As tempting as it was to stay basking in the sunshine and facilities of Yarmouth, we decided to push on and make tracks Keyhaven.
With no wind and foul tide all day, it was a perfect opportunity to double-check the engine issue was finally sorted.
We arrived at Keyhaven around 2 hours after low water, and felt our way in over the bar and shallows at a snails pace with just 10-20cms under our 1.56m keel. At one point the echo sounder read 1.3m though as we didn’t ground out, something must have passed right between our keels.
Perhaps more disconcertingly, the entrance and approach to Keyhaven was a few hundred metres further north than the charted position. At first, with the Queen in Cowes that day, we wondered if the GPS was being ‘scrambled’ or something. We later found out, whilst talking to the river warden, that the charts are all out of date as the inshore eddy has pushed the entrance to the spit further north over the last few years.
So, anyone wanting the best water transit to the entrance buoys at Keyhaven, you need 309 degrees, not 283 as stated on the chart.
Once inside, we found an unused buoy and settled in for an afternoon on the beach, followed by dinner on board and a beautiful sunset.
Cost: £12 for buoy
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