Moorings in The Solent

The Solent is the strait of roughly 20 miles between the Isle of Wight and the Hampshire mainland, narrowing to about a mile where Hurst Spit reaches out towards the island. Along the mainland shore sit Keyhaven, the Lymington River, the Beaulieu River, Southampton Water with the Test and Itchen, the Hamble, Portsmouth Harbour and Langstone Harbour. On the island side are Yarmouth, Cowes and the Medina up to Newport, Ryde and Bembridge.

There is no single authority for moorings in the Solent. ABP is the harbour authority for Southampton Water and the Test and Itchen, and the King's Harbour Master controls Portsmouth Harbour. Hampshire County Council's River Hamble Harbour Authority looks after the Hamble, and Lymington, Yarmouth and Cowes each have their own harbour commissioners. The Beaulieu River is privately owned as part of the Beaulieu Estate, Keyhaven is run by New Forest District Council, Langstone by the Langstone Harbour Board and Ryde Harbour by Ryde Town Council.

Marina berths are plentiful. The Hamble has Hamble Point, Port Hamble, Mercury Yacht Harbour, Universal and Swanwick marinas plus several boatyards. Southampton has Ocean Village, Shamrock Quay, Saxon Wharf and Kemps Quay on the Itchen, with Hythe Marina Village behind a lock on the opposite shore of Southampton Water. In Portsmouth Harbour, Haslar, Gosport and Royal Clarence marinas lie on the Gosport side, Port Solent sits at the top of the harbour behind a lock and Fareham has drying berths at the head of Fareham Lake. Lymington has two marinas and harbour pontoons, and Buckler's Hard has a yacht harbour and more than 300 moorings on the Beaulieu River. Cowes has several marinas and pontoons on the Medina, with Island Harbour behind lock gates further upstream.

The water is busy with ferries, ships and naval traffic, and the Solent's double high tide is well known. Bramble Bank in mid-Solent dries at low spring tides. Harbours at Ryde, Bembridge and Newport dry, as do the berths at Fareham, so they suit boats that can take the ground, while Langstone, Keyhaven and the Beaulieu River offer moorings on buoys.