Port Solent put-in (Portsmouth)
A tidal foreshore slipway on the public coastal path between Port Solent Marina and Portchester, launching onto Portchester Lake (locally known as Paulsgrove Lake), the north-eastern arm of Portsmouth Harbour. It sits on open shoreline outside the marina's own locked basin, at the edge of the reclaimed land that became Port Solent when the marina opened in 1988.
Portchester Lake, a ria arm of Portsmouth Harbour, drains extensively to intertidal mud at low water; the deeper water follows a narrow, pile-marked channel that threads past moored yachts toward Portchester Castle to the south-west and the marina lock to the south. Local tidal streams here are weak, not exceeding about half a knot at springs, in contrast to the stronger currents at the harbour entrance several miles south.
The whole of Portsmouth Harbour is a Special Protection Area, Ramsar wetland and Site of Special Scientific Interest, its mudflats and saltmarsh supporting internationally important numbers of wintering birds; the Solent holds an estimated 10 to 13 per cent of the world population of dark-bellied brent geese, which arrive from October and number around 25,000 along the shoreline by January.
Port Solent Marina beside this slipway was built on reclaimed land taken from the eastern side of Paulsgrove Lake; construction began in 1986 and the development opened on 29 July 1988, when Princess Anne arrived by royal barge and the first vessel to use the new basin was the cutter Lively Lady, sailed by Sir Alec Rose. The marina is entered through a lock measuring 9.1 by 43 metres, operating around the clock, impounding water for its 900 berths behind the tidal foreshore this slipway launches onto.
Nearby
A tea room among the Port Solent Boardwalk's food and drink venues, PO6 4TP; not mapped in OpenStreetMap, so no coordinate is given.
A café and pastry shop among the Port Solent Boardwalk's food and drink venues, PO6 4TP; not mapped in OpenStreetMap, so no coordinate is given.
A café at Trafalgar Wharf, Hamilton Road; under 500 metres away in a straight line but reached by a walking route of roughly 1.5 kilometres around the marina basin.
Conditions to check
Portsmouth is the standard port for tide tables; mean spring range is about 3.9 metres (MHWS 4.7m, MHWN 3.8m) and mean neap range about 1.9 metres (MLWN 1.9m, MLWS 0.8m).
SourceTidal streams in the upper harbour lakes, including this stretch, are weak, not exceeding about 0.5 knot at springs in a mid-channel position, or 0.3 knot further into the lakes; the stronger ebb of up to about 4 to 5.5 knots is a feature of the harbour entrance several miles south.
SourcePortchester Lake dries extensively to mud at low water; the navigable channel toward the marina is narrow and marked by lines of moored yachts.
SourceThe adjacent Port Solent Marina has 900 berths accessed via a lock from this tidal channel, and its approach channel carries yacht movements between the harbour and the marina.
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