Newport, Isle of Wight
June 20, 2022
20 Jun '22. HM 193. Newport - the seldom visited capital of the Isle of Wight.
Ask most visitors to the IoW and they may not have heard of the capital town, Newport. Positioned slap in the centre of the island, it has a harbour with a very friendly, if camera shy, Harbour Master. Jonathan Brand, is a true Islander. Born in Newport he had previously been HM of Bembridge and Ryde (which no longer has an HM). He is keen for any yacht to visit Newport, as he put it, a perfect weekend destination, and I agree.
To reach Newport, you need to navigate five miles up the river Medina. The river's name is from the old English word for "middle", which makes perfect sense as it flows through the middle of the island. Until the 1960s 90% of goods brought to the island were unloaded at Newport quaysides. With the coming of containers driven on and off the vehicle ferries, trade declined and now the small port is mainly leisure.
Eagle eyed readers will have spotted in photo 4, an added complication navigating to Newport. The river's ebb (tide going out) is much faster than the flood (tide coming in). Normally the time between two High Tides or two Low Tides is approximately 12 hours and 25 minutes. But in Newport it takes far longer for the river to "fill up" from the sea (over 7 hours), than to empty out (just 5 hours). Added to which:
- Whether the moon's cycle is causing "Springs" (high high tides and low low tides) or Neaps (low high tides and high low tides). We were on "Neaps".
- Air pressure . We had very high pressure which literally pushes down on the sea level and reduces the height of the tide.
- And how much rain is flowing down the river. In our case not a lot!
.... we worked out that we would only have 20 cm of water under our keel on our return down the river! Instead we moored up at Folly Inn and motored up in the tender.
Thank you Jonathan for your help. @heartoftheisle
Ask most visitors to the IoW and they may not have heard of the capital town, Newport. Positioned slap in the centre of the island, it has a harbour with a very friendly, if camera shy, Harbour Master. Jonathan Brand, is a true Islander. Born in Newport he had previously been HM of Bembridge and Ryde (which no longer has an HM). He is keen for any yacht to visit Newport, as he put it, a perfect weekend destination, and I agree.
To reach Newport, you need to navigate five miles up the river Medina. The river's name is from the old English word for "middle", which makes perfect sense as it flows through the middle of the island. Until the 1960s 90% of goods brought to the island were unloaded at Newport quaysides. With the coming of containers driven on and off the vehicle ferries, trade declined and now the small port is mainly leisure.
Eagle eyed readers will have spotted in photo 4, an added complication navigating to Newport. The river's ebb (tide going out) is much faster than the flood (tide coming in). Normally the time between two High Tides or two Low Tides is approximately 12 hours and 25 minutes. But in Newport it takes far longer for the river to "fill up" from the sea (over 7 hours), than to empty out (just 5 hours). Added to which:
- Whether the moon's cycle is causing "Springs" (high high tides and low low tides) or Neaps (low high tides and high low tides). We were on "Neaps".
- Air pressure . We had very high pressure which literally pushes down on the sea level and reduces the height of the tide.
- And how much rain is flowing down the river. In our case not a lot!
.... we worked out that we would only have 20 cm of water under our keel on our return down the river! Instead we moored up at Folly Inn and motored up in the tender.
Thank you Jonathan for your help. @heartoftheisle