Solent Cruise
Published 17:29 on 3 Jul 2026
Our cruise of 7 boats gathered in the delightful Island Harbour Marina over the 29th and 30th June coming from all points of the Solent. For those of you who have never visited Island harbour, it is a small marina up the River Medina just past the Folly Inn. It has a lock but most of us arrived during its free flow. Being some way up the river the tidal range and flow are significantly less severe than the river entrance. The weather was exceptionally kind being dry, not too windy and not too hot. We met for a convivial pontoon party on our first evening with people getting to know each other, with some cruising regulars and some not so frequent. Then we took the delightful walk along the east bank of the Medina to the Folly Inn. There was some staggering on the return journey but I blame the uneven terrain.
Our main event was an outing to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway on the Wednesday. Our walk from the Marina to Wootton station was mostly along the route of the old railway which has been resurfaced to make it easy walking (and cycling). During the walk I received a call from the Lock keeper to say that some lock repairs were going to occur on the Thursday and Friday which meant that boats either had to leave that day or stay until Saturday! I persuaded them to allow their evening lock keeper to work late until 10 pm which would enable us to enjoy our railway outing then our dinner and still allow some boats to leave that evening. When we arrived at the station, I broke this disruptive news which provoked quite some discussion. The imminent arrival of our Steam train refocussed our attention on enjoying the day before us. People were thrilled at the sight, sound and smell of the engine. It is a marvel that engineers designed and built such a thing. We reflected that the British Empire was largely built on coal and steam. The guard welcomed the CYC party and showed us to our reserved compartments for the short journey to Havenstreet, the railways headquarters. There we disembarked and enjoyed the educational displays and refreshments. Soon it was time to board the train for the remainder of the journey and then back to Wootton and the walk back.
On our return we made our arrangements for the evening escape before the work on the lock commenced. The two shallow draught boats would finish dinner at 9 pm and immediately leave the marina. It was very neat as they both intended to spend the night on the Folly pontoon. Once the lock was refilled two of the deeper draught boats would leave and the three remaining boats had decided to stay.
That evening, we enjoyed the newly opened Cockle restaurant. They looked after us very well with a very interesting and high-quality menu the Cornish Mussels received particular praise. The end of the meal was a bit rushed for the early leavers but in the end, everything went smoothly and according to plan.
All in all, we all enjoyed some gentle nostalgia and an enjoyable time despite a little bit of drama and on-the-fly replanning to deal with the lock closure.
Kevin and Annie Brown
