COWES
Prohibited activities No towing of persons in the Inner Harbour and Outer Fairway.
Weather information (Local sea area - Wight)
No kite surfing in the Inner Harbour and Outer Fairway, except in the Shrape Watersports Area.
Cowes Weather Stations New for 2020 is the introduction by Cowes Harbour Commission of two Environmental Monitoring stations.
No windsurfing and paddle boarding in the fairways north of the red No. 8 buoy.
A Shepards Marina Weather Station provides tide height and visibility information. A Cowes Floating Weather Station positioned in the small craft moorings provides information on harbour wind speed and direction, temperature, and barometric pressure.
No spearfishing in the Inner Harbour. No navigation of hovercraft in the harbour. No swimming in the fairways and in areas around or from moorings or berths. No jumping or diving into the water from any structure, pile, pontoon, jetty, pier or buoy in the harbour.
Harbour rules enforcement Harbour Patrols are on duty 365 days of the year, using conspicuous yellow RIBs. The Patrol Officers have the authority of the Harbour Master to give advice and specific instructions to skippers of any vessel; you should act on these instructions. Cowes Harbour Commission has an enforcement policy based on education in the first instance. This reverts to formal written warnings and ultimately to prosecution for repeat offenders, for offences bringing significant risk of serious injury or loss of life, or for when users threaten or abuse Harbour Commission staff members. Any harbour users in breach of a General Direction or Special Direction shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine. Cowes Harbour Commission uses CCTV, including Body Worn Video cameras, for monitoring and enforcement purposes in Cowes Harbour.
Shore fishing and angling Fishing from the Cowes Breakwater and Shrape Breakwater is prohibited. Fishing is not permitted from public landings. The quay walls west of the Royal Yacht Squadron provide easy access and a good chance of catching fish. Crabbing is popular off the Town Quay or The Parade walls. See: cowesharbourcommission.co.uk/ fishing
The new weather stations provide valuable information allowing harbour users to assess meteorological conditions and make safety-related navigational decisions prior to their arrival at Cowes. The live weather information is on the Cowes Harbour Commission website. See: cowesharbourcommission/weather Bramblemet Bramblemet is an online weather information system, recording weather conditions in the Central Solent. Bramblemet weather reports are derived from instrumentation on the Bramble Pile, roughly equidistant from Cowes, Calshot and Hill Head. See: bramblemet.co.uk Maritime Safety Information The Maritime and Coastguard Agency is responsible in the UK for broadcasting maritime safety information (MSI), by NAVTEX (Navigational telex) out to 270 miles, on VHF out to 30 mile, on MF out to 150 miles. For details of the times and content of MSI broadcasts, including local Solent Coastguard transmissions, see: gov.uk/maritime-safetyweather-and-navigation Met Office The Met Office is the UK’s national meteorological service providing useful information about conditions both at sea and for inshore waters. See: metoffice.gov.uk/weather/ specialist-forecasts/coast-and-sea UK Hydrographic Office In-force navigational warnings for UK coastal waters and the northeast Atlantic area are shown on the UK Hydrographic Office website. See: admiralty.co.uk/ maritime-safety-information/radio-navigational-warnings BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 broadcasts the latest weather reports and forecasts for the UK. Shipping Forecast: bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qfvv Coastal Forecast: bbc.co.uk/weather/coast_and_sea/coastal Inshore Waters: bbc.co.uk/weather/coast_and_sea/inshore_ waters cowesharbourcommission.co.uk
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