Refusal to pay!!!!!!

[mickshep]

Are there any legal boffins out there who can answer this one? I have just returned from another visit to Whitby on the North East coast, Lovely little town, but crap marina. Once again we were forced to raft up as Scarborough borough council have seen fit to install 3, YES THREE, visitors berths for the summer. This leads to yachts being rafted up to 5 or 6 deep alongside the resident yachts during the regatta and Folk week, with no possability of getting lines to the pontoon, every vessel is hanging off the lines of the vessel alongside which would I imagine invalidate my insurance should their lines break. There is also the problem that unless you are willing to stay aboard 24hrs a day someone will have to move several boats if they wish to leave, all this on a pontoon on a tidal river where the flow can get pretty strong. (the whole bloody lot washed away some years ago with a number of vessels being swept under the swing bridge and destroyed) Unless you are first alongside there is no chance of shore power and the toilet/shower block is so filthy that the majority of visitors would rather walk into town and pay to use the (exellent) 'super loos' and showers, as a frequent visitor, (I like the town) I wonder if as I won't get chance to use the'facilities' apart from the pontoon as a walkway, having first negotiated the 4 or 5 vessels inside of me, what would be the legal situation if I refuse to pay apart from the Harbour dues payable by any vessel entering the harbour? They could of course claim that I am benefiting from their security which is a 4' high, 5 bar gate with no lock that a three year old can open, though it does have a sign that says, "berth holders only". I along with many others have tried complaining to no effect and feel that more direct action by myself and others is the only way that the powers that be can be made to sit up and take notice. I love Whitby and am loth to stop going altogether.
Cheers, Militant Mick

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[dignity]

I've got to agree, the marina is C**P, and it's not even cheap, I wouldn't even put my dog in the showers! I personally have stopped going, which is a same because it's a beautiful little town (apart from the amusements)!

What I fail to understand is how there's still a waiting list for permanent berths, all I can say is people must be desperate.

Always put in at Hartlepool now, great marina, superb facilities!

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[mickshep]

Couldn' agree more. give us a shout next time you visit Hartlepool as we are based there. Cheers Mike.

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[dignity]

I was based at Hartlepool until they decided to hike up the mooring charges, having said that I think I maybe coming back since BW are making an ash of running Hull. As a matter of interest what r u paying per/metre up there now?

Regards

Paul.

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[tony_brighton]

Legally I should imagine you are on a sticky wicket by refusing to pay - you may feel the facilities are crap and overpriced but unless they are charging you for a service its impossible for you to use rather than one you chose not to use then you'll probably have to pay up.

As an alternative - had you thought of setting up a lobby group to badger the council into providing more facilites?

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[mickshep]

Current rate at the moment is £158 per metre, if my memory serves me correctly. Also lots of nice eateries/winebars/pubs etc opened along the new developement. cracking place, massive price hike of 2yrs ago brought it into line with other marina's up here. since then in line with inflation. New manager has introduced Berth holders ass' and seems to be putting in a lot of effort. Cheers Mike.

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[vyv_cox]

Hull entry lock

We stopped to have a look at the marina on our way back to the ferry a few weeks ago. Couldn't believe the condition of the lock. Only about half of it has walls and cleats, otherwise boats are supposed to attach themselves to slack ropes that cover the gaps. Nothing to stop their hulls from drifting underneath and clouting the very irregular lumps of stone and concrete beyond. What a nightmare! There were boats all over the place due to a fresh breeze blowing off the river. One large USA visitor finished up sitting in the middle using his thrusters to keep away from the edges. Can't believe that the users let them get away with it when it would be relatively cheap to fix it up properly.

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[chriscallender]

Recently spent a dreadful night in Bembridge one Sunday - as they decided to start dredging the harbour from about 12am until about 3am, making a lot of noise and waves about 10 metres away. I had decided that I would refuse to pay on the grounds that I didn't get any sleep for most of the night, however as I was up at 6am to do a channel crossing and the office wasn't open at that time, the question never arose.... I cleared off before anyone had a chance to ask for money.

OK I accept that the harbour needs to be dredged but don't know why it needs to be done in the middle of the night at the busiest time of year.

Chris

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[[3889]]

I think you have a good case. If the marina advertises shore power etc as part of the contract they are failing to meet reasonable expectations. The fact that you stayed there is mitigated by necessity - once in you are restricted from leaving by a bridge if my memory serves me right? I vaguely remember a similar legal case about a car park where the full conditions of stay were not revealed until past the point of no return - the entry barrier. At the very least I would write to them explaining why you don't think you should pay and see what they have to say.

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[Bergman]

You missed the best trick at Whitby.

I once applied for a berth there and had to pay £25 just to apply.

Eventually offer of berth came and I had 7 days to accept. As it turned out the berth was in the middle of the angling charter boats so I asked for it to be changed.

This apparently counted as a refusal and I lost my 25 quid. Never been back there although it is a nice town.

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[ccscott49]

Bird in the hand and all that, you should have accepted the berth and traded it later, more fool you.

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[charles_reed]

Tidal conditions? nm

nm

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