Premier - the Ryanair of marinas

bedouin said:
But you don't get free flow every day - on this particular occasion we couldn't leave the berth on the Saturday and the next free flow (therefore the earliest we could move) was Wednesday.

We get little enough time on the boat anyway and to lose a whole weekend is a major set back.
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I am familiar with Chi Marina.

Surely you can leave towards the top of any high tide?

Unless you draw 3.5 metres...........................
 
rotrax said:
I am familiar with Chi Marina.

Surely you can leave towards the top of any high tide?

Unless you draw 3.5 metres...........................
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Not if you can't get off your berth you can't.

Yes there is plenty of water In the channel, but a few berths in from the hammerhead and you get shallows.
 
bedouin said:
Not if you can't get off your berth you can't.

Yes there is plenty of water In the channel, but a few berths in from the hammerhead and you get shallows.
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That has not been our experience when visiting from PS.

We have had berths away from the hammerheads too-but the deepest draught yacht we have been in with only drew 1.7 metres. Our current yacht draws 1.3.

I think a word in the Marina Managers ear-it sounds as if you are buying a service which is expensive and not fit for purpose.
 
rotrax said:
I think a word in the Marina Managers ear-it sounds as if you are buying a service which is expensive and not fit for purpose.
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I did - they didn't even see it as a problem! Their attitude was a significant factor in my decision to move
 
bedouin said:
I did - they didn't even see it as a problem! Their attitude was a significant factor in my decision to move
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Same at Eastbourne Premiere Marina, the manager just did not want to hear it: "evertything perfectly normal". There are now also dangeours obstructions just outside the entrance channel that are not even marked. Several yachts were damaged, some seriously, in the last 16 months there.

My advice is to stay away from any Premiere Marina. From the reports I read here they have all been seriously neglected for a long time.
 
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bedouin said:
Not if you can't get off your berth you can't.

Yes there is plenty of water In the channel, but a few berths in from the hammerhead and you get shallows.
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Isn't the lock working? It's supposed to maintain a constant level inside the marina. It did when I was berthed there.
 
I feel that I have to come to the defence of at least one Premier Marina that being Southsea. I have never had anything but excellent service from the manager, Rupert, and his lads both during my initial stay with Dry Berthing and latterly with the mooring of my mate's Moody 31. Any reported problems have been dealt efficiently straight away and the crew are always friendly & courteous. The cill at the entrance was recently overhauled restricting access but all the berth holders were advised in good time and some shifted temporarily to other Premier marinas during the works to allow them to still go sailing. There are currently major refurbishments taking place to the eateries building but the most excellent Marina Cafe and the Bombay Bay Indian have remained open throughout.

I certainly don't recognise any of the gripes being aired above as relating to my experience of Premier. OK the prices have gone up but they are running a business FFS, not a charity! I do wonder how many of the berth holders on here who also run businesses have decided not to instigate an annual price rise - I would suggest not many!!

Anyway I believe that yesterday was the "day of reckoning" with the final 3 interested buyers so we will have to see what that brings.
 
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AuntyRinum said:
Isn't the lock working? It's supposed to maintain a constant level inside the marina. It did when I was berthed there.
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The problem is that the level they need to maintain in the marina is greater than the level of water in the harbour outside at HW Neaps so there is no way to replenish the water (therefore raise the level) for a few days each month. During that period all boats entering or leaving lower the level in the marina a little.

To be honest it should not have been a problem - they have enough berths with enough water if they only put boats on an appropriate berth. They should have known the berth they allocated to me did not always have enough water - or if they didn't they should have moved me as soon as I complained. But that seems to be the message that is coming across. They really don't seem to be too bothered about their customer service so I am no longer a customer.
 
I was at Gosport the weekend of the eclipse, and walking down the main pontoon at LW, there was mud above the water level.
 
Giblets said:
I feel that I have to come to the defence of at least one Premier Marina that being Southsea. I have never had anything but excellent service from the manager, Rupert, and his lads both during my initial stay with Dry Berthing and latterly with the mooring of my mate's Moody 31. Any reported problems have been dealt efficiently straight away and the crew are always friendly & courteous. The cill at the entrance was recently overhauled restricting access but all the berth holders were advised in good time and some shifted temporarily to other Premier marinas during the works to allow them to still go sailing. There are currently major refurbishments taking place to the eateries building but the most excellent Marina Cafe and the Bombay Bay Indian have remained open throughout.

I certainly don't recognise any of the gripes being aired above as relating to my experience of Premier. OK the prices have gone up but they are running a business FFS, not a charity! I do wonder how many of the berth holders on here who also run businesses have decided not to instigate an annual price rise - I would suggest not many!!

Anyway I believe that yesterday was the "day of reckoning" with the final 3 interested buyers so we will have to see what that brings.
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I'm glad you've received good service from your Premier marina as indeed have I from the on site team at Chi and I made it clear in the OP. Bedouin and Haydude have clearly experienced poor service from the same organisation and that perhaps is down to the local teams on site rather than the corporate.

I fully agree that it's a business and as such you have to charge. I run my own business, am aware of the pennies and pounds mantra. I am also more than happy to pay for good service. The core issues regarding Premier are the creeping corporate greed hence the Ryanair analogy and the removal of facilities at Chichester. You pays yer money and you takes yer choice......in my case and in many others, out the lock on a one way trip!
 
If the price hikes at the marinas bother people so much the alternative is that you buy your own berth.
There are a few available now and again on the South coast, some at Hamble point, Port Hamble and Gosport.
Example of which at Gosport, a 50 foot berth, 50 years left on the lease, costs about 80K with an annual service charge at present of £750 pa.
These can be resold and also sub let.
Work out the maths for yourself !!!!
 
I understand that Wellcome were the preferred bidder amongst some of the staff on the ground. I suspect they may not be as aggressive as a company that needs to generate profits for it's shareholders.
 
Giblets said:
I understand that Wellcome were the preferred bidder amongst some of the staff on the ground. I suspect they may not be as aggressive as a company that needs to generate profits for it's shareholders.
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You'd certainly expect them to be less aggressive than someone like Blackrock.

To be fair, though, there's been some pretty heavy investment at Chichester in recent years with the toilet block refurbishment and new boatyard/office development, although I think it's a mistake to lose the Spinnaker/Opal area to public access and that looks like a straightforward bid to allow the space to be used for residential units.

We only draw 1.3 metres, so the dredging isn't an issue, but I have heard moans from other users about shallow spots in a number of areas inside the marina.
 
Moonshining said:
although I think it's a mistake to lose the Spinnaker/Opal area to public access and that looks like a straightforward bid to allow the space to be used for residential units.
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I agree totally and that is one reason I chose to leave. Seems the management were more interested in maximising their assets than looking after the customers and the greater commercial exploitation of the space was detracting from the experience.

I am told they put a planning application for the redevelopment of that area as residential a couple of years ago then withdrew as they needed to do more work on the environmental impact side.
 
You'd certainly expect them to be less aggressive than someone like Blackrock.
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Particularly when one of the other bidders was a very large pension/insurance company!

Perhaps they will bring their nice shiny new dredger that they bought for Brighton along when it's done there.
 
Premier's own dredger is in Brighton dealing with the problem that was posted on here about a week or so ago. I've also been told that they are making holes through Brighton's wall so that the spoil can be pumped out rather than using a barge.
 
Giblets said:
Premier's own dredger is in Brighton dealing with the problem that was posted on here about a week or so ago. I've also been told that they are making holes through Brighton's wall so that the spoil can be pumped out rather than using a barge.
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And wash straight back in ;)
 
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