MDL strike again!

just ( 3 yachts) returned to b'sea after a delightful 4 days in the crouch & roach. In the Roach, a very pleasant representative of the Roach sailing association went out of his way to put us right for a swinging mooring for each boat - no charge. picked a mooring alongside at pagalsham - charge was via a honesty box in the ferry boat pub. paid our £15 per boat with no grumbles, asked about a swinging moorings for the night at Essex marina no answer on the vhf, but a local told us never really a charge. forgot how pleasant that part of the world is. course it is in the main aorta of the romford navy, but even they were all back at their city jobs so no stink pots flying around either.... came out of the crouch with a full wallet!
 
just ( 3 yachts) returned to b'sea after a delightful 4 days in the crouch & roach. In the Roach, a very pleasant representative of the Roach sailing association went out of his way to put us right for a swinging mooring for each boat - no charge. picked a mooring alongside at pagalsham - charge was via a honesty box in the ferry boat pub. paid our £15 per boat with no grumbles, asked about a swinging moorings for the night at Essex marina no answer on the vhf, but a local told us never really a charge. forgot how pleasant that part of the world is. course it is in the main aorta of the romford navy, but even they were all back at their city jobs so no stink pots flying around either.... came out of the crouch with a full wallet!

Hmmm, they really should be paying you to tie up at Essex Marina - terrible place!
 
just ( 3 yachts) returned to b'sea after a delightful 4 days in the crouch & roach. In the Roach, a very pleasant representative of the Roach sailing association went out of his way to put us right for a swinging mooring for each boat - no charge. picked a mooring alongside at pagalsham - charge was via a honesty box in the ferry boat pub. paid our £15 per boat with no grumbles, !

Are you perhaps confusing Paglesham on the Roach with Fambridge on the Crouch? 'Cos the Ferry Boat (c/w honesty box for visitors) is the pub at Fambridge, the pubs at Paglesham are the Plough & Sail and the Punch Bowl (plus you can't easily get ashore at Paglesham at the moment). Unikely to have been a member of the RSA if it was Fambridge though which is confusing!
 
Hmmm, they really should be paying you to tie up at Essex Marina - terrible place!

Can be awkward with some cross tide berths but the facilities were OK when I was last there a couple of years ago. Was close enough to walk to Mr & Mrs Full Circle's for a delightful black tie dinner (well RN Mess Kit for me) for the St George's Day English Poets Celebration :-)
 
Unless there is a compelling reason to be on the South bank of the Crouch I would have through Burnham Yacht Harbour would be the better choice for visitors.

I've never once considered berthing as a visitor at Essex Marina. Went in once for petrol in Brigantia and that was once too often as the tide made getting onto the fuel pontoon a somewhat interesting excercise to say the least! Burnham Yacht Harbour is a very good place to visit (and no doubt a very good place to berth if you can afford a marina berth)
 
Are you perhaps confusing Paglesham on the Roach with Fambridge on the Crouch? 'Cos the Ferry Boat (c/w honesty box for visitors) is the pub at Fambridge, the pubs at Paglesham are the Plough & Sail and the Punch Bowl (plus you can't easily get ashore at Paglesham at the moment). Unikely to have been a member of the RSA if it was Fambridge though which is confusing!

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I think jant means the Plough and Sail.......indeed Roach SA have the downstream moorings at Pag, and are happy to let people hang off them
 
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I think jant means the Plough and Sail.......indeed Roach SA have the downstream moorings at Pag, and are happy to let people hang off them

Indeed but I didn't think there was a £15 charge for doing so (there is a visitors mooring charge at Fambridge as they're commercial moorings) nor an honesty box in the pub (which there is at Fambridge) and I was under the impression that visitors can't currently land at Paglesham anyway! I'm still confused!!!!
 
I hate this shortsighted view taken by more and more marinas and even clubs.
We used to occasionally pop up to the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Club at Lowestoft.
Tie up and then spend around £50 or £60 on a meal and drinks and sail back to Southwold, all in a day.
Last time we went they charged me £5 for landing, I had 6 on board and I think the total bar and meal bill was well over £100.
That fiver left a bad taste.
They've lost my custom now as it was the only reason I'd turn left out of Southwold.
I now I only turn right or go straight on.
 
K
I hate this shortsighted view taken by more and more marinas and even clubs.
We used to occasionally pop up to the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Club at Lowestoft.
Tie up and then spend around £50 or £60 on a meal and drinks and sail back to Southwold, all in a day.
Last time we went they charged me £5 for landing, I had 6 on board and I think the total bar and meal bill was well over £100.
That fiver left a bad taste.
They've lost my custom now as it was the only reason I'd turn left out of Southwold.
I now I only turn right or go straight on.

Could I (in the usual very polite East Coast way!) ask that if your bar/drinks bill was £100 with free mooring or £105 with the £5 charge, is the £5 really a deal breaker between 6 of you?

In an ideal world it would be free but if a club is not a financial success it closes and we all have one less place to visit and perhaps only have ourselves to blame.

I'd be surprised if the RNSYC has huge reserves of cash and I'd assume needs the money. You are of course right that it's possibly shortsighted and scares people off, including you, but wonder if their finances mean there's no option.
 
The £5 is there when I land with just me and swmbo or with a boat full.
They don't charge me £5 to use the car park and have a drink so why do they if I arrive in my boat.
(its actually harder to find a car space than a spare berth at the RNSYC.)

However its the principle that irks me rather than the actual charge.
Its not a poor club by any means but even if it were I'm not sure this practice as an indicator of attitude, would encourage me to join.
 
It does sound odd, I agree. If someone wanted to tie up to use the showers or go shopping I could understand it, but I would have thought that most clubs would be happy for visitors to stay briefly even if they were just using the bar. If it were a Solent club, this would be a regular event but I don't equate Lowestoft with the Isle of Widgit.
 
To the OP - was there an information sign on the buoy detailing the charges? If not then they had no right to ask for payment until they had advised you of the charge. You could then decide whether to stay - or go without paying. FWIW I've stayed on innumerable moorings on the East Coast from Ramsholt to the Swale and I've only paid at Aldeburgh on the official visitors moorings - surely fair enough. Everywhere else I've never been asked for money. I once gave a fiver at Ramsholt but not sine I discovered the RNLI have £300m cash in the back, I support the local independent lifeboat now.

I've also had numerous free visits for a few hours to many East Coast marinas, all you do is pop £30 of diesel in and ask nicely if you can stop for a bit whilst you visit the chandlery ;)
 
At Woolverstone recently, when I asked about WiFi I was told £4.99 but then that "It isn't very good anyway" . I didn't bother

It is very variable between marinas. We have recently spent time in Hythe and Ocean Village and the quality of service has been very good in both. In other MDL marinas, we've found it to be pretty bad.
 
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