Moorings on the River Frome (Dorset)

The River Frome is a major chalk stream of south-west England, about 48 km long. It flows east through Dorset past Dorchester to Wareham, where it and the parallel River Piddle run into Poole Harbour through the Wareham Channel.

The river is navigable from Poole Harbour up to Wareham, but only by shoal-draught boats that keep a close eye on the tide and the depth. Keep to the middle and favour the outside of bends, and watch for the shallow patch at Red Cliff just before Redclyffe Yacht Club. The Environment Agency is responsible for the river and enforces a 4 knot speed limit below Wareham.

Moorings on the Frome centre on Ridge Wharf Yacht Centre, on the south bank about 1.5 miles below Wareham, a marina and boatyard with around 170 berths on pontoons, staging and river moorings, plus lift-out, repairs, fuel and winter storage ashore. It is really suited to boats that can take the ground. At Wareham it may be possible to find a drying berth alongside the Town Quay.