Brighton Marina

[LordJohn]

I visited Brighton Marina by car on Sunday and my impressions were not good. I parked in the car park which serves the Marina village and the marina to be greeted by a disgusting smell of urine in the staircase.
There were several areas of the marina which looked like a disserted building site. The yacht club was a permanent porta-cabin as was the fishing tackle shop. A considerable expanse of the railings were rusting and the whole mooring area looks like a military bunker so stark are the concrete sea walls which at low tide afford no views at all. The worst element, in my opinion, are the yellow and cream prefabricated holiday apartments which dominate the marina.
I found the place totally depressing which is a shame because Brighton is an interesting, popular and vibrant town which deserves a first class marina.

 

[goochie]

You are definately right in some of what you say, but we were there on Sunday and, despite the fact that we have our boat there, we left early because the weather was making it the most depressing we have seen it in 3 years. It was awful. A shame, because on a sunny day when the crowds are out it can have a good buzz, and most people who have boats in the marina will tell you that it's a nice place to spend time on your boat - very sheltered and pretty quiet.

I agree that the Eastern end does not come out best, but the main reason for that is that the last 5 years or so there have been development plans with the council for the whole of the eastern end, which has put a sort of stop to much maintenance work beyond the essential. It seems this major re-development is about to start, which will change the nature of that part of the marina quite a lot (some will say for the worse).

You are correct about Brighton being a vibrant kind of place, but also in the middle of the racecourse just behind the marina is a large 'sink' council housing estate. It is therefore just a short walk or bus ride for the local teenage chavs to the cinema and bars etc. so unfortunately the public multi storey car park suffers the same fate as any in the country - it doubles as a toilet on Friday and Sat evenings. There is a smaller car park exclusively for bertholders the other end of the marina which is much better.

I do feel for the marina this weekend as they had organised a whole day of stuff to coincide with the bank holiday, with bands playing on a floating stage in the marina, stalls, exhibitions and various attractions along with a monster firework display (and I mean BIG) on the West arm of the sea wall. Everything (except possibly the fireworks - we'd left by then) was cancelled because of the weather leaving a very forlorn St. John Ambulance crew looking bored, cold and wet.

All in all then, just a really crap weekend for the weather!

 

[RogerRat]

[ QUOTE ]
I visited Brighton Marina by car on Sunday
Brighton is an interesting, popular and vibrant town which deserves a first class marina.

[/ QUOTE ]

Your only mistake was going by car. It's a great place to visit by boat! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[goochie]

Just a couple of further points, the Marina Village homes all have their own parking spaces as well, so the big car park is really just for the bowling alley, the multiplex, MacDonalds and the various pubs.

As to the 'holiday apartments' these are all actually small maisonette houses which may possibly have been built originally as 'second homes by the sea', but are in fact very popular with students, as they are a reasonably affordable purchase for parents to house youngsters in whilst studying. They very rarely come on the open market, so I think many are kept as investments and rented out, or sold on privately. We hardly even notice they're there now. Certainly not a problem.

 

[aquaholic]

would have to agree with LordJohn, wasnt that impressed first time I was there, but each to their own.

 

[David_J]

Well if you think its so bad dont go there!
It is one of the biggest marinas in the country so I guess it has something to offer for a lot of people.

By the way Goochie its the Western end that is to be developed not the East.

 

[AdeOlly]

Yes, the western end is about to be turned into a high rise housing estate, with a 40 storey block and complete with a bridge across the entrance to the eastern arm, though it will be open by default thank goodness. See here for info.

 

[goochie]

Oops, sorry. Brainstorm time. I did know it was the Western arm.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Latest (gossip) is that the development is on hold - financial backers have withdrawn following unsatisfactory results from test piling. Hard to find any official information to confirm this, although the lack of building work is very apparent.

Cheers
Jimmy

 

[DAKA]

[quoteYour only mistake was going by car. It's a great place to visit by boat! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Not so sure I agree, came in yesterday by boat

Just about kept dry until we were in the marina
I couldnt understand where the water was coming from until I looked up and saw the waves coming over the top of the seawall like a fountain then the wind blew all over us.

Even when berthed 75 m from the wall some spray still got us.

Pontoons filthy, not been cleaned for years, very slippery when wet, facilities miles away and feel like you need a lifjacket and epirb to tackle the slippery pontoon.

I think the weather either makes or breaks a place, we enjoyed Brighton the last time we came in the sun /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif but today /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

wish we had a car to escape , anyone want a Princess 360 going cheap pt ex Caravan/motor home /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[tamarind]

I have been going to Brighton marina since it opened. Not bad in its day, when the the Seacat operated from there. But it has been taken over that many times and tried to be improved but still cannot get it right. The layout is all over the place, addition after addition. Now Premier own it who are mainly property developers they should knock it down and start again.

 

[DAKA]

[ QUOTE ]
when the the Seacat operated from there.

[/ QUOTE ]

That explains a lot, we couldnt understand the design at all, not pedestrian friendly and I wouldnt want to unload a weeks boating gear there .
the suns out now and much better /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

This connection is so slow I give up (oceanwave cost £5 too !)