Mooring waiting list - corruption?

Fergus

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I was on the waiting list for a mooring in Lymington river for 6 years to no avail. I just found out someone who had recently moved into the area with a boat with the same draught as mine got a mooring after 6 months!! Is this common?
 
They probably lost the list. I had a similiar experience when on the waiting list for a lock-up garage. People started getting them who I knew applied months after me. After tackling the council it turned out that they lost the original list in a computer crash (nice backup strategy) and didn't bother telling anyone. They just started a new one instead!
 
I'll have you know, good Sir, that I won the Round the Island Race 2 years running! (OK it was in the tiddler class with a Westerly Pageant)!
 
There\'s your answer!

"...I won the Round the Island Race 2 years running! (OK it was in the tiddler class with a Westerly Pageant)!"

And you seek a futher explanation? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

It is said that, in the case of a Fairways Committee that allocates moorings in my neck of the woods, word reached the Chairman that the Crown Estates wanted an increase in the ground rent.

So he called for the waiting list, which contained 32 names, and crossed off 29 of them as "not serious" or otherwise undeserving.

He then had his meeting with the Crown Estates and pointed out that there was no demand for moorings, and indeed his Committee were likely to be put to the expense of taking up vacant ones...

Rent increase cancelled...

...19 names reinstated (the other ten really had had given up sailing or died...)
 
Same draft but was it the same length? I, too, am on the list and know of several people with boats <30' that have got half tide moorings pretty quickly. If you have a boat in the 30'+ range you'll just have to wait. BTW I've been on the list for 7 years and am a Lym local so with 6 yrs and no longer local you can just wait a bit longer /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Re: Mooring waiting list - corruption? ... who you know ...

Not so far away from Lymington ... another Solent little haunt .. I joined the club and both I and my wife were very active members ...

The haven had a limited amount of room for moorings and I only had a 23ft Snapdragon triple keeler ... able to literally have the worst they bhad to offer ....

3 yrs waiting ... resigned myself to a club that I had the boat in NEXT harbour etc.

Blow me down a Snapdragon 24 appeared on a NEW trot laid at the end of the row ... not a whisper to anyone about it ... BANG just appeared.

So I went to my pal on the cmttee .... and answer was :

"Sorry nige ... was proposed to trial an extra trot mooring on the bank edge ... and well he got it - but honest nige - the mooring is doubtful to last - its on the dge of the slope of bank ..... etc. "

Well so many years later that mooring is still there and in use ... The Snapdragon that appeared the guy only joined the club a few months prior ... but then I found out ... he was a close pal of Mr. and Mrs. XXXXX of Cmttee .....

I left the club and made sure they knew why ... others who had waited also were also not so pleased when they found out the truth ... too late then of course.
 
Same at chichester(Itchenor) been applying every year for 4 years, never a sniff I am local, however I had noted some boaters asking about local issues on swinging moorings at itchenor as they are NEW here, looking at their profiles they are from the London area, Told last year good chance as I am no 7 on list, but then ran a post about the HM and harbour races etc my place seemed to vanish!! /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif
 
Re: Mooring waiting list - corruption? ... who you know ...

Several years ago we were thinking about mooring in Lymington and we put our name down on a list at the marina. Two years later, by which time we had forgotten about it and were moored up in the West Country, we had a letter from the Marina. They wanted us to pay a large (i.e several £100's) non-returnable deposit to remain on the list, with no promise as to when they would give us a berth. I spoke to them out of curiosity and they were serious; it wasn't just to see if we were still interested.
 
Two years ago I put my name on the Hamble list, was advised that waiting time was 21 years....Seems moorings could then be passed down through the family. I was a resident. Pay £30 to get on the list then £10/year to stay on it...

Policy has changed now, so has mine, I keep her overseas in warmer weather... less expensive moorings...warmer seas...better food...and so on... /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
(I was on the Hamble wait list for three seasons)

[/ QUOTE ]

That's good - I thought the waiting list on The Hamble was in excess of twelve years - or was that for Harbour Board moorings?
 
The waiting list on the Hamble used, apparently, to be enormous but two or three years back they weeded it and found a lot of people who weren't exactly serious, or people who were now happy elsewhere. They also got tough with people holding vacant moorings, started charging a small annual fee to stay on the list, and introduced a requirement that you re-express your interest every year. With all that, the list shortened somewhat.

It also depends where on the river you want to be and what size of boat you have. With a smallish boat and not being fussy about my location, I was able to pick-up a mooring without too long a wait. If I had something in the 30-40 foot range I'd probably still be waiting.

If you're waiting for a mooring on the Hamble ask the HM office about the possibilty of sub-lets, where mooring holders who know they won't be using the mooring for a period rent them out via the HM. It worked well for me on a couple of occassions, once for a whole season.
 
We had a berth at Port Hamble for a few years around 1987, they tried to sell us a 15yr lease for 45k IIRC, even offered to sort the finance against the house, yeah right. Our berth charges suddenly reached 5k p/a so decided to sod off to Port Solent. At the time we were offered a swinging mooring at the lower end of the river with no wait, how things have changed.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I was on the waiting list for a mooring in Lymington river for 6 years to no avail. I just found out someone who had recently moved into the area with a boat with the same draught as mine got a mooring after 6 months!! Is this common?

[/ QUOTE ]Had similar at a prestigious-ish yacht club. When I was told one or two boats had got in before me, I asked about it, and was told that I was still on the list, these had been on the list before me. So I wrote a v formal letter, asking for a copy of the list, so I could make some sort of planning for the future. Didn't get a copy of the list, but an offer of a mooring by return !! Corruption, you bet !
 
I beleive waiting lists are a waste of time. If you ask for a mooring at the right time (When one becomes available) the waiting list goes out of the window and you jump the queue.
 
Don't worry, folks. When the red diesel concession goes next year, all the big powerboats will have one final, gorgeous gas-guzzling run to mid-Channel, drink their cocktail cabinets dry, and then scuttle their boats near EC2 buoy, leaving the marinas nearly empty and Premier offering them to sailboats for £200 a year (including electricity and free beer). The incidental benefit of the scuttled motor-cruisers will be a huge reef in mid-Channel, ideal for development as a tax haven and marina site, further depressing the cost of berths and offering a way of splitting a cross-Channel into two short day-sails.
There's too much negative thinking on the shortage of berths - a bit more imagination is needed!
 
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