Moorings in Fowey

Fowey is a natural harbour on the south Cornish coast, where the River Fowey meets the sea between the town of Fowey on the west bank and the village of Polruan on the east. Fowey Harbour Commissioners are custodians of the 11 km of the estuary, from the harbour mouth up past Bodinnick, Golant and Mixtow towards Lerryn and Lostwithiel.

The harbour is well sheltered and entry is straightforward in most conditions, although a strong onshore wind with an ebbing tide makes it rough and the entrance is narrow. Fowey is a working china clay port, so leisure boats share the lower harbour with large deep-draught ships and must keep clear of them. The upper reaches towards Lostwithiel are only for shallow boats around high water.

There is no marina. Fowey moorings are mostly swinging moorings and pontoons run by the Harbour Commissioners, who manage about 1,500 resident moorings. Permanent moorings are in high demand and have waiting lists, and people on the list can apply for a temporary mooring a year at a time. Visitor pontoons include those at Pont Pill, Polruan and Mixtow Creek.

Polruan has a working boatyard, and the Commissioners run boat storage ashore at Penmarlam and elsewhere. Moorings in Fowey therefore range from deep-water buoys near the harbour mouth to quieter berths further up the river.