Gosport – Newtown River
9th July 2017
Passage Time 2 hrs
Distance 12 milies
Wind av 5 knot
Gusts. 9 knot
Sea State Slight
We did not have to leave early to go to the Newtown River as the tide would be against us until midday and we wanted to allow time for the weekend crowd to leave after their lunch, vacating some of the mooring buoys.
We needed some more bottled water so we walked into the town and returned to get the boat ready to leave around noon.
We had a gentle southerly F2/3 wind which took us slowly toward Cowes but then disappeared. Chris decided that it would be a good idea if we drop the anchor in the small bay just before the river Medina to wait for the wind to return. There must have been about 20 other yachts anchored but we had plenty of space. We were only there for about 45 minutes when the wind returned. We set off again now turning NW heading for Newtown. Getting into the river can be a bit of a challenge as you need to pick up a transit mark to start the approach then once in, you follow the buoyage very closely. At the entrance the tide was pushing against us at a rate of 4 knots, but eased once we were in. We then turned to starboard and looked for a spare mooring. We were lucky as a few boats were leaving and we had a choice of two white visitor buoys. We picked up one very close to where we were last time so we knew we would have just enough water for the night, although the soft, muddy bottom was close.
Once we sorted ourselves out we put the outboard onto the dingy and explored further up the river with Carole deciding to swim back to the boat. Chris was advised that the water was lovely but very shallow further up the river. Chris followed as ‘The Safety Boat’ as the water needs to be above 25′ C before he will get in. We enjoyed a tasty supper of Stilton and bacon salad with hot crusty bread and a glass of wine. We enjoyed a peaceful night with the sound of birds in the background.