Lymington v Yarmouth

jonnybuoy

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On saturday messed around in Solent then decided to stop over for the night at Lymington for a change (we normally head for Yarmouth). Go in about 4pm. Not having stayed there before I call the marina on VHF an politely ask if they can squeeze our 23 footer in anywhere overnight. "Nope" comes the reply "we're full". "Oh" says I, "anywhere else local that might have room do you know" to which "nope, Lymington Yacht haven and Yarmouth full as well". Well given that in the book it says first come first served, and we're only small, and it doesn't look totally jammers yet, we decide to mooch around and eventually bump into the harbour master who helpfully points me to the visitors buoys where there were spaces and says of course we can stay over. Anyhow pleased at not having to make the jaunt back to Poole we go ashore by water taxi for a few hours. Later that evening about 9pm we come down to get the water taxi over only to find that it has broken down. There is apparently only one water taxi in Lymington even on a busy bank holiday. Bloke running it has no idea if he will get it fixed. I've got missus plus tired 3 year old in buggy plus dog in tow so not best pleased. Eventually manage to get a lift from someone who has a tender who very kindly drops us back in two jouneys.

It's a nice town Lymington; maybe the marina guy had the hump about having to work bank holiday weekend and maybe the taxi was just unlucky but I won't rush to overnight there again; Yarmouth just seems much more boater-friendly and organised.

Top boating weekend though.

Jon.
 

Whitelighter

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Sounds like you went to Berthons? They are Cr.. with a cap C and should be avoided. In contrast, I have always found the Yacht Haven excellent and very accomodating. Did you actually ask if they had space, or just beleive the word of the Berthon toss pot?
 

Nick_H

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I don't think Berthon and the Yacht Haven co-operate much so I guess he had heard they were full over Ch 80. A 23 footer can usually squeeze in somewhere on the public moorings or the town quay, but Berthons may have assumed you were looking for marina facilities??

The management at Berthon are notoriously difficult, but the dockmaster and staff were always pretty helpful during the time we were there. Maybe he'd had a bad day, but that's a weak excuse anyway.

Glad to hear someone gave you a lift back to your boat, but not at all surprised as boaters are a pretty friendly bunch.
 

peterb26

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Cant speak of Berthon, but always had good service at Yachthaven. Dropped in for 30 mins the other day to visit one of the local companies.

Called them up and asked if it was ok to stay (without paying!) whilst I did this.

No problem at all.

Thanks Yacht Haven.
 

jonnybuoy

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It was channel 80 which I assumed from the book covered the town quay as well or is that just Berthons? Maybe that was my mistake as the space we got directed to by the harbour master was the buoys by the town quay.
 

AdeOlly

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Hmmm, well we stayed the weekend at Berthons and we had no problems, even someone on hand to help with the lines as just me and SWMBO with the screaming kiddies. Booked the Friday night a week ago and we were on the wait list for Saturday. Saturday morning popped into dockmasters office and the phone was ringing almost continually with requests for a berth. We were near the top of the list and kept our berth for Saturday. Marina facilities not as good as Yarmouth, but the town offers more, esp shopping for SWMBO.
I wasn't sure if the boatr would get on the plane after the Saturday shopping spree /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
 

volvopaul

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H i I used to be a bertholder in the yachthaven so cant comment other than they always seem to be full yet there are spaces all the time, even more ive heard just recently as there have been a lot of people leaving due to the horrendous charges, also bertholders dont tell the office if there away so they dont know if they have any spaces or not, seems they have too much money as they get paid half less the vat if they rent there berth out.

Berthons have always been ok with me, but our favourite place is always the town, we always picked the pontoon on the east side rather than between 2 buoys, lovelly place plenty to see.

May be in either yarmouth or lymington this weekend on mates phantom 46 called snow tiger if anyone sees us come and say hello, im the slim one but done tell steve the owner i said that!
 

Overdraught

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We've spent that last 2 weeks kicking about the Solent and spent time in Lymington and Yarmouth. We stayed in Yacht Haven who happily squeezed us (2 boats) in with 3 hours notice on a saturday , albeit rafted, right opposite the fuel berth.

Don't be put off, they're decent people, plus the fuel is good value if over 100 litres going in!!

Yarmouth is, as you say, a great place to stop, even if you have to pay for showers
 

gjgm

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I dont think many marinas have spare berths lying free in case of a visitor. They rely on people departing to let them know that the berth will be vacant that night. Unfortunately, it seems lots of people dont like to do this, resulting in an empty looking marina with the staff unable to use them.
If there is one w/end of the year that people might be looking for a berth, it must have been this one. The VHF in Southampton Waters was just constant, no, sorry, no room.
While frustrating, I dont think you can really expect marina A to know what other companies may or may not have free, can you?
Still, glad you had a good w/end. We were stuck on our berth after finding out the mechanic hadnt fixed the boat properly. At least you had power!!
 

Oldhand

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[ QUOTE ]
H i I used to be a bertholder in the yachthaven so cant comment other than they always seem to be full yet there are spaces all the time, even more ive heard just recently as there have been a lot of people leaving due to the horrendous charges, also bertholders dont tell the office if there away so they dont know if they have any spaces or not, seems they have too much money as they get paid half less the vat if they rent there berth out.



[/ QUOTE ]

Well, I have given up advising my berth is free 'cause I've had more than enough of visitors using my ropes, chafing them and leaving them dangling in the water. Even had one warp go missing which was later found in the car park! It's cheaper not to have replace berthing warps and not to have the risk of berthing damage cause we can't get hold of our warps when we return than the paltry sum one can get back at the end of the year. I only advise when we are away for a week or more as a result.
 

DoubleVision

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we were in Lymington Yacht Haven on Saturday. Arrived about 1.30 and got a berth no probs. I was listening to Berthon turning peeps away even at that time on ch80. They had a berth free next door but one all the time we were there til we left on Sunday noon. May be worth trying there first in future. Its a bit further to push the buggy I know but certainly on my list of favourite marinas. Power is a problem at Berthon as they give you a huge heavy grey box to lug down the pontoon and plug into your boat.
 

Scubadoo

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Can not comment on Berthons, I have always gone for Yacht Haven and found it easy to call them on the mobile when about 30mins away. I'm only a 24ft boat and even when very busy I tend to get in somewhere. The staff there are very friendly and very accommondating.

However I was at East Cowes Marina on Sunday night and I found the staff there not the most friendly bunch particulary when they wanted to squeeze me in a space I felt was just too tight.

Ventnor visitor buoys is good for a few hours which I did on Monday, the harbour master was extremely helpful and went out of his way to accommondate me - great guy, nothing was too much hassle - he's probably the best habour master I've come across around the IOW for years.

Anyway what a great weekend.
 
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Deleted User YDKXO

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Berthon's always get sniffy or don't even reply if you call them Lymington Marina or similar. I once got a lecture from them on this. Agree that the Yacht Haven seems more friendly but a bit of a hike to town
 

jonnybuoy

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Thanks for the comments - will try Yacht Haven next time sounds like a much better bet, particularly if you don't have to rely on the water taxi!
Cheers

Jon.
 
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