Hound put-in (Eastleigh)

Southampton Water is a ria, a drowned valley flooded as sea levels rose at the end of the last ice age, likely formed in part from the submerged River Solent and its tributaries the Test, Itchen and Medina. Its eastern shore, where this put-in sits, carries the Southampton suburb of Weston, the villages of Netley and Hamble-le-Rice, and Royal Victoria Country Park; the New Forest villages of Dibden and Hythe and the Fawley oil refinery lie across the water on the western shore. The water is a working deep-water port, the main route in and out of Southampton for cruise liners, container ships and oil tankers, and is controlled by Associated British Ports as the statutory harbour authority.

The Royal Victoria Chapel, all that survives of the former Royal Victoria Military Hospital following its demolition in 1966, stands within the country park and is visible on the water as you paddle up Southampton Water; its 150-foot tower is the shore's most prominent landmark. The park frontage covers around 200 acres of parkland and woodland behind a small shingle beach. The estuary is a Ramsar site, Special Protection Area and Site of Special Scientific Interest for its wintering waterfowl, among them ringed plover, teal and dark-bellied brent goose, with recreational disturbance managed under the Bird Aware Solent strategy.