St Peter Port waiting pontoon

[Powersalt]

Was that last August? If so we were in there watching this french boat ram the sill ... quite amusing really!

It happens quite a few times each year. I watched a english yacht chance his arm at trying to get in to the marina on the last of a falling tide. He got over the rocks and then caught on the cill itself. UNable to move I told him to throw me his masthead haylard and I plus three other ( by then) proceeded to heel him over whilst the harbour dinghy pulled him astern. He came off and was lucky. But why risk it when its that close.

As for the waiting pontoon. I think its one of the most efficient I have ever witnessed. If you watch carefully they work out boat sizes and draught and then let you in according to where you are being put. ONly rare for someone to be really well out of turn.

 

[Powersalt]

Yep thought that was Granville. I like that place a lot for short visits but have heard of many yachts being hit by french boats passing the pontoons and getting it wrong. Havent been back since they pinched my ensign.

 

[john_morris_uk]

I can only agree with Robin and why worry about where you are in the queue anyway? If you are first in, you only end up being inside boat in the raft and everyone else traipsing across your deck.

 

[Skysail]

Last time in St Peter Port I noticed they had colour coded the waiting pontoon according to size of yacht! Agree they are the most efficient and pleasant outfit.

 

[Resolution]

"We were too big to get in anyway with our last boat and 2.08m draft and I certainly didn't miss the hassle and stress at all and the freedom to come and go at will was a definite plus. What I did object too was being charged the same rate outside to be rafted up, no electrics and a hit and hope water taxi racket if you didn't have your own dinghy ready."

We were there last month and chose to stay out on the visitor pontoons. All very reasonable except that the taxi service was indeed intermittent. Also felt expensive at £1 per trip for a ten yard voyage. So no surprise that almost all visitors were using their dinghies. (We had just packed ours away clean and tidy and were too lazy to haul it all out again.) I would suggest that the taxi guys rethink their pricing policy to woo back a better flow of visitor traffic.

 

[guernseyman]

We were there last month and chose to stay out on the visitor pontoons. All very reasonable except that the taxi service was indeed intermittent. Also felt expensive at £1 per trip for a ten yard voyage. So no surprise that almost all visitors were using their dinghies. (We had just packed ours away clean and tidy and were too lazy to haul it all out again.) I would suggest that the taxi guys rethink their pricing policy to woo back a better flow of visitor traffic.

Two of my boys used to work on the taxi; I'm sure last year (the last time the youngest worked it) the price had gone up to £1.50p; so if it's back down to £1 you were winning.

The dinghy experience came in useful for the next eldest lad as he is crewing on Velsheda (now in the Med) and is 'captain' of the dinghy used as a bow thruster when mooring.

 

[wotayottie]

I can only agree with Robin and why worry about where you are in the queue anyway? If you are first in, you only end up being inside boat in the raft and everyone else traipsing across your deck.

The entry sequence is less important though it's fair to say that some people did get quite excited when a fair number of late arrivals went straight past the raft and into the marina.

The bit that concerned me and I think is unacceptable, was a raft of 12 boats outside me hanging onto my cleats. Even the bow wave from the harbour masters dinghies were causing severe snatching. God only knows what would have happened had "jack the lad" in a speedboat done what we all know they do do and set up a big bow wave - probably cleats ripped out of the deck..

There was no question of bow and stern lines. The rows in front and behind were just as many boats deep.

Yes, apart from the queue jumpers the entry was well organised by the staff involved and without any unpleasantness apart from one Frenchman.

 

[Robin]

Two of my boys used to work on the taxi; I'm sure last year (the last time the youngest worked it) the price had gone up to £1.50p; so if it's back down to £1 you were winning.

The dinghy experience came in useful for the next eldest lad as he is crewing on Velsheda (now in the Med) and is 'captain' of the dinghy used as a bow thruster when mooring.

The water taxi operates on the Ryanair pricing philosophy. Despite the very short distances, the price is per person each way not per trip, so even for just two people a return trip costs £6 which doesn't encourage multiple trips to the shops! The harbour rules also say not to use on board toilets even in the outer harbour pontoons, so those without holding tanks could spend a fortune if they didn't have the dinghy pumped up. Whilst the fees are reasonable for parking in the marina, the same price for outside I think is OTT, to be rafted up, no electrics and a choice of your own dinghy (if you can find room on the dinghy pontoon which also dries around LW) or the expensive and often elusive taxi.


As for the using shorelines on the waiting pontoon, that would cause chaos. Just imagine if the OP had all twelve boats outside them rafted up with shorelines on, 24 lots of lines to un-knit simultaneously as the raft is called in to enter. Not really practical or IMO necessary for a stay of at most a few hours. One thing in St Peter Port that is worth remembering is that there is a small swell at certain stages of the tide and having tight lines makes for a lot of jerking. The boat if left with a little freedom will move regularly on the small surges but always stays in the same spot +/- a foot, trying to stop that just makes for unpleasant snatching but allowing that little freedom of movement is usually much better.

 

[snowleopard]

Well we came in last night via a couple of hours on the waiting pontoon. The HM lads were extremely efficient and called us in in a suitable order though they were caught on the hop by another batch of boats coming out unexpectedly. It wasn't as busy as the OP had and no one was rafted on us on the pontoon. A thoroughly straightforward process.

Not keen on the fact that they charge the same rate inside and out as we would normally steer clear of marinas but as we're paying for it anyway we might as well be able to walk ashore. I wonder why anyone would use taxis more than the odd time rather than use their dinghy but I suppose ours is easier to access than most as it's on davits.

Slightly less keen on karaoke till 11.30 and the parade of teenies showing off on their scooters all evening!

Any other forumites in here at present?

 

[doug748]

Any other forumites in here at present?

No, but I did watch you arrive and would have said hello but I was on my way out.

On the subject of Havelet Bay. On Thursday morning there was a lugger alone there, maybe 30-35 feet parked, rolling heavily. Looking across, I thought that if it were mine I would be shifting it promptly as the weather was forecast to be turing to the south. I thought no more about it. Having a drink in the Royal CIYC in the evening a pair of masts suddenly hove up on harbout wall and it was the said boat getting a right hammering. After seeing that nobody was aboard I watched, with a few others till about 11.15, when it was still afloat but starting to struggle. The conditions were shocking, I am amazed it lasted so long. By morning it was sunk, lying in deepish water, I am surprised it was still in one piece, though it must be in a sad state.

I went into the bay on Friday eve and saw the wreck awash, and noticed a Pz number - I had assumed it was French.

Moral of the story is beware of Havelet Bay.

 

[samwise]

As for the waiting pontoon. I think its one of the most efficient I have ever witnessed. If you watch carefully they work out boat sizes and draught and then let you in according to where you are being put. ONly rare for someone to be really well out of turn.

Wholeheartedly agree. The SPP marina guys are extremely professional and efficient and provided everyone plays by the rules the system works fairly.

Re "no fenders French" we saw a Dutch yacht coming in to an alongside berth with no less than five folk on the foredeck. It came closer and closer with no sign of activity from the "crew" no ropes, no fenders, until it slammed the topsides into the pontoon. Couldn't hear what the skipper was saying, but it sounded a bit rude!

 

[guernseyman]

Moral of the story is beware of Havelet Bay.

As anywhere else it pays to analyse the situation.

Havelet is sheltered from swell, but exposed to the SE quadrant. If wind-generated waves enter the bay it can get confused as there are walls to the north and west to reflect the waves.

Typically it is a sheltered anchorage but not always.

 

[wotayottie]

By morning it was sunk, lying in deepish water, I am surprised it was still in one piece, though it must be in a sad state.

I went into the bay on Friday eve and saw the wreck awash, and noticed a Pz number - I had assumed it was French.

Moral of the story is beware of Havelet Bay.

One of the harbour guys told me it was a local boat that a guy had spent 5 years converting. Whats more it was uninsured. Sad.

 

[Giblets]

I also sail with a lifting (more accurately swing)keel. Maybe there should be a flag which says don't try to follow me I have less draft than you think. The real answer of course is know your boat and its limitations "Follower beware"

Some years ago we chartered a Southerly 115 from Dartmouth and popped across to SPP. The skipper was really smug as we motored into the marina ahead of everyone else with the keel up but the smugness disappeared toote suite when he was told to turn sharp left inside the entrance and had forgotten to put the keel down again. They don't turn too well in that state!