This port, nestled at the southern edge of the New Forest and western Solent, is a delightful stopover
As part of our brand new WEEKENDER series, this month we bring you Lymington.
River Waveney
Padstow weekender
Beaulieu weekender
Brighton weekender
Tucked a mile or so up its readily navigable river, Lymington can be considered the tipping point of the south coast. Go further west, towards the pleasantries of Poole Harbour, just 20 miles away, and you are looking towards the West Country, while to the east stretches the boating suburbia of the Solent and eastern Channel.
The pleasant Georgian town of Lymington, with its first-rate marinas and nautical facilities, is a useful staging post when heading across to Cherbourg or the Channel Islands as well as being a great weekend destination.
Nav notes
Access from the Solent into the river can be had in all weathers and is navigable at all states of the tide, not least because ferries run a route to Yarmouth. The entrance channel is marked by the ‘Jack in the Basket’ port hand mark, although the most noticeable reference point in daylight is the shed-topped starting platform of the Royal Lymington Yacht Club, which lies on the starboard side of the river’s mouth. From here the river is well marked with posts, most of which are lit, but at night watch out for the dog-leg in the river so you don’t miss out a few marks and find yourself cutting across the mud bank lying to the east.
Mooring
Lymington is a popular spot but there are plenty of visitors’ moorings so do not attempt to anchor anywhere on the river. The mooring buoys running up the lower reaches are for mooring holders, while the visitors’ ones – where you secure fore and aft – start just as you get past the ferry terminal and continue towards the quay as far as the fishing boats. Additional harbour authority walkashore moorings with electric have recently been made available by way of the ‘Dan Bran’ pontoon, just above the entrance to Lymington Yacht Haven Marina. The two fully serviced marinas, Lymington Yacht Haven – just under half a mile from the High Street – and Berthon’s Lymington Marina, just downstream of the quay, are excellent but call before arrival to check availability. The small yard adjacent to the quay, known as Haven Quay, is a dry-stack and its few alongside berths are for launching and recovering.
Fuel
Fuel is available at both marinas with prices as follows (correct as of November 2013):
Lymington Yacht Haven:
£1.14 per litre for under 100l, £1.11 per litre for 100l-300l and £1.09 for over 300l.
Lymington Marina (Berthon):
£1.15 per litre for under 100l,
£1.13 for 100l-300l and £1.11 for over 300l.
Both prices include the 60/40 red diesel split.
Charts
Admiralty SC5600, Imray C3 and 2200 folio
Contacts
Lymington harbourmaster
Tel: 01590 672014 (no VHF)
Lymington Yacht Haven
Tel: 01590 677071, VHF Ch80
www.yachthavens.com/lymington
Lymington Marina (Berthon)
Tel: 01590 647405, VHF Ch80
www.lymingtonharbour.co.uk
For the full feature see the January 2014 issue of MBM.
