Displaying items by tag: Marine Leisure Guide

23rd June 2022

Marine Leisure Guide - Port of Southampton Publishes to Assist Recreational Users Also On Solent Waters

A Marine Leisure Guide has been launched by ABP’s Port of Southampton to assist leisure craft users stay safe on The Solent and Southampton Water.

As summer is underway along with leisure activities, ABP’s Port of Southampton has published its Marine Leisure Guide to help recreational users stay safe in and around The Solent and Southampton Water.

As one of the UK’s busiest ports located in Hampshire, Portsmouth is visited by cruise ships, container ships, automotive carriers, tankers and ferries, as well as countless leisure vessels and craft as people enjoy time on one of the country’s most popular stretches of water. It is for this reason that ABP issues this downloadable guidance to help those using the water know how to prepare well.

“The Solent and Southampton Water are fantastic places to be, and we want people to stay safe when they venture out,” says ABP Southampton Harbour Master, Steve Masters. “The guide can be easily downloaded to a mobile device, and we strongly advise people take time to familiarise themselves with it to make sure they get the basics right.”

The Marine Leisure Guide contains helpful information on everything from pre-departure preparation such and what equipment to carry, understanding tides and weather, lights and signals used by vessels, and navigational safety. It also contains information on Local Notices to Mariners and being aware of the various VHF channels used by HM Coastguard, Southampton Pilots and ABP’s Southampton’s Vessel Traffic Service, which controls shipping movements in and around The Solent and Southampton Water.

A handy chartlet provides a map of the area, with information on channel approaches, different speed restrictions and much more.

The Marine Leisure Guide is available to download from the Southampton VTS website which links to download full copy of the guide (also available in a printed version).

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About Conor O'Brien, Irish Circumnavigator

In 1923-25, Conor O'Brien became the first amateur skipper to circle the world south of the Great Capes. O'Brien's boat Saoirse was reputedly the first small boat (42-foot, 13 metres long) to sail around the world since Joshua Slocum completed his voyage in the 'Spray' during 1895 to 1898. It is a journey that O' Brien documented in his book Across Three Oceans. O'Brien's voyage began and ended at the Port of Foynes, County Limerick, Ireland, where he lived.

Saoirse, under O'Brien's command and with three crew, was the first yacht to circumnavigate the world by way of the three great capes: Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin; and was the first boat flying the Irish tri-colour to enter many of the world's ports and harbours. He ran down his easting in the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties between the years 1923 to 1925.

Up until O'Brien's circumnavigation, this route was the preserve of square-rigged grain ships taking part in the grain race from Australia to England via Cape Horn (also known as the clipper route).

At a Glance - Conor O'Brien's Circumnavigation

In June 1923, Limerick man Conor O’Brien set off on his yacht, the Saoirse — named after the then newly created Irish Free State — on the two-year voyage from Dun Laoghaire Harbour that was to make him the first Irish amateur to sail around the world.

June 1923 - Saoirse’s arrival in Madeira after her maiden passage out from Dublin Bay

2nd December 1924 - Saoirse crossed the longitude of Cape Horn

June 20th 1925 - O’Brien’s return to Dun Laoghaire Harbour