Ripoff water taxi prices?

J

john_morris_uk

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We have had to leave the boat in Dartmouth temporarily. (I am not giving anything away - it will be moved almost as soon as you are reading this!)

Anyway - because of where it is, the water taxi to get ashore was £4 per person. Four of us (SWMBO plus son plus his friend plus me) came to £16-00

I called down to the boat today and got in the water taxi to be told that as it was only me it would be £8-00 EACH WAY thank you very much sir!

Is this the most expensive water taxi in the country? I had no choice but to pay £16-00 just to call out to the boat and collect a couple of things and check that all is ok.

The £16-00 taxi fare will make me think twice about visiting Dartmouth again... especially as the water taxi in question is run by the harbour authority.

Its also doesn't help that the water taxi driver on Monday was the WORST boat driver I had seen in years. We hit four boats while I was in the ride back from our boat while I was sitting watching as a passenger! We left marks down the side of one boat that I would have been very cross about if it had been my boat.
 
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I suppose that the water taxi fares in Dartmouth are all in the spirit of free enterprise, ie put the fares up until the pips squeak, and then put them up some more....... wasn't there a notorious marina organisation who had that philosophy?
Maybe Dartmouth are borrowing the idea from them.

Just a thought, would it be possible to keep a wee inflatable dinghy in your car boot? I have a Wetline 1.8m which would probably be ideal for emergencies like this, provided of course that you do not have to row too far in hazardous conditions.
My wee dink rows very nicely with one person on board, only takes a few minutes to blow up with the foot pump, and can be rolled up fairly compactly (altho' I tend to just deflate it enough to get it into the back of my wee hatchback). I bought it at Force 4 a couple of years ago for about GBP 250.
 
I can't help salve the irritation, but can suggest you may wish to get your money's worth from that quite autocratic harbour-meister.

I understand that such bodies as Harbours are required to provide facilities for masters of vessels to correct their charts FOC. Might I suggest that you toddle along there one morning soon - when it's raining hard - and require them/him to provide you with a table, chair and all the UKHO Chart Amendments and Notices To Mariners for the last 20 years or so..... and if your own charts are all well up-to-date, I have a sorry stock - some of them in fathoms and black-and-white - going back to when Pontius was a Pilot, which I would happily lend to you.

And while you're at it, take in your aneroid to have it calibrated against the certificated, rated one in his office. AIR, he is obliged to provide that facility, similarly FOC.

I suspect he'll either offer you coffee and biscuits, or throw a complete 'wobbly'..... ;)
 
Why not write them a polite letter questioning their charges. It would be interesting to hear how they justify them for a short trip.

I am not sure about how far the trip is, and how many people they typically carry, but in value terms I am not sure that it is any worse than the Cowes water taxis who have plenty of trade and still seem to get away with charging £4 to take you 100yds
 
Seem mighty expensive. I wouldn't pay it more than once and I would certainly be letting the harbour auth. know what I think copied to the local council. (You are moving your boat because of the high prices, thus doing the town out of revenue!)

I know the Cowes lot have a hard time of it. To keep there lic. they are "encouraged" to run all year and late each day. Then the council/harbour authority grant a pile of extra lic at Cowes Week and let all sorts of people take trade.

So those running all year, not making much on a late Monday night in November get the rug pulled at peak times! Not really 'cricket'.
 
Were did you leave the boat???

If you left it up Ditsham way and want the taxi from the town... then I can see the point...
 
Oh well, Dartmouth joins Salcombe as places I never want to visit.

I went to Fambridge last weekend. 4 hour Lunchstop Mooring buoy and taxi for 4 people - a fiver return.

I don't get it. Perhaps they ought to go look at the coastal towns in France to see how they encourage visitors to spend locally.
 
Sorry you had a bad time in Dartmuff. It's our home port so we keep dory in the marina and rarely use the water taxi. I assume you were a reasonable distance up river to be charged at that rate.

They do provide a service all year so I guess they have to make some money in the summer to cover running costs in the winter.

We will make the harbour authorities aware of this thread and perhaps they'll reply directly.


Cheers,

Colin
 
Bloody Hell.
65p a metre PER DAY????!!!!!!!!!!!! Harbour dues.

You think thats reasonable?
You lot must be all off your chump.
Horrible profiteering of the worst sort.

You can pick up a swinging mooring in Burnham. That, including the water taxi is a fiver a night from Royal Corinthian. Others charge similar up to a tenner.
Free if you are lucky.

Crouch Harbour Authority allows Visitors a total of 28 days a year free.

Then, for my 35ft annually is £39.00


I think you South Westers are being blighted by Solent Flare.

Other rivers on the East Coast have no mechanism for collecting money at all.
 
Brightlingsea - outrageous increase from £1.00 per person each way to £1.20 (kids free) what's the world coming to?:D:D:D:D
 
FullCircle said:
Bloody Hell.
65p a metre PER DAY????!!!!!!!!!!!! Harbour dues.

You think thats reasonable?
You lot must be all off your chump.
Horrible profiteering of the worst sort.

You can pick up a swinging mooring in Burnham. That, including the water taxi is a fiver a night from Royal Corinthian. Others charge similar up to a tenner.
Free if you are lucky.

Crouch Harbour Authority allows Visitors a total of 28 days a year free.

Then, for my 35ft annually is £39.00


I think you South Westers are being blighted by Solent Flare.

Other rivers on the East Coast have no mechanism for collecting money at all.
Click to expand...

Not going to try to defend the level of Harbour dues, as an ex East Coaster myself I found the whole concept alien when we moved down here. Should also mention that our full tide swinging mooring in a nature reserve on the North Kent cost cost us £160 p.a.:)

I don't think that Dartmuff are any worse than some others in this part of the world, and I think they offer a better service than most. Don't forget that the charges include Wingnut's dues as well;)

Maybe we have to pay a premium for see-through water?

Cheers,

Colin
 
The demand for moorings in Dartmouth still far exceeds supply so the charges are not yet deterring customers. I joined the waiting list for a larger mooring last year and was told to expect 2013 at the earliest. The price quoted for the water taxi is still surprising. Perhaps the competitors are cheaper. Last time I used one I was embarrassed at how little I had to pay.
 
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