Moorings in Exe Estuary

The Exe Estuary stretches for about 12 kilometres from the sea between Exmouth and Dawlish Warren up to Topsham and the city of Exeter. Exmouth stands on the east side of the mouth, Lympstone and Topsham lie further up the eastern shore, and Starcross faces them from the western shore. The tide runs up the river as far as Trews Weir in Exeter.

Exeter City Council is the harbour authority, working through Exeter Port Authority, whose Harbour Master and staff look after the estuary, the Exeter Canal and the city quay. The authority runs visitor moorings in The Bight, near the entrance, as well as berths on the canal.

At high water the estuary is a broad sheet of water much used for sailing and windsurfing. At low tide it drains to wide mudflats that are an important feeding ground for wading birds, so boat owners need to plan around the tide and keep to the buoyed channel. The entrance runs through a shifting sandbank and is dangerous in onshore winds and swell.

Moorings in the Exe Estuary are a mix of marina berths, boatyard moorings and club moorings. Exmouth Marina, in the old dock basin at Exmouth, has contract and visitor berths. At Topsham, the family boatyard W. Trout and Son offers swinging moorings for boats up to 12 metres and tidal marina berths for boats up to 8 metres. On the western shore, Starcross Yacht Club, which traces its roots to a regatta in 1772, is based at Powderham Point, where members keep small cruisers on moorings, and Lympstone has a small harbour and a sailing club.

The Exeter Canal leaves the estuary at Turf Lock and runs about five miles to the canal basin by Exeter Quay, passing Double Locks on the way. Built in the 1560s, it had the first pound locks in Britain and is owned by the city council. Entry is through Turf Lock at set times, and the council offers visitor berths and moorings along the canal, though the M5 motorway bridge limits headroom, so tall masts cannot reach the city.