Lyme Bay
Lyme Regis harbour lies in 50° 43’N, 002° 56’W, about halfway along the Lyme Bay coast. It is a very ancient harbour with recorded activity dating back to the twelfth century and was once one of the foremost ports in England. Those days are long gone, however, and now the harbour accommodates small fishing boats and yachts. It consists of a substantial Western breakwater, the Cobb, with Victoria Pier branching from this to the East. These, along with the detached North Wall, form a basin which constitutes the harbour. The landward side has been filled in by a substantial sand bank which now links the North Wall with the Cobb and the shore.
Formerly, Cobb was a separate village which gave its name to the harbour; nowadays it is incorporated into Lyme Regis although still somewhat detached geographically. The Cobb breakwater itself is now a Grade 1 listed structure. The harbour dries at low water except for a pool of deeper water in the harbour mouth which allows shallow draft craft to remain afloat at the passenger steps.
The tidal range at Lyme Regis is 4.5m at maximum spring tides, 1.0m at slackest neaps. The inner Harbour dries out. Strong southerly and particularly south-easterly winds send in an uncomfortable surge into the harbour and makes the outer harbour area completely unusable for berthing or mooring. Although subject to draft considerations, access is straightforward in suitable weather conditions, night, or day.
The harbour is normally taken up with small craft. Commercial users are small inshore fishing boats and charter boats but the main users are pleasure craft. The basin is entirely filled by these craft which virtually all lie to trots of moorings laid in the harbour.
