Circumnavigations: Portsea Island

Portsea Island, along with its close neighbour - Hayling Island, seems tailor made as an introduction to the world of island circumnavigations. A relatively short round trip, it still incorporates the necessity of tidal planning in order to set a good time - and to avoid a low bridge or a muddy walk!

For a real challenge try for the double - Portsea and Hayling combined!

Note: Portsmouth Harbour is a landlocked natural harbour with a narrow entrance. It contains a busy commercial port, ferry terminals, a military range and a Royal Navy Dockyard. Check for shipping movements and follow QHM Regulations:
QHM Portsmouth
Portsmouth Harbour Entrance (Royal Navy)

From the regs: " 3e. Small boats crossing the harbour entrance may only do so to the north of Ballast Pile and may not cross the main channel until south of 4 Bar Buoy."
i.e. No cutting corners.
We know this route is paddled regularly by local paddlers and just highlight that. We don't encourage or condone that you follow suit. It is entirely your call whether it is a good idea to paddle it.
If you do, then ensure you understand and follow the specific crossing point regs!

Though part of this trip is within the more sheltered waters of Portsmouth and Langstone Harbours, it is fully exposed along the south coast of the island, please read the thoughts on safety: Safety - Info Page

Portsea Island

Route Distance: ~11 nm / 20 km
Prevailing direction: CCW

Solo

Click column header to sort.

Posn.	K1W	Cat	Paddler	Elapsed	Date	Boat	Dir	Note	Verified	Link1
1		K1M_Ski	Brendan Reese	01:58:08	10-Nov-21	Knysna Genius	CCW		Yes
2		K1M_Ski	Ralph Baker	01:59:40	17-Oct-18	Custom Kayaks Icon	CCW		Yes
3		K1M	Brendan Reese	02:22:57	05-Nov-21	Rockpool Taran 18	CCW		Yes
4		K1M	Jon Needham	02:41:21	28-Feb-21	Rockpool Taran 18	CW		Yes
5		K1M	Fred Curtin-Sewell	03:23:52	24-Jan-21	Perception Essence 16	CCW		Yes

5 solo paddlers.
CW = clockwise, CCW = counter-clockwise

---

Teams

Click column header to sort.

Posn.	Cat	Paddler	Elapsed	Date	Boat	Dir	Note	Verified	Link1
1	Team	Jon Needham Dave Phillips	02:23:14	16-Apr-22	Rockpool Taran 18 Rockpool Taran	CW		Yes
2	Team	David Copp Giles Hudson	02:31:56	13-Sep-20	Rockpool Taran 18	CCW		Yes
3	Team	Jon Needham Dave Phillips	02:33:02	29-Dec-19		CCW		Yes
4	Team	Ben Cowans Fred Curtin-Sewell Phil Smith	03:43:37	25-Apr-22	Perception Essence 17 Valley Nordkapp P+H Scorpio MV	CCW		Yes
5	Team	Paul Barrett Rhys Hunt	04:34:23	02-Apr-21		CW		Yes
6	Team	Peter Miller Andy Ironside	04:34:26	05-May-22		CW		Yes

13 team paddlers in 6 teams

---

Notes

Paul Barrett / Rhys Hunt et al. (02-Apr-21)
Yes, Cowes.

---

Ben Cowans / Fred Curtin-Sewell et al. (25-Apr-22)
Part of a double lap of Portsea and Hayling together

---

---

Portsea Island
11 completions -- 5 solo + 6 team + 0 escorted
18 paddlers in total (5 solo / 13 team / 0 escorted

Route Distance: ~11 nm / 20 km
Prevailing direction: CCW
Recorded Start Points:

• Cowes (1)
• Ferry Road (1)
• Hardway (2)
• Haslar Marina (1)
• Langstone Channel (1)
• Portsmouth Harbour (1)
• South Parade Pier (3)
• Southsea (1)




Submit a time here.

Read The Safety Page