It's official.. England is one of the most unfriendliest countries to sailors.

[Leighb]

The first marina I came across wire fences and security locks was in Cascais, and that was some years ago, so it is not just in the UK.

 

[[70521]]

I'm based in Devon and can't think where this well known exception might be. Which port?

I'd be interested as well

 

[chrisb]

Try Panama and then appreciate England

 

[Skylark]

I'd be interested as well

Last season, we sailed from Southampton back to our home port in north Wales. All of our marina stops were very welcoming with one exception. Falmouth, Cornwall. The chap running the local authority pontoon seemed to have an aversion to responding to vhf. When he finally did reply it was simply "yeah, come alongside". As we tried to berth, all boat owners occupying the pontoon simply vanished or looked away. We were clearly unwelcome to raft alongside. The other marina in the town refused to respond at all to vhf. We anchored in the bay. The water taxi was very helpful and courteous. Later in the evening a rib with divers returned to the slip, the cox'n had absoluetly no idea or interest in just how uncomfotable his wake was to other vessels. Clueless.

 

[longjohnsilver]

Last season, we sailed from Southampton back to our home port in north Wales. All of our marina stops were very welcoming with one exception. Falmouth, Cornwall. The chap running the local authority pontoon seemed to have an aversion to responding to vhf. When he finally did reply it was simply "yeah, come alongside". As we tried to berth, all boat owners occupying the pontoon simply vanished or looked away. We were clearly unwelcome to raft alongside. The other marina in the town refused to respond at all to vhf. We anchored in the bay. The water taxi was very helpful and courteous. Later in the evening a rib with divers returned to the slip, the cox'n had absoluetly no idea or interest in just how uncomfotable his wake was to other vessels. Clueless.

As you rightly say, that's Cornwall, not Devon. The Falmouth LA pontoon is manned largely by seasonal staff, almost all of whom have been very friendly whenever we've been there. Never had need to call them up on VHF, so can't comment on that aspect, although it's accepted that if there's a space available, you take it. They do not reserve spaces.

 

[Searush]

The trouble with that is that our boats are our homes for significant periods and they are not particularly secure - you could break into most boats in minutes with nothing more than a large penknife. Don't know about the rest of you, but we don't go to sleep at night with the frond door unlocked and ground floor windows open - I like the security of a marina with combination locks on the gates.

Why do you sleep in the marina anyway? Marinas are supposed to be car parks for boats aren't they? I have the odd night in harbour at the start/ end of a trip but I am almost always off out on the first tide to sleep at anchor or on a borrowed mooring somewhere - and that's in a working harbour with open access to the public. Incidentally, chatting to the day trippers & kids crab fishing off the quay is almost always entertaining & often enlightening. It's surprising how many gongoozlers have some boating or maritime experience, that's often why they come to drool over the yots.

 

[maby]

Why do you sleep in the marina anyway? Marinas are supposed to be car parks for boats aren't they? I have the odd night in harbour at the start/ end of a trip but I am almost always off out on the first tide to sleep at anchor or on a borrowed mooring somewhere - and that's in a working harbour with open access to the public. Incidentally, chatting to the day trippers & kids crab fishing off the quay is almost always entertaining & often enlightening. It's surprising how many gongoozlers have some boating or maritime experience, that's often why they come to drool over the yots.

We spend most of our time on the boat - I'll be there again in a couple of days writing a bid for another big IT system. Some of us still have to work! The boat is the best environment to do that!

 

[capnsensible]

Why do you sleep in the marina anyway? Marinas are supposed to be car parks for boats aren't they? I have the odd night in harbour at the start/ end of a trip but I am almost always off out on the first tide to sleep at anchor or on a borrowed mooring somewhere - and that's in a working harbour with open access to the public. Incidentally, chatting to the day trippers & kids crab fishing off the quay is almost always entertaining & often enlightening. It's surprising how many gongoozlers have some boating or maritime experience, that's often why they come to drool over the yots.

I reckon you may be the exception rather than the rule these days, Searush. Most people like to step ashore somewhere for pub, showers, loos etc hence the huge increase in marina berths over the last 30 years.

In the past 16 years I only average about 10 nights a year ashore. Of the rest, several hundreds at sea, many hundreds at anchor, but the remaining five thousand odd have been in marinas.

I may have had a different view if I lived in a house but it seems most folk enjoy their comforts!

 

[capnsensible]

In response to the OP, we have rarely had difficulty anywhere with local people. The couple of incidents I can think of have been French in origin.....

Im more inclined to view the degree of difficulty clearing in and out. Obeying the rule of smiling regardless coz you aint gonna win, the toughest have been a Croatian harbour (Split, I think) several in Morocco, tiring but doable, Trinidad (talked football to distract), English Harbour in Antigua and the rudest by far, St Barts with a real slimy French attitude.

I could give a far longer list of those who were great, including many tides ago, the Customs guy who met you in his dory when you got back from France early in the morning, us dishevelled and hung over. He was always courteous and witty!

May all your beaurocrats be benevolent!

 

[maby]

I reckon you may be the exception rather than the rule these days, Searush. Most people like to step ashore somewhere for pub, showers, loos etc ....

...!

We want all the above, but the primary requirement is for a decent WiFi internet connection - without that, we cannot earn the money to pay for the boat!

 

[sailaboutvic]

Fence's or no fence's that an hard question , but on this one I am going to have to disagree Mark ,
As you know we just a few miles along the coast to you and we had one break in and two attempted breaking , we also had one lady who has woken up in the middle of the night and found someone sitting in her companion way , we also like to see marinas without fence's but the realty is we live in a world where people will steal if it made easy for them , as I am sure you know .
not so long ago we use to leave are doors and windows open while we went ashore , now we don't go to the shower block without locking up .
We like seeing the local people mixing with us in the marina but I not too sure about encourages them on the pontoon is a good idea .
Regarding if the UK is less friendly then other country's , at the risk of upsetting a lot of people back home , we tend to manly mix with other live aboard who are a little bit different from the weekend sailor , live aboard go out of there way to get to know others in the marina and at times when at anchor , most will help if someone has a problem at time given away parts to help a fellow sailor , back home it not quite the same I had a berth in an marina in Suffolk for over 8 years and the only person I knew by name was the boat next to me , we have 40 who stayed over the winter and we know everyone by name as well as some of the Italians .
It's a different world and a different type of sailing , maybe because we have more time .

 

[Greenheart]

...the primary requirement is for a decent WiFi internet connection - without that, we cannot earn the money to pay for the boat!

Does that make sense, Maby? Don't you have a whacking great new Beneteau? Having committed so much of your time and finances to the ownership of your yacht, isn't fully-mobile satellite internet the most obvious benefit available, amongst floating electronics today? Something like this...

http://www.caclase.co.uk/mobile-communications

...almost regardless of how expensive connection is, it has to cost less than marina fees...which you'd then be able to avoid, along with the awfulness of being in a floating car-park.

I'd happily cope without TV, refrigerator, I wouldn't even object much to oil lamps. But genuinely mobile internet would be a boon both for work and for the unquantifiable information and entertainment available from it, en route. As well as obviating the necessity to stop in dreary places for Wifi - that surely justifies its high cost better than most yacht-gadgets?

Sorry for the drift.

 

[maby]

Apart from being very expensive, satellite internet has terrible latency - we don't just use it for a bit of email and web browsing - we are connected into the corporate network over a VPN and using a variety of applications on servers - that kind of latency makes it hopeless. We have a 3g MiFi router on the boat, but we generally break the "fair use" policy of even a generous 3g contract in less than a week! WiFi on a decent broadband line really is the only viable option!

 

[maby]

P.S. TracPhone V3IP :

•Antenna Dome Standard Diameter x Height/Weight: 39.4 cm x 44.5 cm /11.3Kg (15.5" x 17.5" /25lbs)
•Service Provider: KVH mini VSAT Broadband
•Service Coverage Area: See coverage map
•Maximum Downlink Rate (Shore-to-Ship): 2Mbps
•Maximum Uplink Rate (Ship-to-Shore): 128Kbps
•Billing Method: Metered
•Typical Cost per MB transmitted (see rate sheet): From $0.49 per MB (depending on rate plan)
•Typical Cost per minute for Voice (see rate sheet): $0.49 per minute
•Voice: One voice line


Expensive and slow! I recon we could easily run up a £500 per month bill on that - enough to pay for a Hamble marina (well, almost!)

 

[Greenheart]

Cripes! That is crappy value. I'd assumed satellite connection offered a very satisfactory, if initially very costly, answer for persons hitherto land-bound by internet requirement...

...my sister's internet provider in France is so lousy, she and my brother-in-law considered some satellite set-up as a more consistent alternative. I see now why that didn't happen.

SWMBO's parents went on a fairly ghastly cruise last year, on one of the biggest, newest ships - they were amazed at the cost for Wifi on board...I begin to understand the reasons.

 

[rosewood]

It's not really official though is it. Or are you an official?

 

[westhinder]

Many years of visiting the UK in boats have left me with two distinctly opposed impressions:
The first is the stark contrast between the high security, barbed wire fenced, gated community of many marinas and the rough, oppressingly poor and rundown surroundings in which they are situated. Queen Annes Battery in Plymouth is just one example.
The second is the kindness of many people I have met. There is the professional kindness of the marina staff in general, many of whom will go beyond their professional duties to help a stranger. But what's much more important, I have been surprised on so many occasions by the spontaneous warmth and helpfulness of ordinary people I have met outside the harbour. I sailed around Britain last summer, and I must say that the Scots are the friendliest people that I have ever met. Just one example: I stepped ashore in Eyemouth, looking for a container to dispose of my garbage. As I did not immediately find one, I asked a boy aged around 18, who was taking a break outside a warehouse and was tapping on his phone. His answer was : I do not know, but you can give me your bag, I'm driving back to my head office in a minute and I'll dispose of it there.
I can't imagine getting that sort of response in Belgium, and I will admit that it is not the sort of response that I might have given if the roles were reversed. I certainly has made me think.
So to the OP: I am happy to say it is not all doom and gloom in Britain.

 

[TPW]

Except Russia, I visited all neighboring countries of the Baltic Sea with my yacht. Last year I went to England's south coast (passing The Netherlands and Belgium), the Channel Islands and Brittany. Friendly, polite and helpful people everywhere. I think that people treat foreigners better than natives, so the situation is different when you are in your home country. I made this experience with Germany. So don't bother, the UK is fine for sailors coming from abroad.

 

[Alfie168]

It's surprising how many gongoozlers have some boating or maritime experience, that's often why they come to drool over the yots.

You havn't rumbled me yet. I'm the one who keep askin how many times your Bavaria keel has drooped off in a strong Westerley

Tim

 

[Greenheart]

...how many times your Bavaria keel has drooped off in a strong Westerly.

A Westerly with a Bavaria keel? A Centaur presumably, which had lifted off its own keels when they stuck in the mud? Are Bavaria keels to be found at boat-jumbles now?