Location
Island Harbour Marina is situated on the River Medina about 2 miles south of Cowes. For general location , find ‘I‘ on the Cruise Destination Map.
Lat/Long: 50°43′ 30.8″N, 1° 16′ 48.04″W (50.7252, -1.2800)
Google Maps: click here.
Reports of Previous Cruises to the Island Harbour Marina
You will find reports of cruises to Island Harbour Marina within the Cruise Reports as follows:
- 2011: 29 July – Overnight Cruise
Photographs of Previous Cruises to the Island Harbour Marina
You will find an album of photographs of a cruise to Island Harbour Marina within the Gallery Archive for 29 July 2011.
Useful Links
Navigation Notes
Distance – 6.5 nm “as the crow flies”.
Island Harbour Marina is located some way up the Medina river past Cowes. The first part of the passage to this destination is across the Solent and the two shipping channels so keep a good lookout for any ships using these channels.
Cowes is a busy port with two ferry services to and from Southampton. One is car ferry and they are large vessels and do not leave a lot room once into the Cowes harbour entrance. The other is a smaller passenger catamaran ferry known as the Red Jet which, as it’s name implies, is a fast service. The catamaran service docks in west Cowes nearer the harbour entrance and the car ferry docks farther into the harbour on the east side of the river.
The tidal stream around the entrance to the harbour can be quite furious during spring tides. There are also a large number of day sailing craft, such as Dragons and Etchells, moored on buoys to the east of the harbour entrance.
The cruise master will brief you about entering Cowes but it is advisable not to sail amongst these moored boats.
Once into the entrance there are three marinas on the west side so keep a lookout for vessels leaving these marinas. They may not see a dinghy as the visibility is limited. Further on you will see the ferry terminal to the east and just beyond this is the chain ferry. If you are close to where the ferry crosses it may wait for you to pass but do not rely on this. The chain ferry will display a flashing white light when it starts moving.
Once past the chain ferry the worst is over. There is one more marina to pass on the east side as well as numerous pontoons and river moorings so keep a sharp lookout for vessels moving off of these moorings.
The Lock Control Tower for the marina is quite distinctive and is on the east side of the river. It is useful to review the entry information on the Island Harbour Marina.
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The Folly Inn is a short walk from the Island Harbour Marina and Newport is not too far to walk.
