New marina, bully for Wales

ShipsWoofy

ShipsWoofy

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In all the rags now Welsh sailing is being promoted, good for them. Promises of new marina berths being created in the next two years, new marinas, extensions to existing marinas.

Throughout all this promotion there is no mention of new moorings being made available, so once tranquil, beautiful moorings are going to turn in to the aquatic version of NCP car parks.

And then there are people like me, who are going to lose their safe sheltered mooring to allow a marina extension which is going to make the harbour just unfeasibly busy, especially for those who motor at 5kts.

What is this requirement for pontoons, why do so many yachts carry very expensive dinghies if they never use them. Why have I still not been told after asking many times, what is going to happen to my boat when they remove my mooring. I like my mooring, I like the security of thick mud and visibility from other boats. I like the fact I can get on board in a F10 gusting F11 (done it!).

Should I start looking towards Scotland to escape this rot of marina rules ok!

Rant over!

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.topcatsail.co.uk>Woof</A>
 
Here, here!

Which bit of Wales are you in?

<hr width=100% size=1>this post is a personal opinion, and you should not base your actions on it.
 
Your owner is just a tight a**e who wants to make you struggle out of the dingy onto the boat.
Doesnt he realise that it is much easier for you to run along the pontoons knocking people over and cocking your leg against the hose outlets. What fun you could have. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

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A while ago the editorial in one of the yachting mags was along the lines of "Great News more marinas to be built on West Coast of ireland"

So why is that great news?

Its like the the RYA constantly going on about promoting sailing and getting more people into it! Why ferchrissakes?

The only people to benefit as far as I can see is business, RYA business, Manufacturers, Magazines etc

For the rest of us it just serves to further overcrowd our already overcrowded water.

There! Thats my little rant over with

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We are in Pwllheli. While down in Cornwall this year I was also looking at the possibility of basing TC there for next summer.

Though my timing of the years biggest tides and SE F10's did put me off some areas. Probably a good time to look in actual fact.

Although I am no fan of Pwllheli town, I really like my mooring. When the wind howls I do not worry about the boat, I worry about the canopy etc. But then I would if she was in the yard.

I wonder if there will still be moorings in 10 or 15 years time, or will we all look back and scoff at the time when we loaded up the dinghy in the dark and woke up on a tranquil mooring.

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.topcatsail.co.uk>Woof</A>
 
I suspect there will be far fewer moorings in 10 years time, and it will be the combined effect of two factors. The first is the increasing tendency of new boaters to buy sizeable new lightweight boats and simply park them in a marina rather than join a club and use communal moorings. The second is the baleful effect of the kaftan wearing, be-sandalled lentil eaters found in the RSPB, CCW, Friends of the Earth etc. "Worms must be protected - sod the boaters"

We're lucky. Moored between a coal tip and a steelworks, in the grounds of a power station and with a sewage farm next door, we not only escape the wetbikers and water ski-ers, but even grass has difficulty growing. The only thing they could find to protect near us would be mutant. Nevertheless, we are in an SSSI !!!!!!

Fancy building a marina and bijou executive residences on our site?

<hr width=100% size=1>this post is a personal opinion, and you should not base your actions on it.
 
The RYA should be more concerned about accessibility, and bringing genuine enthusiasts into sailing - from whatever background. This is not achieved by restricting boat ownership to those who can afford commercial parking fees of £3000 plus, per year. If sailing becomes a preserve of the rich, then the costs (and taxes) really will soar.

High time the RYA avtively supported the formation of more mooring associations, offering berts at cost.

Incidently, Chichester shows that the environmental interesta and the sailing interests can coexist happily.

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Agree entirely with both of your reasons. Most of the people we've met in Dartmouth, including some who've been boating for many years, admit to never anchoring and finding the prospect daunting.

We had a beautiful full tide swinging mooring on the E Coast for many years - getting to it could be very muddy (including outfall from paper factory). Annual cost £160.

We visited a couple of years ago - the moorings are still as cheap - the fisherman was astounded when we offered some money for use of a buoy overnight and offered to throw in free fresh fish. But the skyline was ruined by dozens of concrete bird-watching booths which made pill-boxes look scenic. The car park is now full of chaps in camouflage gear, black labradors and filthy looks if you're not one of them.

<hr width=100% size=1>a pragmatist is an optimist with a boat in the UK - but serious about not being in the UK !
 
gjeffery, you are wrong. The more marinas that are built, the more competition marina owners will have, which means that they will have to compete for custom by providing "accessibility". Also, applying the supply and demand principal, the more marina berths, the lower the fees, so sailing will not become the preserve of just the rich.

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Idea good - logic good - except that that's not what happens, is it ? Assume increasing demand despite rising costs. We tried to get a winter marina berth in 3 different marinas - 2 had no winter rate, the other one was full. And there was no room for negotiation.

Do you know of anywhere with falling marina prices ?

<hr width=100% size=1>a pragmatist is an optimist with a boat in the UK - but serious about not being in the UK !
 
Have you ever noticed, especially on the south coast, no matter how many marinas they build, they are always full and the prices never fall? If they built a marina in every river, bay, estuary and nook, they would still all be full, nature would suffer horribly and they would still be expensive! There just isnt the room!! In the "right" places. Think about it. No I dont want them to build a thousand marinas in scotland, nobody would use those and they would fail.

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I'm a bit suprised by your comment on Chichester - not ong since they closed down o wonderful old traditional boatyard because it disturbed the locals.
Ken

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Out of interest, which boatyard closed due to local opposition, and what happened to the site?

Relatively few marina companies control a high proportion of the berths, and this affects the prices. Unfortunately, there is little evidence that current prices are unsustainable. The costs of the cruising associations, with continental prices, suggest that profit margins in the UK are somewhat generous.

There are still brown-field sites suitable for marina use, and these might be developed on a non commercial basis. This could influence the prices of the commercial operators.



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Julian,
Relax. The last thing I heard was that the 'motor boat marina' had failed to get planning(?) permission. Its not going ahead for a few years at least.

<hr width=100% size=1>LOM
 
Where did you hear this Roy. As one who is going to be affected it would be nice to be kept in the know so to speak. Is there a more local forum or news board I can gain access to?

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.topcatsail.co.uk>Woof</A>
 
Just found on Marina website

<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>

<font size=1>From Hafan Pwllheli Marina</font size=1> At a Gwynedd Council Board meeting on Tuesday 19/10/2004, councillors decided that a study should be carried out to the efffect that the extra berths may have on the language - this decision means that the planning application for the development may not be considered until May 2005.

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???



<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.topcatsail.co.uk>Woof</A>
 
Re: Just found on Marina website

Yep am currently in the process of buying a boat which is lying (what a quaint term) at Pwllheli. And the wife's language was pretty choice when she heard how much the thing was going to cost. More Marina berths would definitely cause more of this sort of thing...

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Re: Crest Nicholson or MDL?

With all these developments in Wales will it be Crest Nicholson Marinas that gets the cherry, or whatever they are called by then, or MDL bringing new blood into the west of England coasts?
Mike

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