee, just trying to avoid sterile marina environs!

What suggestions please? Is it possible to anchor in the Beaulieu River (or pickup a buoy)? Ditto outside Yarmouth or Hamble or Medina Rivers? Just looking for ideas please. The skipper is Spanish and I'd like to show him the best of British scenery!

Cheers, Brian.
 
You can anchor in the lower part of the Beaulieu river, the reach from the entrance to the first bend. You can also pick up a vacant buoy. The staff will usually direct you. There is no anchoring in the Medina river, but it's worth a trip up to the Folly Inn where there are visitors' pontoons and a water taxi service. It's very non-Marina. Anchoring is possible outside Yarmouth; there are also buoys. Reasonably settled weather needed. Newtown creek is another possibility, but check your tides carefully. Totland Bay is a possible. Osborne Bay also but there's no landing. North of Hurst spit, but outside Keyhaven is another. There are visitors' buoys off Lymington Town quay. More details of all these at visitmyharbour.com. Have fun.
 
You can anchor just inside Beaulieu River, south of the Folly in the Medina and just outside Yarmouth. There are also visitor buoys just to the West of Cowes, in Beaulieu and outside Yarmouth. Also buoys and anchoring in Newtown, anchoring to the east of Hurst, buoys in Lymington and anchoring at Totland and Alum bays which strictly speaking are just outside of the Solent at the western end of the IW.

Edit: must type quicker...
 
The above suggestions are sound. Having just passed that way, do look at the 20 or so Visitors Moorings buoys just off Yarmouth Harbour. They're secure, and there are all the pleasures of the ( small ) town itself and the showers/facilities of the harbour office, nearby. You can also anchor off the beach south-west of there - there's a 2.3m/Datum small pool - but avoid Black Rock, which dries 0.5m/Datum
 
Newtown Creek is the place for you.
Anchor just inside the entrance if you worry about running aground at low water. Or pick up a visitors buoy.
Anchoring off Yarmouth or on a buoy can be rolly polly at change of tide in my experience and is exposed in Northerlies and Easterlies which seem prevalent right now. The non walk ashore pontoon in Yarmouth (situated on the North side of the harbour) is a good option if you have a dinghy as it is less expensive than the marina.
 
The key haven anchorage is more protected than anchorages off Yarmouth in anything other than a southerly, and not so effected by the tidal stream.
 
Topcat47 said:
The key haven anchorage is more protected than anchorages off Yarmouth in anything other than a southerly, and not so effected by the tidal stream.
Click to expand...

Agreed, it's a lovely spot for shallow to moderate draught vessels. It is often said that deeper draught can also find good protection from a SW tucked up into the lee of Hurst Lighthouse. I tried this last year before the Chbg trip, whereupon mother nature provided me with a free refresher course on the laws of refraction! :D
 
Thanks for all these replies, although I kept my last boat in Lymington and Beaulieu before that, I never really got to sail in the Solent properly, I was always in a hurry to be somewhere else and certainly wouldn't consider myself to have the depth of experience some of you guys have! Look out for us in the Solent next Mon (late)/Tues/Wed and pay us a visit if you see us - Miss Sophie (Rustler 36).
 
You will get into the river at Keyhaven with that draft. But not at low water. But you will just about stay afloat at anchor or on one of the buoys or you might sink your keel into the mud for a few hours. Beautiful tranquil spot.
 
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