Demand for moorings plummeting?

[Daydream believer]

+1
Born 1948 - worked hard for everything I ever had

Here we go - you can see where this thread is leading can you not ? has to be said !!
You were lucky lad
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAdlkunflRs

 

[Capt Popeye]

I'm generation X, so possibly more jonjo's age than many others in here. The way I see it is that the boomers had a tough early part of life, followed by a good later life. The former caused by post war poverty, the latter by booming house prices and gold plate pensions.

My generation and later I see as having a good quality early life, followed by a tough later life with expensive housing and falling pensions. No generation has had it good throughout their whole life. You have to make the best of what you get.

Humm well kind Sir, perhaps you are not aware of the many troubled periods throughout our working age lives, are you aware of that dreadful period about the 1980s when many lost their jobs and the press were stating that those of age 50 then would never get another job again in their working lifetimes, (I lost my job went to a good Financial Adviser for advice, he stated that it might well be 10 years before I found another job) yes might seem unreal now, but the Jobs crash of the early 1980s was quite catastrophic for many. A lot still had a family plus mortgage to pay, Job Centers went through the motions, weekly attendance to collect one's dole money was quite normal, the ques got so long that it was decreed that Dole money was collected at fortnightly periods so that the Job Centers could cope with the demand.

Oh yes, them were the days, the Days of plenty.

Before you assume that a possible answer to one caught up in that !980's event might suggest that selling a house depends upon there being people with the ability to buy your house, so with high interest rates and large unemployment, things just got difficult, eh ?

 

[skyflyer]

Not all swinging moorings require that you dinghy out; ours are able (for a seasonal fee) to use the water taxi facility provided by the nearby commercially operated moorings provider.

Also it is often possible to simply take just yourself to the boat and then bring it alongside on a short-stay pontoon to load all the paraphernalia and crew!

Regarding the concept that the post war generation(s) have ruined everything for todays generation; I am confused - what am I supposed to have done? I have of course benefited from the meteoric rise in house prices but that was not within my control. I benefited from fee-free University education; again I had no choice. That education (allegedly) meant I had a better career with higher earnings than otherwise, which means I have paid (and continue to pay) a shed load of tax to keep the wheels of society turning.

Did I have a choice as to how the country was run ? Well, I voted at every election but there werent many options were there?
Sure, a few individuals may have made a horlicks of it but the vast majority - the VAST majority - of post war generations just got on with it.

To try and blame an entire generation (or three) for the ills of society is , I suggest, symptomatic of the 'snowflake' generation for whom we must find someone to blame for every undesirable occurrence in their lives.

Which generation is it, these days, that (amongst other examples): calls an ambulance when paralytically drunk; stab each other at the drop of a hat; chuck litter and rubbish in the fields and rivers; don't bother re-cycling (yes - its the young not the old!), exhibit road rage at the merest provocation; feel entitled to blast their music choice to all and sundry; and and and...

 

[chriss999]

To be fair; there are snowflakes and yobs in all generations and age groups so that isn’t really a generational thing.
Obviously oldies behave better than youngsters, but that’s always been the case.

Having said that, I can confirm that there are spare moorings at my yacht club and there weren’t 10 years ago.

 

[Moderator]

A reminder that you are posting in Scuttlebutt, where by and large only content that would grace the pages of Yachting Monthly should appear. Please consider posting your other thoughts in The Lounge.
Thank you.

Rod.

 

[steveej]

so back on track.......

what are the reasons for the decline in demand for moorings?

Has yachting, or at least yacht ownership always been an older persons game?

 

[RupertW]

so back on track.......

what are the reasons for the decline in demand for moorings?

Has yachting, or at least yacht ownership always been an older persons game?

As per my earlier reply I see huge numbers of 18-25 year olds sailing each year and getting ever more popular for British youngsters - but it's chartering a boat to party on in the Med not buying a starter boat in the UK.

 

[TSB240]

As a casual observation. In our area there have been new moorings laid which will take a larger boat than was offered by the local harbour mooring trust (£1600 a year including winter lift out and storage) All were fully occupied last year and most made use of a water taxi provided by the enterprising Marina owner. (marina is full). Mooring based owners would often visit marinas when life was too uncomfortable to stay on mooring.

I have also noticed that the remaining moorings provided by the harbour trust have proved popular to younger <35 year olds. They seem to get more use out of their boats with evening sailing during weekdays and longer group outings at a weekend than us older marina based owners. The local sailing club is still well supported and an ageing group(50+) of dinghy sailors are now buying up older small cruisers and planning on developing the cruising fleet. This suggests sailing boat ownership and mooring use is bucking the trend in our little pocket of the country. I wouldn't be surprised if someone I know locally is going to be bidding for this.....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Anderson...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

 

[Mr Cassandra]

I think there is also a big upsurge in Power rib ownership, rather than wind assisted, especially among younger people. Keep it at home, tow it to wherever, launch it, and have a good fun blast with a monster Mercury hanging off the back. Although my Nephews come from a sailing family (well Father at least, and ex instructor) both have opted for power ribs, and their children love the rush too. The RIBS & SIBS page on Facebook is very well attended. Trends are changing, I believe, where youngsters don't want to just drift about at a few knots. Where they have their holiday caravan, all their fellow friend caravan owners have power ribs.

I agree

 

[Mr Cassandra]

You really are a sad and deluded misery.

Life is tough. Life, for most, has always been tough.

I am a post-war child, born in 1947, rationing still ongoing for some things.

When you have worked 90 hour weeks, including changing clutches in the street outside your rented home in freezing winter weather to get the deposit together for a house, rebuilding damaged motorbikes to sell on, working to the early hours each night, partner working 3 jobs every week, then you


can tell me what an easy privileged life I have led.

Everything I have, I've grafted for.

My brother, same life beginnings, education
and choices as me does not have a pot to piss


in. His life changed dramatically when, as a young man, he discovered beer and crumpet.

You get out of life whatTo suggest that I, in any way, have acted in a




way that has restricted the life oppertunities of following generations is fatuous.

By dint of my and First Mates efforts we have a reaand a few other toys.

We have also kickstarted our two sons property ownership and perhaps instilled in them the right parameters to lead their lives.

In life I have seen grafters fail, tosspots succeed, and good people fall through the cracks.

And it was ever thus, all the way through recorded history.

You, as they say in Dublin, are a figment of your own imagination..................................................

Good post

 

[Resolution]

Are any of you aware of any sailing clubs that have seriously tried to find out what kind of sailing their younger members (or the children of older members) really want to do? I'm thinking of a proper survey or questionnaire.
My club has a growing younger member section, but we have never stopped to survey what they would most like from us as a club.

 

[Bobc]

Yup.

Speak to the RYA. They have been doing a big program with lots of clubs over the past 2-3 years to try to stabilise membership and boost youth membership (because it's in decline everywhere).

Lots of clubs have run surveys, and the general finding is that they only get about a 10% response.

 

[Seajet]

My club has been very pro-active in stirring up new membership, dinghies and cruisers since the general decline in sailing set in quite a while ago now - we have soft mud drying moorings in Chichester and Langstone Harbours, slipways and locked tender pens to each, and some members use the neaby marinas in each harbour.

We're volunteer only, so help each other, which includes a large hydraulic boat hoist for getting even the larger boats ( 35' ferro for instance ) ashore in our yard for the winter, we also have a good clubhouse and facilities.

The moorings are at a guess 95% taken, so about as much as ever, but that includes new moorings laid so a pretty healthy figure; yes the demographic among cruisers is rising steadily, but we do have a few new younger owners.

I once sold my lift keeler and had a fin job on deep water moorings, I hadn't realised how good I'd had it previously - 5 minutes row from the club, 2 nice old pubs, shoreside walks, nature reserve etc, compared to deep water moorings being 'orrible and exposed - I couldn't get back fast enough.

My membership, mooring, tender in pen, cruiser ashore for winter, lifts in and out the lot is around £450...for an attractive sheltered mooring in Chichester Harbour.

The great success story of the club though is the Junior Section - this has always done pretty well, but in ' the decline ' when very good dinghies started to be left abandoned, the club very sensibly got together to see what we could do to reverse the trend; this included chats with neighbouring clubs with the same aim in mind.

One thing which became obvious was that traditionally as in 99% of clubs ' dinghies = racing ' - and I for one have never liked that, even though I always had fast boats, I wanted to go where it suited me, not around some course, it turned out a lot of other people felt the same.

So while there's plenty of racing at all levels, there are a lot more ' fun ' events, notably cruises in company for the dinghies, camping away with cruisers and safety boats to keep an eye and carry all the stuff.

The Juniors now have two considerable fleets of dinghies ( Feva's are one, I forget the other ) which can be just signed out, with safety cover.

There is also extensive training at all levels up to serious racing, our Juniors came back from the Chichester Federation Week with a record haul of cups.

Things like these, and Open Days where anyone is welcome to come and chat over a barbecue and see what the club is about, have not only saved the club, I don't think I've ever seen it so vibrant.

 

[Capt Popeye]

Humm might give a particular point of view that i read in a mag a few years ago; well we decided to sell our Yacht saving - Marina fees, hauling out, anti fouling, cleaning and re varnishing, Insurance, worry during the storms, having a dinghy, out board etc etc and buy a Good RIB with a trailer so that we can store it either at home or in a Yard, launch whenever we want to, go wherever we decide to go, low insurance plus no mooring fees, launch and reach a Pub on the IoW quicker that we could get afloat in our Yacht, plus do another Pub in the Solent in the same day; tides /current really no problems at all; agreed not everyone's 'cup of tea' but a view that I guess is gaining favour in some circles.

 

[Seajet]

It would be even easier to do that on a simulator in a comfy chair with chilled champagne to hand, you could have a virtual visitor's book to sign and a U/V lamp to give that healthy glow...

 

[chriss999]

Good for you, capn popeye. Keeping on the water is the main thing, even if over time we may need to modify how we do it.

 

[Seajet]

It certainly requires a different mindset to a sailor; for soul-less and near skill-less convenience to be one's mantra is rather sad, and I don't imagine a person truly into sailing would be satisfied with a rib or other speedboat.

Maybe one or two trips if it was necessary at the time, but I doubt people seeking such press button gratification would have been interested in sailing if they had all the time in the world available.

 

[RupertW]

I think it's great to stay on the water in any way at all. I'd miss the cabin more than the sails. One season we arrived for our annual 3 week cruise to find our mast had been slightly buckled by a hit and run visiting yacht. So we chose to to go anyway and use it as a slow motorboat - and the enjoyment of anchoring and island hopping was nearly as good - although I really cringed as we motored alongside other boats sailing in perfect breezes on some days.

I like the idea of a comfy traditional displacement mobo if we ever find sailing is too much, but hope eventually to switch to a cat with everything electric and furling to delay that decision.

 

[Capt Popeye]

It would be even easier to do that on a simulator in a comfy chair with chilled champagne to hand, you could have a virtual visitor's book to sign and a U/V lamp to give that healthy glow...

Humm yea, quite so, but where is the challenge in that ?
far better to be able to 'get out there' in as safe a way as possible and do it all in the time that one has available to do it, pack it all up onto a trailer and park it in the home Drive.

 

[Capt Popeye]

Good for you, capn popeye. Keeping on the water is the main thing, even if over time we may need to modify how we do it.

OK thanks Skipper :encouragement: