Moorings on the River Medina

The River Medina is the Isle of Wight's main river. It rises at St Catherine's Down near Chale and flows north through Newport, the county town, to the Solent at Cowes. From Newport northwards it is a navigable tidal estuary. Cowes Harbour Commission covers the lower river, while the Isle of Wight Council is the harbour authority for Newport Harbour, whose jurisdiction reaches north to the Folly, where it meets Cowes Harbour.

Cowes and East Cowes face each other across the mouth and are linked by a chain ferry, the Cowes Floating Bridge. Newport Harbour, at the navigable head about five miles from Cowes, mostly dries at low water. Its approach is a buoyed channel with an average of about 1.8 m at high water, and fin-keeled boats are asked to lie against the quay walls on the east side.

Moorings on the Medina are plentiful. Cowes Harbour Commission owns and licenses most of the moorings up to the Folly Inn, offering pontoon, pile and swinging moorings on annual licences, with a waiting list for most; its moorings team is based at Shepards Marina. Cowes Yacht Haven is in the centre of Cowes, and Island Harbour Marina lies on the river about two miles south of Cowes, at the site of an old tide mill. Newport Harbour has resident and visitor berths with water and electricity, and the council also lets mid-river pontoon and swinging moorings at the Folly.