Charged to anchor

Chris , Why charge for anchoring ?? you are using no waterbourne facilities which involves upkeep . Dredging etc would have to be done whether yacht visited or not . Anyway go to PLYMOUTH you dont get charged and anchorages are many.

Cheers

Terry
 
Yes but theres no anchorages anywhere that you would want to go, except for an hour or two and there not going to zoom across the sound to colect a fiver off us. Of all the west country, plymouth is the pits for mooring. No town quay to speak of and nearly no facilities at all other than the marinas.

Seems such a shame that the harbours round about, have put so much effort in, even if they do charge. But Plymouth zilch.
 
Hi hlb,

"No town quay to speak of " surely we're talking about anchoring! /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Fortunately, we don't want 'facilities', so find the anchorages in Plymouth and the rivers feeding into it terrific. Presumably you've anchored in the upper reaches and experienced the beautiful scenery and peace and quiet. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Certainly, if you want alongside berthing, I'd tend to agree with you, though I suppose in that instance you could always choose one of the many marinas.

Personnally I'm not a Plymouth (town) fan, but I can understand visitors wanting to look around the place, but having done so, there are many places to anchor free of charge. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I just wish other ports would follow Plymouth and drop what I consider to be spurious charges. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Cheers Jerry

Cheers Jerry
 
In Plymouth you probably have enough commercial traffic that pay their dues so that you don't, in Keyhaven which is a small river with onyl pleasure boats and a few commercial fishermen the dredging takes place purely for those users. As I said earlier, if you choose to anchor in Keyhaven you defray some of those costs.

Look, I'm not arguing that there should be a general charge for anchoring only in those cases where it is done mainly for yotties. I don't like paying out unnecessarily for anything but have no problem paying for a service that is provided for my benefit rather than a generally available facility and in this case there is a free anchorage just outside the river.
 
Re: Newtown Creek

Tom,

You've confused me slightly - not a difficult thing to do /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

You have replied to a thread discussing Newtown creek but mention Yarmouth in your post.

Do you mean Newtown or Yarmouth ?

If you mean't Yarmouth and anchoring - Where ?

I thought the only room to Anchor would be "outside" in the Solent. In which case I can't believe they tried to charge you for that ! Or am I wrong and there is somewhere inside the Harbour to anchor?
 
Re: Newtown Creek

You're right, NT would have to either prove that they own the seabed there (they don't), or be supported by a specific byelaw (e.g. Chichester Harbour Act 1971 gives Chichester Harbour Conservancy the right to collect Harbour Dues).

Ask them to be specfic. Which Act or Byelaw passed in what year do they think gives them the right to collect money from anchored boats ? In the meantime, say that you are happy to make a voluntary contribution towards upkeep.

I suspect that such a battle would not have the desired end result, because if defeated, a byelaw of some sort would be passed to give them that right, or they might just ban anchoring, on the grounds that we're disturbing a rare breed of mudworm...

dv.
 
Think in other places, they've got you all in one lump, so can easily bob round for money, where as in Plymouth they'd need air sea rescue just to find you!

Every one needs facilities eventually, of some sort or the other, but with the exception of Cawsands it's nearly impossible. Maybe I need more chain!!
 
Re: Newtown Creek

Actually it would appear that you are right. See this link
NT attempts to gain control of Newtown Creek

This, to me, pretty much seems that they KNOW they have no legal right to charge for anchoring but have attempted (and failed) to get an an act making them Harbour Master which would have given them the right.

I know what you mean about some spurious worm though etc etc.
 
Re: Newtown Creek

If everyone succeeded in refusing to pay in, say, Newtown Creek, the NT will just fill the whole place up with moorings and then we won't be able to anchor at all!

Personally I don't like paying to anchor anywhere, but I prefer to pay a few quid knowing that it helps discourage the ubiquitous spread of moorings, which are everywhere these days. Soon there'll be nowhere to anchor on the S coast other than in open bays.

By refusing to pay you are cutting off the nose to spite the face..........
 
Re: Newtown Creek

Except if tax is levied on diesel.

Then all the stinkies will sell their gin palaces and take up golf. Berths won't be worth a fart in a thunderstorm and we raggies will be able to anchor in the marinas free of charge.
 
Re: Newtown Creek

[ QUOTE ]
By refusing to pay you are cutting off the nose to spite the face..........

[/ QUOTE ]

I understand your argument, but it fails a bit. If no one pays to anchor (as they should) then they will fill the anchorages with moorings (maybe).

Ok. But either way you are still putting your hand in pocket and forking out for, lets face it, stopping the boat. I prefer to anchor and will never pay, unless on a privately owned river, which is fair do's really.

But anchoring in general should never be charged for, isn't there some statutory right to anchor that any charges are actually illegal. In Scotland they have been beaten through the court and now can't charge, I think.

The more of you that pay blindly, the more this practise will go on.

If we don't fight it, we are never going to get rid of it. I look forward to my first fight with dory man when he pulls alongside expecting extortion money, because that is what it is.
 
Re: Newtown Creek

[ QUOTE ]
Except if tax is levied on diesel.

Then all the stinkies will sell their gin palaces and take up golf. Berths won't be worth a fart in a thunderstorm and we raggies will be able to anchor in the marinas free of charge.

[/ QUOTE ]

You meant this in jest Shirley?

Didn't you?
 
Torn...

I can also understand the cutting your nose etc argument.

The "problem" probably goes deeper than this. What gives the NT the right to lay the moorings there either? Or at least the exclusive right ?

What would stop me going down there and sticking loads of my own moorings in ? (Don't worry I am not going to just trying to make a point /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif )

I have never really understood how rights to lay a mooring work. Happy to hear anyone's explaination.

I am torn - on the one hand I don't like the injustice of paying for something which I think it illegal. On the other hand I can see that it could get a lot worse than it already is for all of us.

But enough for today I am off sailing ... and then probably anchoring in Newtown Creek !
 
Re: Newtown Creek

There was an article in a yachting magazine recently about this, unfortunately I can't remember which one, which suggested that there are some locations where they have the right to charge and some where they don't, but do it anyway. If I remember correctly, the mag thought that Newton Creek fell into the latter category.

Now the interesting bit: if they're charging just because people in practise cough up, but they don't genuinely have good grounds to believe that they have the right to do so, then they may well be commiting fraud, which is a criminal offence. It's really like any other scam where people try to do you out of money by misrepresenting the truth. If I were the NT, I would be very concerned about that.
 
Some visitors have the same problem with my local harbour, Keyhaven, again someone has to pay for the dredging, etc that keeps the river usable.
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Since when has Keyhaven been dredged Chris?
 
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