ducked
Well-Known Member
I thought marinas being so full and charges rising significantly was why boat sales have fallen off a cliff at this time.
Competition between marinas for berths
- Thread starter Snowgoose-1
- Start date
Lucky Duck
Well-Known Member
If it was a cost issue then surely the price of a new boat in the first instance would be a bigger problem?
dgadee
Well-Known Member
Are marinas in the UK full? Or just expensive? I have been looking for a berth in the Morbihan area and they have waiting lists you can view online - the lists are long (I suspect everyone adds their name to every list). The cost is relatively low, but the wait is long. I suspect if you have the money you can get a marina berth in the UK easily. Am I wrong?
mrming
Well-Known Member
They’re certainly not full on the East coast. However no one should sail here, as it’s well known to be both dangerously shallow and totally featureless.
doris
Well-Known Member
I’m told that if you really want a berth in S Britanny, it’s not a problem regardless of supposed ‘waiting lists’ but WTF do I know
dgadee
Well-Known Member
Brown envelopes? Or just being there? What were you told?
ylop
Well-Known Member
For a sub 40’ boat you can probably find somewhere to keep it. It might not be your first choice - so might have compromises on where / facilities / cost.
westhinder
Well-Known Member
That certainly isn’t my brother in law’s experience who is Breton himself. He joined a waiting list before he bought his boat 11 years ago and finally got a berth last year.
dgadee
Well-Known Member
What did he do until he got a berth? Difficult for me to understand how system works. It seems I can be accommodated, but not have a permanent berth. Not sure how that operates in practice.
Anyhow, the plan is to start to move up the coast and winter perhaps in Netherlands. We will see.
westhinder
Well-Known Member
He has a private summer mooring in a bay so he was ok-ish, except in a gale. He was offered a temporary accommodation as well, but it meant his boat had to move around the marina at irregular intervals. He is happy he has a permanent berth now as he hasn’t got any younger.
ducked
Well-Known Member
If you buy an old boat you might inherit its mooring. A new one, pretty much by definition, hasnt got one.
potentillaCO32
Well-Known Member
Not true.
But many marinas will offer a 10 month berth if you agree to come out july and august.
stranded
Well-Known Member
I believe some will offer the full 12 months paid at the monthly seasonal rates. You lose most of the price advantage over UK south coast, but the many other advantages still make it seem better value for money.
Lucky Duck
Well-Known Member
Sure, and you might get the balance of the berthing contract included in the sale but as far as I am aware there isn’t a general shortage of available permanent berths in the UK.
dgadee
Well-Known Member
I asked Arzal to be ashore for 3 months (then I would move on) but they said I could only do 2 months and then had to go afloat. Decided just to launch afloat (off the lorry). No idea what I am booked up for.
We communicate via Google Translate.
We communicate via Google Translate.
ducked
Well-Known Member
Wouldnt know generally. Currently looking for a place on The Forth and not finding any. Havnt tried Port Edgar, but I doubt I would want to afford that long term.
Pity Charlestown got the chop.
dgadee
Well-Known Member
I think depends on length a lot in the Forth and whether you can take the ground. It's more mud than water. But there's only one [other] marina in the whole area. Granton's "Edinburgh Marina" is just a pontoon with a daily rate and no power.
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Snowgoose-1
Well-Known Member
There was a fellow marina dweller a few berths down from me. He bucked the trend and moved to a mooring from a marina berth last season. He told me that he had been offered a swinging mooring package that included full tide access . It also included a lift in and out each winter with hard standing . It was less than half the price of what he had been paying. No water taxi though.
Perhaps there are more deals around with moorings but not with marinas.
Perhaps there are more deals around with moorings but not with marinas.
ducked
Well-Known Member
I did actually buy a swinging tidal mud mooring (and a shed) along with the boat, but the club, of which I am not a member, is (understandably) pissed-off with me being (unavoidably) detained in Taiwan for 7 months and want me out, so actually using the mooring would be difficult and the shed of course impossible.
Tried North Queensferry and Inverkeithing so far. Some possibility of storage at NQ if they clear some abandoned boats which have notices on, but no mooring. Nothing at Inverkeithing. After the break I'll try the other local options
dunedin
Well-Known Member
A bit of a side track on a thread about marina berths - when you say there is no space on the Forth but
(a) you haven't approached the main marina in the area, Port Edgar; and
(b) you appear to currently be using a club mooring - but haven't bothered to actually join the club (which seems a little unfriendly?)
Certainly not a mainstream example.
Other threads that may be of interest
