Studland Eco moorings will cost you this year

[lustyd]

However it seems that you do not approve of the way our society is organised so I would be interested in hearing what you would propose as an alternative

No I don’t. It’s incredibly broken and allows the poor to be manipulated in a bizarre sort of money farming arrangement that they vote for believing quite the opposite.
I have various thoughts on how to improve the system but since this isn’t a political forum, and our system precludes the possibility of that kind of change on purpose there’s no sense going down that road.

 

[oldharry]

Not at all sure what this has to do with the moorings in Studland? I could equally well argue that Yacht ownership is a symptom of the ills of modern society. Here near Chichester our local foodbank has supported over 5000 people in 2023 who are unable for verified reasons to afford adequate food and heat in The Chichester/Havant area. A story being repeated up and down the Country, often an even bigger scale. Just down the road is one of several Marinas housing hundreds of high value boats. Money which could go a long way to relieving the poverty and suffering of the poor people living nearby. Many people hold the view that owning and running modern boats is the preserve of the rich and wealthy to the cost of the rest of Society, and th boat ownership is parasitic.

Very definitely not my personal view, I'm not that much of left winger, but a view widely held in one way or another. Remember the accusations against "wealthy, gin swilling sunday afternoon yachtsmen pursuing their own interests regardless of the cost to the environment" on national TV 7-8 years ago? Ok there was a lot more politically to that particular comment, but I do know a significant number of people who would not fundamentally disagree, even if they would not put it so strongly! And NGM did a really good PR job of persuading the General Public that we Boaters HAVE destroyed Studland and that our activities in the last 15 years have made it a sterile wasteland. It must be true - it was on the telly and in the papers!

We see the same corruption in Conservation circles too: Nature and Marine Conservation areas could arguably be said to have been set up to exclude all but the priviledged few. Conservation interests wanted to prevent us from using Studland Bay altogether, for example: if we were excluded who would be allowed to go there? You're right. A few select conservationists! OTT? I dont think so: NGM worked hard to make sure only he and his mates would be allowed to go looking for Studland Seahorses. He managed to work it so that it is actually illegal for you and I to go looking for them in UK, or even to handle them if you are lucky enough to see one. He and a very select band of followers are the only ones who can legally go looking for these fascinating creatures nowadays. You can of course pay him a fat fee to take you to see them as you could have done for free before. All in the name of conservation of course.....! The hugely political game played by NE trying to gain overall control of beautiful Studland is well know to us who were involved - it was NE's carefully anonymous paid 'experts' whose opinions carried more weight than the worldwide body of scientists who have actually studied eelgrass!

And all power to MMO for frustrating them in that aim, and refusing to create the full exclusion zone in the Bay that NE wanted!

 

[Tomahawk]

I made the following commennt..
If the purpose of the restrictions is to protect the environment, it should apply to all people who take recreation in the area.Restrictions should specifically ban recreational diving amongst the seagrass. The only diving that should be allowed must be licensed similar to the annual surveys taken of the USS Richard Montgomery in Kent where for very different reasons, it is necessarily to carry out regular surveys of the condition of the wreck. An annual survey of duration no more than a couple of days should be sufficient to monitor the condition of the seagrass and seahorse populations.

Certainly the so called conservation lobby seems to want everything to themselves. Any time any of them sees an elusive creature that no one but them has seen, they get the right to prohibit everyone else from going anywhere near. Similar happened in Brightlingsea where the selfish ecofascists prevented a new marina from being built.

 

[lustyd]

Certainly the so called conservation lobby seems to want everything to themselves

And they've got it now because they hooked their wagon to the mythical CO2 monster and will effectively own the coastline for the foreseeable future as we try to buy our way out of a crisis rather than accept sensible changes.
If anyone ever notices the methane given off by the dead seagrass they'll be begging us to anchor again. Not currently popular science though, thanks to the marketing around CO2

 

[oldharry]

It's all very well bashing the MMO for what they are doing. They are the Government Department tasked with formal control of our coastal waters, in every respect from harbour developement and dredging, the Fishing Industry, to conservation management.

Be glad that Marine Conservation was not left in the hands of the Governmental Wildlife Authority, Natural England. after the Conference of Rio in 1996, many maritime Nations signed up to proactively protecting and conserving our oceans, including UK. UK decided subsequently it would be the 'Flagship Nation' in marine conservation, setting the model and standards to which other nations would ascribe.

MMO was created in 2009 to coordinate and control Englands coastal waters. It was given resposnsibity for everything from Commercial and harbour developement, the fishing industry, and of course marine conservation. As such it is required to turn to and work with other Government Agencies for advice in their special fields, and in particular, Natural England.

The Marine and Coastal Access Act 2008 gave MMO the authority to draft the necessary legislation to fulfill its task.

In Conservation matters, they are required by law to seek the advice of Natural England, and can hardly ignore it even if that advice is patently badly flawed.

I beleive MMO has served us as best it can by denying NE's recommendation to close Studland altogether, and has acheived the only workable compromise open to them: the VNAZ acknowledges NE's advice, while keeping the Bay open for public use. Arguably a masterly compromise of two fundamentally conflicting views. Its hard to see what else they could do and remain withing their primary brief.

 

[Sianna]

We berth at Bucklers Hard and frequently visit Newton Creek, anchoring there is a donation, every time the NT boat comes round they have always made clear its a donation, depending on how long we stay, we give either a fiver (for a short stop) or a tenner for a whole day, I have no reason to think they would get upset if you didn't donate. The mooring bouys are charged at £15 for a day and £25 overnight. It can get busy at times but these pics were taken on weekends in July and August, but we have never felt overcrowded there.

 

[Mudisox]

Back in the mid 60s, we used to anchor in Newton on a summer weekend and were the only folk there. No charge either, just a chat with the warden.

 

[oldharry]

Many happy recollections of visits ot Newton. The one that stands out was early January 40 years ago. Not another boat to be seen, and heading out the next morning into a heavy snow storm. Fascinating how the snowflakes reveal the wind flow across the sails, but also quickly learned to watch out when going about while well heeled over, to avoid the heavy lump of wet snow down your neck off the boom/mainsail....

 

[Stemar]

It can get busy at times but these pics were taken on weekends in July and August, but we have never felt overcrowded there.

A shallow draft, especially with the ability to take the ground helps with finding a spot, even if it is busy.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

A shallow draft, especially with the ability to take the ground helps with finding a spot, even if it is busy.

We particularly enjoy that. A bit of local knowledge helps too. Where we are in that photo never goes less than 2.5m We have the transits for it committed to memory. It’s not well charted, and the depths when you’re heading there don’t look promising.

 

[Mark-1]

We particularly enjoy that. A bit of local knowledge helps too. Where we are in that photo never goes less than 2.5m We have the transits for it committed to memory. It’s not well charted, and the depths when you’re heading there don’t look promising.

Hmmmm. Time to have a good poke around up there.

 

[Sianna]

A shallow draft, especially with the ability to take the ground helps with finding a spot, even if it is busy.

we only draw 0.5m but we haven't taken to the ground and always had space. It is one of our favourite spots.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

we only draw 0.5m but we haven't taken to the ground and always had space. It is one of our favourite spots.

In your top photo you’re about 50 or so metres from where our photo was taken

 

[bignick]

I made a donation to boatfolk after using a mooring at Studland last year or the previous one. I thought that it would go to the cost of upkeep or to providing more moorings, since they were virtually all taken every time we went and they are actually quite convenient.
I was somewhat surprised to get a ‘thank you‘ email from the Sea Horse Trust for the donation. So I suspect they don’t even separate out the accounts between the eco-mooring operation and their other costs/activities, such as lobbying parliament, publicity etc. It completely changed my mindset about making a donation again.

 

[bignick]

Looking at the boatfolk website now it is pretty obvious, but it wasn’t always like that!

 

[Lodestone]

"I was somewhat surprised to get a ‘thank you‘ email from the Sea Horse Trust for the donation"

So proof positive that rather than contributing to a firm which has stepped in to provide a solution to fudge worthy of Sir Humphrey Appleby one is paying the very organisation that helped skewer boating.

 

[Boathook]

Looking at the boatfolk website now it is pretty obvious, but it wasn’t always like that!

Could you post a link. I looked on the boatfolk website and didn't see anything. Also found the website not user friendly regarding layout !

 

[RivalRedwing]

Studland eco moorings | boatfolk

and if you click donate you arrive at:

Installing Ecomoorings, organized by Neil Garrick-Maidment

 

[Lodestone]

One could argue violation of term 2 of prohibited conduct in Go Fund Me's terms of service as 'misleading/inaccurate'...

 

[bignick]