28 May 2019

Hooray for the best sail of the trip so far. We left Haslar just after 9 a.m. and the sails were hoisted as soon as we cleared Portsmouth Harbour. The north westerly wind was of course on our nose for the proposed trip to the Beaulieu River, but with the tide on our side we were able to tack across the Solent towards Cowes to find a decent angle to tack back to the river entrance. With a little bit of cheating (motoring into the wind around Old Castle Point, East Cowes), we were able to do it in two tacks rather than back and forth, losing all the ground we had made.

The entrance to the river can be a bit tricky but we followed the recommended approach by lining up the first red buoy with the house ashore and followed the channel markers in. With our reputation as East Coast ditch crawlers to uphold, we entered on a falling tide about an hour before low water. I swear there was an air of disappointment about the skipper when the depth alarm didn't sound even once!

This is one of the few privately owned rivers in the world and forms the boundary of Lord Montagu's Beaulieu Estate. We followed it up to the marina at Bucklers Hard and settled on the mid-river visitors' pontoon with a gorgeous view across the water to some woods where we were lucky enough to have a visit by the local deer.



Where deer and the odd paddle-boarder play. Bucklers Hard village in the distance

It is difficult to believe that this remote and picturesque village was once a hive of activity, building warships for Nelson's Navy. The cottages housed tradesmen and labourers and the wide street (there is only one) stored the planks and logs harvested from the New Forest nearby. Today, the houses have been converted to holiday lets and museums, although there is a chapel and of course a pub.



Bucklers Hard village today

The riverside walk up to Beaulieu village is a must, home to the National Motor Museum, Palace House and the remains of Beaulieu Abbey.

Planning to head back to Yarmouth on Thursday for victualling (Sainsburys delivery!) before finally bidding goodbye to the Solent at the weekend.