More walk-ashore pontoons coming in Yarmouth

[Seanick]

Oh come on Nick. We all know that your close quarters handling of Ocean Pearl is better than most AWBs even if they have got Magimixers to help them avoid anything complicated. The truth is that you don't want to have to pay out for white jeans and stripey jumpers for your crew and there will be no excuse not to once they can walk ashore

Don't tell'em, but old boats are easier to handle that those modern lightweight fluffy things!

And what is wrong with white jeans????

 

[Twister_Ken]

"And what is wrong with white jeans????"

Depends what sort of backside is wearing them.

 

[adagio_of_wight]

I hope all those of you who have so eloquently expressed your objections to to the plan have also done so directly to the Harbour Commissioners by supplying feedback here:

http://www.yarmouth-harbour.co.uk/news.php

Mine was as follows:

"I cannot adequately express my disappointment with your proposals. You seem determined upon turning a lovely harbour into just another marina. The essential charm of Yarmouth Harbour will, in my view, be lost.

Still you can sack the water taxi staff and double the berthing fees. The latter will not deter the well-heeled drivers of the 50 foot motor vessels that you seem so eager to attract or the sailing schools and charter yachts where the cost is shared between a crew of 6 or 8. It will prove prohibitive to the husband and wife pensioners in small cruising yachts who have loyally returned year after year to your harbour.

We had better make the most of 2010 as it is unlikely that we shall be able to afford to visit thereafter."

 

[csharpatsea]

I hope all those of you who have so eloquently expressed your objections to to the plan have also done so directly to the Harbour Commissioners by supplying feedback here:

http://www.yarmouth-harbour.co.uk/news.php

I suspect that is just a crafty ruse designed as an indignation soak away. The management have decided what they want and internet postings from the little people won't sway them.

Far better to dig deeper and find out what the aricles of association state about the governance and purpose of this local quango and then appeal to whatever Government body is in charge of Yarmouth Harbour Commisioners.

At present they seem hell bent on a corporate style revenue expansion plan and presumably the main beneficiaries will be those hoping for career development at Yarmouth Marina.

We are about to enter a new political period where Quango will become a dirty word and synonymous with snouts in the financial trough and murky regions of the public sector not held to proper account. Now would be an excellent time to raise public questions about whether the wrong people are in charge of Yarmouth Harbour or question if they are acting in the public interest.

The fact that the Yarmouth Harbour Master now styles himself as "Chris Lisher Chief Executive/Harbour Master" should be all the warning we need to start campaigning to get this man removed from his post.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Response made.

Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells

 

[shmoo]

Looks good to me. I am not sure why adding the convenience of connecting the pontoons to the shore should ruin the place - the plan says they are going to use the same sort of equipment and have similar capacity. I guess if you really like using a tender there is nothing to stop you getting it out and pottering about in it.

We usually stop there for a day or two RnR on the dash down to/back from the western channel for our real summer cruise. Marinia or harbour, what the heck, its sailing I joined for.

 

[Robin]

Looks good to me. I am not sure why adding the convenience of connecting the pontoons to the shore should ruin the place - the plan says they are going to use the same sort of equipment and have similar capacity. I guess if you really like using a tender there is nothing to stop you getting it out and pottering about in it.

We usually stop there for a day or two RnR on the dash down to/back from the western channel for our real summer cruise. Marinia or harbour, what the heck, its sailing I joined for.

Same capacity but bringing them an additional £250,000 revenue.

Look at their website. The cost of their walk ashore berths for 2010 for our boat would be £36/night (£39.50 with electrics) and even then the showers are charged extra. The non-walk ashore berths will be £21.50/night but there will be very very few of these left under the new scheme, other than the outside harbour buoys.

Others have made the point that there is a big difference in being able to divide the bill between 6-8 sailing school or charter crews and it being paid by just the two of us on our own boat. In our case our weekend visits are usually 2 nights duration, arriving Friday evening and leaving Sunday morning. In future that would cost us £72 (£75.50 with electric) instead of £43.

Also note that the rate for our size band has increased from £20-50 in 2009 to £21.50/night in 2010 a rise of 4.8% anyway.

I agree that it is sailing we joined for, but being ripped off takes the edge off it.

 

[l'escargot]

People are very quick to quote the £250,000 pa extra income but ignore the £1,500,000 outlay - it will take 6 years to recoup the capital outlay alone without taking into account running and replacement costs.

The walk ashores have been the most used pontoons and there is clear demand for more. Despite the doom mongers I bet there will be no reduction in demand for berths in Yarmouth and that if you do turn up late and find a space I doubt whether it will be on the walk ashore.

 

[Robin]

The walk ashores have been the most used pontoons and there is clear demand for more. Despite the doom mongers I bet there will be no reduction in demand for berths in Yarmouth and that if you do turn up late and find a space I doubt whether it will be on the walk ashore.

I don't doubt that Yarmouth will still fill up regardless. However I do think the user profile will change and it will become mainly a haven for boats like charter and sailing schools where the costs are split between many people. Large crew numbers are always a pain to get ashore, involving either pumping up the dinghy then several dinghy trips or multi-person payments to the water taxi, this skews the preference overall hugely in favour of walk ashore for them. Sailing school and charters are also out and about more midweek and out of season so are understandably an important revenue source to the harbour and maybe more so than a sailing couple like us just turning up at weekends. Think how much extra income they will get just from the showers alone if every boat has a big crew, compared to mean old me and SWMBO who shower on board!

Would I want to be paying out a lot more money for a weekend crammed in with large numbers of school or charter boats? Nope, that is definitely not for me.

 

[shmoo]

We are pretty mean.

The midweek discount deal makes it quite attractive, still. On our summer cruise we aim to get half our nights free overall, either on the hook or under way. We don't usually make as many at 50% but often it is near.

Last year as I recall, we had a free night under way between Brixham and Swanage, another off Swanage on the hook, a couple of discounted midweek nights in Yarmouth, then went to Shoreham, which is pretty cheap in most senses of the word. We would have jumped at a walk-ashore at Yarmouth but there wasn't one available. Even at the higher walk ashore rate it would have been an inexpensive five days.

For the record, there are two of us and a small dog (well, it's a Jack Russel so it thinks it is a big dog, but it is really only about 11kg)

 

[Robin]

We are pretty mean.

The midweek discount deal makes it quite attractive, still. On our summer cruise we aim to get half our nights free overall, either on the hook or under way. We don't usually make as many at 50% but often it is near.

There is a difference of course between a weekender and a longer cruise when it is indeed possible to take their midweek discounts. Note however that the £10 off midweek this year has dropped to £8 next year at our boat size.

Coming from Poole, Yarmouth is only on our possible destination list as a weekender and I suspect the same applies to Solent boats. Any more than a weekend and we'll go farther like Cherbourg or Alderney and for the record, Cherbourg marina costs us WAY less than a walkashore at Yarmouth, even with their midweek discount and a current crappy exchange rate. It also includes free electrics and a lot more in the way of things to do, shopping and restaurants which again are all cheaper (and better) than Yarmouth and again even with the poor exchange rate.

As far as going cheap on a summer cruise goes, our best effort is over 5 weeks to Southern Brittany on a total of just £135! We anchor out a lot and 'go in' only every 5 days or so to stock up, but even so the French marinas are usually cheaper than here, even again with the exchange rate, and never as much as some of the more glaring UK rip offs like Berthon or Salterns. We have never ever paid as much as a Yarmouth walkashore for a French berth.

 

[nicho]

Mmmm! I had heard about the proposals some time ago, but did not realise the pontoons were going to be all North/South. This may well cause considerable difficulties to some boats (eg yachts/boats without twin engines/bowthrusters) trying to berth when the tide is running hard through these new pontoons.

Having been "savaged" by other boats on a couple of occasions - the last time, a month ago, the skipper "froze" and his anchor took a good chunk of grp out of our hull (and it was a twin engined motor boat with bowthruster I hasten to add!!), I would not like my bow or stern to stick out too far into the fairways!! It is, of course, pretty much the same in some of the Hamble Marinas - much depends on the amount of room given over to the fairways.

 

[temptress]

Never tried, but with a bit of south in the breeze, is it feasible to anchor east of the pier, or have small craft moorings used up that bit of sea bed?

We anchor to the South east of the pier from time to time (last time was July 2009) esp If we are waiting fo tthe tide for a cross channel. Sometimes just North of the moorings also but you need a SW to SE to do that.