Suffolk Yacht Harbour (Levington) & Shotley Marina

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alanwilson

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A club trip from R Blackwater to Ramsgate over the weekend changed with the wind to heading north instead: in Harwich I phoned Suffolk Yacht Harbour for a berth for 3 boats. "You'll have to call from the entrance to the marina, to see if there's any space". "It won't be very helpful if we get to the entrance, only to find you haven't got room: what are the chances of berths?" "Not very good; we're very full" "Can't I book berths now" "No; only once you get to the entrance".
I phoned Shotley Marina: "Yes, no problem, come on in & we'll find you spaces".
Next time I go Harwich way, decision made.
Also, Shotley were very helpful the next day when I towed alongside a boat with engine failure: made sure we had the lock to ourselves apart from a very small boat; gave us a nice easy alongside berth for me to put the disabled boat against; and then gave him a discount because he is stuck there for a week! They must want repeat custom or something.
 
Yes they do (and always have) want repeat custom.
Shotley have always had a can-do mentality.

SYH are behaving just as they always do as well.

Vive la difference.
 
There is another possibility, SYH might have allocated you a berth but when you arrived down the far end of the relevant "hole" you found the berth was not empty. :mad: Mind you they are not the only marina guilty of this, the same thing happened to us at Chatham this year. The difference was that Chatham were extremely apologetic.
 
alanwilson said:
I paid 60p in a tiny marina in Ireland 2 years ago: I asked about VAT & the reply was "Sure, I can't be bothered with all the paperwork!"
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When I bought diesel in <a West Highland port which shall remain nameless> the question of VAT never even arose. It was very cheap. I've had a marina refuse to accept my 100% propulsion declaration because it made the paperwork harder - they insisted on selling to me at 60/40.
 
JumbleDuck said:
When I bought diesel in <a West Highland port which shall remain nameless> the question of VAT never even arose. It was very cheap. I've had a marina refuse to accept my 100% propulsion declaration because it made the paperwork harder - they insisted on selling to me at 60/40.
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It is NOT their choice, you sign the form & are responsible for that declaration
 
I had an insistence on 60/40 at Ramsgate: after emails to the local council and HMRC, they sent me a cheque for the overcharge & said they would get a different system. Don't just give in & pay more than you should. I could prove 55% heating.
 
alanwilson said:
A club trip from R Blackwater to Ramsgate over the weekend changed with the wind to heading north instead: in Harwich I phoned Suffolk Yacht Harbour for a berth for 3 boats. "You'll have to call from the entrance to the marina, to see if there's any space". "It won't be very helpful if we get to the entrance, only to find you haven't got room: what are the chances of berths?" "Not very good; we're very full" "Can't I book berths now" "No; only once you get to the entrance".
I phoned Shotley Marina: "Yes, no problem, come on in & we'll find you spaces".
Next time I go Harwich way, decision made.
Also, Shotley were very helpful the next day when I towed alongside a boat with engine failure: made sure we had the lock to ourselves apart from a very small boat; gave us a nice easy alongside berth for me to put the disabled boat against; and then gave him a discount because he is stuck there for a week! They must want repeat custom or something.
Click to expand...

Did he sort the alarm problem, I did hear the RT
 
No: it was an oil pump problem, not just a faulty alarm, so lucky he didn't chance it & use the engine to get into a marina. Looks like there was oil, but it wasn't circulating at all. He's still in Shotley, awaiting an engineer friend this weekend.
 
alanwilson said:
I had an insistence on 60/40 at Ramsgate: after emails to the local council and HMRC, they sent me a cheque for the overcharge & said they would get a different system. Don't just give in & pay more than you should. I could prove 55% heating.
Click to expand...

I was paying less than I should. I tried to pay full whack, honest!
 
The Shotley guys are always helpful, but they do have some vacancies at the moment. They're currently offering free berthing (yes, free) until your existing marina contract expires if you want to shift your boat to Shotley.
 
pvb said:
The Shotley guys are always helpful, but they do have some vacancies at the moment. They're currently offering free berthing (yes, free) until your existing marina contract expires if you want to shift your boat to Shotley.
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There are few larger boat berths vacant but quite a few <9m berths on J and K pontoon are vacant. It is rumoured that an alongside berth on C might vacate in the near future but probably just speculation.
 
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