Energy Savings In Portugal

[canoeman]

Bumped into a girlfriend on her way into town. She was off to buy a duvet.

Apparently the marina in Faro has decided to do its bit to combat global warming. To reduce energy consumption they turn the electrical power off overnight and at weekends.

Wonder if other marina will follow Faro’s lead - We wish you a very chilly Christmas.

So is this true or is somebody pulling my plonker?

Or am I missing something, possibly she wants me to bed-test the duvet!

We need to get to the bottom of this.

ps Hope her husband isn’t invited.?

 

[anonymouse]

It isn't the marina, it's the boatyard NavePegos otherwise known as Bruces and I'm furious. Pay good money to stay on board and now they're cutting power every day to save money. Had no heating all weekend and at nights, won't come here again. Must be 15 or more boats with people living here.

 

[GHA]

Wrong. Nothing to do with saving money. There were power issues. Fixed now it seems. Power is on overnight or has been last night and still on now.
Problem seems very likely too many fan heaters/kettles/electric hobs etc by cruisers living on the hard using the free power.
If it was a caravan park there would be reason to whinge and moan. It's not, not many countries will let live on a boat in storage in a boatyard.

 

[nortada]

Is there any available waste timber for the camp fires?

Keep to home fires burning and all that.

 

[nortada]

It isn't the marina, it's the boatyard NavePegos otherwise known as Bruces and I'm furious. Pay good money to stay on board and now they're cutting power every day to save money. Had no heating all weekend and at nights, won't come here again. Must be 15 or more boats with people living here.

How long is your contract?

 

[anonymouse]

Wrong. Nothing to do with saving money. There were power issues. Fixed now it seems. Power is on overnight or has been last night and still on now.
Problem seems very likely too many fan heaters/kettles/electric hobs etc by cruisers living on the hard using the free power.
If it was a caravan park there would be reason to whinge and moan. It's not, not many countries will let live on a boat in storage in a boatyard.

NO, NOT wrong, a man with a boat in the yard had a meeting with the owner who said he would be switching the power off every day when he finished work and back on again in the morning because people are using too much power. We're all on meters so he should know who the culprits are but I think it's b*****hit. Other people who have been here for several years say this has only happened since the solar panels were installed and the yard was rewired. If you are who I think you are, I hear you had to borrow someone's generator when your batteries went flat over the weekend so don't tell me every thing is fine.

 

[anonymouse]

Hoe long is your contract?

No contract, can leave when work is finished.

 

[Graham376]

Wrong. Nothing to do with saving money. There were power issues. Fixed now it seems. Power is on overnight or has been last night and still on now.
Problem seems very likely too many fan heaters/kettles/electric hobs etc by cruisers living on the hard using the free power.
If it was a caravan park there would be reason to whinge and moan. It's not, not many countries will let live on a boat in storage in a boatyard.

You and I mailed about this at the weekend, when the problem was very real. Not being there, I can't judge who is right or wrong but must say your view isn't shared by others I've heard from. I've used Bruce's for 14 years annual haulout and although we've had problems with supply in the past, these were cured after he rewired. I don't think we had a power cut last winter/spring while I was there. Looking back at many past winters, although voltage could drop, there were no mandatory cut offs through overuse. Bruce's has always been advertised as a liveaboard yard and there are fewer people living there than usual, if what I hear is correct, only on 20 boats.

Whatever the problem is, I hope it will be fixed before I haul out in January. I've already heard of one boat going elsewhere and wouldn't want to see others do likewise, it's an excellent yard.

P.S. It isn't "free" power by the way. Long before your time there, we paid 3 euro/day extra for electricity but storage prices were increased to include it, whether being used or not so, if only 20 boats are occupied out of a couple of hundred, the empty ones are subsidising you

 

[GHA]

deleted - not worth the effort

 

[GHA]

Bruce's has always been advertised as a liveaboard yard

Where? Boatyard services and facilities - Nave Pegos

 

[GHA]

Final post on this , if everyone calmed down a bit and approached the problem (which seems to have been resolved anyway) there would be a much better chance of resolving the problem amicably, shouting just gets peoples backs up and less likely to be helpful. Not exactly difficult, is it?

 

[25931]

The post about Faro Marina baffled me , aIthough I Iived aboard there in 1985 things have changed somewhat.

 

[Graham376]

Where? Boatyard services and facilities - Nave Pegos

Word of mouth from Bruce. You were also told when arriving you could live aboard and use the facilities as you have done for several years.

 

[GHA]

Word of mouth from Bruce. You were also told when arriving you could live aboard and use the facilities as you have done for several years.

nothing at all on paper, nothing in Ts&Cs, we're tolerated and rocking the boat helps no one and doesn't get the problem fixed quicker.

 

[Graham376]

nothing at all on paper, nothing in Ts&Cs, we're tolerated and rocking the boat helps no one and doesn't get the problem fixed quicker.

Where does it say electricity is only for daytime tools and why would the toilets and showers be open at night if people not living in the yard?

Electricity is available on request through its own cable connected to the nearest car table. Typically less than 20 meters. You will be provided a counter set at 0.0.
Toilet
The block was built from scratch. It has a toilet and a shower for men, women and disabled people. The toilet is open 24 hours a day and there is always hot water.

You're a relative newcomer to the yard, many of us have been using the place for many years so know what's always been the situation and personally, I've never had any complaints about my relationship with or treatment from Bruce. As I said above, I'm still planning on being there again in January.

 

[Sailfree]

Make sure you know where the circuit breakers are.

At Nazare we have had the supply trip when the total pontoon (our section) had too high a load on it. There was about 7 boats in total in residence. The fact it only tripped at about 20.00 each night indicates combination of cooking and electric heaters was too much!

 

[nortada]

No contract, can leave when work is finished.

OK so how long before the work is finished and where do you plan to go next

 

[GHA]

Where does it say electricity is only for daytime tools and why would the toilets and showers be open at night if people not living in the yard?

Electricity is available on request through its own cable connected to the nearest car table. Typically less than 20 meters. You will be provided a counter set at 0.0.
Toilet
The block was built from scratch. It has a toilet and a shower for men, women and disabled people. The toilet is open 24 hours a day and there is always hot water.

You're a relative newcomer to the yard, many of us have been using the place for many years so know what's always been the situation and personally, I've never had any complaints about my relationship with or treatment from Bruce. As I said above, I'm still planning on being there again in January.

The man who can turn off the power says he only has to supply power for tools. But end of the day makes the effort to get the system working. My point is we have no legal footing whatsoever to be here, no rights, nothing. Which works fine and long may it last. People shouting and screaming doesn't help in the slightest, it just makes things worse. It's a much better idea to have just a touch of humility and lay off the whinging and moaning, more likely to get it sorted and less likely to pee of the guy who can do what he wants cos it's his yard. Saying he's turning off the power to save money is rubbish, last thing he wants is to be down here on the month off trying to get it sorted and getting grief from grumpy expats . Everything would go much smoother if ther was less shouting being nice with a little respect instead. To handy a place to rock the boat.

 

[Graham376]

As I said before, I'm not there yet so not taking sides, merely pointing out what has been said to me by various people there now (who apart from you all tell the same tale) and what has happened in the past. If I do find a problem, I will fight my own battles but hope it's all blown over by then.

 

[GHA]

As I said before, I'm not there yet so not taking sides, merely pointing out what has been said to me by various people there now (who apart from you all tell the same tale) and what has happened in the past. If I do find a problem, I will fight my own battles but hope it's all blown over by then.

Seems well on the mend.

You're a relative newcomer to the yard,

Yep, but spent time in a lot of boatyards around the north & south atlantic, good and bad, when you find a good one seems a good idea to not pee of the guy who runs it. Which is what's happening. Bad idea and achieves nothing.