2 Hour stop, how much?

ferroboat said:
And making sure we all know you hang out in Ibiza. Lost count of the number of times i have seen you mention it !
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I am not sure of the point you are making. Is it wrong to say I live in Ibiza? Some people say things like "the weather here is ....." and we don't know where here is.

Do you have a problem with Lake Sailor, or Rum Pirate? I see you live in Mersea, so what?
 
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I would think that if you'd said you were going into their bar for a pint, they might well have let you stay for an hour or two for nothing.
As it was, I dare say that a fiver was OK. There's a big capital investment in pontoons for a club, not to mention ongoing maintenance, and their members have to bear all the costs after all.
 
Marconi - Blackwater. Bar and cafe open on Sunday lunchtimes this season. Cost:

£0.00
zip
zero
nada
zilch
sweet f.a.
nul pounds
keine euros
no yen
rupee free

(that's the mooring - we will ask you to pay for the beer & food!!!)
 
Javelin said:
At what time either side of HW can a boat with a draft of 6'4" moor there Marmalade ?
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In the deep water (row A) at anytime if there is an empty mooring.

I think there used to be a visitors mooring that was sometimes used by barges (so pretty substantial) up near the slipway.

Have to say I have always had a great reception at Marconi.
 
Queenborough Yacht Club own and manage the All Tide Landing and allow boats to moor alongside at night, though the main reason why the ATL was built was to allow yachts to come along side to pick up and drop off crew and passengers. It was never designed for visitors to come along and treat it like a mini marina.
The north part of the ATL is supposed to be left clear for emergency services but as it is run voluntarily and enforcement is difficult. As a past volunteer I was verbally abused and threatened when asking some yachts that were staying there all day to move.
Queenborough welcomes visitors to our harbour and I am unaware of anyone being charged £20.00 for being on the ATL for just over 20 minutes, though I have in the past asked for a donation to the maintenance, and insurance costs of the ATL.
People forget that it is not council owned. It is maintained by the money generated through the mooring fees and gate money. I was one of the few who during the winters used to spend entire weekends repairing the ATL for the coming seasons complaining visitors.
I am saddened by the thought that some people believe it is their god given privilege to use the ATL as their own mini marina and then complain about it.
 
Eddie, I agree with pretty well all you are saying, its just that the published rules for the ATL say only twenty minutes or you are charged the full amount of £20, and apart from taking on water (if you know where the tap is) there is really nothing useful anyone can do in 20 minutes as fuel and provisions are further than that away. It would be more welcoming and realistic to allow a bit more time officially, or to make a smaller charge for, say, a 2 hour stay that would allow a visitor to refuel and victual. This is not "treating the ATL as a mini-marina" and would benefit Queenborough economically at least a bit. I prefer the first option, with a bit of money going to the upkeep of the ATL through the £1 per person to get back on it. I prefer rules and reality to co-incide at least roughly. And you don't really sound all that welcoming, which is a pity.
 
We try to go somewhere different within our available range.
During this process you will find places that demand a return for various reasons and others that you vow you will ne'er return.

Rightly or wrongly I tend to feel that clubs, quays and harbours that extend a warm welcome without officious rules, regs and charges deserve my patronage and subsequently my hard earned.
Those that seem focussed on the financial gain will see this yacht sail past.

The difficult decisions are places like visiting Levington, as I did on Sunday night.
Lovely sail down from Southwold, with the kite up most of the way.
Welcome visitors berth just inside with free power.
Spent £150 in Chandler (not planned)
Drinks and food in the Fabulous Light ship Club house (my first time)
The only downside was the £26 for a Sunday night for a 10m yacht.
That seemed a little excessive.
Result is - Yes we shall return but only as a treat now rather than a regular.
 
Firefly said:
Eddie, I agree with pretty well all you are saying, its just that the published rules for the ATL say only twenty minutes or you are charged the full amount of £20, and apart from taking on water (if you know where the tap is) there is really nothing useful anyone can do in 20 minutes as fuel and provisions are further than that away. It would be more welcoming and realistic to allow a bit more time officially, or to make a smaller charge for, say, a 2 hour stay that would allow a visitor to refuel and victual. This is not "treating the ATL as a mini-marina" and would benefit Queenborough economically at least a bit. I prefer the first option, with a bit of money going to the upkeep of the ATL through the £1 per person to get back on it. I prefer rules and reality to co-incide at least roughly. And you don't really sound all that welcoming, which is a pity.
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although it gets complicated, maybe two tariffs are an idea. The high tariff for when the FREE trot boat is running? because then you don't need to be on the pontoon for refueling or victuallying as the trot will ferry you around. if the trot is there, what do you need to be on the pontoon for anyway? I imagine that the free 20 mins is exactly for picking up people/loading.

perhaps, if there is no trot boat, then the fee could be lower giving you longer....but then....i guess if the trot is not there, then there'd be no one to collect the fees anyway! so, thinking on, I suppose there is already 'two tariffs' :-)

FWIW - Eddie, I think it's all great and much appreciated from our corner.
 
The All Tide Landing at Queenborough is owned, run and maintained by Queenborough Yacht Club. Although negotiations took place last year for the Queenborough Harbour Trust to take over the management and upkeep of the All Tide Landing, it has met opposition amongst some of the committee members who wish the Queenborough Harbour Trust to fail.
Queenborough Harbour Trust will continue to support Queenborough Yacht Club as far as possible and it is hoped that an agreement can be made so fees can be taken by the harbour staff.
I have also previously been a committee member on Queenborough Yacht Club and am aware of how futile it is to attempt to move someone on who is moored along the ATL. There have been a number of occasions when I was approached by club members who had disabled family members, who complained that they could not get alongside the ATL to get their family member on board.
I agree that it is nice to come to Queenborough, moor up to the ATL and go and have a meal and drink, but the ATL is of limited size and denying the very people who maintain it every year of being able to access it for picking up and dropping off reduces their enthusiasm for maintaining it.
The ATL has a separate account to the club and is maintained simply by the money it makes in its own right. Giving free moorings to people may generate good will and more visitors but will result in the ATL simply rotting under people’s feet.
The Yacht club are at present looking into the possibility of extending the ATL which would allow boats to moor up as well as leaving a berth free for emergency services and picking up / dropping off. But income must be obtained from the ATL in order to invest in improvements.
Queenborough Harbour Trust own the moorings in Queenborough after the council decided to pull out of running the service due to losing around £50,000 per year. Obviously we are attempting to attract more mooring holders and visitors by improving the service but we have to curb spending. So to this end we are happy for people who would like to moor up for a few hours to use our mooring buoys and use the free trot boat service for short visits to Queenborough. The only thing we would ask is a donation so we can keep this amenity going.
Queenborough Harbour Trust is doing whatever we can to improve the services at Queenborough. We have a trot boat operation on Friday through to Monday 08.00 -10.00 and 16.00 – 22.00. During July and August the times will change on Saturday and Sundays to 10.00 – 22.00.
There are big changes happening to the harbour at Queenborough and it is our intention to reverse the decades of decline it suffered through lack of investment. We see Queenborough as not only a perfect stopping off point between tides, but a great place to call your home port.
We believe that with improved services other enterprises will open to cater for the greater visitor numbers and Queenborough will actually become a good destination in its own right.
We welcome ideas and comments from visitors to Queenborough so we can provide people with the services they want. I am sure no one would like to see the harbour fail and moorings removed, and I am certain that Queenborough can be turned around. Patience is needed as we have very little money, but we do have an excess of enthusiasm.
If anyone would like to become a friend of the harbour, volunteer or simply be kept informed visit our website www.queenborough-harbour.co.uk or visit us on facebook. Next time you are in Queenborough come up to the office on Crundells Wharf at the end of the ATL and say hello.
 
Yes, thank you, very clear explanation - such a pity the whole thing can't be under one administration, makes things much more difficult.
 
davidej said:
Are you sure this is right?

I visited in the autumn and had a drink at the QYC......

Their view was that those involved didn't know what they had taken on and they were waiting for it to go t*ts-up......
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I met someone at the club last year who reckoned the scrap value of the anchor chain holding the ATL in place was so high, people were queuing up to get the rights of the ATL so they could dismantle it and scrap it...

The view (which I know isn't yours !?) of it going 'totes up' is saddening. For every good idea, you can find 3 bad things to say about it, which seems to be the case with the people you spoke to.

Might have been 'anchor chain conspiracy man', who struck me as someone who spends more time thinking of 3 bad things to say about everything, than boating!
 
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