7 day camp on the edge of Poole Harbour
Adventurous and local dinghy sailing, weather permitting
May 23rd to 27th
The camp runs at the end of the Hampshire Summer half term, 23rd May to 27th May, primarily because that’s the period for the Spring Tides and allows us to launch from the camping field.
The campsite is a commercial camp site run only for groups, and has a commercial nightly fee of £5 (to be confirmed for this year) per person. There is a flat £4 per person charge (irrespective of the number of nights you choose to stay with us) that Cody charge for using the waste facilities that we hire in. Tents only, no caravans or motor homes are allowed. Water is available from a tap in the field, and we hire in waste disposal. If you want to share a club portaloo in a loo tent you need to let me know. Nearest shops are in Corfe Castle and Wareham. Detailed directions will be sent to those who have expressed an interest.
Dinghy Cruising and Independent Sailing
We sail as a fleet (or two separate fleets) and in order to sail together we need a fleet to have boats of roughly the same speed. If you wish to join us on our ‘Gold Fleet’, you’d need a vessel that is no slower than a Wanderer. We may also run a “Silver Fleet” if there is enough interest for slower boats and single handers, which will have a closer destination.
For close destinations we typically sail as a single fleet – Pottery Pier and Arne are places where we don’t split up – there’s enough fun to be had in the faster boats along the way that we’ll sail as a fleet and arrive at the same time.
Adventurous daysails include Swanage, Shell Bay Marine, round Brownsea, threading the islands, Rockley Point, Wareham, Studland, Bournemouth, Jazz Cafe Sandbanks and so on…
Social
In the evenings we sometimes gather as a single group and have a communal cook-up on individual BBQs which turns into a camp fire, and we sit around and chat, or we’ll invade each other’s tents and chat if the weather is wet. We might go out for one evening to a local pub as a group.
Safety
In common with the many dinghy cruising organisations we do not run a safety boat. Many of us carry VHF Radios, mobile phones and orange smoke flares for attracting the attention of emergency services if we need to. Sailing as a fleet, mostly with 2 or 3 crew means that if there is someone in difficulty we generally rally round to help. We also help each other with launching and recovery. We expect you to have sufficient experience and a sufficiently seaworthy vessel to manage the risks of a given cruise yourself, and have published recommended minimum standards for your competency and equipment.
Launching and tides
Over the past 41 years that Cody has been using this venue, the creek that we launch into has gently silted up. On neaps, if there is a meteorological very high pressure, or strong winds from the West to suppress the height of the tide, on some days the water no longer gets high enough to allow dinghies to launch. During the height of Spring Tides there is plenty of water.
The tidal prediction for the Spring Bank Holiday is coming off Springs, running to Neaps through the week. We expect the camp to close on Wednesday as there will be insufficient tidal height to launch into.
The tides diminish every passing day, and by Thursday we would not expect the tide to rise sufficiently for dinghies to be able to be launched.
If you are interested in attending this event, please contact the address below.
We will send you full details of the location and other finer details, including full details of how to approach the camp.
If you have any questions, and would like to know more, please let us know your phone number or skype address and we’re very happy to talk to you, so that you can get the best from the event.
We will only go if the weather is not forecasted to be torrential continuous rain and gales for the week. We go only if there’s every chance of sailing and the camping is not a test of continuous tent waterproofing.
If you want to talk to the organisers, and for more info please contact us on the address below.
More Information
Poole Camp is held annually over the Spring Bank Holiday. The camp is on the northen shore of the Isle of Purbeck and has easy access three hours either side of high water to the Harbour which is an ideal venue for sailing, windsurfing and canoeing. The site has no facilities other than a standpipe for water and the field itself is flat.
For those who want a rest from watersports, there is plenty on offer in the area. There are good walks around Studland Heath or along the Dorset Coast Path and a walk is usually planned during the weekends activities. For the more adventuous there is the seaside town of Swange a short drive away or the the ferry to Poole and Bournmouth.
If you are a member of the CCCA, and wish to join this event, please make contact in the first instance with the cruising coordinator at this very address.
Please note that there is a cap on numbers, so if you are even slightly minded to join, get in touch as soon as conveniently possible,