Marina reviews

kid's inheritance

kid's inheritance

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Joined
1 Sep 2010
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344
Location
San Carles and Windermere
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Have any of the mags ever done Marina reviews? Before we settled on Sant Carles , we drove around the NE coast of Spain but it was mind numbing after the first day or so.
Facilities, access to airports, length of season, local anchorages, attractions of non-boaty stuff for kids,prices, atmosphere, local town -that sort of thing. For example , a review of the 15 or so marinas between Barcelona and Valencia would have been a real draw for us . I guess the UK south coast also has enough for a few issues.
Our other berth in Windermere Marina Village might have to anonymous though :D
Rob
 
Interesting thought. There's a similarly dense stretch around Nice airport, where as a newbie it would have been very interesting to see an article covering all the available marinas. For UK boaters considering a move overseas, I guess the starting point is normally the airport - they could do a series starting from a different Med airport each month.

Cheers
Jimmy
 
kid's inheritance said:
Have any of the mags ever done Marina reviews? Before we settled on Sant Carles , we drove around the NE coast of Spain but it was mind numbing after the first day or so.
Facilities, access to airports, length of season, local anchorages, attractions of non-boaty stuff for kids,prices, atmosphere, local town -that sort of thing. For example , a review of the 15 or so marinas between Barcelona and Valencia would have been a real draw for us . I guess the UK south coast also has enough for a few issues.
Our other berth in Windermere Marina Village might have to anonymous though :D
Rob
Click to expand...

We did two trips, one to mainland Spain, and one to South of France, before deciding on a marina. A mag article might be a nice idea. The other source of info is the pilot guides, like the Imray Rod Heikell series, which are written from a visitor rather than a bertholder perspective, but do cover no. of berths, shelter, amenities, general (but very limited) info on the local town/area etc.
 
Yes it sounds like a good idea but it would be very subjective. One man's idea of a lively fun marina might be another man's boating hell or what's reasonable pricing to one man might be exhorbitant to another. For example, there are regular complaints on the liveaboard forum about the costs of Croatian marinas but I can tell, compared to the W Med, they're very reasonable. Also the marina personnel change regularly so you might get good service one year and bad the next. Personally, if I want to assess what a marina is like as a potential long term base, I make a point of going there for an overnight stay. Thats really the only way you're going to begin to find out whether a particular marina suits you or not
 
Nick_H said:
We did two trips, one to mainland Spain, and one to South of France, before deciding on a marina. A mag article might be a nice idea. The other source of info is the pilot guides, like the Imray Rod Heikell series, which are written from a visitor rather than a bertholder perspective, but do cover no. of berths, shelter, amenities, general (but very limited) info on the local town/area etc.
Click to expand...
We did the whole Spain thing over two years from head to toe and ended up keeping the boat in the UK


But I agree its a good idea with the hub being at least one UK airport(s) destination
 
Good idea but instead of waiting for the mags why not start a sticky here. Sure, they would be subjective in terms of the feel of the place but maybe some standard things such as cost, availability for access, facilities could be reasonably objective.
 
Does this include UK marina's. River crouch,Essex. Fambridge is the place.Virtually no current so berthing is easy, Reasonable cost, nice people both staff & neighbours, good facilities & one of the best pubs you'll ever visit on the doorstep (ferry boat inn).:) Tried others on the crouch but service, particularly maintenance, is not a patch. Fambridge has an open policy so you can use who you want, which attracts the best in the area I have found.
 
Strake said:
Good idea but instead of waiting for the mags why not start a sticky here. Sure, they would be subjective in terms of the feel of the place but maybe some standard things such as cost, availability for access, facilities could be reasonably objective.
Click to expand...

Strake,
OK, I can do two , Sant Carles and Windermere Marina Village
Sant Carles
Nearest Airport : Reus , most UK airports but closes October (?). 45 minutes transfer time or 100euros
Berths: mixture of private and marina owned , up to 20 metre but separate mole for larger. Generally most sizes available. Med style and UK pontoons available. Generous fairways
Costs : 15 metre circa £5,000 pa inc. water and shore power. Free pump out, lifts out and stern gear clean £160 for a 15 metre
Facilities: Restaurant ( more snack bar but both food and £ acceptable ), Pool , club room, good showers and toilets, laundry, fuel , pump out , lift out , free wifi
Local things to do : Water park near airport, river fishing in the Ebro, very good birdwatching,sea fishing charters, town beach with pedallo rentals etc, many non-touristy mountain villages within 30 km
Pros: Good community spirit, local town very Catalan ,pleasant climate (more breezy than further south) , very sheltered lagoon for water sports. Easy reach to Balearics
Cons: fouling needs 2 lift outs pa, wifi somewhat hit and miss but improving, some years mozzies can be an issue. A resort for the Spanish so August is a little too busy but quiet outside then




Windermere Marina village
Access: J 36 M6
Berths: Up to 15 metre but tight berths and fairways. All via Marina, limited availability
Costs : £10,000 for 15 metre, free water, metered electric, chargeable pump outs and lift outs
Facilities.: Laundry and showers, restaurant closed following floods ( 3 years ago! ) but temporary snack bar
Local things to do: In the Lake District so pretty much everything!
Pros; Good weekend community, loads for non boaters to do , walking distance of Bowness, safe environment to learn boating for kids
Cons: Climate ( there is a reason there are so many lakes !) , expensive , few facilities, speed limit on the lake means water skiing is doable but hard work , restaurants at the weekend are busy


Hope that is the sort of thing
Regards
Rob
 
Well, I'm a bit out of date on my old UK marina but here's an overview of my current one:

Royan (Port de Plaisance) http://www.port-royan.com/
Location: Pretty much half way down the Atlantic coast of France.
Weather: Second warmest area in France (to Med), with similar sunshine levels Jul-Sept
Nearest Airports: La Rochelle (seasonal?) Bordeaux. Both within an hour.
Road: 25 mins from Exit 36 A10 (E5)
Berths: 1000 to 17 Metres. Rental only, all Pontoon style. Access at all tides with the harbour dredged regularly to 2.5m below chart datum.
Cost: €5000 pa 17m. Waiting list of appx two years so add 10% for seasonal rates. Includes electricity and water + one lift per annum.
Fuel Prices (09/12) Diesel €1.54 Petrol (EP-10) €1.75 Note, it seems to be acceptable to bring your own fuel (sometimes in multiple 50 litre cans!) and pump at your pontoon - normally for boats up to 8m. In this case, fuel is €1.31 & €1.58 respectively.
Facilities: Three toilet/shower blocks for marina users use only. 10 jetons for €18. Laundry, pump-out, Ice etc. Hundreds of restaurants and shops within 500m. In summer, family entertainment every night. Chandelery as UK, electronics and engine maintenance seem well priced with estimates (Devis) being kept to.
Non-boating facilities: As you would expect for the place where the French come to holiday - lots. http://www.royan-tourisme.com/
Place to go by boat:
North - the Islands of Oleron and Re, Fort Boyard, Cordouan Lighthouse "island", Rochefort and La Rochelle
South - The Gironde Estuary down to Bordeaux
West - The Medoc peninsular and Port Medoc, giving access to those long Atlantic beaches.
Pros: Where the French come to holiday so excellent food and facilities. Very friendly users if you make the effort to try some French. I haven't noticed any demarcation lines between, sail, power or commercial. Capitainerie staff all very helpful.
Cons: Can be noisy in high season on pontoons close to the harbour side but all musical entertainment in the marina stops at 11:30pm. Although the marina is well protected, it can get very windy for a couple of days at a time. Worth putting mosquito nets over the portholes in August at night. Sea a bit green until clear of the estuary.
 
I think this is a good idea but could get a bit long-winded and difficult to track, as people give opinions on the same marina - I would like to see both good and bad views on each marina. So why not another YBW Forum just on Marinas, with each thread started under a specific marina name? Can this be done?

We could then have a forum for

Marinas in Spain
Marinas in the UK
Marinas in France
Etc

With sub-headings for the named marina, under each main header, that way people can look at the marinas they want or in the region they want.

Probably too difficult to moderate/manage, but would be useful - just a thought....
 
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