Dorset, England

Mudeford put-in (Christchurch)

Launch — A public council slipway on Mudeford Quay, giving directly onto the lower harbour and The Run; the harbour authority notes it can be very shallow at low tide and gets busy. A seasonal launch charge is set annually by BCP Council.

Parking — Mudeford Quay car park (BCP Council, pay and display, 419 spaces including 24 disabled bays and 4 EV charging points, open 24 hours) sits on the harbour side of the slipway; dinghy park licences carry no rights to car parking.

Access — The dinghy park and slipway form part of an open space accessible to the public. Users are asked not to rig or derig on the slipway itself, as this delays traffic during busy periods, and the site is prone to occasional weather-related and tidal flooding.

Season — The marked channel through the harbour entrance is buoyed only for the spring/summer season, roughly the early-May bank holiday to the end of September, and BCP runs a marine patrol enforcement service through the summer months.

Regulations — No council licence is required for private, unpowered paddling; licensing applies only to hire and passenger-carrying operations. A 4-knot speed limit applies throughout the harbour and its navigable river estuaries (8 knots seaward of Mudeford Sandbank within the marked buoys), enforced by a marine patrol working with Dorset Police Marine Section. Vessels may come alongside Mudeford Quay within The Run free of charge, subject to a strict two-tide limit; there is no public access to the Mudeford Sandbank jetty.

This slipway sits within the Mudeford Quay Dinghy Park on the north shore of Christchurch Harbour, a short walk from the Run, the narrow tidal channel that connects the harbour to Christchurch Bay. The harbour is fed by the Rivers Avon and Stour and, because of tidal harmonics in the English Channel, sees a double high water on most tides. Several more slipways sit within a hundred metres along the same dinghy park frontage.

Christchurch Harbour covers under two square kilometres and dries out extensively at low water; away from the main channel it is mostly intertidal mud and sand, with saltmarsh fringing the southern, western and north-western shores. Shallow-draught craft can work upstream for around two miles on either the Avon or the Stour, passing Christchurch Quay and Tuckton before the rivers narrow.

The harbour is a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its wildlife, bordered by Stanpit Marsh Local Nature Reserve to the north and Hengistbury Head, a headland roughly 36 metres high, to the south. The Christchurch Harbour Ornithological Group has recorded 329 bird species here since 1956. The tower of Christchurch Priory is visible to the north-west.

Mudeford Quay itself was rebuilt with steel piles and concrete around 1950 after severe erosion, and still works as a fishing quay. An RNLI inshore lifeboat has been stationed here since 1963, in a lifeboat station building opened in 2003, and Highcliffe Sailing Club operates from the quay.

Nearby

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Haven Cafe

At the Haven House Inn on the quay, a few steps from the slipway.

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Beach House Café Restaurant

On Mudeford Sandbank, across The Run from the quay; reached by the Mudeford ferry, not on foot.

Website

Conditions to check

Tidal flow

The Run, the tidal entrance immediately off the quay, carries a strong tideway: sailing pilotage guidance puts the flow at 3 to 5 knots, up to 7 knots on a spring ebb. BCP imposes a 4-knot speed limit throughout the harbour.

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Shallow or rocky

The harbour dries extensively at low water; the harbour authority notes the slipway itself can be very shallow at low tide.

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Boat traffic

Commercial fishing vessels and the Mudeford ferry work the quayside and The Run, alongside a roughly 200-space dinghy park and trot moorings in the adjacent water.

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Limited exit

The harbour dries out at low tide, so timing a return depends on the state of the tide; some moorings dry out completely on a low spring tide.

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