Holyhead Marina

I am afraid the wind last night was terrible, I live on the Menai Straits in a large 300-year-old house with 3ft thick walls. They were shuddering with the force, kept awake most of the night with the howling winds I am surprised if anything on the water was not destroyed.
 
JumbleDuck said:
Am I right in guessing that all the white floating "rocks" in that and other pictures are the remains of pontoon floats?
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Yes.

I'm pleased to say that the Owner Ed and Geoff the Manager have been discharged from Hospital and to the best of my knowledge OK. Let's all wish them well.
 
savageseadog said:
Yes.

I'm pleased to say that the Owner Ed and Geoff the Manager have been discharged from Hospital and to the best of my knowledge OK. Let's all wish them well.
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I remember when I was there and NE forecast, Geoff would be out on the pontoons with a reel of blue polypropylene putting extra lines on our boats that weren't tied up properly! The wore the blue polypropylene badge of shame till the owners got there to sort out!
 
JumbleDuck said:
Am I right in guessing that all the white floating "rocks" in that and other pictures are the remains of pontoon floats?
Click to expand...

Looks like it. Expanded polysterene block covered with a layer of plaster seem to be quite a common method of constructing the floats of pontoons. I one marina I was in an old one was up in the yard and was used by boat owners to reach their topsides when out of the water. To passers by it looked like large lumps of concrete were being carried around.
 
This looks like being one of the worst incidents in recent maritime history. Whilst the Daily Post can be pretty poor at reporting they are quoting up to 70 pleasure craft and 10 commercial craft have either been damaged or sunk. This is actually a quote from the local CG and is likely to be true. Thankfully no lives lost. A maritime loss hidden in the news of a bit of snow..... https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/up-80-boats-destroyed-storm-14360298
 
rtboss1 said:
I am afraid the wind last night was terrible, I live on the Menai Straits in a large 300-year-old house with 3ft thick walls. They were shuddering with the force, kept awake most of the night with the howling winds I am surprised if anything on the water was not destroyed.
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+1.
Ours is 299 years younger and a Top Floor Apartment. No thick walls but insulation is very very good. Thought the roof was coming off a few times.
 
skipper_stu said:
I remember when I was there and NE forecast, Geoff would be out on the pontoons with a reel of blue polypropylene putting extra lines on our boats that weren't tied up properly! The wore the blue polypropylene badge of shame till the owners got there to sort out!
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Stu saw him being interviewed on the TV tonight. He looked about 10 years older than when I last saw him this year! Massive stress, wishing him well. Steve.
 
Hardly a mention on the national news, now if this had been a south coast marina.............................
 
I'm a south coast sailor and unfortunately only about an hour's train ride from London, a place I'd be very happy never to see again in my life; I and chums hate the London - centric news just as much as anyone, our tv aerial naturally gets London news so I always yell ' local ! ' and tune to Sky 964 for Portsmouth and our actual area...
 
pvb said:
Well, it's northwaleschronicle if anyone wants to look for it, but here's one pic from their report...

7480041
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Heartbreaking
 
chrishscorp said:
South coast sailors here, Mrs and I saw it on Channel 4 and looked at the pics linked to on here, heartbreaking for the boat owners and staff involved, thankfully sounds like there was no loss of life
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That will teach me to only watch ITV news.
 
bigwow said:
That will teach me to only watch ITV news.
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Wonder what the consequences will be? We only had 11 boats lost or badly damaged one night in Conwy a good few years ago and some insurers refused winter cover after that, particularly on moorings. A good few owners will be looking to replace their boats so could be good news for local sellers in the depressed market.
 
lpdsn said:
Looking at this one it appears that the outer breakwater pontoon disintegrated first and the larger vessels tied to it went ashore before the rest of the marina started to be wrecked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL2wrJDxR74
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It might have been those larger vessels that was the straw that broke the camels.... with their windage. One of them was a Fisheries patrol vessel.
 
lpdsn said:
Looking at this one it appears that the outer breakwater pontoon disintegrated first and the larger vessels tied to it went ashore before the rest of the marina started to be wrecked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL2wrJDxR74
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Visited today. All armchair warrior supposition. It could also have been a boat off one of the up wind swinging moorings that broke loose and overloaded the windward pontoon. Insurance loss adjusters were on site for Marina and boat owners. Crane was moving in on breakwater to see if any could be recovered. There was only one boat left floating where the Marina pontoons were normally. I counted the masts of 10 sunken yachts in the Marina area. I suspect there are at least over 3 times that or more under water. Beach is covered in a layer of polystyrene from the pontoon floats which normally carry the concrete rafts.

Really sad sight.

A friends yacht has survived on one of the up wind swinging moorings. Recovery operation is being managed very carefully. Main concern is mixture of Fuel pollution, cubic meters of washed up inflammable polystyrene and pyrotechnics all giving a potential risk of fire to be fanned by still strong winds.
Not nice to hear a boat owner saying "I think that's our boat. I recognize the mast steps but can't see much more."

I was too upset to visit the area where most of the boats had been washed up.

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/catastrophic-failure-led-holyhead-marina-14364280

Really heartbreaking for all the local community.
Steve.
 
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TSB240 said:
Really sad sight.

A friends yacht has survived on one of the up wind swinging moorings.
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Long standing family friends own one of the big Moody's on the back leg up from the lifeboat that we always go away with for a week or two in the summer.

He always keeps his boat in over winter.

I phoned him yesterday to see how he was (he's eighty and has just had a fall this week).

Before I broached the subject of the boat he told me he'd just bought a cradle for her and had her lifted out. He had a little whinge about how much it had cost.

He had not heard the news about the devastation.

He has had his boat for twenty five years, from new.

I told him the money he spent on that cradle was probably his best ever investment in the boat...

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