Marina Extension in Ipswich?

ex-Gladys said:
Not sure that would be all due to the takeover etc... There has been a waiting list in West Mersea for years, but this year there are many vacancies apparently, with a number of local boats up for sale
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There were a lot of empty spaces before the Neptune boats were moved over, so as you say, not all due to the takeover. But my point was, there wasn't room for the Neptune boats to all move over, yet there are still empty spaces. ABP took over 90+ berths and lost most of those boats.

I find it hard to see how the income from 14 visitors berths will be anywhere close to that of 90 full time berths. That's ignoring the £2M "investment".
 
johnalison said:
My only interest is as an occasional visitor, though my preference in recent years has been the Haven. The website describes the Neptune as an asset for the town, but in practice the necessary fencing means that the townspeople and visitors don’t really get to see or appreciate the boats in the way that I have seen in some continental harbours where yachts are very much part of the scene and not so far as I know subject to vandalism. From my limited point of view the chief concern is that the capacity should at least be retained.
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Yes at least in Galicia the marinas take up what was public quay and fence in the yachts not really adding to the visual quality of the towns
 
Wansworth said:
Yes at least in Galicia the marinas take up what was public quay and fence in the yachts not really adding to the visual quality of the towns
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There is such a thing as planning. If the marina makes better use of that space there can be a good arguement for it. How it is carried out can be another matter. I am not sure, from what I am hearing (rumour so one has to be careful) the Ipswich operation is applying neither planning, nor better use for the benefit of the community- whether that be passing shoreside, or water based
I am sure that Ipswich dock area really does need more buy to let housing though :cry: 🫣
 
Hi Paul,

Thanks gor the two photos, were they taken at about the same time of each year? I wouldn't consider either the thick green weed or the floating rubbish to be a recent development. In the 1960s, the weed appeared regularly in July of each year and faded away by October. The rubbish was typical of the Wet Dock, as it was then called, all year round.

Peter.
 
PeterWright said:
Hi Paul,

Thanks gor the two photos, were they taken at about the same time of each year? I wouldn't consider either the thick green weed or the floating rubbish to be a recent development. In the 1960s, the weed appeared regularly in July of each year and faded away by October. The rubbish was typical of the Wet Dock, as it was then called, all year round.

Peter.
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Hi Peter,

The second picture is from the "save the waterfront" Facebook page, i just posted it as a contrast to the 1993 picture. It was taken last December, when the boats moved from Neptune. Obviously can't blame ABP for the weed though ;)
 
PaulRainbow said:
There were a lot of empty spaces before the Neptune boats were moved over, so as you say, not all due to the takeover. But my point was, there wasn't room for the Neptune boats to all move over, yet there are still empty spaces. ABP took over 90+ berths and lost most of those boats.

I find it hard to see how the income from 14 visitors berths will be anywhere close to that of 90 full time berths. That's ignoring the £2M "investment".
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I found this they other day in my pictures album.
Was this the original plan ?
Dated july 2023.
 
Plum said:
It was just after that plan that the Old Gaffers Association gave feedback to ABP on turning circles for large traditional boats/barges
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That probably takes care of the missing berths. Surprised that ABP did not the Barges etc into account .
 
We are going around in circles gents.

The original plans are in posts #11 and #13

As for barges turning, see post #19

Of course, all academic now, with the change of plans.
 
Plum said:
It was just after that plan that the Old Gaffers Association gave feedback to ABP on turning circles for large traditional boats/barges
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Hi Plum,

I haven't seen the OGA's feedback but I would expect it to be knowedgeable on handling these wondrful,old vessels.

I do know that in the 1960s, most of the remaining sailing barges working out of Ipswich, including Lady Jean, a big mulie, were moored in the pointy end of the dock where it's considerably less than 45 m. wide and indeed at the point less than the length of most sailing barges. Most of them were still sailing barges without auxiliary engines. I don't know why, but my memory tells me they mostly moored bow towards the point. Getting out was a warping exercise, as was turning the barge around, but considered easy as they were rarely laden when up there. The Pauls barges would be warped aft to where there was enough width to epin, spun and moored up under Pauls mill with hatches off in about 2 hours then loaded with 120 to 180 tons of, for example, cattle cake, hatches on, hatchcloths on and battened down in the next four hours before sailing with the tops'l if the wind was fair, warping the laden barge if not, into the lock and dropping down to the Pin Mill buoys on the last of the ebb. The master and mate then had the whole flood tide to eat and sleep before letting go in the dark to make their way to wherever their cargo was to be delivered, hopefully not up some godforsaken creek where you would need to pay a muffler to guide your deep laden barge to the berth, so reducing the share left for both master and mate

Those men would have called a 45m. turning circle an unwarranted luxury.

Peter.
 
Snowgoose-1 said:
I think fences are probably required these days. I always thought that Ostend was dangerous. A couple of weeks ago I sailed to Maningtree and noticed that fences are still up at Mistley Quay. I think I am right that you can still tie up on the Quay now ?
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The fences at Mistley were put there by the owner to in an attempt to prevent yachts from using it. He probably wanted to make a few million by building huss on it but, whatever his plan were, they were scuppered by locals getting the quay declared common land. I don't pretend to know the legal ins and outs, but I feel it would be great if the ugly fences wee removed. Maybe they have gone, I've not been there since just before Covid.

Quaysides should not have fences. The purpose of a quayside is to moor vessels, embark, disembark, load and unload processes all made unsafe by the existence of fences at the water's edge.

It' s bad enough that we have to to put up "Danger Deep Water" notices all round any quay, it's about as sensible as putting "Danger Motor Vehicles" signs every 100 m. along all our roads.

Peter.
 
The fence at Mistley quayside, River Stour, is still there. The situation appears complex though. Hopefully someone local will be able to let us know what area the High Court 2021 confirmed 'village green' designation comprises and why the fence appears to be a separate issue.
 
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PaulRainbow said:
Lock out of action today. ABP don't seem to have heard of preventative maintenance.

EDIT, back in action now.
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Hi Paul,

It's quite possible that ABP have not yet heard of PM but in the case of their lock gates it won't help much. The actuators were made by Keelavite Hydraulics (acquired by Joseph Lucas Industries in 1969) and of great vintage. The only other users of these quaint hydraulic systems I know of are the Ipswich sugar beet factory and a Westnghouse nuclear power plant at Asco in Catalunya. Whether brand new, just maintained or totally ignored these actuators seem to suffer a high frequency of failure. The cure is obvious, replace them with reliable gear, but, in the absence of charging lock fees the cost of replacing them is high with no direct return.

Peter.
 
Does ABP not charge harbour dues and/or rents to all the users including commercial ships, yachts, yacht builders and marinas, which might go towards lock upgrade?

If the lock stops working would the area still work as a tidal basin?
 
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Hi Egret,

They charge dues for berthing but for leisure craft, who make up most of the business in the wet dock, they are competing with others who don't nd to locking and out so can't load their berthing fees to cover the major lock repairs required. No fee per lock use is levied.

To work as a tidal basin at least one pair of gates must function although the number of operations per day would be much reduced. It would also have a major impact on berth holders who would only be able to come and go at the current free flow times, creating impossible log jams. That would likely cause many berth holders to move elsewhere.

Peter
 
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During the Summer there have been numerous issues with the lock. Closures, only one lock gate working, restricted use (locking in on even hours and out on uneven hours etc etc.

Many berth holders have moved elsewhere.
 
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