Sea View IOW

[Roy Smith]

My Wife as booked a romantic weekend at the sea view for my 50th
Question, having never been there or Bembridge and we are taking the boat
Dose any body know if there is any thing to watch out for (rocks) etc.
or is it a stright forward passage.

[slimtim]

Are you mooring the rib in bembridge then? I don't have that much experience of coming in and out of bembridge, only done it a couple of times but the channel is narrow and the marker buoys are not to be trusted! The banks shift so much throughout the year that they often come into the channel so don't go steaming in there! I think we did it at a fairly low tide so made it more difficult. Someone on the bow as a watch might be a good idea but it should be fine. Best follow someones advice who has more local knowledge than me.

[Chris]

I used to go to SeaView a lot when I was younger and into sailing.

There are loads of mooring off Seaview Yachtclub and I think there is a water taxi service although it may not operate all year round. Worth calling the yachtclub to check I would say...

SVYCOtherwise just watch out for gin soaked yachties!

[Lewy]

Originally Posted by Chris

I used to go to SeaView a lot when I was younger and into sailing.

There are loads of mooring off Seaview Yachtclub and I think there is a water taxi service although it may not operate all year round. Worth calling the yachtclub to check I would say...

SVYCOtherwise just watch out for gin soaked yachties!

I'd use the Yachtclub water taxi like Chris suggests, but call them first to make sure they are working. here's the number 01983613268.
from the Seaview hotel you can see yer boat gently bobbing around on the visitors buoys.
when you approach from the fort the visitors buoys are on the outside . The taxi will often come out to you without calling them up. Have a great time, the Seaview Hotel is a great place

[Rogue Wave]

lot of submerged rocks of Seaview. Bembridge is not to bad pay close attention to your chart and you'll be fine

[Avocet]

If you want a pontoon, there's a visitor's pontoon available in Bembridge. Access is recommended for + or - 3 hrs HT Portsmouth for 1.5m draft, so you'll have a bit more leeway. As mentioned above, the channel is narrow but well buoyed. Can't comment on the accuracy of the positioning of the buoys but I've never had any trouble, although the channel does vary.

The difficulty then though is getting yourselves from Bembridge to Seaview. It's walkable but not really feasible with luggage.

here's the harbour website: http://www.bembridgeharbour.co.uk/in...tpage&Itemid=1

[Roy Smith]

Thank you all for the info i think i will go into Bembridge
don't fancy leaving the boat on a swing mooring ,
knowing my luck it will be gale force and we will have to get the ferry
fingers crossed

[Doug Stormforce]

Roy

There are in fact many rocks of Sea View YC,in late April they lay down a channel of marker bouy to get you in and out. However all you can do is drop of at the Club on their wooden staging and then head back out to the mooring bouys. Spring lows you will not get in at all. Neap lows- keep an eye on the depth and for rocks. The channel markers asume no wind or tidal flow so can sometimes be slightly of the channel and therfore leave the odd rock in your way.

During April they also lay out hundreds of mooring bouys. The visitors are the largest ones sat at the NE corner of the moorings. The Club charges a flat rate for the mooring and lift ashore. (used to be £5 short stay and £10 overnight, but I supect this will have gone up).

The Club's boatmen who provide the ferry service only run from May to October working long hours in the June-August period and shorter shift in the shoulders of the season.

The moorings are good except they are very exposed in strong Easterlies or winds just south of East.

As suggested above give the Club a call, I worked there some time ago for a couple of years and in fact have ferried a few yachtsmen and Rib owners back and forth from the moorings.

The Bembridge alternative provides more protection for your boat but limits you on tides. Imray, Admiralty and Stanford charts all slightly disagree on the channel in the Harbour Enterence, the almanc is also slightly different. The reason being the channel shifts around slightly year on year. That said if you avoid low water is should not be a problem for a RIB. If arriving at low neaps be vigilant. Forget low springs. There is a tidal gauge on a pile outside the Harbour near St Helens Fort that gives you height of tide (over the bar I think, but check before you go there).

Bembridge to Sea View is then a 12 minute journey by car, you are however at the mercy of the Island Taxis firms. You may be waiting sometime. If the Club boatmen are opertaing on your dates I would reccome Sea View as the better option. The villages' 2 hotels are within 2 mniutes walk of the Clubs landing/staging. I would also reccomend that without local knowledge you contact the Club, head directly to the visitors moorings and allow the boatment to rick their props rather than landing your wife/luggage etc yourself.

Happy 50th