Free Buoys - do they exist any more?

Who pays to maintain them and would you trust a mooring put there by someone who wasn't being paid for it?

There are a few around, e.g. off waterfront pubs, distilleries etc.

There are still a few harbours that don't charge for alongside berths.

I wonder if the seahorse nuts will provide free buoys at Swanage.
 
Its always a worry if the mooring has no clear provenance.
Scottish moorings are listed here:http://www.bluemoment.com/scotmoorings.html
I wonder what the liability really is if a mooring breaks free with your boat nicely attached to the buoy...even if you have paid a fee..
I suspect the answer is "You should have achored!"
 
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snowleopard said:
Who pays to maintain them and would you trust a mooring put there by someone who wasn't being paid for it?.
Click to expand...

In Ye Olde Days - well, 20 years ago - there were loads of buoys around the west coast, placed and paid for by the Highlands and Islands Development Board. In a few places they were instantly colonized by local fishermen (Craighouse on Jura springs to mind) by by and large they gave reliable and solid moorings for nothing. And, of course, generated lots of money for local businesses, which was the point.

When the HIDB was broken up the moorings were, as far as I can tell, effectively abandoned. Some were adopted by local communities, some by local businesses, but after a few years they became a very mixed bunch indeed. I still used them - they were rated at 15 tons originally and the Jouster displaces 1 ton.
 
Here are some for a start...

Brodick, Arran
Millport, Great Cumbrae Island
Lochranza, Arran
Pontoons in Milford Haven (not connected to the shore)

Sam_Steele said:
Years ago there used to be free buoys - certainly in scotland. I was up in the orkneys recently and discovered that there are some that still exist. Do any exist elsewhere - or am I just living in another world and wanting something for nothing?
Regards
sam
Click to expand...
 
Westerm Isles & other visitor moorings in W. Scotland

.
The Western Isles council still provide moorings but there is now a small charge (from 0.076 per metre for a 7-day stay). More info at http://grd.cne-siar.gov.uk/harbourmaster/moorings/index.asp

There are various other visitor moorings - many ex-HIDB but now taken over by various organisations and individuals, with a wide variety of charging and inspection regimes. The BlueMoment link in the post by saltwater_gypsy links to the most comprehensive info available, but its currency is of course dependent on feedback from yachtsmen and should be treated as provisional. In particular, note any 'last updated' date beside the information and value it accordingly.

- W
 
free stern to moorings in woodbridge

brilliant to see them

but they dry out

you are allowed to stay for three days

it was so lovely to see a sign saying they were free

and Woodbridge is a brilliant place

dylan
 
There's loads o' them around N Wales at the moment - all the boats are on the hard.:D

Some don't have strops in the winter, but even in the summer there are generally a few around as people pop off on trips. One has to be ready to leave if the rightfull owner returns - but that has only happened once in 30 odd years. One needs to have a good look at the mooring before using it I never leave the boat - but it is only common sense anyway.
 
moorings

there is a freebee handout up here called

welcome anchorages

that covers the Clyde and beyond. i got mine with a copy of yachting life but it is also handed out free by marinas etc. It has been compiled by a combination of fold including RYA Scotland and visit Scotland (a Quango).

It tells you all sorts of places to moor including those hotels that offer free mooring for customers.

It also differentiates between an "at risk" mooring and an insured mooring

Government backside covering I guess.
 
AngusMcDoon said:
Here are some for a start...

Brodick, Arran
Millport, Great Cumbrae Island
Lochranza, Arran
Pontoons in Milford Haven (not connected to the shore)
Click to expand...

The free ones in Brodick, Millport and Lochranza are now maintained by the local council, they are lifted at the end of the year and re-laid again in Spring so presumably inspected at the time.
 
Sam_Steele said:
Years ago there used to be free buoys - certainly in scotland. I was up in the orkneys recently and discovered that there are some that still exist. Do any exist elsewhere - or am I just living in another world and wanting something for nothing?
Regards
sam
Click to expand...

In the Balearics, there is an EU funded project to protect the sea-weed. As a result there are several popular bays with mooring bouys laid afresh each year. You book them in advance on the internet. With Google maps you can pick the exact buoy that you want. When you arrive, a previously bored youth looks pleased to do something and guns his/her rib over to help you to your assigned bouy. If you arrive after 6pm, then the youth will have gone and anyone can take a vacant bouy. The bouys are colour coded for length of boat (but not depth). Too good to be true!

Tudorsailor
 
Sam_Steele said:
Years ago there used to be free buoys - certainly in scotland. I was up in the orkneys recently and discovered that there are some that still exist. Do any exist elsewhere - or am I just living in another world and wanting something for nothing?
Regards
sam
Click to expand...

As sailorman says, plenty on the East Coast but not 'Free' as such, in that it's common practice to pick up a vacant mooring on the condition that if the owner returns, you immediately vacate it. Some places do charge a small fee for overnighting, but I've been lucky so far and never been charged. You can anchor anywhere for free.
 
M33 said:
As sailorman says, plenty on the East Coast but not 'Free' as such, in that it's common practice to pick up a vacant mooring on the condition that if the owner returns, you immediately vacate it. Some places do charge a small fee for overnighting, but I've been lucky so far and never been charged. You can anchor anywhere for free.
Click to expand...

Orford is becoming a Rip-off though,now Phillip is HM one even has to pay for not only NOTT but private moorings as well :mad:. we only went there once last year normally many times
 
There are lots around if you happen to be cruising the Great Barrier Reef. Installed to prevent damage to the reef, most have a notice displaying the recommended vessel size. All are inspected regularly and the number grows every year.

Most if not all of the resort islands have a range of alternatives.
 
M33 said:
As sailorman says, plenty on the East Coast but not 'Free' as such, in that it's common practice to pick up a vacant mooring on the condition that if the owner returns, you immediately vacate it. .
Click to expand...

This is one of the nice things about the east coast - pity that it isnt copied on the south or in the west.
 
Bosun Higgs said:
This is one of the nice things about the east coast - pity that it isnt copied on the south or in the west.
Click to expand...

It certainly used to work like that on the west coast of Scotland. Nice mooring owners - and there were a lot - would clearly mark the buoy with the size of the mooring and often leave a note saying when they'd be back.
 
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