Hamble mooring waiting list - at current rates more than 200 years!

[PaulR]

Fascinating what you can find on the internet!

Just been looking at Hamble River site and noted that you can view the waiting list for moorings.
For boats between 9.8 and 12.28m their site says that the current waiting list is 289.
However it also says that between october 2005 and february 2007 only 1 mooring in that size range has been reallocated from surrenders - not much point in my going on that list albeit generously it does appear your place on the list can be passed onto immediate family.

Oh by the way - the charge to put yourname on the list is £30 with an annual renewal fee to stay on the list of £10 - if their information is accurate this means there are 100's of prospective mooring holders paying each year for the privilege of being on a list that , during their lifetime, they are never going to reach the top off.

Sounds like a good scheme for Hamble not so good for applicants.

I can't find how much the moorings actually cost if you do get to the top of the list either.

With only 1 mooring in that size range being reallocated in 1 1/2 years do wonder whether there is a reasonable argument that the river authority should be able to and insist on reallocation of moorings occupied by mooring holders who make little or no use of their boats?

 

[Judders]

I agree Paul. Use it or lose it. It's the same story in Penazance where there is a fifteen year waiting list to get on the waiting list, but there are boats in the harbour that have not been touched in over two years.

 

[capt_courageous]

Hi
I believe the waiting list was even longer before the charges were made. They were brought in to discourage people from putting their name down 'just in case'. The cost of a pile mooring for your size of boat would be a bit over £400 per year - about half what it would cost to store your tender on the shore. No surprise then that there is a waiting list. The fees are on the site somewhere but I can't remember how I found them.
Our club has exactly the same trouble, a long waiting list while other people have a cheap mooring and never actually use the boat. No solution so far.

 

[Twister_Ken]

And the list can only grow as marinae continue to hike their prices above the rate of inflation.

Don't begrudge the waiting list fee though. At least the annual renewal fee weeds out dead wood, and it does cost money and resources to administer a waiting list. And the 'joining fee' is (was to me anyway) refunded when a mooring becomes available.

 

[burgundyben]

I have to say that I thik the changes made to the waiting list on Hamble river about 3 or 4 years ago were singularly the best change made on the river for decades.

IMHO.

 

[Rabbie]

I entirely agree on 'use it or lose it'. Regarding waiting lists on my old moorings, I complained to the Chichester HM about several hulks which had not moved for years, and his reply was 'its not our business what mooring holders do with their boats'. Fine attitude eh?.

 

[Judders]

[ QUOTE ]
'its not our business what mooring holders do with their boats'. Fine attitude eh?.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is it not? It will be when they eventually sink.

 

[moondancer]

Wonderful to see the sheep still keeping away from the East Coast.

 

[capt_courageous]

hi Judders/rabbie
I fact the only way we have been able to get 'non used boats' off our club moorings is to have them judged as 'unseaworthy'. It is part of our conditions that boats must have insurance and be maintained in a seaworthy condition. I would imagine that marinas also have these conditions but whether Chi do I just do not know. I once went to the east coast and still wonder why.

 

[Moonshining]

Re: Hamble mooring waiting list - at current rates more than 200 years

I seem to recall that there was a fine old furore around these parts when it was suggested that unoccupied houses might be repossessed for those who might need them more.

Surely this is the same thing? If I pay good money to rent a mooring, it's nobody else's business what I put on that mooring. Your "hulk" might be someone else's restoration project that just hasn't got going yet.

 

[Dyflin]

Re: Hamble mooring waiting list - at current rates more than 200 years

I tend to agree with you. If I want to use my boat as a floating caravan and never put to sea in it, or if the owner has passed on and the family are wrangling over the ownership, what business is it of anyone's once it's paid up, insured and not a pollution hazard?

 

[DJE]

We've just been through a painful process at our sailing club requiring members to remove boats which they are not using to make room for others from the waiting list. The justification was that one of the club's stated aims is "To encourage the sailing of small boats off ***** " Boats occupying moorings or dinghy spaces and not going to sea conflict with that aim. Several people left the club over it but we cleared our waiting list.

 

[Slow_boat]

Marinas are full of boats that rarely, if ever, go to sea. The posher the marina, the more 'country cottage' boats you'll find.

Having said that, I've got a boat on a mooring and due to work and distance can only sail once every three weeks.

 

[capt_courageous]

Re: Hamble mooring waiting list - at current rates more than 200 years

Hi Dyflin
I think there is a great difference between 'commercial' and club type moorings. Like HHSC our club exists to provide boating facilites ( very cheaply ) for members to use. If they choose to spend most of their time just sitting on their boat on its mooring that is up to them. Our problem is those who just never even appear at the club and let their boats slowly rot on their moorings. They would not do it if they were paying MDL rates.

 

[fireball]

Re: Hamble mooring waiting list - at current rates more than 200 years

Our moorings are renewed annually ... I don't think we actually have any vessels that are "not used" ... but if they were just sat there then I'd assume the club would not extend the offer to renew the mooring facility to that vessel.

 

[Rabbie]

Two have already!. Girt Rythe. Have a look at the Leisure 17 at the entrance, it hasn't moved for at least 3 seasons and looks like being the next wreck..

 

[Danny Jo]

[ QUOTE ]
Sounds like a good scheme for Hamble not so good for applicants.

[/ QUOTE ] Erm, if Hamble were after making money, they'd keep upping the mooring fee until they established an equilibrium between those leaving in disgust and new applicants. Any waiting list over six months indicates that they are not charging enough.

 

[lumphammer]

Thank goodness they don't leave the marina, can you imagine what Chichester harbour and the Solent would be like if all the boats in marinas actually went out on the water /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Rabbie]

Re: Hamble mooring waiting list - at current rates more than 200 years

[ QUOTE ]
I seem to recall that there was a fine old furore around these parts when it was suggested that unoccupied houses might be repossessed for those who might need them more.

Surely this is the same thing?

[/ QUOTE ]

I disagree. Where there is a long waiting list for 'public' moorings, such as conservancy moorings at Chichester, it is simply unfair of hirers of moorings to deny the use of them to owners who wish to use their boats, rather than just leave them to rot for years. I am not arguing with owners who do not have time to take boats out every week or every month even, but owners who leave their boats to virtually rot. I have friends who desperately want to get afloat there but cannot do so unless the moorings are given up. In a harbour like Chichester with its glorious sailing waters, wildlife galore, fine anchorages and great scenery, it is simply selfish to deny others the use of the moorings just because you want to rent the mooring forever without doing any sailing. Its just a matter of fairness which I'm afraid the present HM does not understand.
As for 'restoration projects' - just go around and have a look!.

 

[boatsRus]

A couple of points of clarification may be helpful. Firstly, the mid-stream moorings on the Hamble belong to The Crown Estate, not the Harbour Authority. Thus, the waiting list is a Crown Estate waiting list and the annual fees go to them, not the Harbour Authority. The Harbour Authority receives a modest annual payment from The Crown Estate for administering the moorings and the associated waiting list. Of the £30 payable to go on the waiting list, £20 is a deposit, returnable when a mooring is allocated (or if you withdraw your name from the list.)

It is true that only one mooring was surrendered at the end of 2005, but it isn't always that bad. The average wait for a mooring in the 30-40 foot range is about 15 years - still far too long, but it all comes down to supply and demand.

On the subject of unused boats - this is a matter of concern, but the mooring fee for every boat on the mid-stream moorings has been paid for in full (they would be kicked off very swiftly if they hadn't). The Crown Estate's mooring licence, as issued to each mooring holder, does not require that the mooring holder actually uses the boat (mainly because such a condition would be virtually impossible to enforce), although the Harbour Authority has the power to remove a vessel if it becomes unseaworthy. One problem is that it costs more to keep an unused boat ashore in a boatyard than to leave it afloat on its mooring - bizarre but true. The solution would be to increase the cost of a mooring significantly (which would not be popular).

Hope this helps