Anchoring versus visitor moorings
- Thread starter Highland laddie
- Start date
Burnham Bob
Well-Known Member
at £12 a night I'd probably choose to anchor for nothing and take the dinghy just a bit further. that's using the outboard - not rowing! here on the east coast if you pick up a mooring owned by a boatyard you won't be paying £12 - IIRC at Fambridge it's £5 on a mooring and £10 overnight on the pontoon.
there's a price point where although you need to cover your costs you won't get any takers - whereas a lower price would pay back albeit over a longer period
there's a price point where although you need to cover your costs you won't get any takers - whereas a lower price would pay back albeit over a longer period
charles_reed
Well-Known Member
The difference between cost+ and market price?
At £12 I'd probably anchor - but it's a theoretical exercise because the boat's in Greece.
Mudisox
Well-Known Member
Quote.
I use visitors moorings for convenience but will anchor if there is any doubt. I also anchor far more than I use visitors moorings by a significant factor and row or motor the dinghy to the landing for the pub or restaurant which I don't see as an inconvenience, its just the way of things. My expectation of visitor moorings on the Firth of Clyde is that they will be knackered or looked knackered and as such I wont use them. I would recommend that a disc / label with the service date and contractor is added to each mooring, replaced at each service to give me confidence. The boat is 10,000 kg at 41 ft. I don't mind paying for the use of visitors mooring providing that the person taking the money is familiar with the mooring. I don't like handing money over to someone who has been tasked with collection but cant answer basic questions like weight limit and service date. I also expect a receipt for the mooring fee, something that is not always possible either because an honesty box is in place or the person is unable to issue a receipt (which they are obliged to do if taking money for a service).
In summary - if you just stick a load of moorings down and limit the level of service to that, then in a few years word will get around that it's a pile of poop and the money grabbing locals want cash for nothing. If you provide a genuine service that addresses the users expectations then in a couple of years word will get around that the service is really good, reliable and trustworthy. There are a few keich moorings in Scotland and bad reputations associated with them. Personally I think it's a good idea and you should do it, they will get used but don't take it for granted. Keeping the anchorage free of moorings is a must.
+1
Sark put down moorings[ which were poor] but now are or were free.
Personally I'd rather anchor if I possibly can, and getting the dinghy out to go ashore is part of the experience. Yachting in any form shouldn't just be seen as an alternative form of transport from A to B.
I use visitors moorings for convenience but will anchor if there is any doubt. I also anchor far more than I use visitors moorings by a significant factor and row or motor the dinghy to the landing for the pub or restaurant which I don't see as an inconvenience, its just the way of things. My expectation of visitor moorings on the Firth of Clyde is that they will be knackered or looked knackered and as such I wont use them. I would recommend that a disc / label with the service date and contractor is added to each mooring, replaced at each service to give me confidence. The boat is 10,000 kg at 41 ft. I don't mind paying for the use of visitors mooring providing that the person taking the money is familiar with the mooring. I don't like handing money over to someone who has been tasked with collection but cant answer basic questions like weight limit and service date. I also expect a receipt for the mooring fee, something that is not always possible either because an honesty box is in place or the person is unable to issue a receipt (which they are obliged to do if taking money for a service).
In summary - if you just stick a load of moorings down and limit the level of service to that, then in a few years word will get around that it's a pile of poop and the money grabbing locals want cash for nothing. If you provide a genuine service that addresses the users expectations then in a couple of years word will get around that the service is really good, reliable and trustworthy. There are a few keich moorings in Scotland and bad reputations associated with them. Personally I think it's a good idea and you should do it, they will get used but don't take it for granted. Keeping the anchorage free of moorings is a must.
+1
Sark put down moorings[ which were poor] but now are or were free.
Personally I'd rather anchor if I possibly can, and getting the dinghy out to go ashore is part of the experience. Yachting in any form shouldn't just be seen as an alternative form of transport from A to B.
Albert Ross
Well-Known Member
Some well maintained and well sheltered visitors moorings at Shieldaig, Loch Torridon would be really good. We'd use them.
Especially if they were sufficiently safe for people to leave their boats there for a week or two at a time between legs of a voyage and for trips back home etc. As far as i can see, there are not a lot of visitor's moorings on the West Coast, though Arisaig is good. Does Shieldaig have any transport connections .. a bus or anything??
We sleep better on a good mooring than at anchor and that's £12 well spent IMHO.
Especially if they were sufficiently safe for people to leave their boats there for a week or two at a time between legs of a voyage and for trips back home etc. As far as i can see, there are not a lot of visitor's moorings on the West Coast, though Arisaig is good. Does Shieldaig have any transport connections .. a bus or anything??
We sleep better on a good mooring than at anchor and that's £12 well spent IMHO.
Three kings
Well-Known Member
I just don't understand this. No offence to those who feel more secure on a mooring but I have always felt more secure on my own oversized and meticulously maintained ground tackle system than on a mooring. There really is no way of telling what lies beneath.
Having been encouraged to use moorings many times by people who swear that the 10 tonne limit is 'only a guideline, you'll be grand', I will continue to use my own judgement and treat moorings with a healthy skepticism.
AntarcticPilot
Well-Known Member
An awful lot don't charge at all; after all, if there is an anchorage, people can (and will) anchor free. And many have a history of not charging, going back to the old HIDB buoys. Most that are associated with pubs/restaurants tend to be free for patrons of said pub/restaurant! If you're providing a pontoon with (perhaps) the facility for people to bring their boat alongside for a short time (as at Loch Ranza), then that is worth a few pounds; the ideal would be to provide water on the pontoon. I'd pay for that, as points where you can get water easily are few and far between, even in the Clyde.
Kelpie
Well-Known Member
I tend to consider £10 the max that I would pay for a mooring... but then again I'm a bit of a cheapskate.
Moorings which are free for patrons of bars/hotels/restaurants are popular with SWMBO as it gives a great excuse for a meal out.
Which inevitably works out a lot more than my £10 budget...
Moorings which are free for patrons of bars/hotels/restaurants are popular with SWMBO as it gives a great excuse for a meal out.
Which inevitably works out a lot more than my £10 budget...
Searush
Well-Known Member
Would you also like a boat coming round selling fish and chips and a floating TESCO food delivery service
Edited:
Sorry! no need for sarcasm. I am all for the idea of new visitor moorings given the obvious provisos as I prefer to use moorings over anchoring.
The more I think of it, the occasional visit by a fish and chip boat might be appreciated.[/QUOTE]
Deep fat frying in a boat? Have the H&S seen your proposal? Imagine a welly full of boiling fat . . .
Highland laddie
Well-Known Member
Shieldaig has a bus service to Lochcarron/Strathcarron and onward bus or train to Inverness.
Highland laddie
Well-Known Member
Many thanks to everyone for taking the time, offering advice, opinions and humour too.
Collectively you have provided much food for thought and some challenges to existing thinking. Our starting point has always been safety and service, and the individual concerns expressed will only serve to improve our offer.
Please don't forget our new pontoon will have a tap!
Highland Laddie
Collectively you have provided much food for thought and some challenges to existing thinking. Our starting point has always been safety and service, and the individual concerns expressed will only serve to improve our offer.
Please don't forget our new pontoon will have a tap!
Highland Laddie
Scotty_Tradewind
Well-Known Member
Highland Laddie....What a wonderful cruising area the Western Isles is/are.
There were not many moorings to be found on our cruise to the West Scotland coast this last summer. Any more would be a great bonus for us and may encourage more sailing visitors to go ashore at small towns and villages.
We went to Otter Ferry where the pub had its own mooring buoys (but no ferry operating on that occassion). ...... The mention 'safe mooring' (near a remote pub)in the Almanac was one reason we went there and the other was that several yachts skippers and crew we met in Tarbert before going up Lower Loch Fyne to Otter Ferry, said there were to be brilliant folk singers performing at the pub the next evening. The brilliant folk singers turned out to be the skippers and crew we had met in Tarbert.
One place where mooring buoys were a blessing in Scotland was on the east coast of Gigha where we sat out a bit of a blow at the end of August.
Hardly Scottish dancing but we also went to a Ceilidh in Ardminish, Gigha, and joined in with the very friendly locals where Mrs S. and I twirled round so enthusistcally in one dance that we crashed out of the fire exit at the side of the village hall and ended prostrate in the car park outside.
For the remainder of out trip we relied heavily on one of the new generation anchors which always dug in first time and never dragged ....
I digress...... only saw one Twister whilst away.... Scarlet Lady, north of Bute.
There were not many moorings to be found on our cruise to the West Scotland coast this last summer. Any more would be a great bonus for us and may encourage more sailing visitors to go ashore at small towns and villages.
We went to Otter Ferry where the pub had its own mooring buoys (but no ferry operating on that occassion). ...... The mention 'safe mooring' (near a remote pub)in the Almanac was one reason we went there and the other was that several yachts skippers and crew we met in Tarbert before going up Lower Loch Fyne to Otter Ferry, said there were to be brilliant folk singers performing at the pub the next evening. The brilliant folk singers turned out to be the skippers and crew we had met in Tarbert.
One place where mooring buoys were a blessing in Scotland was on the east coast of Gigha where we sat out a bit of a blow at the end of August.
Hardly Scottish dancing but we also went to a Ceilidh in Ardminish, Gigha, and joined in with the very friendly locals where Mrs S. and I twirled round so enthusistcally in one dance that we crashed out of the fire exit at the side of the village hall and ended prostrate in the car park outside.
For the remainder of out trip we relied heavily on one of the new generation anchors which always dug in first time and never dragged ....
I digress...... only saw one Twister whilst away.... Scarlet Lady, north of Bute.
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