Storage ashore during winter

[mrpurkis]

Hi, I am doing some research on marinas and boat yards and was hoping to call on some of your wisdom! In general, what proportion of boats in a harbour/marina/boat yard get stored ashore during the winter, as opposed to being kept in the water? Also how much floor space would a 50 ft yacht take up when parked (including a small space around the boat so they dont touch when parked).

Thanks for your time!

 

[Steve_N]

In general

Sorry, but I don't think that you can generalise - you will find huge regional and even local differences depending upon shelter, climate, insurance etc..

For example, at the boatyard in NW Scotland where we moor, 100% of boats are stored ashore during winter and the moorings are dropped to the bottom. At the other end of the spectrum I would suspect that you may find a well-sheltered S. coast marina where 100% of boats stay afloat..

 

[vyv_cox]

I agree, it's not possible to generalise. Looking around the North Wales area the ratio is totally dependent upon the presence of marinas. In Conwy and Pwllheli large numbers stay afloat. On the Menai Strait it is quite unusual to see a boat on a mooring in the winter and those that do tend to wear out the mooring in a very short time.

Parked space is totally dependent upon the equipment owned by the yard. A hoist needs a lot of space each side of the boat to get its wheels in, whereas a crane can put boats within a few inches of each other. Many yards now use a Knijpstra-type hydraulic trailer for small and intermediate sized boats, which allows boats to be relatively close together but not as close as with a crane.

 

[mrpurkis]

Thanks for this information gents, it's very interesting. Anybody else have a view?

 

[bumblefish]

In Brighton there would not be enough space to haul out even 25% of the boats at the same time, even when the car park is used! The vast majority only come ashore fof 8 to 10 weeks at a time. There are some that have not been out for years but then they have also not left their moorings for the same time!!!!

 

[cliffordpope]

Where I used to keep my boat in Beccles on the Norfolk Broads 100% of boats were pulled out for the winter. The river usually flooded over the banks so it would have been very risky to leave the boat moored. Even so stored boats could sometimes float away.

 

[tom52]

There is a big difference between marina and swing mooring boats. many swing moorings are Summer only
For example, in Poole Harbour virtually all the boats on swing moorings go ashore for the full 5 months from November.
But the largest marina in Poole, Cobbs Quay (850 berths), only allows boats berthed there a maximum of 6 weeks ashore during the winter.

 

[chriscallender]

Now that would be a neat way to avoid paying the yard the relaunch fee /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif