Exploring the best ways to spend a weekend in the UK can be difficult. Hotel breaks for a couple of nights can cost several hundred pounds and dinners in fancy restaurants can become repetitive. Nice, quaint cottages and log cabins are a beautiful escape too, but another way to get away from the everyday is sailing. Sailing the Solent is an option open to anyone from complete beginner, to experienced sea-goer!
We in the UK are so fortunate to be surrounded by water in the sense that we are exposed to great opportunities. In the North, we have the beautiful Hebrides. Here you can sail to some fantastic places, such as Arran and Lochranza. Heading to the South, you have the Solent. Stretching from Portsmouth across to the Isle of Wight, the Solent offers some of the busiest waters around! This makes for some fascinating weekend sailing!
Day 1 – All Aboard
From my experiences, Gosport or Portsmouth are the best places to start sailing. Whether you charter a boat to skipper yourself or attend as crew, Portsmouth harbour is ideal! It offers protected waters up towards Port Solent (a great location) where early sail refresher training can be conducted.
Firstly you want to take over the vessel on Thursday, load up with supplies and set the boat up. If there’s daylight left, head into the harbour to go through some MOB (Man Overboard) drills and practice coming alongside. For the evening, Port Solent or Haslar Marina are good places to relax and grab some food/a few drinks.
Day 2 – The Isle of Wight
Anyone who has ever spent time on a boat in the Solent will have most likely visited Cowes. The Yacht Haven is a lovely marina and the town itself is lovely to wander through and go for a drink. During Cowes Week, the whole place is booming with festivities and sailing – a fantastic experience!
From Portsmouth Harbour, it takes only a few hours to cross the Solent to Cowes. If you really want to fill the first day, and tides are favourable, Wootton is worth a visit en route. Located just to the East of Cowes, Wootton Creek is a small river into the Isle of Wight. Ferries run to Portsmouth from Fishbourne in the mouth of the river, so care must be taken!
Here you can anchor up, come alongside, head for some lunch in Wootton or Fishguard. However you chose to spend your time, the spot is a nice little detour on your way to Cowes.
As you head into the River Medina, past the breakwater towards Cowes, either Shephard’s or Cowes Yacht Haven are the recommended sites. East Cowes is cheaper, however there is less ashore and most people end up travelling to West Cowes anyway! A great evening can be spent ashore here in The Anchor or one of the many pubs/restaurants around the town. For true boaties, there are several apparel shops and chandleries to whet your appetites too!
Day 3 – Exploring West Solent
After a light first day of sailing, it’s time to push further towards the Needles! From Cowes, with favourable tides, a trip along the Solent can be very pleasant towards Yarmouth. However, I have been caught in situations battling tide and wind which can almost triple the time on the water pushing there!
I recommend leaving Cowes and making the short hop along the Isle of Wight coast to Newtown. This is a lovely spot to practice anchoring and stop for some lunch. Depths here can be tricky so it is very important to be aware. Nonetheless, once anchored you may spot some seals along the protruding rocks.
I would recommend pushing down to Yarmouth if possible. From Newtown, it’s a nice sail tacking across the Solent down the island, however if the weather proves too challenging, or you need to stop earlier, head into Lymington. Moor up for the night and grab something to eat ashore. There are quite a few places in Yarmouth, which almost feels like the land time forgot! In the summer, the place can be quite busy with tourism, but even in close season it’s good to visit.
Day 4 – Heading Home
Friday feels like only yesterday, but now Monday’s come around it’s time to head back along the Solent to Portsmouth harbour. If you’ve made it as far as Yarmouth, it can seem like a large distance to cover. If you have a tight timeline, you can beeline straight back in only a few hours.
However, if you have a little more time to play with, you can moor up in the Beaulieu River for a spot to eat. It’s quite a busy area at times and the entrance to the river can be challenging to navigate, but if you keep your wits about you you’ll be fine! The river shallows outside of the markers, but the mooring buoys have plenty of depth to stop off and relax for a while.
Whether it’s straight away or after a detour at lunch, it will inevitably be time to return. Watch out for the shipping coming in/out of Southampton down the Hamble, and also the traffic near Portsmouth harbour.
Sailing is a fantastic way to see different places and can be really relaxing! A different way to spend a weekend on a floating hotel, may not suit everyone, but it’s a break that doesn’t need to break the bank.