Peter Bruce finds peace
and tranquility
as he meanders
up Yarmouth’s
pretty waterway
THE
UNSPOILT
RIVER YAR
T
he charming little
town of Yarmouth
on the Isle of Wight
has so many delights
that visiting sailors
often fail to progress
further than the local
amenities. But those
with a love of nature and an adventurous
spirit will fi nd grand satisfaction above
the road bridge at high water by navigating
the attractive, unspoilt River Yar, not to be
confused with the other River Yar at Bembridge,
at the east end of the island.
The Yarmouth harbourmaster has
jurisdiction over the river up to the causeway
at Freshwater, so it is his offi ce to which any
queries should be addressed. For some reason,
the Yar swing bridge, renewed in 1987, blocking
the upper river to masted vessels, seems to
impose a slight mental as well as a physical
barrier. The reality is that the bridge will open
freely nine times a day in the summertime
as advertised, though you will have to make
a call on Channel 68 if yours is the only
vessel. The bridge opens up the quiet, unspoilt
waterway, allowing masted craft of about 2m
draught up to the causeway on a good high
tide, but doesn’t give much more than 1m
depth at neaps.
To fi nd the bridge from the harbour, you
have to thread westwards up the channel
through the rows of moored vessels, leaving
the long pontoon at the north side of the
harbour to starboard. Once through the swing
bridge, there is another assortment of pontoons
with accompanying moored vessels, as well
as a large building on the east side which is
the old tide mill, built in 1793.For keel boats, the only deep anchorage is
at the fi rst bend in the river, where the blue
racing mark ‘C’ is laid in the summer by the
Yarmouth Sailing Club. Anchoring downriver
from here is not allowed due to the pontoons,
but is allowed on the bend and above as long
as the anchoring vessel does not obstruct the
fairway. The pool has a depth of about 3m
at low water though over such a narrow area,
a keel boat might need to do a Bahamian moor
to reduce the swing. Neap tides are best for this
lovely peaceful anchorage.
Last time we tried to anchor there, two days
off springs, a fresh wind blew us a little into
shoal water so we retreated downriver and
spent the night beside a pontoon, fi nding
2.2m depth at low water with access to theSummer weekend dinghy racing aside, the
blissfully quiet Yar is generally little used
PILOTAGE
Dbphots / Alamy