Club friendly and relaxed although we never did manage to get to the bar.
Navigation wasn't as traumatic as we thought it might be. Unfriendly waves at the bar on the seaward side of the channel as we left, in a solid f4 SW but not a problem though wouldn't fancy it in anything much stronger as one could potentially sweep you out of the channel.
The river is very busy at the weekend, especially around HW when boats are leaving or arriving.
Can confirm that the fish and chips from Priory chippy are still very good indeed and not ruinously expensive as I thought when I saw "artisan" on their signage.
Unsurprisingly, the priory is still good - spent a lot longer in there than expected. The upstairs museum is worth climbing the stairs for.

I reviewed these notes in April 2022. The hyperlinks to the Sailing Club Visitors pages have been updated. As far as I can ascertain the only fuel is at a filling station about a mile to the NW of the Sailing Club. The webcam at Black House is out of commission at the moment

Currently tied up on the visitors' pontoon at Christchurch Sailing Club where there's room for precisely two boats, (moored port side to if bows in). There's a white line halfway along to delineate the two berths: allow your boat to cross it at your peril! The club is very active, smart, modern and very friendly with good showers (fob from the bar) and a reasonable overnight mooring change. Water and electricity on the pontoon and the good wifi reaches there too. Decent beer in the bar, and snacks, but no meals till October when the new caterers start.

Getting into the harbour remains a challenge but the difficulty is sometimes exaggerated. We came in in a boat drawing 0.9m with about 1m of tide and always had at least a few inches under the keels. Stay in the middle of the marked channel, do it on a rising tide (obviously) and don't try it with a deep keel.

The Priory Fryer in the High Street does excellent fish and chips with unusually delicious batter. The Priory itself, said to be the largest parish church in England, is also worth a visit - and its tower is a landmark visible from seaward. The quality of the town can be deduced from the presence of Waitrose and Marks & Spencer as the only two supermarkets in the town centre. The Boathouse pub is trendy and ruinously expensive.

I reviewed these notes in March 2021. The main point to note is that Rossiters is no longer and the company who have taken over the marina no longer caters for visiting boats. I am trying to find a source of fuel in that harbour.

These notes were reviewed by Don in May 2016. Links have been updated and a new link to Google Street Maps added in the Approach Section

The channel Through the Run will remain unbuoyed until it is surveyed by the CHA prior to the 2014 season

The harbour notes for Christchurch Harbour were updated by Don T on 23rd January 2013. There are no major changes though, if you visit any of the links on this site, especially those showing aerial photographs, you should note the year their site was updated; the channel into Christchurch changes at the drop of a hat.