East Coast Marina

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charliehl

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Hi,

We are looking to move our boat to the east coast (Essex/suffolk way). Can any one recommend a good cheap marina?

Thanks

Charlie
 
ABP Haven Marina, Lowestoft, £147metre per annum
Excellent facilities. There are obviously cheaper ones
but not such good facilities. Pays yer munny La De Da
De Da!!!
 
We moved to north Essex to be in classic sailing country. Never regretted the decision. More to life here than conventional marinas. Depending on your hull form and your sailing habits, you can choose a mud berth marina in Maldon; ditto the Blackwater Marina; or a marina with a drying sill (Tollesbury); an all-tide marina - Bradwell; pontoons and a short row/motor/ferry (Brightlingsea); or Walton Backwaters (Titchmarsh). Then there's masses of choice on the Stour/Orwell. Personally wouldn't bother as far north as Gt Yarmouth, cos nowhere to go from there. PM me if you want more on Tollesbury and locality. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Haven in Ipswich is nice, but unlikely to have any space....

Neptune opposite Haven may have some, and is also nice....

Walton Backwaters, and its Marina Tichmarsh is great, but you don't say what sort of boat you have, as it could be restrictive for a deep fin keeler, same for Bradwell, Tollesbury and Brightlingsea... but are all nice...

Elesewhere in the Orwell, Shotleyis very handy for access to either of the rivers (Stour or Orwell) and also open sea, but I understand the lock can get very busy...

SYH is probably most popular, and as a consequence has long waiting lists....

None of these are too expensive, certainly compared to South Coast facilities with going rates for a 30'er in the range of £2k to £3k per annum ish....

In reality, you'll struggle to find a 'poor' place to be.... its all lovely....

And like Greenwichman, PM me if you want more specfics on the Orwell region...
 
Maldon is beautiful. The little ship club in Maldon used to have mud berths for something like £125 (flat fee) for April - October. There are boat yards round the corner for the winter lift out, too.
 
Hi
Royal norfolk and suffolk yacth club every you need at lowerstoft price.Plus you meet us. Haven has the draw bach that you have to pass the the swing bridge .Opening times are limited.
 
Best decision I made was to quit marinas & move back to a swinging mooring on the Deben. Half the cost, twice the pleasure & peace.

If you want marina convenience you'll find that the best value sites with all tide access have the longest waiting lists though.

In Suffolk you may find you can get into Neptune Ipswich (rough/noisy when I was there & lock access) or Woodbridge Tide Mill (nice place but limited tidal access over sill). SYH impossible to get into (years of waiting), Woolverstone & Shotley v expensive.
 
Why not a mooring instead of a marina? We kept our boat on a swinging mooring at West Mersea. Made use of the local various launches to get to and from boat - very salty and sociable. Wonderful place all round, easy access to beautiful Blackwater for day/overnight cruising and cheap compared to marina's. Great for fireworks displays and other events. Plenty of choice for moorings - the various boatyards (we were/are with Peter Clarkes) and WMYC. Lots of characters too - fine people, modest and unassuming but lots of knowledge there. We were going to go for marina on Orwell but "discovered" Mersea 'cos we bought our boat from a chap there - we just got absorbed by the place and never left. Appears scruffy and disorganised at first but the sea and the skies and the sunsets and the curlews get under your skin and into your soul. Upriver marina's on Orwell etc are very nice but you can be quite a way from the sea - I think for location Mersea/Tollesbury/Brightlingsea are difficult to beat.

I miss it and can't wait to get back there.

Neil
 
How about the Crouch? Lots of moorings - Brandy Hole, Fambridge, Bridgemarsh, off Burnham, all along the Roach. Nice sheltered sailing in the rivers. If you want a marina, try West Wick or Bridgemarsh (access all but LW+/- 1 hr, or so depending on draught) or Burnham Yacht harbour - more expensive but better access etc etc. From the Crouch, you can sail North to the Blackwater, Walton, Orwell/Stour, Deben etc, south across the Thames, and east to Holland or Belgium, or just trips to sample the pubs along the river. It's easy to get to from London and most of the SE and so accessible just for an afternoon's potter.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Why not a mooring instead of a marina? We kept our boat on a swinging mooring at West Mersea.

[/ QUOTE ]


....that's torn it . Now everyone will know... Actually in reality MErsea is an awful place.... DOn't listen to him!
 
Swinging?? dodgy?? try lifting!!
Yup times are difficult, only LIFTS 24hours a day!!,
I must confess you would have a problem if you
wished to leave harbour @ 2500hours
 
It's commonly held that Woolverstone is the most expensive on the coast; I have never seen any evidence for this. I'm on a swinging mooring outside there and it's just perfect and affordable.

Many places offer swinging moorings and some will have a water taxi to get you out there.

Unless you are planning to use your boat as a country cottage, the real decider is access to the sea. Locks, cill entries, acres of mud, long passages to the mouth of the estuary and difficult river entries with tidal constraints all seriously damage what you can actually do in a weekend.

Perhaps the best thing is to go just about anywhere that will have you and then learn in your first year what is and isn't possible from that location.

Regards, Mudhook
 
ooh, err, well, it was very late and I was dreaming a bit. Forgotten what it was like really, all muddy and icky, yuk. That's why we moved to the US, to get away from the mud to, err, sunny New Jersey /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
 
Re: East Coast Marina (Woolverstone)

I'm in Woolverstone and the additional expense comes from having to pay for hard standing through the winter. If you leave the boat in all year it costs no extra.

This aspect of Woolverstone is really the only thing that irritates me about the marina.
 
Re: East Coast Marina (Woolverstone)

It's worth noting that the Woolverstone swinging mooring package includes the following:

Mooring March - late October
Free water taxi on demand in daylight hours
Shoreside hardstanding winter storage
Lift in/lift out
Scrub off
14 nights in any MDL marina

This last gives free stays at MDL Chatham (and others further afield), and in Woolverstone itself if you need a night inside. I've never used up my allocation of free nights.

All this costs me around £1800 for a 27ft boat. I think that's a pretty good bargain for such a great location. I can't speak for pontoon berth-holders.

Regards, Mudhook
 
Re: East Coast Marina (Woolverstone)

"I can't speak for pontoon berth-holders."

When I asked in the Autumn, we were quoted around £3000 p.a. for a 31ft boat on a pontoon berth
 
Re: East Coast Marina (Woolverstone)

I was refering to the pontoon berth costs, which do not include the winter hard standing.

The swinging moorings are much better value and I expect I will eventually migrate out to one.
 
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