The Hamble River is a yachting mecca in particular for racing types.

 Although on first sight it might appear that the Hamble River is nothing more than a giant parking lot for yachts and small craft, it is quite attractive in its own right..... especially if you have a boat without a mast as you can escape the crowds by making your way under the fixed bridges into a different world.

The 80s TV series Howards Way was based around here and made the Jolly Sailor pub famous.

There is plenty of deep water for average size boats, and just about every Marine requirements can be met here, with five marinas (including three offerings from MDL), a couple of boatyards with moorings, and the harbour authority moorings themselves. In spite of the number of berths available it may still be difficult to secure somewhere in the height of season as resident boats fill up the vast majority of the 3000+ berths

Small-scale provisioning available in Hamble le Rice, and Tesco's at Bursledon for a major stock up.

This is not really a cruising area as the River consists of a narrow navigable channel leading through the numerous moorings and marinas as far as Bursledon Bridge. Anchoring is not allowed anywhere in the River (up to the bridges) and neither is flying spinnakers. Its attraction mainly lies in its central location and proximity to the cruising (and racing) grounds of the Solent and beyond. ... read more

From the Solent, the Hamble River is approached via Southampton Water, which has already been described in a separate article.

If approaching from the Southampton direction it is inadvisable to cut the corner and aim for the Easterly Cardinal beacon instead of starting your track as described in the following pilotage directions:

After locating and identifying the Hamble Point southerly Cardinal buoy (Q(6)+LFl.15s) and passing it close to port a generally northerly course is steered leaving the green beacons to starboard and the Easterly Cardinal post followed by red beacons to port. The narrow white section of the sectored light on the shore near Hamble Point (Dir.Oc(2).WRG.12s) shows the way in, and all the posts are lit. In the region of the green post number seven and the red post number six the channel swings slightly to the NNE, and the beacons and posts continue to show the way. A further sectored light on the shore at Warsash (Dir.Iso.WRG.6s) now shows the way with its narrow white sector. ... read more

Mooring opportunities abound for the visiting yachtsman or motorboater... even so at the height of the season it may be difficult to obtain a berth. ... read more