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Yarmouth Harbour
Courtesy Flag
Flag, Red EnsignWaypoint
Harbour Entrance 50:42'.42N 001:30'.05WCharts
Admiralty 2021, 2035, SC5600Rules & Regulations
6 Knts in the approach, 4Knts insideHazards
Ferries, Shallows either side of the run in.Tidal Data Times & Range
2 hour stand at HW Neaps, Double HW at Springs, HW Springs Approx -0050 Dover, MHWS 3.1m MHWN 2.5m MLWN 1.5m MLWS 0.8m Tide tables: (links)This site is designed for slower, roaming broadband connections, like you would get at sea, so it needs JavaScript enabled to expand the text.
General Description
Contacts
Harbour Office tel 01983 760321 VHF #68
Yarmouth lies in a strategic position on the edge of the Western approaches to the Solent, and is a very useful port of call not only for passage making sailors but also for those simply cruising the sheltered Solent waters. It must be remembered however that this is a very busy ferry port.
The compact town is virtually set up for sailors, and the harbour offers all weather and all tide access. During 2011 and 2012 the Harbour has virtually transformed itself into a "Marina", which some may think a shame. The harbour office itself offers full facilities.
Ashore most backup facilities for the boat are available, with two boatyards offering full services, a very useful chandlers and sail repairs. The town boasts many pubs and restaurants, (including a Michelin star restaurant) and in season these will be packed with sailing types. Quite often Yarmouth is the first port of call for novices on competent crew courses running out of Cowes, but also a favourite with seasoned old-timers. During the Old Gaffer's festival the place is heaving, and you are unlikely to find a casual berth.
The harbour staff have a very good reputation for helpfulness, and will always be found out and about in their launches directing visitors, furthermore the mooring charges are not as excruciatingly expensive as many other Solent destinations. If you are getting the impression that I like this harbour you would be correct, I can't fault it.
Strong northerlies or north easterlies can make the main harbour a bit uncomfortable.
Approach
For the visiting yachtsman or motorboater the approach to Yarmouth....
....is straightforwards but there is a strong tidal cross set at times on the flood and the ebb, and this needs to be taken into account in your approach to avoid being swept past and having to struggle back against the considerable tide.
It is a sound idea to contact the harbour a few miles out on #68 to advise them of your approach - they are well organised and a call will ensure a good welcome.
For a good clue as to the strength and direction of the cross set, keep a close eye on the Lymington/Yarmouth ferries as they approach. You will see that in the stronger tidal conditions they approach in a crab wise fashion, and there lies your clue. Full pilotage directions now follow:
At this stage it would be good to click on this link (it opens in another window and gives a slide show of all the relevant details)
YHC_arrival_guide_2022 (yarmouth-harbour.co.uk)
If approaching from the West attention needs to be paid to the green conical Black Rock buoy, (Fl.G.5s), which marks a rocky patch, and needs to be left well to starboard. In summer the mooring buoys laid outside the harbour should also be left to starboard, and your run in made from the vicinity of the pier head. Do not be tempted to cut through these moorings and make direct for the end of the breakwater, as you could well come a cropper on the extensive shoal radiating out from the breakwater in a northerly direction. If you are uncertain leave the Poole Belle buoy (Fl.Y.5s) to starboard before turning in towards the pier.
From the East all is straightforward, simply keep outside the yacht club moorings, and aim for a point North of the pier head.
Observation of the ferry movements will pay off. As one departs another will very soon come in and tie up. This is your opportunity.... give the incoming ferry a couple of minutes to settle down, and then make your entry safe in the knowledge there will be no further ferry movements for around 30 minutes.
As you close the harbour you will see the church tower, the castle, and the ferry berth. At night the red can East Fairway buoy (Fl.R.2s), the pier head lights (2F.R) vertical, and the brightly lit ferry berth will aid identification.
The run in day or night should be made from a position just the West of the pier head, on a course of about 190°. The aim is to run roughly parallel to the pier but at a distance off, to avoid shoal patches. There are leading marks on the town's Quay consisting of diamond top marks mounted on black-and-white posts, the rear one being 9 m high and the forward one being 5 m high. They are both lit (F.G), and line-up on 187° T. The Dolphin off the end of the harbour breakwater is obviously left to starboard and is lit (Q.G.3M), the ferry piers are lit, but quite obvious because of the floodlighting.
You will probably be met in the entrance by the harbour staff afloat in their dories, who will direct you to a berth (VHF channel 68).
It is most inadvisable to try and sail into this harbour because of the constant ferry and small boat traffic.
The harbour occasionally gets filled to capacity and in these circumstances a red flag is flown from the head of the pier, and illuminated boards will inform you " Harbour Full". In these circumstances do not approach. Mooring buoys are laid outside the harbour during the summer months to cope with the overflow. The harbour sometimes fills up completely during summer weekends and bank holidays, and an early arrival can help secure a berth at these times.
The harbour runs an excellent website, an unusually takes advance (pre-paid) bookings for berths. They work on VHF channel 68, or telephone 01983 760321. If planning to arrive in a large vessel (say 15 m or more) make sure you phone them in advance to arrange your berth. I have personally used this harbour many times with a 20 m MFV, and have always found the staff more than helpful. A link is provided to their website below:
http://www.yarmouth-harbour.co.uk/
The harbour is dredged to 2m below CD and is accessible at all states of the tide, and the Harbour Authority are particularly focused on visitors, with 250 visitors berths and 250 resident berths.
Berthing, Mooring & Anchoring
Anchoring is not allowed anywhere in the harbour or the approach.
There are other rules and regulations, probably the most important being the speed limits of 6 Knts in the approach and 4 Knts in the harbour, check the Yarmouth Harbour website (above) for the full list.
Over the past few years more and more pontoon berthing has replaced berthing fore and aft to piling. The final phase of this developement is expected to be finished by the end of Spring 2013 and most of the pontooning will have reached and become connected with the shore, (instead of being isolated, which required the water taxi or a dinghy mission to reach the shore). The long pontoon parallel to the harbour wall is still "disconnected"They also lay trots of moorings outside the harbour for the summer. Suffice to say that outside of Bank Holidays, getting moored up is not a probem. Further information (including visitors' mooring prices) is now provided:
The berthing options available now include walk ashore pontoons with electricity and water, two isolated pontoons, a couple of mooring piles, or alongside the Town Quay which can be a bit lumpy and frenetic. All of these options may well involve some rafting out in busy conditions.
An interesting point is that the pontoons are colour coded and their pilings match that coding as does their alpha-numeric coding (ie berth G22 is somewhere in the Green pilings!!)
The harbour staff will meet you on the way in and direct you to a berth, and will assist with berthing on the piles. The main thing to keep in mind while berthing in Yarmouth is the effect of the tide which can run in and out through the moorings with enough speed to cause berthing antics of the embarrassing kind.
Overnight berthing charges £42.50 for the serviced pontoons with walk ashore access (For a 10 m boat). They have a sliding scale of charges depending on boat length, type of mooring and day of the week so for a complete run down of the berthing prices click on this link:-
There is a one off charge of £4.00 for electrical hook up but the showers and heads are included in the mooring fees. There is a scale of charges for the water taxi but you may be able to get a cheaper pass for the boat per day.
Normal size craft arriving at night after the harbour staff have finished normally make for the first pontoon on the starboard hand after entering. Advice may be obtainable from the water taxi in these circumstances,(they deal with ferrying yacht crews back and forth and operate quite late). The Water Taxi is on VHF channel 15.
Harold Hayles Boatyard
No longer offer visitors morings since the pandemic. The do have permanent moorings when available.
Link to their website below:
Facilities
Water is available on the walk ashore pontoons, as is electricity. Otherwise you will have to go alongside the harbour office on the South Quay to fill up, and at this spot you can also get petrol, diesel and gas bottle exchange. Gas is also available from Harold Hayles. For those on the Town Quay, water is available alongside.
Sewage pump out can be achieved on the South Quay, and there are bookable scrubbing piles situated in the north of the harbour. The provision of a new environmentally friendly wash down facility near the Harbour Office may make the scrubbing piles redundant.
The harbour office houses facilities that could put many marinas to shame, including showers, toilets, launderette, Internet access and weather forecasts, together with a comfortable lounge area housing coffee and drinks machines. WiFi is available throughout the harbour.
The slipway in the corner of the main harbour near the lifeboat can be used by trailer sailer's at all states of the tide, and is under the control of the harbour authorities. Unfortunately there is no free parking anywhere in Yarmouth now.
Facilities available for the boat include the two boatyards, Harold Hayles (Volvo agent) in the main harbour and another in the River Yar, both offering haul outs and repair facilities. There are two outboard mechanics offering repairs and spares, and an excellent Chandlers in the town.
There are two yacht clubs, the larger of which The Royal Solent Yacht Club overlooks the Solent from beside Yarmouth Castle. Visiting yachtsman from other recognised yacht clubs are welcomed and may use the bar and restaurant. Telephone 01983 760256, link to their website below:
Yarmouth Sailing Club perhaps doesn't have such salubrious premises, being just across the road from the harbour office fronting onto the River Yar. They do however promise to make ALL yachtsman welcome. Telephone 01983 760270, and link to their site below:
http://www.yarmouthsailingclub.org.uk
Provisioning can be accomplished here, but this is not the place for a serious stock up on a large scale. There are two cash machines one at the Lloyds bank, and the other at the post office, a minimart selling everything from frozen meat to beer, and an interesting delicatessen. Large-scale stocking up will need a trip to nearby Freshwater, where there are two supermarkets including Sommerfield's (who offer delivery of large orders), greengrocers and butchers. Freshwater is walkable along the path beside the River Yar, which are used to be a railway line. Otherwise bus it there.
Transport links consist of the already mentioned Lymington/Yarmouth ferries, and Southern Vectis buses call at the small bus station right outside the harbour office. From here you can connect inland to Newport, or go the other direction to Freshwater and Alum Bay.
History
Yarmouth has been a settlement for over a thousand years, and is one of the very earliest on the Isle of Wight. The first record of a settlement here was in King Ethelred the Unready's record of the Danegeld tax of 991. It was originally called Eremue, meaning "muddy estuary". The Normans laid out the streets of Yarmouth on the grid system, a plan which can still be seen in the layout today. It grew rapidly, being given its first Charter as a town in 1135. The town became a parliamentary borough in the Middle Ages, and the Yarmouth constituency was represented by two members of Parliament until 1832.
Until the building of the Castle regular raids on the Island by the French continued and in 1544 the town of Yarmouth was reputed to have been burned down. Legend has it that the church bells were carried off to Cherbourg or Boulogne.
Yarmouth Castle, was built in 1547. It survives, and is now in the care of English Heritage. It is effectively a gun platform built by Henry VIII to strengthen the Solent and protect the Isle of Wight, historically an important strategical foothold for any attempted invasion of England.
Yarmouth Harbour. In St. James's Church there is a monument to the seventeenth-century admiral Sir Robert Holmes who based his operations at Yarmouth. He obtained it in a raid on a French ship, when he seized an unfinished statue of Louis XIV of France and forced the sculptor to finish it with his own head rather than the king's.
Yarmouth Pier was built in 1876 and is the longest timber pier in England which is still open to the public.
Several Sites of Special Scientific Interest lie close to Yarmouth, including Yar Estuary SSSI & Bouldnor And Hamstead Cliffs SSSI.
Commerce
As a port and market town Yarmouth has long had local commercial significance. It still has some boatyards and chandlery, and although relatively small in size it still supports a number of shops, hotels, pubs and restaurants, supported partly by passing trade from the ferry terminal and by visiting yacht-owners in the harbour.
Transport
The Wightlink car ferry sails from Yarmouth to Lymington in Hampshire.
Southern Vectis operate bus services from Yarmouth bus station, the main one being circular route 7 serving Totland, Alum Bay, Freshwater, Brighstone, Newport and either Shalfleet or Calbourne and back to Yarmouth. The route runs in both directions.
In the Spring and Summer, Southern Vectis also operate an open top bus route called "The Needles Tour" which runs through Freshwater Bay to Alum Bay and onto the The Needles down a bus only road along the cliff edge; returning to Yarmouth via Totland and Fort Victoria. For the more athletic, Yarmouth is on the Isle of Wight Coastal Path.
One aspect not covered here is the fact that the sea used to go inland a good way and that ships could lay in Thorley, but that gradually silted up... the link below has some good historical maps on display:
http://freespace.virgin.net/iw.history/yarmouth/history.htm
The text on this HISTORY page is covered by the following licence
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_GNU_Free_Documentation_License
Eating, Drinking & Entertainment
You would not believe what a choice there is available in such a small town, virtually all the pubs serve food, with the Bugle and the King's Head both being popular with yachties, both providing good value meals. The George Hotel offers accommodation and a Michelin Star restaurant.
What Yarmouth seems to lack is fast food of any kind, no pukka fish and chip shop or Chinese takeaway are available, but with good value meals available in the pubs it's not such a problem. Yarmouth also seems happily devoid of designer and lifestyle outlets that seemed to clutter so many popular yachting hotspots.
It is believed the lack of a fish and chippers has been rectified - try the Blue Crab
For those up for a bit of a hike, 15 minutes away is the Royal Victoria Country Park which has Britain's biggest model railway exhibition, a planetarium, and an aquarium. This is open from Easter till October. History buffs will want to explore Yarmouth Castle (1547), and take in the view from the battlements. We offer the following links for further investigation:
Pubs
http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/results.shtml/el/Yarmouth%3BIsle%20of%20Wight/
Links
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Find local marine businessesYour Ratings & Comments
A week later 40 quid for the priviledge of a bouy in a packed in grid too small for the 40 footer I was on.
Where do they get off charging for length on a bouy?
Way too much for shorthanded non-occasional use.
There are essentials available to buy in the harbour reception, and a good quality coffee machine with bar stool seating area.
Out of high season, the mooring fees on the finger berths are very reasonable (10m yacht £24).
The harbour gets very crowded in Summer, particularly at weekends. You may be asked to wait outside for a while, but the Harbour staff make an excellent job of managing the comings and goings. Please cooperate with their requests!
Eds note:
There..changed it to SWMBO. fixed it for you and the PC brigade
Yarmouth is a small town, not much more than a couple of pubs and a church. Nonetheless it is a very popular yachting destination, and is a very convenient base to explore the West of the Island by land. Visit My Harbour has detailed notes, but bear in mind that in busy periods the harbour fills by early afternoon and is then closed. There are plenty of swinging moorings outside, however, and a very efficient water taxi service.
Another option which we have opted for is to go through the bridge and up the river. The River Yar Boatyard has a number of residents berths, alongside linear pontoons and where there is a gap they are happy to accommodate visitors. Contact the yard in advance to check availability and facilities. It is a lovely quiet berth, with views over the river to the fields and the Downs beyond. The bridge has scheduled openings and can be cleared at other times by arrangement with the Harbourmaster. You can walk to town (15 minutes or so), call the taxi or use your dinghy.
The visiting yachtsman will start with the Harbourmasters office to check in. This is very well appointed and offers weather forecasts, a news screen, internet access points and much more. It also has some of the best showers on the South Coast. The staff are efficient and friendly, and both fuel and gas are available.
There are two clubs, the Royal Solent Yacht Club and Yarmouth Sailing Club. The former enjoys a lovely position with commanding views of the Western Solent and Hurst Castle. It has a purpose built visitors bar, separate from the members area. The Sailing Club is run by the members and as a result is only open when there are on the water activities – mainly youngsters racing – going on. They are more than welcoming, however.
The Isle of Wight boasts an excellent bus service which is, of course, of particular interest to sailors. Yarmouth is well served with regular services to Newport (in the centre of the island and the main shopping area) and the popular tourist and walking areas to the West. We have occasionally found ourselves holed up in Yarmouth due to bad weather and the first thing we do is to pick up a bus timetable.
So where would you go, and what would you do? The pubs in the town are good, clean, friendly and offer decent pub grub. There are a couple of Island breweries and their ale is well worth checking out. But let’s put the walking boots on and get some miles under our belts. The Harbour Office can supply a great walkers map which will give you all the routes.
There is a path, actually an old railway line, from Yarmouth to Freshwater. It’s a delightful walk, level, firm under foot and through woodland with an occasional view of the water and reed beds. En route is the old station, now converted and which now makes a wonderfully quirky place for a spot of breakfast.
The destination, however, is the Red Lion. It’s a lovely, traditional pub sitting beside the church and as quite as you like. I lie. Your peace may be disturbed by horses trotting past, but not much else.
Their kitchen is phenomenal. Whether you are looking for a Ploughmans – local cheese, home made pickles (you can tell) etc – or a full blown meal you are unlikely to be disappointed. Guess what? It’s very popular. It may be wise to book.
Heading East there is a more basic track toward Hampstead and Shalfleet. It’s a delightful walk through woodland with occasional magnificent views over the Solent. It’s interesting to see the waters you have sailed from a different perspective. The route takes you past WW2 gun batteries and even the site of a Palaeolithic settlement which is now an underwater archaeological investigation site.
When you arrive at Shalfleet you cannot miss the pub, the New Inn. It offers great ales, not to be missed if you are of that calling. In the past it had a reputation for excellent food but this had slipped. We understand that under new management – including the original chef – they are working to restore this and when we visited we had no reason to be anything but satisfied. When a red squirrel ran under our table – twice – it made our day.
We do price check on a regular basis and we believe our pricing is in line with many of the other destinations in the Solent. We do still have a wide choice of berths, outer buoys, piles, pontoons, Town Quay, walk ashore pontoons and individual finger walk ashore pontoons, so if price is the main consideration you should choose a cheaper berth. However at least 80% of our visitors ask for a walk ashore berth, hence the recent development of the harbour to provide more walk ashore pontoons.
Please also consider our midweek discounts, so £4 off for vessels up to and including 9 metres and £8 discount for vessels over 9 metres.
We do charge extra for electric hook up, £3-50, but that is a one off charge whether you use electricity for two hours or a week.
We do also charge extra for showers. Our showers are used by the public, not necessarily harbour users, and people who berth their boats with boatyards in the harbour. Our shower facilities are said to be some of the best on the south coast and over the last three years we've spent about £150k refurbishing all of them. We also spend £20k per year keeping them clean. So we've taken the view that there's a cost to providing some of the best facilities on the south coast, and some 18,000 visitors use the showers each year.
Unusually for harbours and marinas we have people on the water to meet and greet and if necessary to help boats on and off berths, and we pride ourselves on our service.
So to round up my answer to some comments on the site, yes Yarmouth can be expensive if you choose to take all the services and the top end berth, but we still strive to be the destination of choice for boaters not just in the Solent but also in the whole south coast of the UK. The comparison with Ryanair seems alittle harsh !
Weather & Tide Links
