Woolverstone - no more lift-outs!

[Aquaboy]

Woolverstone is one of my walks in the winter, very few boats were lifted last year., loads of spaces and very few up the road. I know there is an issue with the raised deck area where the crane would normally stand. Supports are rotten I believe. They get around it by hiring a larger crane (more expensive) which stays further back and lifts over the suspect area. The scrub off is another issue as I believe you need a sediment tank to catch the run off these days........done on the rickety deck area again.
Their own old crane moved to Pinmill where it is still going strong.....

 

[shortjohnsilver]

So, in view of this, MDL will be vastly reducing the annual berthing fees at Wooverstone?

 

[DanTribe]

There are loads of cranes for hire, that can't be the reason. Fox's hire a crane for mast work (or they did a few years ago, they could have bought their own by now).

In my experience there are two types of crane hire.
One where you just hire the machine then have to arrange a qualified driver and all the insurances etc.
More common is to have a contract lift where the crane company employs the driver and takes on all the legalities.
Can you do a contract lift for multiple clients?

 

[Chae_73]

Main difference between contract hire and contract lift, is that in the former, the client needs to plan the lift, or arrange for a competent person do do this.

To plan a lift, you need to know (among other things), the weight of the object(s) to be lifted, the distance from the point of lifting to the crane, the weight bearing characteristics of the ground where the crane will be located and so on.

In a contract lift, you tell the crane co the weights and locations of the things you want lifted, and they do the rest. I've not tried it, but I can't see any reason in principle why multiple boat owners couldn't arrange contract lifts with the same crane co to happen at the same time, to everyone's advantage.

 

[LittleSister]

Perhaps the USAF would like somewhere to come and play with their gert big transporter helicopters?

Otherwise, I wonder if one could slip one of the crane drivers at Felixstowe ten bob and a bottle of duty free to plonk one's boat down in some corner of the port where no one would notice.

 

[Tomahawk]

So, in view of this, MDL will be vastly reducing the annual berthing fees at Wooverstone?

And the pigs?
Yes sir they are fuelled and ready to fly.

 

[Marmalade]

Just had an email from Foxes (we're not berthed there) offering 10% off their standard rates thus:

FOX’S WINTER LAY-UP OFFER

10% off Fox's standard rates for haul/scrub/storage/launch
Offer running 1 October 2021 - 31 March 2022

We are delighted to be able to offer you priority booking for our Winter Lay-up Offer. We have limited availability and bookings are taken on a first-come, first-served basis, so contact us early to avoid disappointment.

Haul, scrub, layup & launch – £40.91 + vat per metre
Storage ashore - £14.82 + vat per metre/per month
Storage afloat - £20.00 + vat per metre/per month

• A further 10% EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT is applicable on bookings made and paid in full before 31 October 2021.
• FREE underwater condition report including stern gear/rudder bearings etc. on yachts stored ashore.
• Hard standing with power, water and vehicle access.
• On site yard services including spray painting, GRP repairs and polishing, shipwrights, rigging, marine engineering, electronics and stainless fabrication.
• Fox's Chandlery stock everything you need to help keep you and your boat warm and dry over the winter.

So not exactly full up I'm guessing. How is it that one yard can't make money out of winter lay up , and a few miles up river another makes so much money they're offering discounts to attract non berth holders to lay up there????

 

[johnalison]

Titchmarsh didn’t look anything like full last year either, so there is probably enough space around for East Coast sailors.

 

[PaulRainbow]

Just had an email from Foxes (we're not berthed there) offering 10% off their standard rates thus:

FOX’S WINTER LAY-UP OFFER

10% off Fox's standard rates for haul/scrub/storage/launch
Offer running 1 October 2021 - 31 March 2022

We are delighted to be able to offer you priority booking for our Winter Lay-up Offer. We have limited availability and bookings are taken on a first-come, first-served basis, so contact us early to avoid disappointment.

Haul, scrub, layup & launch – £40.91 + vat per metre
Storage ashore - £14.82 + vat per metre/per month
Storage afloat - £20.00 + vat per metre/per month

• A further 10% EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT is applicable on bookings made and paid in full before 31 October 2021.
• FREE underwater condition report including stern gear/rudder bearings etc. on yachts stored ashore.
• Hard standing with power, water and vehicle access.
• On site yard services including spray painting, GRP repairs and polishing, shipwrights, rigging, marine engineering, electronics and stainless fabrication.
• Fox's Chandlery stock everything you need to help keep you and your boat warm and dry over the winter.

So not exactly full up I'm guessing. How is it that one yard can't make money out of winter lay up , and a few miles up river another makes so much money they're offering discounts to attract non berth holders to lay up there????

Storage ashore for a 10m boat £177.84, not a bad price (a little dearer than Shotley, for example), but for Woolverstone berth holders that's on top of the already expensive annual berthing fees. Most marinas don't charge annual berth holders for being ashore.

 

[pvb]

Storage ashore for a 10m boat £177.84, not a bad price (a little dearer than Shotley, for example), but for Woolverstone berth holders that's on top of the already expensive annual berthing fees. Most marinas don't charge annual berth holders for being ashore.

Those Fox's discounted prices demonstrate the value of summertime lift-out offers. For my 11.5metre boat, the Fox's winter haul/scrub/layup/launch price would be £564 - that's more than twice what I paid for Shotley's summer scrub, which also included a couple of weeks in a cradle.

 

[Brooksie89]

Justifying a future planning application?

 

[pvb]

Justifying a future planning application?

It wouldn't have any bearing on an application.

 

[Leighb]

As far as planning is concerned, when MDL first acquired Woolverstone Marina, they applied for outline permission to build apartments on the cliff above the Marina. This is a Conservation area and an AONB and Babergh DC made it pretty clear that such permission would never be granted.
Some years later they did try and sell the site, but could not find a buyer, RHYC did consider putting together a bid, but the price was too high and it probably wouldn’t have got past the members anyway.
My feeling is that Woolverstone has always been the poor relation and they have been reluctant to invest and develop (or even maintain) the facilities.
Regarding the original subject, I have been wondering if there is something missing in the detail.
Are they proposing that they will never lift any boat for any reason, or that they will not lift boats out and in again for wintering ashore? The latter one could live with, although inconvenient for owners who prefer to be ashore in the winter. The former would be pretty impossible as it would mean going elsewhere for routine maintenance, and those yards will be even busier than usual and very hard to get a slot.

 

[Dijon Mustard]

We berth at Woolverstone and are very happy there. I’ve been in contact with the manager, Kelly, and she makes the points that

• Only half the current berth holders use the boatyard services there - the rest already go elsewhere
• It’s not just a financial issue. I asked about raising lift-out prices, but apparently regulations on lifting boats at a 22m reach with a crane are extremely challenging and just ‘throwing money at it’ is not a viable answer.

We’re among the half that do haul out over winter, so this is not good news. But I’m not rushing to condemn MDL. Sounds like they have little choice.

 

[Chae_73]

Interesting. What drives the need for 22m reach?

Sounds like that's what is creating the problem as that will require a bigger crane which naturally is more expensive.

I don't find the argument that "only half our customers use this facility" to be that compelling. I'd bet less than half their customers use the women's loos - so maybe they are also not really needed!

 

[Kukri]

There is an element of symbiosis with Fox’s - a Premier League boatyard with rather a small (but perfectly formed!) marina, so that Fox’s have more hard standing spaces than they have marina berths. In fact the bigger boats that berth at Woolverstone cannot be taken ashore there, and there is a long-standing arrangement with Fox’s.

 

[pvb]

In fact the bigger boats that berth at Woolverstone cannot be taken ashore there, and there is a long-standing arrangement with Fox’s.

How big is "bigger"?

 

[Aquaboy]

I believe Manningtree S C hire in a crane and do a whole bunch of boats together. Is it worth the berth holders approaching the
management and seeing if that would be allowable on the site. If its no cost to MDL shouldn't be an issue tho' insurance may prove problematic. In theory MDL should be pleased with the idea as it would keep custom, otherwise yachts will.......errr slowly drift away....
Of cause 22 metre lift radius problem is still there who ever arranges things.

 

[nortada]

Halls at Walton-on-the-Naze still use that system - float the yacht onto a wheeled cradle at high water and then tow the cradle with a tractor on a long cable or chain.

Used it for the last 10 years - works well.

 

[Kukri]

How big is "bigger"?

Above my pay grade, Sir!