How much does the shoreside ambiente afectyour pleasure of boating?

[Fr J Hackett]

For home berth
1st location
2nd price
The rest is superfluous

 

[Grith]

Personally we go sailing for the wilderness experience so crowded moorings, marinas and shore side bars are not high on our search agenda.
Our waterfront home is also fairly remote and tranquil although a great pub/restaurant is only about a nautical mile away on the other side of the river.
We rarely sail/motor there however given there is a free 24hour car ferry only about 500 metres from our home and the car/ferry or walk/ferry journey is under 2 klms.
We are not restricted to our home waters however as our cruising yacht is trailerable.

Fog on the water this morning meant we could imagine ourselves in any exotic location!

 

[Momac]

There is a bar/restaurant at the marina where I keep my boat and it is reasonably priced too. They do serve perfectly good coffee as well as beer , wine etc.
The marina bar is far enough from the boat to not intrude on peace and quiet while we are aboard the mooring. And to be honest most drinking is done on the boat.
The socialising aspect of boating is important as far as I am concerned. However there are occasions when getting away from everything and everyone can be a welcome change.

 

[Stemar]

For home berth
1st location
2nd price
The rest is superfluous

Not entirely superfluous for us. Pleasant surroundings make boat as weekend cottage feasible - just sit on board and chill, when we don't feel like going anywhere.

 

[Wansworth]

Not entirely superfluous for us. Pleasant surroundings make boat as weekend cottage feasible - just sit on board and chill, when we don't feel like going anywhere.

My wife found great pleasure just enjoying being aboard reading etc,I tend to get restless so Ina Marina just walking ashore to a decent bar with good coffee is important

 

[Fr J Hackett]

My wife found great pleasure just enjoying being aboard reading etc,I tend to get restless so Ina Marina just walking ashore to a decent bar with good coffee is important

The marina was like a garage for the boat, if I went to the boat it was to go somewhere or for a day or weekends maintenance etc in which case I was either to knackered to bother going out or I would walk or take a water taxi to to the fleshpots. If I had just wanted a quiet place then a marina is not the place to look for it.
There again I have always lived 200 miles from my boats

 

[Wansworth]

I think we had more fun out of the Albin Vega just wandering around Chichester harbour.On our first outing we had to run for cover in ChichesterMarina and discovered warm heated wet rooms!Abusride into Chichester was fun buying second hand books and some waterproof gear in a charity shop.We savored the delights of Waitrose even.The novelty of being aboard our new boat (secondhand) in stormy weather safely tied up in a marina was only supposed by my wife discovering a waherette in the marina

 

[LittleSister]

I don't think it matters a great deal, though it's nice to have facilities like a bar/cafe nearby for occasional use, and change of scene if you and/or guests are at the boat but not yet departed/recently arrived, or staying to work on it, etc.

I've kept boats at numerous and very different types of locations over the years. If the location is lovely, that's nice, and if they're not, well it''s all the greater pleasure casting off and heading off into open waters.

I used to keep a boat on a swinging mooring in a really beautiful river location (which I happened to visit (by land) a few days ago for the first time in decades). Once I'd got the dinghy out of the rack, launched, rowed out to the boat, etc. it was tempting to just sit aboard drinking tea or whatever, soaking up the peace and tranquility, admiring the view and listening to the birds. I was sometimes hard to motivate myself to actually cast off and go sailing!

Another time, I was in a rather soulless marina, but it was very convenient (especially when my then partner was rather physically incapacitated). There was also lots of entertainment variously admiring or casting aspersions on others' boats and boat handling skills (or lack thereof!). Every time I headed out of the ordered, protected but unexciting environs of the marina, I really got a rush as soon as I was suddenly in open waters, felt the waves and swell, and had open air/water/views on all sides.

So I think the one's mooring location/arrangement can put you up or down a notch in terms of convenience and ambience, and while this is not unimportant, it is (like one's choice of boat?) almost neither here nor there compared to (dare i say?) having a boat or not.

 

[Wansworth]

I don't think it matters a great deal, though it's nice to have facilities like a bar/cafe nearby for occasional use, and change of scene if you and/or guests are at the boat but not yet departed/recently arrived, or staying to work on it, etc.

I've kept boats at numerous and very different types of locations over the years. If the location is lovely, that's nice, and if they're not, well it''s all the greater pleasure casting off and heading off into open waters.

I used to keep a boat on a swinging mooring in a really beautiful river location (which I happened to visit (by land) a few days ago for the first time in decades). Once I'd got the dinghy out of the rack, launched, rowed out to the boat, etc. it was tempting to just sit aboard drinking tea or whatever, soaking up the peace and tranquility, admiring the view and listening to the birds. I was sometimes hard to motivate myself to actually cast off and go sailing!

Another time, I was in a rather soulless marina, but it was very convenient (especially when my then partner was rather physically incapacitated). There was also lots of entertainment variously admiring or casting aspersions on others' boats and boat handling skills (or lack thereof!). Every time I headed out of the ordered, protected but unexciting environs of the marina, I really got a rush as soon as I was suddenly in open waters, felt the waves and swell, and had open air/water/views on all sides.

So I think the one's mooring location/arrangement can put you up or down a notch in terms of convenience and ambience, and while this is not unimportant, it is (like one's choice of boat?) almost neither here nor there compared to (dare i say?) having a boat or not.

How very dare you

 

[Momac]

Pleasant surroundings make boat as weekend cottage feasible - just sit on board and chill, when we don't feel like going anywhere.

That's our plan this weekend.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Did you upset the Commodore

Bit of a dust up with him a few years back, now he’s been elected…. maybe he won’t make the connection. The last commodore was a personal friend.

 

[Wansworth]

Bit of a dust up with him a few years back, now he’s been elected…. maybe he won’t make the connection. The last commodore was a personal friend.

You didn’t park in his designated parking space I hope ……your been his little black book

 

[capnsensible]

Here especially in Galicia most yachts are kept in a marina .If there is a decent bar near by it adds to the yacht owning experience

It does.

 

[Skylark]

One of the big appeals of sailing is that it is so variable and can give pleasure for a variety of reasons.

Underway, nothing finer than reading a book, drinking coffee, eating cake and listening to music.

My current home waters have stunning landscapes which are a delight to behold.

A big appeal for me is the arrival. There’s something familiar about the unfamiliar.

So yes, @Wansworth shoreside ambiance is important. Sailing with friends is also a pleasure. With life passing us by at 5mph there’s plenty of time to catch up and put the world to rights.

My only exception is racing to which I’ve yet to see the point.

 

[ducked]

Boats in Boness.
So it had better not.

 

[Blueboatman]

I think we had more fun out of the Albin Vega just wandering around Chichester harbour.On our first outing we had to run for cover in ChichesterMarina and discovered warm heated wet rooms!Abusride into Chichester was fun buying second hand books and some waterproof gear in a charity shop.We savored the delights of Waitrose even.The novelty of being aboard our new boat (secondhand) in stormy weather safely tied up in a marina was only supposed by my wife discovering a waherette in the marina

Exactly!
Marinas are wonderful places to sit out a storm .
Premier may still do their 40 odd free nights/year in their other marinas if you are a berth holder

 

[johnalison]

Exactly!
Marinas are wonderful places to sit out a storm .
Premier may still do their 40 odd free nights/year in their other marinas if you are a berth holder

I think that marinas are lousy places to ride out a storm, what with all that noise from the other boats. We rode out the Morning Cloud gale in Brightlingsea on the trots. This was comfortable enough but the Avon dinghy trips to shore were interesting.

When we picked up our boat new in Sweden the weather was pretty awful, in May. At the end of our first week we spent a night in Ockero (missing the dots) which is just about big enough to take two or three visitors, as a storm was expected. In the event it went up to F11, which was sort of exciting and a nearby shopkeeper was amazed that we had stuck it out. In the following week, with yet more guests we were stuck on Astol in the pouring rain. To pass the time the husband decided to pass the time by making rock cakes while the rest of us chatted under the cockpit tent. He had never cooked them before, and it showed.

 

[Stemar]

He had never cooked them before, and it showed

Cruelty to dumb heads?