Rant: Ramsgate - the worst marina in the UK?

I read this a nomination for Ramsgate as worst port in UK before I started the southern leg of my sail round uk. I thought it was maybe just one person here had a bad time so passing the harbour in a nasty chop in my dinghy I thought Id duck in to kill a couple of hours until the Sandwich river was open.
The reception was ABSOLUTELY appalling! Im not going into it it was so dire but essentially there was a guy there with apparently the marine background of the average car park attendant and the filthy attitude of a rogue wheelclamper... and because I was in a small open boat he really excelled. Tempting me up to the quay top and Im thinking 'no he wouldnt' but then yes locking me away from my boat ....and my wallet. A real 'piece of work'!
No shred of thought that Id ducked in from a nasty sea as youd find from any seaman....he transparently had no idea of conditions outside. I think thats what I mainly hold against him. Crappy behaviour I can take...from seamen.

Anyway I havent been to every port in the UK of course... but Ive been right round the top and dinghies dont do a lot of miles every day... and I would unhesitatingly call Ramsgate the worst port, by a factor of ten!

It really spoilt my holiday dropping in there. It even set me thinking can you really get *******s like this in the UK and Im now prepared to believe the answer Mark Tuilly suggested yes of course we invented them and exported them to India etc. Well someone certainly needs to export the little hitler of Ramsgate.

The weird thing is I met some of the nicest guys in the trip next door in Sandwich as soon as the sands were navigable plus theres a great 'fill you up' caff just out of sight over the river. Next time Ill calculate backwards from a passage across Pegwell Bay. But its a sore point that one of the important refuges on our coast has been turned over to cowboys.
 
H,mm was in there last month with my club (around 20 boats )and yes its a bit DIY when arriving but no problems otherwise,shame Ramsgate is a bit behind the culinary times,however if catering from the 1960s pushes your buttons.:)
Ps.that chip shop right outside the marina is rubbish eat at the the" Temple" its a bargain.
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Insular attitude

Have been to Ramsgate a number of times. I think the problem is that the management have not gained experience of what other marinas do. Many have a computer programme into which the berthing manager types the dimensions of your yacht and it allocates a vacant berth of appropriate size. Others operate a simple card index system to achieve the same result. It is definitely a nightmare to come in and have to go up and down the rows to find a berth- and easily solved if the marina were managed rather than administered. Moreover with such a system the whole of the harbour could be used and revenue increased.
I understand dredging is now taking place, but if the harbour shoals then surely a Notice to Mariners stating something like "access + 2 to -4" promulgated in Almanacs would prevent the saga a previous post indicated.
Attendance at seminars on marina management would not be a waste of harbour dues income!!
 
Ramsgate

Might be worth filling this in

https://secure.thanet.gov.uk/T-Forms/RamsgateMarinaFault/Default.aspx

  • Fuel berth supposed to open at 07:00
  • Alongside at 06:55 eagerly awaiting opening as we needed to get away called H/Master to say we were there
  • 07:15 No sign of attendant
  • 07:20 Called again.. he is on his way
  • 07:40 Attendant saunters up, no apology for being late

Great Service !

Still they do have smart new pontoons and a great Thai Resteraunt
 
I don't think the situation has been improved by removing half of the fingers so now not only is it pot luck which side you might be berthed but also whether fenders need to be at pontoon or rafting height. :eek:

They really do need to get a grip of berth allocations and making the inner harbour available for longer term visitors or when the outer harbour becomes overcrowded. Especially now the 'berths of last resort' on the Eastern marina have been mainly given over to boats working on the Thanet Wind Farm.
 
I'm a fan

Kept my boat there for a season recently and loved it. It helped that I worked close by so could drop down to take the boat from the holding pontoons into my berth when the tide was up, or vice versa.

But the architecture, 2 great restaurants and a couple of decent Thais, the coastal walks and daysails, and of course Friday night at the Foy Boat all sold it to me.

Had to move boat as my job changed but next job was 10 mins from Weymouth so not too much of a downer (apart from from the vast Marina fees) but would happily berth there again.
 
I eventually managed to speak to someone sensible and leave the boat in the inner harbour for two weeks recently. (inner harbour half empty, I have cash, a boat and would like to leave it secure, don't really care what it costs....."No.")

Council run, not a business brain behind it. You are an inconvenience to staring out of the window and Facebooking bringing that boat in!

Also "Straight to sea sir,"

Why??? The ferry isn't due for four hours and if I raise my mainsail or stow a couple of fenders is that really a problem. Or is it more entertaining to watch people struggling in the horrible chop lurking outside.

I like the town myself and the above doesn't put me off visiting, I just take a deep breath when going in to announce our arrival.
 
Kurrawong_Kid said:
With tongue in cheek I ask "Where is the RYA Cruising Committee? Surely a report from a number of us about the rip off and disgraceful service at Ramsgate should have them running around creating a great fuss! Some hope! Just as big a waste of money. All they want to do is win gold medals and sell expensive training courses, rather than represent the real needs of real yachtsmen. Goodness knows why I keep paying my subs., but I do!
Click to expand...

Have you or any other dissapointed parties contacted the RYA with your concerns? If not perhaps the crystal ball at the Hamble HQ is misted up. By the way the training is not directly run by the RYA and apart from the training establishments affiliation fees the RYA is not remunerated by training. Next time I speak to Ben Ainslie I'll tell him he is not a real yachtsman......... tongue in cheek of course!
 
Its not just confined to the marina. We had a crappy night in the Ramsgate Travel Lodge.
I'd booked a family room. The first room only had two single beds. The second room had the right beds, with people sleeping in them. We ended up with a twin room, made even smaller by having a mattress on the floor.
 
Dire

Had the unpleasant experience of an overnight stay there in January this year. No diesel available, had to get a lift from the harbour worker to the garage to get a couple of cans for an early start next day. Was told to moor by the entrance near to the wind farm work boats. Got moored in allocated spot and then went to get diesel, when I got back there was a wind farm vessel moored opposite moaning that I was in his spot? We had left Brighton at 0200 and motored all the way with the wind on the nose, probably the coldest I have ever been on a boat, and this wind farm nob would not stop moaning! Told him to call the chap who had allocated me the berth, which confirmed I was indeed in the place where I was supposed to be. He still was not happy but eventually went away, only for another wind farm vessel to come in and moor up blocking the exit. Asked him what time he was moving in the morning "not till 0900 at the earliest". I was due to leave at 0530 and told him so but he was not interested. Complained to the harbourmaster and he was moved. Left at 0530 next day, I will NEVER be going back.
 
rotrax said:
Have you or any other dissapointed parties contacted the RYA with your concerns? If not perhaps the crystal ball at the Hamble HQ is misted up. By the way the training is not directly run by the RYA and apart from the training establishments affiliation fees the RYA is not remunerated by training. Next time I speak to Ben Ainslie I'll tell him he is not a real yachtsman......... tongue in cheek of course!
Click to expand...
Not true! Observe the accounts and see how much income is obtained from the sale of books and training packages. As a former Council member told me-"a nice little earner"!
I had a tongue in cheek too.
Good point. I'll alert a Cruising Committee member of the RYA to these posts. Perhaps you could too??
 
rotrax said:
Next time I speak to Ben Ainslie I'll tell him he is not a real yachtsman......... tongue in cheek of course!
Click to expand...
Oh, he's a real yachtsman of course..... but he still has to pay tax on his diesel, fight for moorings and have no idea how to prove VAT status on any boat he owns...... but I guess he's somewhat comforted that his Olympic career has been well funded instead.... now if only we could all be Olympians, we wouldn't have to worry about such mundane things as well.
 
temptress said:
Ramsgate - interesting place. I tried to get in there 2 years ago. sailing from the Medway bound for Plymouth. We had a force 8 gusting 9 from the South as we came round the corner so we called Ramsgate marina to get a spot.

"Sorry SIR you can't come in here you might run aground - please stay outside for 3 or 4 hours"
they replies

Yeah right! A conversation took place where we described the situation we were in but they would not let us in!

So we went on to Dover called them and did they asked were we the boat turned away from "Ramsgate" - "Yes" we replied. "You are welcome here" - they even came down to take our lines and help.
Click to expand...

Ummmm... We rather like Ramsgate. After all it must be one of the busiest marinas in the country for visitors and it has it's fair share of layout problems. We went in during a southerly F8 and the swell into the harbour is horrible. Fortunately we were well after the ebb so the large sandbank wasn't a problem but at low water I imagine it would be.
It does get crowded and I must say I've been in 'commercial' marinas that had much worse problems with berth allocation and where after hours they were either absent (as Ramsgate is) or unobtainable.
It's often scary but we've all felt better after a nights sleep, smug even that we managed to cope.
 
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