Dunstaffnage marina nightmare

wully1 said:
So you didn't read the big sign at the top of the Tobermory access bridge telling you about the swell conditions in certain wind directions?
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There's a big sign at Stranraer saying that the pontoons may be too dangerous for access in northerlies, and memory tells me, perhaps erroneously, that Mallaig has something similar.
 
dunedin said:
No, you check the weather forecast - and then the skipper decides if the current anchorage, mooring or pontoon is suitable for the expected conditions. Most times they will be. But many visitor facilities (the world over, including south of England) have occasional problem wind directions and strengths.
Clearly this doesn’t work for permanent berths, but is appropriate for visitor berths
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Exactly!
 
JVL said:
A quick summary of the western isles "Marinas"
Oban (kerrera) Nice spot BUT the water problems an er problem!
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I am not a marina aficionado but I do occasionally need diesel. Kererra had both diesel and water in abundance when I called this year. The new management are a joy and are doing their best to reverse the damage of the years since Sue left us.

Tobermory has a 30 litre minimum rule on the pontoon diesel pump which ain't much good for tank topping up before the wild west when my tank only holds 44 litres. The garage is quite close though.
 
awol said:
I am not a marina aficionado but I do occasionally need diesel. Kererra had both diesel and water in abundance when I called this year. The new management are a joy and are doing their best to reverse the damage of the years since Sue left us.
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I went to Kererra for the first time this year and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Nice people, lots of water, good food and the meat from the farm just to the south is awesome.

Tobermory has a 30 litre minimum rule on the pontoon diesel pump which ain't much good for tank topping up before the wild west when my tank only holds 44 litres. The garage is quite close though.
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And there was something wrong with their pump which meant that it took around an hour to top up a yacht's tank and eight straight hours of pumping to fill up the university students' navy boat. I was on the adjacent pontoon. Six hours of whee-ee-ee-eee-thump whee-ee-ee-eee-thump whee-ee-ee-eee-thump whee-ee-ee-eee-thump whee-ee-ee-eee-thump ... I'm still twitching.
 
My only experience of Dunstaffnage was when I bought Khamsin there in August 2010.
I felt the staff were helpful, not exemplary.
That was until they charged me £76 for a "mast climb" to straighten my windex. :disgust:
They didn't straighten it, and I suspect they bent it when they stepped the mast.
But of course, I can't prove that..................
 
Robert Wilson said:
My only experience of Dunstaffnage was when I bought Khamsin there in August 2010.
I felt the staff were helpful, not exemplary.
That was until they charged me £76 for a "mast climb" to straighten my windex. :disgust:
They didn't straighten it, and I suspect they bent it when they stepped the mast.
But of course, I can't prove that..................
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The bill for the £76 "mast descent" must have got lost in the post!:p
 
johnalison said:
I'll see your Brixham and raise you one Braye.
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Sat out the Fastnet, in a 22' on the hook in Crabbie entrance. Watched all the rigging entwining and wave-breaking of the boats on the harbour buoys. Our only catastrophe was running out of tonic to dilute our 4 litres of export, duty-free gin from Cherbourg. Only allowed 2 litres on return to UK.
 
When I moved from the Clyde to the Oban area I chose Croabh Marina because of it's all round weather protection. The other marinas in the Oban area do not offer this.

Having said that, years ago at Kip Marina (on the Clyde), which has all round protection and a very high sea wall had boats damaged when 80 mph winds were gusting from the WNW, a direction that it is very sheltered from. The force of the wind simply pushed boats over, rocked them violently and the forces on the pontoons twisted them in places.

Nothing is perfect, but there are gaps in the wave defenses of some marinas and that should be obvious from a cursory glance at a chart.
 
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Dreaded Insurance question.

Are Marine boat policies worded in a way that discriminates between "Visitor Pontoon" and "Marina". It's been asserted that some of these facilities are the former in which case if your insurance policy specifies Marina berthing during winter one might be in trouble.
 
savageseadog said:
Dreaded Insurance question.

Are Marine boat policies worded in a way that discriminates between "Visitor Pontoon" and "Marina". It's been asserted that some of these facilities are the former in which case if your insurance policy specifies Marina berthing during winter one might be in trouble.
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That is an interesting question with reference to insurance. I get a 'Marina Discount', and I specify in my insurance that this is Craobh in summer and Kip in winter (renewal just came through and it is specifically named. Note that it does not say Pontoon Berth but Marina. I wonder if I change my winter berthage location to Dunstaffnage, will my premium increase due to the assumed higher percentage of damage / insurance claims there?
Angus
 
When I mentioned that I was staying on the water all winter at Craobh, the insurance company checked with the underwriters. They confirmed that there would be no increase in fee.
 
We used Dunstaffnage once for winter hard standing. Never again.

The mast on our old boat was a fairly short early 70s cruising mast, solid thing. Before launching in the new season, their "riggers" re-erected the mast with the backstay ridiculously overtensioned as if it was a racing rig. The bend in the mast was incredible. We released the tension as soon we arrived.

The later owner of that yacht ended up having to replace the mast as it was cracked, something that neither we, nor the new owner nor his surveyor noticed when we sold it. Can't prove it, but I suspect that the cause of the problem was to do with Dunstaffnage's casual attitude and incompetent rigging.

Also, the four shrouds had plastic rigging screw covers, but only three were fitted when they re-erected the mast. We found the fourth lying under the yard's mast trestle......
 
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