MikeBz
Well-Known Member
2 years ago we overnighted at Paglesham by picking up a random empty mooring, landing on the hard, finding a random person in the boatyard and asking him if we were OK to stay there the night - no problem.
Last year I managed to get a mobile no' for someone (very helpful chap, can't remember his name though) who was able to point us at the visitor's mooring (aka the barge mooring) and told us a scruffy lad in a scruffy dinghy with a dog would take a fiver off us which he did. We landed on the hard and went to the pub. No problem.
This year we arrived on spec, could see that the barge buoy was no longer there. A helpful chap sitting on his boat at a mooring pointed out a vacant mooring that we could pick up and warned "don't take a mooring further up, they'll charge you", but we really wanted to be further upstream so we continued on and found ourselves a good spot to anchor on the Potton Island shore in a big gap in the moorings (the sort of gap which would have 5 moorings and assorted boats at anchor at say Pin Mill). Went ashore on the hard and were hailed by a man on the jetty wanting £10 from us. The conversation then went something like this:
Us: "£10? What for?".
Him: "This is a private landing."
Us: "What, the hard here?".
Him: "Yes, all of this is private."
Us: "Who owns it?".
Him. "The boatyard."
Us: "£10 just to land???".
Him: "That includes your mooring."
Us: "We're not on a mooring, we'e anchored."
Him: "You can't anchor there, you're in the channel." (so he thought we were on a mooring, which wasn't in the channel, but now we're anchored we're in the channel...).
Us: "No we're not, the channel is on this side between the red and green nav marks. We're on the other side between the moorings and the shore."
Him: "You can't just anchor anywhere you know."
Us: "Why not, you don't own the land do you?"
Him: "It's the Queen's land."
Us: "So why do we have to pay £10?"
Him: "For mooring."
Us: "We're not on a mooring, we're anchored."
Him: "You can't anchor there, you're in the channel." (here we go again)
etc....
The argument went round and round a fair number of times with a few other gems in it, including "You'd better let me know if you're staying after 12:00 tomorrow." "Why?" "I've got a boat coming in from Holland." (WTF???).
Eventually as the Mrs got more & more irate about the rights of boaters to anchor I'd had enough and wanted to get to the pub, so I said "OK, we'll give you your £10 if you tell us your name and who you represent.".
So his name is Adams and he represents the Boatyard, apparently. He did say that if you've paid for a mooring you can now use the jetty or the hard as you please (previously the jetty wasn't available), although beware that there is a long stretch of mud between the end of the jetty and the water at low tide!
Off we went to the pub, where things got a bit worse when we found that the table we'd booked was jammed in next to a very small table containing a family with 3 children - no problem, we'll sit outside. "You can't have the same menu outside" (WTF???? 5 paces outside the front door and you can't eat from the same menu?). So we sat outside anyway, and the food was superb even from the 'outside' menu. Superb steak 'n' stilton pie with mash and a range of proper vegetables, topped off with gravy. Proper homemade pub food.
The table adjacent to us had also come off a boat and had the same experience on landing. They asked for a receipt - "Your receipt is your mooring." Hmmm...
The next day we sailed slowly up to the end of the Roach (virtually to Stamford Mills), anchored for a bit, and then sailed back on the ebb. As we passed through Paglesham there was a bloody jetski cavorting around the moorings (we'd seen one in the boatyard on a trailer the night before). I thought PWC were banned there, but if the boatyard is now taking a tenner off you to land and is allowing jetskis to launch then things have truly gone downhill.
Despite the above we did actually have a really nice weekend.
Mike
Last year I managed to get a mobile no' for someone (very helpful chap, can't remember his name though) who was able to point us at the visitor's mooring (aka the barge mooring) and told us a scruffy lad in a scruffy dinghy with a dog would take a fiver off us which he did. We landed on the hard and went to the pub. No problem.
This year we arrived on spec, could see that the barge buoy was no longer there. A helpful chap sitting on his boat at a mooring pointed out a vacant mooring that we could pick up and warned "don't take a mooring further up, they'll charge you", but we really wanted to be further upstream so we continued on and found ourselves a good spot to anchor on the Potton Island shore in a big gap in the moorings (the sort of gap which would have 5 moorings and assorted boats at anchor at say Pin Mill). Went ashore on the hard and were hailed by a man on the jetty wanting £10 from us. The conversation then went something like this:
Us: "£10? What for?".
Him: "This is a private landing."
Us: "What, the hard here?".
Him: "Yes, all of this is private."
Us: "Who owns it?".
Him. "The boatyard."
Us: "£10 just to land???".
Him: "That includes your mooring."
Us: "We're not on a mooring, we'e anchored."
Him: "You can't anchor there, you're in the channel." (so he thought we were on a mooring, which wasn't in the channel, but now we're anchored we're in the channel...).
Us: "No we're not, the channel is on this side between the red and green nav marks. We're on the other side between the moorings and the shore."
Him: "You can't just anchor anywhere you know."
Us: "Why not, you don't own the land do you?"
Him: "It's the Queen's land."
Us: "So why do we have to pay £10?"
Him: "For mooring."
Us: "We're not on a mooring, we're anchored."
Him: "You can't anchor there, you're in the channel." (here we go again)
etc....
The argument went round and round a fair number of times with a few other gems in it, including "You'd better let me know if you're staying after 12:00 tomorrow." "Why?" "I've got a boat coming in from Holland." (WTF???).
Eventually as the Mrs got more & more irate about the rights of boaters to anchor I'd had enough and wanted to get to the pub, so I said "OK, we'll give you your £10 if you tell us your name and who you represent.".
So his name is Adams and he represents the Boatyard, apparently. He did say that if you've paid for a mooring you can now use the jetty or the hard as you please (previously the jetty wasn't available), although beware that there is a long stretch of mud between the end of the jetty and the water at low tide!
Off we went to the pub, where things got a bit worse when we found that the table we'd booked was jammed in next to a very small table containing a family with 3 children - no problem, we'll sit outside. "You can't have the same menu outside" (WTF???? 5 paces outside the front door and you can't eat from the same menu?). So we sat outside anyway, and the food was superb even from the 'outside' menu. Superb steak 'n' stilton pie with mash and a range of proper vegetables, topped off with gravy. Proper homemade pub food.
The table adjacent to us had also come off a boat and had the same experience on landing. They asked for a receipt - "Your receipt is your mooring." Hmmm...
The next day we sailed slowly up to the end of the Roach (virtually to Stamford Mills), anchored for a bit, and then sailed back on the ebb. As we passed through Paglesham there was a bloody jetski cavorting around the moorings (we'd seen one in the boatyard on a trailer the night before). I thought PWC were banned there, but if the boatyard is now taking a tenner off you to land and is allowing jetskis to launch then things have truly gone downhill.
Despite the above we did actually have a really nice weekend.
Mike
