28 Guides
The Solent
Britain’s most concentrated cruising ground: compact, tidal, crowded with choices and never quite mastered.
Explore the collectionOld Sea Dogs Guides
Where do you want to sail?
Practical marina, harbour and cruising information, organised by the water. Choose a cruising area, then follow it into harbours, marinas and destinations.
Cruising areas
Start with the water
Each collection opens into the places that shape a passage: working harbours, sheltered rivers, visitor marinas and worthwhile stops ashore.
9 Guides
Poole Harbour
Europe's largest natural harbour combines a narrow, fast-running entrance with broad sheltered water, working shipping channels, islands, quiet areas and a dense cluster of marinas.
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Find a particular harbour, marina or destination
The published library · 46 Guides
Marina
Royal Clarence Marina
A sheltered deep-water marina in Weevil Creek, with all-tide access and quick reach of Portsmouth Harbour and the Solent.
Marina
Southsea Marina
A sheltered working marina behind a cill gate in Langstone Harbour, with tidal access and a full-service boatyard.
Cruising Area
The Solent
Britain’s most concentrated cruising ground: compact, tidal, crowded with choices and never quite mastered.
Destination
Gunwharf Quays / Portsmouth
A waterfront destination beneath the Spinnaker Tower, with bookable marina berths and immediate access to shops, restaurants and transport.
River
River Hamble Guide
A practical cruising reference for entering, navigating and choosing a berth on one of Britain’s best-known yachting rivers.
Marina
Hamble Point Marina
A purposeful marina at the mouth of the Hamble, shaped by quick Solent access, serious marine trades and a famously busy sailing river.
Harbour
Cowes Harbour Guide
A practical harbour reference for approaching Cowes, choosing a berth and navigating the River Medina’s ferry and commercial traffic.
Anchorage
Newtown Creek Guide
A practical anchorage reference for approaching Newtown Creek, using its moorings and protecting its sensitive natural setting.
Harbour
Yarmouth Harbour Guide
A practical harbour reference for visitor berthing, fuel, facilities and western Solent approaches.
Harbour
Portsmouth Harbour Guide
A practical harbour reference for entering Portsmouth, understanding controlled traffic and choosing visitor berthing.
Cruising Area
Southampton Water Guide
A professional cruising reference for commercial traffic, VTS procedures, marina access and passage planning on Southampton Water.
River
Beaulieu River Guide
A practical cruising reference for entering the Beaulieu River, finding visitor moorings and exploring Buckler’s Hard.
Marina
Port Hamble Marina
A busy lower-river marina with fuel, direct access to Hamble village and a front-row view of one of Britain’s great sailing communities.
Marina
Mercury Yacht Harbour
A sheltered, wooded River Hamble base whose quieter setting contrasts with the river’s constant sailing traffic.
Marina
Universal Marina
An upper River Hamble marina with a strong dry-stack identity and a setting that rewards an unhurried river passage.
Marina
Swanwick Marina
A substantial upper-Hamble marina where serious boat handling and a broad marine-service community sit beside sheltered river berths.
Marina
Deacons Marina
An intimate Bursledon marina with a useful boatyard and a close connection to the upper River Hamble’s working character.
Marina
Ocean Village Marina
A large city marina at the head of Southampton Water, combining serious berthing capacity with a lively urban waterfront.
Marina
Hythe Marina Village
A distinctive locked marina village on Southampton Water, with fuel, a 40-tonne lift and a residential waterside character.
Marina
Haslar Marina
A sheltered Gosport marina with immediate Portsmouth Harbour character and one of the Solent’s most recognisable lightships.
Marina
Gosport Marina
A central Gosport marina with immediate access to Portsmouth Harbour’s naval panorama and active waterfront.
Marina
Port Solent Marina
A locked marina deep inside Portsmouth Harbour, pairing sheltered berthing with a large waterside leisure development.
Marina
Lymington Yacht Haven
A major western Solent marina close to the river entrance, with 24-hour staff, a substantial boatyard and Lymington within reach.
Marina
Berthon Lymington Marina
A family-run shipyard marina where deep maritime capability sits close to Lymington town and the western Solent.
Marina
Island Harbour
A secluded locked marina upriver from Cowes, with more than 200 berths, a 50-tonne hoist and a genuinely different Isle of Wight mood.
Marina
East Cowes Marina
A substantial River Medina marina on the East Cowes shore, well placed for central Solent cruising and the island’s maritime life.
Marina
Ryde Marina
A friendly drying harbour beside Ryde's beaches and town, with a buoyed approach across Ryde Sands and a tidal entrance that demands current local advice.
Marina
Bembridge Marina
A characterful tidal harbour at the eastern end of the Isle of Wight, with visitor berthing at Duver Marina and an approach that rewards careful planning around the tide.
Destination
Cowes Week Guide
A practical Old Sea Dogs guide to Cowes Week: racing, shore plans, berthing, viewing points, first-timer traps and what to check before heading for the Solent.
Cruising Area
Poole Harbour
Europe's largest natural harbour combines a narrow, fast-running entrance with broad sheltered water, working shipping channels, islands, quiet areas and a dense cluster of marinas.
Marina
Poole Quay Boat Haven
Poole’s town-quay visitor marina puts boats directly beside the Old Town, restaurants and harbour life, with VHF 80 berthing and strong demand in summer.
Marina
Port of Poole Marina
A quieter Poole Harbour marina beside the commercial port, with direct access to the main shipping channel, annual berths and limited visitor capacity by arrangement.
Marina
Cobb's Quay Marina
A large, full-service MDL marina in Holes Bay, reached through Poole’s lifting bridges and offering visitor berths, fuel, boatyard support and extensive shore-side services.
Marina
Salterns Marina
A long-established full-service marina in Lilliput, close to Poole Harbour’s entrance, with visitor berths, swinging moorings, fuel and boatyard support.
Marina
Parkstone Bay Marina
A mixed wet-and-dry berthing marina in Parkstone Bay, offering visitor pontoons and moorings, fuel, boatyard services and a waterside restaurant.
Marina
Lake Yard Marina
A small deep-water marina and working boatyard on Hamworthy’s western shore, with 24-hour access, visitor space, moorings and a waterfront club and restaurant.
Destination
Sandbanks
The sandy peninsula at Poole Harbour’s entrance is both a major local landmark and one of Dorset’s best-known beaches, with the chain ferry and fast harbour stream immediately alongside.
Destination
Brownsea Island
Poole Harbour’s wooded island is a natural cruising landmark and a destination in its own right, with private-craft landing permitted only on the South Shore under National Trust rules.
Cruising Area
Chichester Harbour
A great natural harbour of tidal creeks, sailing villages and sheltered reaches, where the mud, the tide and Chichester Bar still set the pace.
Marina
Chichester Marina
A large, sheltered lock-entry marina deep inside Chichester Harbour, combining serious marine facilities with easy access to one of the South Coast’s finest cruising grounds.
Marina
Northney Marina
A quiet Hayling Island marina at the northern end of Chichester Harbour, with sheltered berthing, proper boatyard facilities and a distinctly rural outlook.
Marina
Sparkes Marina
A friendly Hayling Island marina close to the entrance of Chichester Harbour, with straightforward access to open water, fuel, marine services and a wonderfully maritime setting.
Destination
Emsworth
A proper harbour town at the head of Chichester Harbour, where sailing, oysters, boatbuilding and the tide still shape the waterfront.
Destination
Bosham
A beautiful tidal sailing village where yachts, mudflats, an ancient church and more than a thousand years of maritime history meet at the head of Bosham Channel.
Destination
Itchenor
One of Chichester Harbour’s great sailing villages, with all-tide visitor berthing, a famous racing tradition and the harbour stretching away from the jetty in almost every direction.
Anchorage
East Head
One of Chichester Harbour’s great places to drop the hook: sand, dunes and a proper beach just inside the harbour entrance, with the tide running past and the whole harbour opening behind you.