jimmy_the_builder
Well-Known Member
Sounds like a plan! I also run a couple of Tmax scooters, as well as the big bike - the scooters are fab for round town but not so good for distance imho.
Moving boat to Hamble from Dartmouth - marina help required
- Thread starter rwilson
- Start date
Sounds like a plan! I also run a couple of Tmax scooters, as well as the big bike - the scooters are fab for round town but not so good for distance imho.
Dick Atcherley
Well-Known Member
I too have a Tmax (with a kids exhaust and a trick variator) and reckon that it's the canine's clackers for town and the run down the A3 to the boat at Chichester. Longer than that, and it gets a bit wearing...
jimmy_the_builder
Well-Known Member
Ooh a thread about variators, that's what we need
. I've got Malossi's in both of mine, although annoyingly I can't get the setup quite identical between the two of them, so one is more revvy than the other. Something slightly different about the weights I think. A job for the winter! (OP: sorry for the drift).maby
Well-Known Member
Have you considered Northney? It's a lovely place and the travelling to London is probably easier than from any of the Southampton locations - the M3 is horrible at the moment and does not seem likely to improve any time soon. We spent a very enjoyable summer in Northney and would still be there if it were not for the depth - access is very shallow for a deep keeled sailing boat, but should be fine for a mobo.
Go with the flow
New Member
Ocean Village is a great choice, i spent a few weeks there last summer, as you say its all on your doorstep. If you do venture across the Channel to catch up with family you can use MDL Free French berthing package (Sorry the name of it escapes me) that comes with MDL berthing, not used it myself (Strictly a Solent day tripper) but quite a few from Hamble Point went across this summer cruising the coast for free.
maby
Well-Known Member
Ocean Village is very light on facilities - no fuel, no engineering and the showers and toilets are a long walk from many parts of the marina. The location is pretty good for sailing, but it's a long way from any decent shopping and car parking is limited.
Dick Atcherley
Well-Known Member
Yup, Malossi in mine too. You may find that one bike has a newer v-belt than the other, which could account for the difference in revs. FWIW I have run 5 Tmax's in total, and have finally gone back to a low mileage 2003 mkI as I prefer it to the later ones and it has been considerably more reliable.
rwilson
Well-Known Member
I'm going to check out Ocean Village this Saturday and see what its like. I take note of the points raised re parking, fuel etc and i'll consider the overall set up. Hopefully it will be ok. Re access from M27, I guess coming from Woolston and over the bridge is quicker than through Southampton as my exit out of London is A3.
Blue Sunray
Well-Known Member
I'd cut across the hog's back at Guildford, down to the M3 and then into Soton, maybe via the airport and Swaythling rather than through the centre of town
rwilson
Well-Known Member
Hogs back, hadn't thought of that way. As you can probably gather I have not been to Soton many times!!
Blue Sunray
Well-Known Member
Just for clarity - A31 down to the M3 at Winchester.
Firefly625
Well-Known Member
A3 now v quick with hindhead tunnel, I do woking to mercury 55mins (a3 / m27), but the nice thing If a problem with a3 will do hogs back and meon valley, trouble is my daughter tends to throw up that route as I treat it as a special stage....
Last edited:
rwilson
Well-Known Member
Yes, i am occasionally guilty of driving around on the door handles sometimes! Anything near moderate speeds in a Range Rover ends in disastrous results from my two back seat passengers aged 3 and 6. Agree, A3 much improved following Hindehead tunnel.
Jonmendez
Well-Known Member
Totally agree I use that route when visiting mum, but the A31 is probably the bumpiest road on earth, makes for a bruised lower end when on a motorbike!!
Wavey
Well-Known Member
If you're going to OV then pop in to Shamrock while you're there. It's literally just minutes up the road.
When we decided to move to the Solent last year we visited just about every "marina" Google offered up (and quite a few we found by accident or via this forum). The Hamble is good but the eye-watering prices just can't be justified IMHO. And, unless you moor at Mercury or Swanwick, the other marinas closer to Southampton Water can be manically busy and a bit impersonal given all the charter sailing companies that use them as a base.
Both OV and Shamrock are considerably cheaper but both being MDL you get the benefit of Freedom Berthing which gives the opportunity of berthing in any MDL marina for long periods subject to availability at no cost. To give you an idea how it works our "home" marina last year was MDL's Penton Hook Marina on the Thames and we got a whole year on the Solent courtesy of Freedom Berthing
When we decided to stay on the Solent we decided on Shamrock. Great staff, best cranage team around, cost saving of about £3k a year versus the Hamble, brand new toilets, showers etc, Quay 15 restaurant serves brilliant food at sensible prices, pub on site (although we haven't tried it since it changed hands) and free berthing at OV, Hythe, Hamble Point, Port Hamble, Mercury, Sparkes, Northney and Poole. Easy to get to via A3 or A31 (we've given up on the M3 with all the current roadworks). No fuel but you have to pass the Hamble anyway so no big deal.
We did check out OV but preferred Shamrock. OV does tend to eat anodes too.
When we decided to move to the Solent last year we visited just about every "marina" Google offered up (and quite a few we found by accident or via this forum). The Hamble is good but the eye-watering prices just can't be justified IMHO. And, unless you moor at Mercury or Swanwick, the other marinas closer to Southampton Water can be manically busy and a bit impersonal given all the charter sailing companies that use them as a base.
Both OV and Shamrock are considerably cheaper but both being MDL you get the benefit of Freedom Berthing which gives the opportunity of berthing in any MDL marina for long periods subject to availability at no cost. To give you an idea how it works our "home" marina last year was MDL's Penton Hook Marina on the Thames and we got a whole year on the Solent courtesy of Freedom Berthing
When we decided to stay on the Solent we decided on Shamrock. Great staff, best cranage team around, cost saving of about £3k a year versus the Hamble, brand new toilets, showers etc, Quay 15 restaurant serves brilliant food at sensible prices, pub on site (although we haven't tried it since it changed hands) and free berthing at OV, Hythe, Hamble Point, Port Hamble, Mercury, Sparkes, Northney and Poole. Easy to get to via A3 or A31 (we've given up on the M3 with all the current roadworks). No fuel but you have to pass the Hamble anyway so no big deal.
We did check out OV but preferred Shamrock. OV does tend to eat anodes too.
PhillM
Well-Known Member
Ok so I'm a raggie but I've been at Swanwick, Mercury and now at OV.
Swanwick has changed so much since I first berthed there 5 years ago. To me it's lost the boatyard feel and is now a bit sterile. But, loads of pubs. Staff patchy, some great, others not so good. However, the boatyard services were excellent, but all the people I used for my refit have since left the site.
Mercury, lots and lots of tide. Lots of green slime and dirt build up over the winter. No idea why but that's what happened. One Resturant and it's not that great. No shops, nowhere onsite sells milk or bread. Didn't find the staff that helpful. Chandlery was excellent.
OV quite a lot of building work ongoing. Busy traffic on match days. However, Tesco onsite, loads of restaurants. Massive parking capacity in the multi story but quite a walk from the north side but close to the south side ( plenty of free berths south side too) which is where I am. Sea is just outside and no Hambke Scramble to deal with. Fast trains to London. Cheap taxi from station or even cheaper bus. Or 15 min walk. I do declare that my office is now about 5 min walk from the boat, so perhaps I'm biased. Oh should say, the best staff by far, vs all the others. No chandlery or services onsite - yet to see if that's going to be a problem. I came out at shamrock this year. Staff there were very helpful and services easily accessed.
No idea if that helps. I'll be down in the morning, feel free to say hello. I'm the only old wooden boat south side, h pontoon.
Swanwick has changed so much since I first berthed there 5 years ago. To me it's lost the boatyard feel and is now a bit sterile. But, loads of pubs. Staff patchy, some great, others not so good. However, the boatyard services were excellent, but all the people I used for my refit have since left the site.
Mercury, lots and lots of tide. Lots of green slime and dirt build up over the winter. No idea why but that's what happened. One Resturant and it's not that great. No shops, nowhere onsite sells milk or bread. Didn't find the staff that helpful. Chandlery was excellent.
OV quite a lot of building work ongoing. Busy traffic on match days. However, Tesco onsite, loads of restaurants. Massive parking capacity in the multi story but quite a walk from the north side but close to the south side ( plenty of free berths south side too) which is where I am. Sea is just outside and no Hambke Scramble to deal with. Fast trains to London. Cheap taxi from station or even cheaper bus. Or 15 min walk. I do declare that my office is now about 5 min walk from the boat, so perhaps I'm biased. Oh should say, the best staff by far, vs all the others. No chandlery or services onsite - yet to see if that's going to be a problem. I came out at shamrock this year. Staff there were very helpful and services easily accessed.
No idea if that helps. I'll be down in the morning, feel free to say hello. I'm the only old wooden boat south side, h pontoon.
rwilson
Well-Known Member
ok, so checked out a few marinas on Saturday.
Universal- nice, but a drive to any amenities pubs, shops etc. Deacons, slightly cheaper per year but with easy access, pubs/restaurants and station on the doorstep. Mercury- ok but little on shore amenities.
However, think I've probably settled on OV. OV has waterside redevelopment work on-going atm, so a bit of a -ve but later next year there's a renewing/rejigging of some of the pontoons so nice to see some re-investment from MDL. Its 5-10 mins taxi from the station and with onshore amenities near by as mentioned by Phillm. Loo's are a bit of a trek and no boat yard, but I guess Shamrock is moments away for yard work. I can use the freedom berth facility, and pick fuel up in either Hythe or Hamble. So as a first season in the Solent I think its an ideal choice. I'm yet to visit Shamrock, but before I decide for definite, I'll take a look around following Wavey's recommendation.
Once again many thanks again for all of the pointers, very very useful.
Universal- nice, but a drive to any amenities pubs, shops etc. Deacons, slightly cheaper per year but with easy access, pubs/restaurants and station on the doorstep. Mercury- ok but little on shore amenities.
However, think I've probably settled on OV. OV has waterside redevelopment work on-going atm, so a bit of a -ve but later next year there's a renewing/rejigging of some of the pontoons so nice to see some re-investment from MDL. Its 5-10 mins taxi from the station and with onshore amenities near by as mentioned by Phillm. Loo's are a bit of a trek and no boat yard, but I guess Shamrock is moments away for yard work. I can use the freedom berth facility, and pick fuel up in either Hythe or Hamble. So as a first season in the Solent I think its an ideal choice. I'm yet to visit Shamrock, but before I decide for definite, I'll take a look around following Wavey's recommendation.
Once again many thanks again for all of the pointers, very very useful.