Edinburgh Marina

Sandy

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At the 2019 Southampton Boat Show I picked up details of the Edinburgh Marina, tried emailing them a few weeks back but no response.

Has anybody in the capital heard if they plan to open this year as I'm planning a spend a few days visiting the Malt Whisky Society ??? and family.
 

rotrax

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I had a Speedway gig a long time ago, two meetings, one at Powderhall as a Guest, the other at Linlithgow as a Trainer.

As I had never seen Powderhall my fellow rider and I took a look.

It looked, at the time, rather like a Marina. A good deal of water all over the track.

Apparently, there was a covered sinkhole which joined the Water of Leith. With lots of rain, a high water table and tide the track became flooded to a depth of a few inches.

Fortunately, if the tide and river level dropped it fell rapidly. The Powderhall meeting went ahead some days later after the training school at Linlithgow.

I thought at the time, run a canal in and stick a few pontoons in and Powderhall would have made make a great Marina............................... ?
 

cpedw

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It's a housing development at Granton Harbour with a marina proposed to improve the view and increase the price of the houses. I don't think the marina exists yet.
 

wallacebob

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Still very much work in progress. Housing, mix of affordable and high end, are going up. Marina will be part of hotel, shops, etc that will be a way down the line. Doubtful if they can fill a marina unless they give good rates to Royal Forth members nearby at Granton. Tram extension may help. A few new hotels completing at end of summer in town, so I may be wrong: strength of Embra tourist draw never fails to amaze. If you want to visit then Port Edgar or Granton is option if you can’t dry.
 

Sandy

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Thanks all.

Looks like the development has been delayed by COVID.

I'm in contact with Port Edgar and Granton about a pontoon berth, I don't think a dingy ride is really for family or after a few interesting malts and a meal at the Malt Whisky Society.
 

Bilgediver

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At the 2019 Southampton Boat Show I picked up details of the Edinburgh Marina, tried emailing them a few weeks back but no response.

Has anybody in the capital heard if they plan to open this year as I'm planning a spend a few days visiting the Malt Whisky Society ??? and family.
I would expect the pandemic has slowed things down. Many people living in hope as it opens onto a much better sailing area than Port Edgar. I wonder if their bright new sparkly office is looking like that as last time I was there it looked like the day John Dunwoody left it about 30+ years ago.

Their web site says closed due to pandemic so would expect it to open in a few weeks at least.

As for opening for boats I suspect there are many thousands of tons of best Forth Mud to be removed before the boats would have acceptable access.

Contact - Edinburgh Marina
 

Sticky Fingers

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Hell's teeth. I sailed out of Granton in the 1960's. Royal Forth was it.

The boats look a wee bit newer in the Google pic but it still looks much the same... by which I mean, not even slightly appealing.

Dump. Sorry.

1617917938176.png
 

dgadee

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I was asking about a mooring a couple of months ago in Granton and it wasn't suggested that I might consider the new marina, so I suspect not a lot is happening and the locals know it. Granton seems to be quite exposed to wind from the NE. I was there a handful of years ago on during a reasonable breeze and where I was I bumped about a goodly bit. Port Edgar isn't great in a northerly either, I hear. Edinburgh could do with somewhere decent.
 

JumbleDuck

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I was asking about a mooring a couple of months ago in Granton and it wasn't suggested that I might consider the new marina, so I suspect not a lot is happening and the locals know it. Granton seems to be quite exposed to wind from the NE. I was there a handful of years ago on during a reasonable breeze and where I was I bumped about a goodly bit. Port Edgar isn't great in a northerly either, I hear. Edinburgh could do with somewhere decent.
Bo'ness dock would make a lovely, if small, marina. I think there was some movement in that direction a few years ago, but it seems to have fizzled out.
 
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Imagine for a moment Norway, France, Denmark etc. Islands bridged, nooks and crannies with neatly maintained pontoons, tidy foreshore facilities.

What do we get? Industrial waste, rubble and stuff that was built over a hundred years ago and left to fall into disrepair 50 years ago.

Scotland does marine tourism visitor experience like India does ship recycling.
 

dgadee

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Scotland does marine tourism visitor experience like India does ship recycling.

No, I think it's just Edinburgh that does it so poorly. It ignores the fact that it is beside the sea. You ask anyone who hasn't been whether they think Edinburgh is a seaside city and they will all say no. Probably from David Hume's days (though I don't think you are supposed to talk about him now).
 

dunedin

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Imagine for a moment Norway, France, Denmark etc. Islands bridged, nooks and crannies with neatly maintained pontoons, tidy foreshore facilities.

What do we get? Industrial waste, rubble and stuff that was built over a hundred years ago and left to fall into disrepair 50 years ago.

Scotland does marine tourism visitor experience like India does ship recycling.

To be fair, having sailed round a lot of these other places mentioned, places with minimal tides have it massively easier to have small, low cost yacht pontoons in pretty locations without needing huge concrete breakwaters.
Ditto places on the West sheltered by islands - eg Largs, provided don‘t look at power stations etc.
Scottish East coast is both tidal and very exposed, which makes safe harbours more expensive to build and maintain.
 

dunedin

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I was asking about a mooring a couple of months ago in Granton and it wasn't suggested that I might consider the new marina, so I suspect not a lot is happening and the locals know it. Granton seems to be quite exposed to wind from the NE. I was there a handful of years ago on during a reasonable breeze and where I was I bumped about a goodly bit. Port Edgar isn't great in a northerly either, I hear. Edinburgh could do with somewhere decent.
Granton is very exposed in N to E winds. However I note the marina plan suggests they are planning to add a large L shape end on the northern breakwater which should help. But some of the proposed outer berths still look to be very exposed when the waves come in.
As others have said, will need a lot of dredging, initially and ongoing - the latter likely to be the big flaw.
 

crewman

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A friend looked into this proposed marina a couple of years ago, They were proposing rates on a par with the Solent. I think it is one of those proposals which looks good until you look into the details, Probably fairly low demand and fairly high running costs due to tidal range and silting. In addition the surrounding land is being developed for housing so where do you lift out in winter? Last I looked there was no visible progress.
 

dgadee

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I'm moving a twin keel boat over to a Firth of Forth harbour (will have to change my forum name) over the next few weeks. What's the sailing like? When I was there with the bigger boat with the fin keel I couldn't go into most of the harbours so not really sure what to expect. Am I making a mistake in locating there?
 

dunedin

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I'm moving a twin keel boat over to a Firth of Forth harbour (will have to change my forum name) over the next few weeks. What's the sailing like? When I was there with the bigger boat with the fin keel I couldn't go into most of the harbours so not really sure what to expect. Am I making a mistake in locating there?
Depends what sort of boating you like to do. Some decent racing on the Forth. And plenty go for day sails and weekending.
But many/most Edinburgh folks with cruising boats tend to keep them on the Clyde or West Coast, which is definitely better cruising grounds and only an extra 60 minutes or so by car.
 

TLouth7

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I sail out of Granton (FCYC), no sign of the new marina or any preparations for it. The sentiment from those who have been around for a while is that these schemes come and go...

It's annoying as we have been turfed out of the deeper moorings in the Western Harbour. There is a pontoon with deepish water which caters to visiting boats; it is run jointly by FCYC and RFYC, link below. Rates are very reasonable!

Granton harbour is not stunning but where else in the country can you get a club operated mooring within a 15 minute cycle ride or bus journey of a major city centre?

Edinburgh Marina – The Marina for Central Edinburgh

PS if anyone is stopping by then do drop me a message and I would be happy to show you the sights or just the nearest watering hole
 

Nick Costen

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But many/most Edinburgh folks with cruising boats tend to keep them on the Clyde or West Coast, which is definitely better cruising grounds and only an extra 60 minutes or so by car.

I suspect that this is the underlying problem - if you live in Edinburgh and can afford the cost of a marina, you afford to go over to the west coast regularly. The west coast is sufficiently enticing that the Forth can't support the critical mass of moneyed yachts. And so the situation continues...
 

crewman

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Many of the harbours on the Forth dry so you need a boat that will take the ground. This does limit where you can go. In addition there are few islands to visit and once out of the Forth it is a fair way to another safe harbour. I got trapped in Eyemouth a few years ago by strong easterlies, even the fishing boats were not going out!
 
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