How much would you expect to pay for a lunch stop in a marina?

I was pleasantly surprised this summer when Dun Laoghaire charged me only 5 Euros provided the stay was for no more than 6 hrs.
 
ProDave said:
So last week, we were having a cracking good sail, probably the best of the season. And where we ended up we passed by a marina (I won't say which one but you might work it out) and decided to call in for a short stop to drink our tea and eat our lunch. We thought it would make a change from eating on the go or dropping the hook.

We called the marina on the VHF and told them out intentions and they invited us onto a visitor berth.

A short while later the marina operative made his way to see us, handed us the marina's brochure, then proceeded to say "short term rates start at £17.50"

We were both gobsmacked and sat there in stunned silence. To say that was not in line with our expectations for a lunch stop was an understatement.

After an awkward silence, he said "you are not stopping long so I won't charge you on this occasion" So this time we got a free lunch stop, but won't expect to be going back at least not for a lunch stop.

I feel they have missed a trick and had they said £5 for a daytime stop, we would have paid and likely used it again.

I just wondered what other places charge for that?
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They all seem to have whacked the prices up this year. Viewed a boat at RK marine yesterday (for/with a friend) and was worried about getting back under the road bridge (rising tide) so stopped at swanwick.

£20 for my 40 footer. I’m free in MDL but believe they’ve got expensive as well.

After viewing the boat we went for lunch and the marina called. The boat owner is back can you move please?
I asked them to delay serving lunch and moved the boat.

When I went back to the boat in its new place they wanted to charge extra because I’d gone over the 4 hour “short stay”. I suggested that as I’d moved before my 4 hours at their request they should not charge extra - and they agreed after a short discussion. I thought that was fair.

BTW staff super helpful and polite throughout (which is why I was happy to move)
 
RichardS said:
We've had a couple of lunch stops in marinas in Croatia in our early years of sailing there and quickly learned that 50% of the full rate is normal. For a 40 foot boat that's going to be around £40 - £50 .... plus the cost of the lunch.
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Croatia does strike me as a destination where they are determined to relieve the visiting yachtsmen of their hard earned cash. Is this accurate or just my perception after sailing in Greece and often stopping on a pontoon that has a notice saying that 'your free stay here is dependent on your eating at our taverna'.

And yes, a bit steep. 15 years ago I was miffed to pay GBP 5.00 for a lunchtime on the pontoon opposite the folly in my 22' boat.
 
Sybarite said:
In more than 30 years of sailing in France I have never been charged for other than an overnight stay.
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It's not changed then? I recall sailing along the S of F about 12 years ago and the marinas were great; roll in around 10:30-11:00 and tell them you were just stopping to look around the town/have lunch and it was invariably: "No problem/No charge, provided that you leave before 15:00" (the required departure time varied from about 14:30 - 16:30) I think we visited the harbour in St Tropez about five times in eight days and just moving back to the anchorage in the bay to the west each evening.
 
Somewhere down Plymouth we stopped free for an hour as had come in to get fuel (which turned out to be out of order) and wanted to go to nearby chandlery. We were told to stay on potentially shallow berth and they would surely have complained if we had an hours sleep after cafe and shop.

We have done similar in Brittany
 
langstonelayabout said:
Croatia does strike me as a destination where they are determined to relieve the visiting yachtsmen of their hard earned cash. Is this accurate or just my perception after sailing in Greece and often stopping on a pontoon that has a notice saying that 'your free stay here is dependent on your eating at our taverna'.

And yes, a bit steep. 15 years ago I was miffed to pay GBP 5.00 for a lunchtime on the pontoon opposite the folly in my 22' boat.
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It is easy to end up spending a lot more money on "mooring" than you expected in Croatia, especially if you are attracted to marinas. However, if you're not a marina enthusiast, it's also easy to avoid spending anything at all, especially if the weather is settled. However, you need to use the Government mooring app and keep your wits about you always have a Plan B.

For example, when you pull into a lovely looking bay you might well see a few buoys. What is often extremely difficult to determine is:

a) whether the buoys belong to a private concession, which means that even if you eat in one of the restaurants you will not get a free mooring, although you might get a discount if you eat at a particular restaurant (some restaurants will have done a deal with the concession holder),

b) whether the buoys belong to a particular restaurant and eating in that restaurant will allow you to moor for free,

c) whether the buoys belong to a particular restaurant and, especially, if there is only one restaurant, they might still charge for the buoy. Once again, a discount will usually be available if you ask for it.

d) whether the bay is so small that the concessionaire is allowed to charge for anchoring if you decided not to take a buoy. If there are no buoys free, you can anchor and will usually be charged 50% although, once again, there is always scope to negotiate.

e) if you don't like the deal on offer, always have your Plan B in mind and say "I'm not very happy with the deal. Unless you can do better, I'm dropping the buoy/raising the anchor". If that does not have the desired effect, then move on to Plan B, which is usually the next bay 1/4 mile further on.

We have just returned from our 2 week late-summer cruise and visited some lovely bays and did not pay for a single night, although we did eat in buoy-owning restaurants on two nights. :)

Richard
 
NormanS said:
Tobermory Harbour has pontoons and moorings, and doesn't claim to be a marina. They take the enlightened view that people using the pontoons or moorings for short periods (ie not overnight) are doing so in order to get stores, fuel, gas etc from the suppliers in the village, thus benefiting the community. They make no charge, although there is a converted gas cylinder strategically placed at the top of the gangway, for voluntary donations.

For the avoidance of doubt, let me be quite clear that there are charges for over-nighting. Other pontoons, not a million miles away, do charge for short stays. The remedy is in your own hands.
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+1 for Tobermory. Enlightened management, good facilities, useful village for supplies of just about everything, lovely setting; and of course those famous painted buildings!
And just across The Sound (of Mull) from a delightful, safe anchorage - Loch na Droma Buidhe :encouragement:
 
RichardS said:
We've had a couple of lunch stops in marinas in Croatia in our early years of sailing there and quickly learned that 50% of the full rate is normal. For a 40 foot boat that's going to be around £40 - £50 .... plus the cost of the lunch. :ambivalence:

Richard
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Yes we were taken for a ride in Korčula, they had no space for an overnight stop so we opted for a short stay and I nearly feinted in the marina office when I went to pay.
 
Seven Spades said:
Yes we were taken for a ride in Korčula, they had no space for an overnight stop so we opted for a short stay and I nearly feinted in the marina office when I went to pay.
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Interesting, since Korcula is one of the less-horribly priced places for long term berthing.
 
I live in Wellington, New Zealand and occasionally cruise the Marlborough Sounds (God's own cruising area!). There is a very fine resort in the Bay of Many Coves (yes, that's it's name and it means what it says), where many A-list stars and 'names' from around the world, not only NZ, go to stay.

Just to make you poor exploited Solent sailors jealous, last time we were in the Sounds, we pulled up to the resort, attached ourselves to one of their buoys - there were many to choose from - were collected by the resort's RIB and taken to the pontoon. We had a marvellous seafood lunch at about NZ$40 a head, including an excellent wine, had a walk round and a look at the scenery from the top of the hill and were chauffeured back to the boat. And the boat driver wouldn't accept anything, not even a tip for the stay, or the service. That is the NZ way and it is really how it should be.

And then we sailed away and dropped the hook in one of the Many Coves and had our afternoon zizz, followed by a glorious overnight stay. Again for no money at all. I think living in NZ has spoiled me for UK sailing...
 
Just looked at the area on the map, and am very jealous. We used the Cook Strait Ferry one beautiful day last February, and that whole Marlborough Sounds area looked to be a cruising paradise. Made us yearn to be in a small boat instead of a campervan.
 
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langstonelayabout said:
Croatia does strike me as a destination where they are determined to relieve the visiting yachtsmen of their hard earned cash. Is this accurate or just my perception after sailing in Greece and often stopping on a pontoon that has a notice saying that 'your free stay here is dependent on your eating at our taverna'.
.
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We spent 3mo this summer cruising in Croatia and found that it wasn’t anywhere near as expensive as people suggest.

The marinas seemed cheaper than Italy, the Balearics, and several south coast U.K. marinas. Also, as Graham mentioned, there are lots of other low or no cost options which we used much of the time.

As for Croatians gouging cruising yachtsmen, I think that they just want to earn a living from their limited resources and don’t appreciate freeloaders. As far as I understand it, Croatia isn’t a wealthy country and employment opportunities are limited.

Charging for the buoys (and sometimes anchoring) seems reasonable to me since the govt collects a fee from the franchise holder. It can’t be such easy money because some of the buoy fields are abandoned and some of them change operators from year to year. The best ones in popular bays though seem like easy money.

Garold
 
About a tenner seems average. Best value I know of is Dun Laoghaire which is 5 euro for 6 hours, enough time for a shower, a few Ah into the batteries and a quick pint of Murphy's after a trip into Dublin on the DART.
I was also pleasantly surprised to have payment waived when offered to a Solent marina (I won't say which in case someone gets in trouble) after arriving late night and leaving early morning on one of their buoys. On my next, longer visit the same guy, poker faced, stated they had no record of payment for my previous visit. I started to stammer an explanation and he burst out laughing.
 
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Depends what was on offer for the short stop. how many hours were they offering. If for example it was for lets say 5-6 hours and you got the chance to use showers etc, id be prepared to pay that. Seams like the chap was quite accommodating by not charging you in this instance, so a good bit of PR really. Not many places would wave a charge like that.

Steveeasy
 
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