Alderney Marina

[Channel Ribs]

A marina in Alderney's Braye Harbour took a step closer last month.

Two groups made presentations to the local government, consisting of ten elected officials, two local business specialists and two civil servants.

The announcement was then made that the group chosen to go ahead with their proposal was made up of the founder of Walcon Marinas, an architect and a local retired telecoms director.

Earlier in the process The States of Alderney had dismissed plans for an all new development on East shore of the harbour. Also declining one at the foot of the existing shops and restaurants in the heart of the port.

The accepted plan is to build a SE wall part-way along the famously long breakwater, reducing waves inside the marina to 1ft in the event of bad weather. To protect boats and marina users from the surf and rock combination that is common when waves hit the outside of the breakwater, the marine will be 15m away.

No news about a fuel berth has been released yet, though the development team plan to build space for more marine businesses. It is hoped they can part-fund the project by leasing four luxury apartments, in what is currently a historic fort at the base of the breakwater, for £1-2 million each.

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

A marina in Alderney's Braye Harbour took a step closer last month.

Two groups made presentations to the local government, consisting of ten elected officials, two local business specialists and two civil servants.

The announcement was then made that the group chosen to go ahead with their proposal was made up of the founder of Walcon Marinas, an architect and a local retired telecoms director.

Earlier in the process The States of Alderney had dismissed plans for an all new development on East shore of the harbour. Also declining one at the foot of the existing shops and restaurants in the heart of the port.

The accepted plan is to build a SE wall part-way along the famously long breakwater, reducing waves inside the marina to 1ft in the event of bad weather. To protect boats and marina users from the surf and rock combination that is common when waves hit the outside of the breakwater, the marine will be 15m away.

No news about a fuel berth has been released yet, though the development team plan to build space for more marine businesses. It is hoped they can part-fund the project by leasing four luxury apartments, in what is currently a historic fort at the base of the breakwater, for £1-2 million each.

Of course we haven't seen the plan in detail, but in principle I really like this idea. There is always the option to anchor the other side of the bay, but have never liked being on the buoys near the breakwater. Having marina berths will certainly encourage us to visit more often and spend more money ashore as well will not have to endure the soaking in the harbour taxi.

 

[Elemental]

Well, I don't live in Alderney so TBH I don't really know what the local feeling is on this. Speaking purely and selfishly as a visitor (most years) I really like the unspoilt, traditional feel of the place as it is. I'd worry that a marina would attract larger numbers of boats and that Braye Marina would become the same scrum that is St Helier... (and to a lesser extent, Guernsey).

Alderney is a beautiful place - please keep it that way.

 

[Seven Spades]

I share the sentiments of Sea Spray but if they can resolve the problem of its vulnerability to bad weather I have no doubt I would go a lot more frequently.

So from the islanders point of view they would have a lot more visitors and a lot more revenue, but the islanders have to take a view as to who benefits from that revenue. My guess its a small number of islanders would benefit and a few more jobs would be created. It all depends upon how many berths are created.

 

[NDG]

I like the fact that there are no pontoons at the moment, it encourages us to visit. If we want pontoons and all that goes with it we go to St H or St P where you get all the comforts of a large town thrown in. Take away the unspoilt ambience of the harbour and you've lost much of what makes the island attractive in the first place (in my view).

I expect that rather than keep the anchorage, the existing bouys will just get relocated to where the east, so the anchorage will just disappear (or at least the good spots will).

Having been there are few times when a stiff SW wind has been blowing, when a significant swell can work around the breakwater, its hard to see how they could make pontoon berths comfortable enough even with a new wall, but I suppose they've done their homework.

 

[Channel Ribs]

Quote:

Peter Allen, Alderney States Member and Chairman of the Marina Advisory Group said “We have been talking about a marina in Alderney for many years. This latest push to deliver a marina for Alderney has taken a long time and we had two excellent bids, but we have our preferred bidder.

He continued “I firmly believe that we will quickly realise the benefits of a marina and we are keen to engage with the preferred developer to deliver the project as efficiently as we can. There is a huge amount of work still to do but we are committed to the project and we will ensure there is a period of public engagement to showcase the plans and take the island’s views into account.”

From: http://www.alderney.gov.gg/blog/Alderneys-plans-for-a-Marina-start-to-take-shape

 

[johnalison]

I'm not sure I fancy 1 foot waves when tied up. It is very hard to see what could result in a protected harbour without massive construction. My uneducated idea would be to dump vast numbers of tetrapods to supplement the wall and construct an S shaped entry to the harbour. Not a pretty sight I suspect.

I too would regret the loss of some of Alderney's quiet charm but to be honest, we have tended to avoid going there in recent years as we have got more wonky ourselves. Maybe I should be unselfish and say let's leave it for the young at heart.

 

[RobBrown]

I echo the feeling that having the buoys rather than walk-on pontoons in a Marina is rather the USP to Alderney compared to Guernsey/ Jersey, but certainly having a more protected harbour wouldn't go amiss. I guess the fact is that to achieve that would be costly and having done so, the temptation to then actually instal a marina to help justify the cost and effort would be very great and it is true that a certain segment of the sailing population would prefer it in any event. Can't please everybody.

 

[Garold]

Sounds like an attempt to instal a marina with the smallest spend on any structural protection.

If the swell still rolls though the harbour once its built then I'd rather be on a buoy or at anchor than tied to a lively pontoon. We had a whole year of that in Port of Poole Marina and noticed damage on several other boats.

Having said all that, after a channel crossing, some easy comforts of a marina mooring in Alderney would probably be gratefully accepted.

Cheers

Garold

 

[Channel Ribs]

Thank you for all the comments so far.

Here is the latest piece, reproduced with kind permission of the Alderney Journal.

If anyone would like a quote published in a follow up article, please either post here or PM me and I will try and include as many views as I can.

 

[Angele]

Thank you for all the comments so far.

Here is the latest piece, reproduced with kind permission of the Alderney Journal.

If anyone would like a quote published in a follow up article, please either post here or PM me and I will try and include as many views as I can.

Although I can't read the detail on the plan, it does look like the intention is to build a small barrier, at right angles to the breakwater, purely to protect the marina from incoming swell and not the whole outer harbour.

What a shame that the wall (or 2 walls to create an "S" shape?) can't instead be built further out to provide protection to the whole harbour and not just one corner of it. Even if I decided against paying more for a visiting berth in the marina, I would be willing to pay a premium relative to the current mooring fee (and would probably increase the length of my stays) if the whole harbour was better protected against incoming swell.

 

[Channel Ribs]

Here is a larger version of the plan, it is worth noting that I believe the photo used was taken before the commercial quay was enlarged and extended.

 

[Angele]

Here is a larger version of the plan, it is worth noting that I believe the photo used was taken before the commercial quay was enlarged and extended.

Yes, as I thought. The cheap option to make the marina viable, without thinking about the residual problem that the rest of the harbour will still be a rough place to be when the wind is in the NE. Shame the States can't be persuaded to put in a grant to improve the conditions throughout the harbour.

All seems a bit short termist/narrow focussed to me. Build a small marina in the SW corner, but do nothing about the wider issue or the potential for further expansion of marina berths beyond that which can be squeezed into the small area currently identified.

Something is better than nothing, I guess.

 

[Channel Ribs]

The entrance to the harbour is seriously deep, even the Victorians had to think twice about attempting a NW-SE wall. That said, they did start on it but then steam became popular and tiding over was not such a priority.

More practical (cheaper) would be a wall running W, protecting the eastern moorings and anchorage. That could be accomplished with a few rock-barge loads in the right place, it could start off small and be extended as the result was monitored.

 

[lw395]

I like Alderney the way it is, but these plans do make a lot of sense.
The moorings are often full.
A marina will pack in a lot more boats into the area which currently has the better moorings.
Being more confident of getting a decent berth in Braye has to be good for anyone heading that way.
Having set off into F6 purely to get away from a rough mooring does point out that the present situation is not ideal.

 

[Angele]

I like Alderney the way it is, but these plans do make a lot of sense.
The moorings are often full.
A marina will pack in a lot more boats into the area which currently has the better moorings.
Being more confident of getting a decent berth in Braye has to be good for anyone heading that way.
Having set off into F6 purely to get away from a rough mooring does point out that the present situation is not ideal.

Yep. I'd agree with all that (although I've never been forced into taking the last action).

The harbour has plenty of charm the way it is, but it's very uncomfortable in a NE wind and the possibility that a wind shift to that direction may occur has put me off visiting Braye on a number of occasions.

 

[DJE]

Looks like they've gone back to the drawing board:

http://www.alderneyjournal.com/readnews.php?id=1282

"THE CONSORTIUM behind plans to develop a marina in Alderney has revealed that it has scrapped plans to build at the Breakwater.

The three strong group, which is headed up by marina building veteran Robin Walters, is now looking at building a marina at

Toulouse Rock under Fort Albert.

The reason for the switch in location, said Mr Walters, was the savage north easterly wind and waves coming in from the

Atlantic that a marina situated at the Breakwater would be exposed to.

Mr Walters scotched rumours that they were abandoning the Breakwater site because of increased costs."

 

[Seven Spades]

Sounds like a much better plan, but I bet it doesn't happen. The costs of developing a brand new marina with possibly few local berth-holders will undermine the financials. I think it is a shame because for the economy of Alderney it is a no-brainer it will bring in much money to their economy, but it will be the economy as a whole that will benefit and unless the islands government subsidise the construction costs the marina on its own might not be viable.

 

[Sailfree]

A lot of people like Aldernay unspoilt and they are not NIMBY's. An unspoilt Aldernay would be lovely.

So shoot all the current inhabitants, the despoilers of the island and all the cows that have been imported and lets go back to how nature intended the Island to be. Whatever happens we should not give the people on the island or the people that wish to visit the things they want.

Just waiting for the report of the lesser spotted lugworm to appear so the harbour can be designated a site of scientific interest. Must be some seahorses we can seed there as well to stop anyone anchoring.

 

[Sandyman]

Here is a larger version of the plan, it is worth noting that I believe the photo used was taken before the commercial quay was enlarged and extended.

We visited Braye for the first time last April to attend the unveiling of the memorial to HMS Affray. We were
the only visitors
Our intention was for a three days stay but we ended up there for nearly three weeks due to the weather.
We were on a buoy and went through an F10 N Easterly which the HM and locals said was the worst storm
they could remember in many a year. The experience on the buoy was one I shall never forget. It was so
rough that full fowlies and safety lines were a must on deck on which it was difficult to stand. The RNLI chaps,
gawd bless em, came out in their rib to assist me putting triple 18mm lines on the buoy for I feared that had we
parted we would be dished for sure.
Nor will I ever forget the waves crashing over the breakwater above us. For this reason alone I cannot believe
anyone would consider it viable or possible to put any kind of marina in the positions indicated.
Other of course than those with £££ signs in their eyes.