alahol2
Well-known member
I hope they are going to put the moorings in the seagrass and leave the sand for anchoring... not take up all the sand with moorings.
Studland Bay summary
- Thread starter oldharry
- Start date
oldharry
Well-known member
Good point, and one I shall take forward. Thanks
Boathook
Well-known member
If one goes in the sand it will show whether the eel grass grows around it. If the others go in the eel grass and the grass disappears ...............
A lot of boats now prefer to moor rather than anchor so I suspect the moorings will normally be taken. My concern is who is going to maintain them (the moorings) and produce the 'paper work' that they are maintained. I suspect that this was discussed in the previous thread somewhere.
Twister_Ken
Well-known member
It was, along with costs, which looked totally prohibitive.
oldharry
Well-known member
Completely non viable as a business proposition. Only possible way forward is to run it on a not for profit basis. Crown Estates report on viability here: http://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/media/200353/studland_bay_visitor_mooring_viability_appraisal.pdf
Seajet
...
I had a look into 'Environmentally Friendly Moorings', EFM's and as a qualified engineer I must say I was thoroughly underwhelmed...
Anyone using them would be well advised to check their boat insurance; when I called mine and was asked to describe the set-up, there was a pregnant pause then " Err, we'll get back to you ", Click, brrrr !
Quite seriously, do check; there is the school of thought that if someone takes money for use of the mooring then their insurance is responsible, but I for one would prefer not to be arguing about it from a tangled heap on the shoreline !
Anyone using them would be well advised to check their boat insurance; when I called mine and was asked to describe the set-up, there was a pregnant pause then " Err, we'll get back to you ", Click, brrrr !
Quite seriously, do check; there is the school of thought that if someone takes money for use of the mooring then their insurance is responsible, but I for one would prefer not to be arguing about it from a tangled heap on the shoreline !
Tranona
Well-known member
That type of mooring is used very successfully in other locations. The concerns (apart from the cost) are about whether they would work in the bay given its bottom, shallow water, the tidal flows and range and exposure to easterly winds - (not that anybody would be there with strong winds from that direction).
Searush
New member
I see them used as picnic stops mostly with the odd overnight with people aboard. Under such circumstances the risk is nominal as skipper & crew are aboard to deal with any problems & even mobile phones have anchor alarms these days.
Might be a different situation if one was to, say hook a hulk on & just leave it there, completely unattended and in all weathers.
Tranona
Well-known member
Will be interesting to see where they propose siting them. The pattern of anchoring in Studland is very varied. It is shallow a long way out and much of it dries at LW springs so many boats cannot get in close, but others use that as an opportunity to dry out on their bilge keels. Many other boats anchor just outside the shallow bits, either for a picnic stop, waiting out tides/weather or as a jumping off point for a cross/down channel passage. Few stay for more than a few hours so there is constant movement and hugely variable volumes, so there will be long periods when the moorings will be empty and times when they will be totally inadequate for the volume. Don't envy the person who is going to try and make sense of this.
Robin
Well-known member
Exactly, and precisely why anchoring is the most sensible solution. KISS principle.
Tranona
Well-known member
Yes, was out there 3 weeks ago - anchored for lunch, just to remind myself what we shall miss if the nutters get their way.
oldharry
Well-known member
Its not been published yet, but someone involved in the Seastar report told me their survey confirms this, with boats often only staying an hour or two.
As to trying to make sense of it, I suspect that will be part of the job of the MMO group I have been invited to join. So keep your ideas coming in please, so I will have some idea of what the general feeling is, and just possibly persuade them to produce something workable.
Tranona
Well-known member
Trying to model patterns of usage is a nightmare as there are so many variables. Take this weekend where low water is late afternoon. If the weather is like last weekend, inshore will be wall to wall dried out boats and kids playing on the sands. If there is a strong easterly, it will be deserted, even if it is bright sunshine. Every day in the summer if the weather is decent around 2 hours from low water you will see a gaggle of boats (hordes at the weekends) coming west from the Solent and dropping the hook for an hour or two for a brew up and wait for the new flood to go into the harbour. Most nights in the summer there are boats waiting to make channel passages - gone by 8am, replaced by day trippers from Poole. On top of all this you have the windsurfers, dinghy sailers, divers, water skiers all jostling for a bit of space - all seems to work though.
The image some people like to portray is that it is all Sunseekers roaring into the bay, dragging their big hooks, playing loud music and racing around on jetskis. Nothing could be further from the truth. But as you know people with tunnel vision don't want to recognise complexity!
The image some people like to portray is that it is all Sunseekers roaring into the bay, dragging their big hooks, playing loud music and racing around on jetskis. Nothing could be further from the truth. But as you know people with tunnel vision don't want to recognise complexity!
Tomahawk
Well-known member
Conservationists should take responsibility
A large part of the mooring debate centres around the cost of maintains and insuring the moorings..
A simple solution....
The conflict of use can be solved by providing moorings, but this is expensive. Thus if conservationists want to stop anchoring they should put their own money where their collective mouths are and fund the installation and maintanance of moorings...... Which must be free to the user..
It will be a very expensive commitment. That should not be a problem as the bug hugging community are committed to the environment..
At the beginning of the day this is really an argument about various hobbies / interests. Everybody understands boating is a pastime. That is not a problem Caring for the environment is also simply a pastime. It is much the same as trainspotting, though with more cudos. It seems the bug higgers want the pleasure of "caring"about eelgrass and seahorses. Their desire to "care" for seahorses conflicts with others who want to while away a few hours on their boat. Their argument can be reduced to a simple, "my hobby is to be interested in wildlife, it is therefore more more valuable than yours because I am a conservationist / environmentalist whilst you abuse the environment with your boat.. "
Of course it is a very cheap pastime to" care" for the environment. You simply have to read all about it on the web and send emails complaining about boaters... (or land based activity). So in the same way that boaters pay for their pastime by way of buying, insuring, mooring etc; bug huggers have to pay for their pastime by way off funding the physical infrastructure.
The RSPB can raise millions from their members, the same should apply to maring bug huggers.
A large part of the mooring debate centres around the cost of maintains and insuring the moorings..
A simple solution....
The conflict of use can be solved by providing moorings, but this is expensive. Thus if conservationists want to stop anchoring they should put their own money where their collective mouths are and fund the installation and maintanance of moorings...... Which must be free to the user..
It will be a very expensive commitment. That should not be a problem as the bug hugging community are committed to the environment..
At the beginning of the day this is really an argument about various hobbies / interests. Everybody understands boating is a pastime. That is not a problem Caring for the environment is also simply a pastime. It is much the same as trainspotting, though with more cudos. It seems the bug higgers want the pleasure of "caring"about eelgrass and seahorses. Their desire to "care" for seahorses conflicts with others who want to while away a few hours on their boat. Their argument can be reduced to a simple, "my hobby is to be interested in wildlife, it is therefore more more valuable than yours because I am a conservationist / environmentalist whilst you abuse the environment with your boat.. "
Of course it is a very cheap pastime to" care" for the environment. You simply have to read all about it on the web and send emails complaining about boaters... (or land based activity). So in the same way that boaters pay for their pastime by way of buying, insuring, mooring etc; bug huggers have to pay for their pastime by way off funding the physical infrastructure.
The RSPB can raise millions from their members, the same should apply to maring bug huggers.
oldharry
Well-known member
Conservationists do seem VERY good at spending other peoples money. Seen it time and time again since I got involved.
Unfortunately conservation has been elevated by the greens to being something sacred in modern society: how can you NOT care for the environment? thats downright irresponsible and selfish, the argument goes. And of course 'caring for the environment' can only be achieved one way. The governments declared 'green' policy panders to this, though it doesn't really mean very much except that huge sums of money are diverted from important things like hospitals, schools, or medical research to supporting the 'hobby lobby'.
Unfortunately conservation has been elevated by the greens to being something sacred in modern society: how can you NOT care for the environment? thats downright irresponsible and selfish, the argument goes. And of course 'caring for the environment' can only be achieved one way. The governments declared 'green' policy panders to this, though it doesn't really mean very much except that huge sums of money are diverted from important things like hospitals, schools, or medical research to supporting the 'hobby lobby'.
fireball
New member
Sans Bateau
Well-known member
Very good Jon, and when ones career IS conservation, one will fight for conservation for the sake of conservation at the expense of common sense. We have seen a good deal of this.
Seajet
...
On the basis of the career conservationists' methods, I wonder if I can invent a worthy cause which necessitates me sitting on a beach in the Seychelles drinking cold beers and twanging bikini straps all day ?!
Certain people have got close to this with Studland Bay in mind - it's purely a coincidence of course that it's arguably the most attractive beach in the UK - they just aimed low in imagining their 'research and conservation' base, why limit oneself to the temperate climes of the UK...
Tranona
Well-known member
And when you would otherwise spend your life locked up in an office, a short minibus ride to Studland is the nearest you can get to the Seychelles without going there - and Jos caff does a super burger, or home made soup when it is too chilly to dive.
