Marina madness

[doug748]

I was assigned a berth towards the end of the penultimate Northern pontoon and you could see beyond the Mountbatten breakwater from the cockpit and the level of comfort reflected that.

I have mentioned this before but if you follow that line of sight beyond the breakwater, the next bit of land you would meet is in South America.

The West Country is old school with no marina booking and I must say I strongly prefer it that way. However if you have an informal word with a Plymouth marina from Fowey, in October, and can't be given an positive assurance to rely on that day, it's bad form.

.

 

[lustyd]

with a PL postcode even we don't qualify...

I have a TR postcode

 

[Lucky Duck]

I have mentioned this before but if you follow that line of sight beyond the breakwater, the next bit of land you would meet is in South America.

The West Country is old school with no marina booking and I must say I strongly prefer it that way. However if you have an informal word with a Plymouth marina from Fowey, in October, and can't be given an positive assurance to rely on that day, it's bad form.

.

My recent experience is that most West Country marinas do take advanced bookings. For example this year I was told by Brixham marina that were fully booked for a mid June weekend. Similar Sutton Harbour were perfectly happy to accept a booking for around a week in advance.

What does differ from the Solent is that the classic havens have facilities provided by the harbour authority that for the most part are first come first served. This does avoid the situation such as in Poole where the visitors facility is almost always fully booked so not available to itinerant yachtspeople.

 

[capnsensible]

Would it be useful in the UK for getting a berth if boating was in a death spiral?

 

[benjenbav]

I would find it preferable if booking was the norm. Happy to pay in advance and lose payment if a no-show.

Appreciate not everyone agrees with this, but it’s just my preference.

 

[lustyd]

Would it be useful in the UK for getting a berth if boating was in a death spiral?

I find it's just useful to have somewhere to vent. It won't make a difference, but it helps get over issues. This thread has been great for me having people agree I wasn't unreasonable (in this instance) and for once there was a lack of "idiot, you should have done....".
I think boating is getting better in the UK overall, but there are inevitable hiccups. Certainly no death spirals, but perhaps some profiteering

 

[ashtead]

It does said seem strange re shortage of berths and alledged demise in market. I suspect many lurking in unpopular locations boost the demand having escaped from locked and tidal locations -certainly it seems far harder to find berths than it did in late 1970s and pitch up at Berthon without a booking and obtain a berth . My impression when calling West Country marina is that booking is seen as all too much work but I guess many don’t have specific visitors areas say at Brixham where are given a bertholders berth whenever we try there. That said they are always friendly and try to accommodate unlike some

 

[Aardee]

As soon as you say to someone "No need to book, we've plenty of space" you're guaranteed the unexpected arrival of enough visitors to fill the marina

I'd much rather you book a berth (even if you call the day before to cancel) than turn up and be disappointed if we're full.

 

[dslittle]

Whether the Solent offers the best marina can be debated but at least the Marinoes are friendly and not after a bung you find in some foreign locations -the point really was in Solent you have plenty of choices which perhaps don’t apply in West Country. You can pretty much always get space up Soton water in say Ocean village or down the Medina at Folly etc even if more choice locations are full and the prospect of a rocking ball mooring off Yarmouth doesn’t appeal.

On our last trip back to the UK, the only Marina that turned us away was Ocean Village.
Not a major issue thanks to other options (good weather and long day) but ever so slightly annoying after travelling up Southampton Water but it did encourage us to visit Shamrock Quay where we had a very nice stay (even got invited to a Berth holders Pontoon Party…)

 

[Babylon]

Threads like this one always remind me of the late Alan Villiers' favourite expression for all those commercially connected with seafaring but not actually afloat, e.g. ship's chandlers who'd supply shoddy gear etc, as "shore bastards"... say it with an Aussie accent for extra impact!

Alan Villiers - Wikipedia

 

[oldgit]

Moored Ramsgate, when late one evening a yacht called to request a berth for the night. Was a tad lumpy out there.
Only two other destinations depending on direction of travel, both some distance away, Dover or Queenborough.
It was the weekend of the Dunkerque little ships and port control turned him away.
The Port was busy but there were empty berths everywhere and he could has squeezed in somewhere.
Very disappointed indeed with Port Control.

 

[Biggles Wader]

Moored Ramsgate, when late one evening a yacht called to request a berth for the night. Was a tad lumpy out there.
Only two other destinations depending on direction of travel, both some distance away, Dover or Queenborough.
It was the weekend of the Dunkerque little ships and port control turned him away.
The Port was busy but there were empty berths everywhere and he could has squeezed in somewhere.
Very disappointed indeed with Port Control.

In those circumstances I'd have been tempted to have a minor technical problem and asked to enter anyway. Then stayed overnight while fixing it, pay my dues and continued on my way. What are they going to do, tow you out and cast you adrift?