Bit of Bembridge bother? ....or not?

Sea-Fever

Sea-Fever

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I'm not sure whether to make a fuss of this or not...so instead of just making up my mind I'll bother you all with my misgivings...

By way of first voyage in my 33' bilge keeler I took the kids, wife and dad to Bembridge on Sat. I thought it would be busy so booked online paying for berth and electricity - £35.

I had some bother getting out of Port Solent due to a very busy lock and so didn't leave until 1430 with a tidal gate at Bembridge at about 1830. Plenty of time and a nice motor over there.

It seems everyone else on the planet had the same idea and when I got into Bembridge the direction I received was 'go about half way along the visitor pontoon and raft up'.

I did this and when I got near to the specified point a harbour employee asked me to raft up directly opposite the no.14 port marker. This put me on the outside of six other boats in a raft and was stuck so far out from the pontoon that there was only 20ft between me and the no.14 marker.

Most of the other rafts were similarly large. In short, the place was rammed.

Many expressed surprise at how busy it was, but Bembridge had placed a comment on their web page saying they were looking forward to welcoming people and that they were expecting a rally. Indeed the large white tent filled with people told me they had arrived!

Later on as the tide went out I was disappointed to see my boat with a distinct list to port leaning on my neighbour. This was due to me being so far away from the Duver pontoon that I was encroaching on the port side of the channel where it shoals up. Not good, and I was thankful I had bilge keels with a shallow draught .....however for all the harbour staff knew I could have been a deep fin keel!!

I gave up on electricity which meant I had to preserve power and with many phones and a laptop to power for my wife's work this was disappointing. All the electricity points were taken up and I believe trailing a cable across 7 boats then to a socket (even if there was one free) is not sensible.

So my question....I'm minded to email Bembridge and ask for some money back because a)I couldn't sensibly receive the electricity I had paid for and b)my deep water mooring was not deep water.

Mountain out of a mole hill?
 
A few years since I've been to Bembridge as I rarely sail in the Solent these days, but it always struck me as a nice place to visit but one where you had to accept rafting etc. Bit like going to Portpatrick and complaining about the rafting.

On the other hand, taking a pre-booking and payment for berth and electricity that they knew they couldn't provide isn't good either.
 
Solent busy in Bank Holiday Heatwave.

I think if the staff at Bembridge coped without it turning to a fight, they did well.
It's fairly normal to stick your keel in the ground at Bembridge, you should fender well because of this.

No harm in a polite chat with the harbour people. Personaly I'd try to scrounge a discount off a midweek visit when the place is at its best.

If you seriously need to power a phone or laptop, I find a bit of cooperation with my neighbours usually works. It's only low power and double insulated, so running an ordinary lead to nearby boat should be OK. It's not like winter when you might be running fan heaters. We carry a lead with a 13A residual current circuit breaker plug.
At least you weren't the inside boat with 50 people walking their dogs across your foredeck at 6 AM.

If leaving from Port Solent on a sunny day, nip into Tesco and get a couple of bags of ice on the way, everyone on the raft will be your friend....
 
Giblets said:
I don't think there are any power points on the sand which appears to be one of the OP's priorities!
Click to expand...

That is true Mr Giblets. But they might have found free wifi ashore. I recently heard of a boy whose school took his smart phone off him, whose parents took it off him at bed time. The boy hanged himself. The Coroner said parents should not blame themselves.
 
I was there all weekend as part of a rally. About par for the course. They turned away a lot of boats who had not booked it was so busy. Power is always a lottery. I felt sorry for the two boats on the north pontoon. One leaning on the other and then onto the pontoon. Several popped fenders. I think on the whole the staff did pretty well.
 
Consider your self fortunate with your mooring. Some years ago we went to the pontoons at the Duver and were pleased to find a berth alongside the pontoon with a couple of others rafted upoutside us. All was well we thought and having locked up off we went to Seaview by road. We returned that evening to be told by our helpful neighbours they had to adjuster our lines. Having moored there before we hadnt anticipated going aground but it transpired there was some form of underwater obstruction so we settled that night with bow up as the tide receded. Rather alarming to have the stern afloat and the bow in the air particularly when those ranted outside remained afloat. We never returned as I'm afraid that visiting a marina with underwater blocks by the pontoons wasn't our idea of fun.
 
I am incredibly old fashioned.

I thought one looked at a chart - either paper or on a plotter, usually the former when planning a first visit to a harbour, the depth contours and figures should be of particular interest for a few good reasons.

Sailing is all about independence, so I don't usually moan if a nuclear power station has not been specially laid on for me, though I'd certainly have something to say if someone dragged a mains line across my boat !

Haven't you heard of solar panels and batteries ?

Harbours are not laid on by nature as a ' service '.

Try to get the sailing idea, or take up golf.
 
Also when rafting up, if there is a chance of boats going aground or rolling alongside each other in bad weather ( I'd bugger off elsewhere if possible, if this seemed likely ) - ensure the masts are staggered so hopefully they won't clash.

An old trick is to fit a spinnaker pole horizintally between mast eyes so the boats roll in sync' - but that requires similar strong mast points and pretty huge shearing loads on the rivets, so a bit of a ' smart arse sounds good in the pub ' sort of move I've only tried once alongside an ideal boat ! :)

Still worth having at the back of one's mind, but staggering rigs and decent fenders seem a more likely salvation.
 
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Seajet said:
I am incredibly old fashioned.

I thought one looked at a chart - either paper or on a plotter, usually the former when planning a first visit to a harbour, the depth contours and figures should be of particular interest for a few good reasons.

Sailing is all about independence, so I don't usually moan if a nuclear power station has not been specially laid on for me, though I'd certainly have something to say if someone dragged a mains line across my boat !

Haven't you heard of solar panels and batteries ?

Harbours are not laid on by nature as a ' service '.

Try to get the sailing idea, or take up golf.
Click to expand...

The chart says dredged to 2 m. It wasn't. I was inside the marked channel. I did look at the chart beforehand. I paid for the electricity and didn't get it. If it's not a service then what is it? A charitable contribution? Is it a not for profit enterprise? If I am expected to be independent then don't charge customers, just let me come in and do my own thing.

You can't have it both ways - either charge and provide the service or don't charge and whatever happens well - that's up to the boat owner.

Its not a big deal but I'm surprised at your take on it....what I do accept is that I should have done some mental arithmetic at the point of tying up and asked to be moved as there wasn't enough water....

And by the way, I hate golf, almost as expensive as boat ownership and less than half the fun.

On the plus side I had some good fish and chips by the beach :-)
 
Seajet said:
I thought one looked at a chart - either paper or on a plotter, usually the former when planning a first visit to a harbour, the depth contours and figures should be of particular interest for a few good reasons.
Click to expand...

The latest Admiralty chart for Bembridge shows a blue blob alongside the middle part of the pontoon, no spot depths, and a note saying "dredged to 1.8m (2012)".

What now, skipper? That's not going to tell you whether your keel's in the mud at the fifth boat out or the sixth.

Seajet said:
I'd certainly have something to say if someone dragged a mains line across my boat !
Click to expand...

What exactly would you say, and why?

I'm unlikely to string a power cable across your boat because I have big enough batteries to rarely need it, but I can't see how you could have any legitimate objection to one sensibly led.

Not that you'd be in a raft anyway, you tell us, because other people have gas cookers.

Seajet said:
Harbours are not laid on by nature as a ' service '.
Click to expand...

Visitors' pontoon berths at £35 a night certainly are "laid on as a service", though.

Pete
 
image: http://www.ybw.com/forums/images/ybw/misc/quote_icon.png
Quote Originally Posted by Seajet

image: http://www.ybw.com/forums/images/ybw/buttons/viewpost-right.png
View Post
Harbours are not laid on by nature as a ' service '.
Visitors' pontoon berths at £35 a night certainly are "laid on as a service", though.

Pete


I state my ( hard earned ) views ' because other people have gas lockers ' ?

Come on Pete I have always thought you better than that, and if you ever listened, I have a gas bottle installation, just was once a young not so scrupulous idiot and learned the hard way with another boat's system so came extremely close to avoiding there being any Seajet Andy for you to argue with unless you're handy at Ouija boards ! :)

I have always had you down as one of the better ones on here.

Then I was describing the forums available to a friend just the other day and mentioned ' on YBW even when someone asks a question I know I can help with, a dozen arrogant clueless berks will pile in looking for an argument ' - I just didn't and still don't consider you that type Pete. However if daring to say this, gets me banned you'll know where to find me;

" I go now to a far, far better place " :):):)
 
Last edited:
Seajet said:
image: http://www.ybw.com/forums/images/ybw/misc/quote_icon.png
Quote Originally Posted by Seajet

image: http://www.ybw.com/forums/images/ybw/buttons/viewpost-right.png
View Post
Harbours are not laid on by nature as a ' service '.
Visitors' pontoon berths at £35 a night certainly are "laid on as a service", though.

Pete


I state my ( hard earned ) views ' because other people have gas lockers ' ?

Come on Pete I have always thought you better than that, and if you ever listened, I have a gas bottle installation, just was once a young not so scrupulous idiot and learned the hard way with another boat's system so came extremely close to avoiding there being any Seajet Andy for you to argue with unless you're handy at Ouija boards ! :)

I have always had you down as one of the better ones on here.

Then I was describing the forums available to a friend just the other day and mentioned ' on YBW even when someone asks a question I know I can help with, a dozen arrogant clueless berks will pile in looking for an argument ' - I just didn't and still don't consider you that type Pete. However if daring to say this, gets me banned you'll know where to find me;

" I go now to a far, far better place " :):):)
Click to expand...

What are you on tonight?

Even by your standards this exchange and your original post are completely incoherent.
 
Seajet said:
An old trick is to fit a spinnaker pole horizintally between mast eyes so the boats roll in sync' - but that requires similar strong mast points and pretty huge shearing loads on the rivets, so a bit of a ' smart arse sounds good in the pub ' sort of move I've only tried once alongside an ideal boat ! :).
Click to expand...
Not one I’ve heard of....... or one I’ll be trying!
 
Seajet said:
An old trick is to fit a spinnaker pole horizintally between mast eyes so the boats roll in sync' - but that requires similar strong mast points and pretty huge shearing loads on the rivets, so a bit of a ' smart arse sounds good in the pub ' sort of move I've only tried once alongside an ideal boat !
Click to expand...

A. It's not an old trick, for those tend to be repeated by wily seadogs for the benefit of the unlearned.

B. The geometry is simple, the dynamics not so easy, but the likelihood of being alongside 'an ideal boat' is vanishingly small. Give it some actual concentrated thought for a minute.

C. A trained engineeer wouldn't be on either boat.

D. The shear force on the rivets is trivial compared to the ones that will distort and break them.

E. Only a complete fool would try it twice.

F. 'Smart arse in the pub', well, if the cap....
 
Just on the issue of electricity. We have one of these for when rafted 6 deep at regattas. Works a treat for persuading people to share...

s-l640.jpg
 
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