Brightlingsea water taxi

I don't know Ian but didn't get the impression Ray was really into it. I understood he is a builder by trade and was only doing it as things were quiet.

It must be difficult - every friday evening and weekend from Easter to end of October, plus 7 days a week July & August.

I hope Ian makes a go of it. Lugging the dinghy to and from the car each time does my back in!
 
ian Hunter lead singer with Mott the Hoople, no probably not him!
 
heart not in it...

Agreed - Ray didn't seem to be out to make a long-term success of it - unreliable last season. As you say - I hope the new man's an improvement. I suspect there's a virtuous circle between the number of leisure visitors and a thriving water taxi...
 
A little more information.......

The recent advertisement for the sale of the Water Taxi operation has resulted in its purchase by Ian Hunter, a local resident with a yacht in the Harbour.

He has acquired the business, but wishes to use the original vessel ‘Colne Ranger’ which is now owned and is being re-engined by the Commissioners. A much quieter engine! It has been agreed that ‘Colne Ranger’ will be leased to Ian Hunter for all the periods during which he will be operating. The new schedule will be added to the Water Taxi page before the start of the 2010 season

Ian Hunter Tel: 07802 890756 VHF ch37/M1

http://www.brightlingseaharbour.org/water_taxi.html
 
Ian is a good bloke! Known as 'Langford' for some peculiar reason!

He currently has a Storm 33, and has raced dinghies at a competitive level for many years!

Knowing Ian he will provide a service akin to that provided by both Kevin and Jon!

Thank god Ray has packed it in!
 
Taxi

I agree with CPD, making a reasonable living out of the water taxi at Brightlingsea is never going to be easy. There were weekends this season when I saw Ray flying backwards and forwards all day long with the boat full on each trip and others where the poor sod was sat in the rain taking about a fiver all night, but having to wait for the return of the couple of drinkers and diners that he had taken ashore at 7:30.

I know that historically the business used to generate a very good cash flow, I would not be certain that that is still the case. Far more visitors nowadays seem to blow up their dinghy's as soon as they are tied up on the pontoons. When we were visitors to Brightlingsea in the past it seemed relatively rare for visitors to use their own boats. That may have been when more folk were reliant upon manky seagull outboards that could not be relied upon to get skipper and crew back from the pub without the benefit of several hours of prayer and lump hammer.
 
We used the taxi and our own dinghy last year, incidentally we found Ray pleasant and helpful, on our second trip to B'lsea we wanted to do some creek crawling in the dinghy so we blew it up, and having done so we naturally used it to get ashore.
If we were just staying overnight I think we would generally use the taxi as more convenient.

Good luck to the guy taking it on.
 
I'm at Brightlingsea at the mo and generally get by with my Avon inflatable which lives there and I bring my outboard along in the back of the car. Simples! :)

Good luck to the guy though and hopefully with the Windfarm traffic etc there'll be enough going on to keep a steady business going.
 
I'm very pleased for Brightlingsea.

The place suffered badly with that terrible scrap heap.

And the Harbour Master and his aids are so very helpful and welcoming.

The place now seems on the up and will certainly try and support the new water taxi owner.
 
I think it can only be a good thing that "where's Ray" has moved on.... one of the reasons an earlier post mentioned that he was never that busy was mainly because the locals felt let down and a considerable number used their own dinghys, Even some of the visitors that I spoke to said it puts them off coming into the harbour. having experienced a fantastic service from Kevin and Jon I'm sure that Ian will work hard at it and consder it a proper job and not just a hobby. After all, Ian has kept a yacht on the pontoons for some time now and knows what it's like to be hanging around for the taxi.
Good luck Ian.
 
We love going to Brightlingsea and have always been made to feel very welcome.

Probably the only negative is when compared to a Marina it's actually more expensive - by the time you factor in the mooring and ferry charges for four people to go ashore a couple of times. And given that there's no power, water or toilets available on the pontoons a marina offers more facilities for the money.

However there's no getting away from the fact that its a lovely place to visit, but in future we will probably be blowing up the dinghy.
 
If you want Marina facilities talk to the harbour master team and they will probably be able to find room for you in the Waterside Marina, It's just a bit more expensive than the pontoons and you can have water and power, There's a sill to cross but the guys will advise on this if you call them up before you visit.

happy daze....
 
simplyred said:
If you want Marina facilities talk to the harbour master team and they will probably be able to find room for you in the Waterside Marina, It's just a bit more expensive than the pontoons and you can have water and power, There's a sill to cross but the guys will advise on this if you call them up before you visit.

happy daze....
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Thanks for the suggestion - but I wouldn't go there on principal, the flats are a hideous eyesore, and the attached 'marina's' not much better, also we always seem to be creeping out of B'sea at low water - not sure why that is, but the Marina would be useless!
 
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Silt

Fire99 said:
Amen to that. I also hear word about the marina having silting up issues too. Not wonderful.
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That will be a first then, a marina in Essex experiencing problems with mud. I do not think that the builders can, in any way, be blamed for not thinking of that before they constucted the thing.
 
Toutvabien said:
That will be a first then, a marina in Essex experiencing problems with mud. I do not think that the builders can, in any way, be blamed for not thinking of that before they constucted the thing.
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Well to be honest I think I could blame the builders / land owners for a whole host of things.

Yes all Marinas in Essex have to suffer the 'fun' of Mud but, it was mentioned to me specifically by people with no particular axe to grind so perhaps it's worse there than other marinas.
The fact it's about the size of a shoe box will no doubt not help.
 
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