Newtown Harbour

Warm, May bank holiday weather ensured that Poole Quay Marina, and the whole of Poole harbour, would be busy with weekend boaters so we elected to head further east for the relative serenity of Newtown Harbour nature reserve on the Isle of Wight; about a four hour sail away.

Headed for IOW. Ridiculously optimistic!

By mid morning the familiar chalky points of the Needles had revealed themselves to the south and Hurst castle loomed in the distance marking the narrow western entrance to the Solent.

The Needles in sight

As Distant Drummer made her way the glassy sea was temporarily overtaken by turbulence as the flood tide raced through the gap with us. Before long Yarmouth came into view to starboard with its busy ferries crossing to Lymington on the mainland.

Hurst Castle

Beyond Yarmouth the northern shore of the island is heavily wooded and protected by a shingle beach along its perimeter. Our passage planning proved invaluable as we identified a Y shaped mark leading the way toward the narrow Newtown River entrance. Only about a hundred yards wide it would have been easy to miss.

Entrance to Newtown Harbour

The bottlenecked entrance gave way to a wide expanse of waterways, low lying mud banks and salt flats. Nicola steered DD past a few yachts tied up to white visitor mooring buoys provided by the National Trust who manage the Newtown Harbour nature reserve. We drifted further on into the so called Clamerkin lake and the anchor was soon firmly embedded in the mud. We had only one other yacht for company a few yards away so we felt very pleased with ourselves as we enjoyed the peace and tranquillity of this very special place.

Clamerkin Lake

Needless to say as the weekend warmed up we were not alone for long but, as we had deliberately chosen a relatively shallow anchorage, only a few other boats joined us and some of those for just a few hours before they had to move seaward as the tide ebbed away. Distant Drummer has a draft of just 70cm which allows us to access shallow waters where most other yachts cannot. We also have the advantage of being able to completely dry out as she comes to rest on her twin hulls.

Neighbours

The local harbour master paid us a visit in his dory and was extremely helpful providing us with two information leaflets with maps and local knowledge about the reserve. We made a small voluntary donation and thanked him for his kindness.

View from above

The following morning we jumped into Betty, our inflatable dinghy, and headed for the small quay at Shalfleet. The mud banks are a safe haven for common seals and we were fortunate enough to spot a pup basking on the bank as we passed. They are used to people at close proximity and allowed us to take photos but we maintained a respectful distance to ensure stress levels were kept to a minimum.

Mum and pup basking

At Shalfleet Quay we hauled Betty onto the side and set off to walk to the New Inn at Shalfleet village. After a pint of Goddards ‘Ale of Wight’ 3.7%, one of the best, blondest ales and a Stowford Press for Nikki, we walked back toward the quay stopping on the way to eat our sandwiches on a bench overlooking the estuary. During our walk we encountered several competitors in the gruelling 106km Isle of Wight Challenge. We clapped encouragement as they passed us on what was the hottest day of the year so far.

View towards Shalfleet quay

We headed downriver and landed up against the old salt pans where this precious commodity was produced in medieval times. The deserted settlement of Newtown still has a town hall thanks to the efforts of the Ferguson Gang, a group of philanthropic women who made it their mission to save old buildings. Other than the hall, all that is left of this medieval village are street names and a few hedgerows marking the perimeters of the original crofts.

The town hall with no town!

The hot weather stayed with us throughout the weekend and we elected to stay an extra day. Robin plucked up the courage to do a job on the boat that had been bugging us for a while; cleaning the green algae off the tv aerial at the top of the mast.

Nice knees

Later on Betty took us to the shingle beach at the entrance to the harbour and we walked along the shingle beach westwards towards Yarmouth. The shingle comes in a variety of shape and sizes.

Beads from the beach

Nicola found a small bead-like stone with a neat hole gouged through its centre which she turned into a necklace with some leather fronds. We also came across an old half brick with a smooth hole through. This has now become our plumb line weight when hand sounding for a suitable anchorage.