Solent Gridlock

[[2068]]

Berthons- Fully booked
Lymington Yacht Haven - Fully booked
Yarmouth - no hope
East Cowes - not taking bookings
Cowes Yacht Haven - some sort of sailing thing going on

...

Well, it could be the reason that everything is full is that nobody can go anywhere.
e.g. If someone from Yarmouth could actually find a free place at another marina, that would free up a Yarmouth place, and so on.

The Solent Marinas have adopted a booking policy that isn't working too well, imho.
At first it was "just turn up, we'll see what we can do", and they hardly ever turned anyone away, even if you ended up trying to break a rafting record.

Then someone decided that certainty was better, so along came telephone reservations and online booking systems instead.
This has allowed people that can book weeks ahead to have absolute certainty of a place, which was fine at first, but a conservative interpretation of availability plus high demand has relegated the chancers to "Oooo dear, that's a dodgy option, we might not have anywhere for you".

Discuss.

.

 

[benjenbav]

I suspect that many annual berth-holders don't notify their marinas if they are going to be elsewhere, which means that it is difficult for the marinas to slot a visitor in to a vacant berth.

The rarity of this glorious weather coinciding with the holiday season and pre-Cowes Week events also means that this weekend will be busy and fraught. I suspect there will be some pressure due to "sheer volumes of traffic" on the M3/M27 tomorrow evening through to Saturday morning and also on Sunday evening, too.

 

[Sandyman]

If they have no spaces available because no one is temporarily vacating there berths then there is not a lot they can do about it, is there? Drove along Lee-on-Solent seafront then onto Hillhead last Sunday lunchtime. Lovely July summers day & the Solent was nearly empty of pleasure craft. Never see it so quiet.

 

[[2068]]

If they have no spaces available because no one is temporarily vacating there berths then there is not a lot they can do about it, is there? Drove along Lee-on-Solent seafront then onto Hillhead last Sunday lunchtime. Lovely July summers day & the Solent was nearly empty of pleasure craft. Never see it so quiet.

Yes, but it could be that the reason "no one is temporarily vacating their berths" is that the people in those berths don't have a booked place to go to, and the system doesn't encourage you to turn up on spec any more.

 

[andy59]

My berth is vacant until further notice in the yacht haven FP , but I presume they are already using it

 

[Sandyman]

Yes, but it could be that the reason "no one is temporarily vacating their berths" is that the people in those berths don't have a booked place to go to, and the system doesn't encourage you to turn up on spec any more.

Yes that is a fair comment to which I have no answer.

 

[[2068]]

My berth is vacant until further notice in the yacht haven FP , but I presume they are already using it

Thanks, lady at office said the vacant berths had already been allocated ... we might just turn up as "waifs and strays" and see what happens.
Worst case - it will have been a longish day trip

 

[Sandyman]

Thanks, lady at office said the vacant berths had already been allocated ... we might just turn up as "waifs and strays" and see what happens.
Worst case - it will have been a longish day trip

............or anchor

 

[z1ppy]

Let market forces work. Supply and Demand, if everywhere is full to bursting why dont they put their prices up and make some more money...?

I have been shocked by some of the Med prices for berths mentioned on here but it seems to work? people pay, people get berths...

 

[[2068]]

............or anchor

Yeah, we used to do that quite a bit in the 24footer (round the back of Brownsea Island, Newtown Creek) overnight.
I'm not sure how much I trust the current anchor's ability ... it looks a bit feeble for anything other than a short stop.

.

 

[[2068]]

Let market forces work. Supply and Demand, if everywhere is full to bursting why dont they put their prices up and make some more money...?
I have been shocked by some of the Med prices for berths mentioned on here but it seems to work? people pay, people get berths...

Some more flexible visitor berthing was more what I was thinking of.

e.g. a less desirable part of the marina where you can raft out, or some extra buoys in a sheltered spot and a water taxi.
Objective being, to have the confidence to sleep and know that you will wake up in roughly the same place the next morning.

 

[Bazzer]

we were in yarmouth last weekend and phoned before hand they said they were full but had 30 spaces for first come first served, i dont think i have ever seen yarmouth so full, there were loads of boats rafted, not a spot of space in the main basin, a lot more than 30 boats !!!

 

[Scubadoo]

There are other places like, Beaulieu River, Bembridge, Island Harbour, Folly Inn. Like you I find it a right pain and tend to avoid some places until the silly season is over or go during the week.

 

[burgundyben]

It also depends somewhat on how well you know the folk running the place, at two places in the Solent I happen to know the marina staff very well, the result is that even at very busy times they find a way of fitting us in.

 

[Otter]

Introduce a minimal rebate for notifying the office you're away in July or August, something like a fiver. The extra cost to the marina more than offset by them knowing many more berths are vacant.

But wonderful though the wider Solent marinas are, it's a superb place to find an anchorage, maybe upgrade the tackle and save a lot on Marina fees.

 

[oldgit]

similar situation on the tidal Thames Marinas.

 

[z1ppy]

Some more flexible visitor berthing was more what I was thinking of.

e.g. a less desirable part of the marina where you can raft out, or some extra buoys in a sheltered spot and a water taxi.
Objective being, to have the confidence to sleep and know that you will wake up in roughly the same place the next morning.

yea i kinda figured that and its a good suggestion but i guess most of the marinas have been optimized for the maximum number of berths and if they are full with people still wanting to come, it suggests that their prices at peak times are too low.

some marinas do have berths which dry on low tide at discounted rates but unsure if they are available for visitors?

There will usually look like there is space in marinas (especially those with lease hold berths attached to property) as some marinas are not able to use the lease hold berths for visitors as established in the lease agreement.

or maybe the Solent is just at functional capacity during the 6 weeks summer sun we get in the year?

I remember as a kid we would never book berths and the done thing was to turn up and hope for a spot when calling up on VHF. thse days are long gone and in the past we have struggled to find a lunch spot in some places although suspect some of this is down to marina staff being more interested in overnights and not allowing short stays...

 

[benjenbav]

It also depends somewhat on how well you know the folk running the place, at two places in the Solent I happen to know the marina staff very well, the result is that even at very busy times they find a way of fitting us in.

Yeah but...if space is really tight and then you turn up in Friday's Child, I reckon they'll be motivated to find some room for a beautiful Fairey classic.

 

[CLB]

Introduce a minimal rebate for notifying the office you're away in July or August, something like a fiver. The extra cost to the marina more than offset by them knowing many more berths are vacant.

I reckon that is the answer. WIth the average overnight visitor's berth being, I guess around £40, in the Solent. A £10 per night incentive to annual bertholders is a motivation for telling them you are out. Otherwise you just think I don't want to let them know as I want my berth vacant when I get back. A tenner is nothing, but in effect it makes where you are going for the night £10 cheaper. It's not difficult to admin and it would be an extra source of income for the marina and free up some visitor spaces.

 

[lionelz]

Has it got anything to do with the great weather? School holidays? And also it's america's cup weekend. I know gosport premier has been booked for weeks for this weekend as I was speaking to manager about it.