Swinging mooring v marina annual berth

[NigelCraig]

Had to abort/postpone boat purchase for family reasons but was comparing pros and cons of a swinging mooring vis a vis marina berth (Portland in this case). I had almost convinced myself the (financially) nuclear option of the marina was worth it - 6 weeks onshore storage free, discounted lift out, no extra costs for port fees, parking, dinghy storage etc. But, marina only makes sense if you keep it in all year round (apart from aforesaid 6 weeks lift out for maintenance) and I wondered what precautions you would have to take. If you need to winterise the engine, it might as well be out of the water. On the other hand on the swinging mooring, apart from the worries of breaking loose, what do people do to keep batteries charged if its unattended for a reasonable length of time - will solar panels or a wind generator do enough to always have a start battery or keep an automatic self bailer working?

 

[jac]

Have had same debate ourselves and will be moving to mid river mooring at some stage.

Big differences that I see are.
Overall boat security is one. Thieves find it easier than where there is CCTV etc and no-one to check. Insurance will usually go up.
Being able to break away from a single line attaching to her base, if you do go with swinger, think chafe, backup lines etc.
Batteries should be covered by even a small panel. A wing gen will recharge as well as keep it topped up - lots of threads here on the subject.
General maintenance will be harder, no wondering up to the car / chandlers if you forget something. You will have to take dinghy ashore. For the same reason, loading and unloading is harder.
Winter - lots of places do deals for marina berthing for the winter months giving you shore power for dehumidifier and heaters etc.

There may let's of ways to mitigate these. E.g. A club / yard with a launch or secure dinghy park for a bigger dinghy.
Is there a jetty you can use for loading / unloading?
Finally, if the boat is comfortable to live in afloat then the buoy makes a more peaceful location and very easy to come and go with no other boats to hit within a couple of feet as you find in a marina

 

[Pyramid]

Swinging mooring everytime.
I spent a couple of years in a marina and, when it came right down to it, I used the boat less! Whereas, going out to the boat stepping aboard, out in the open water, the inclination is to 'let go' and leave.
In the marina, however, I often found that you had to really focus about leaving the pontoon; calling up the lock keeper (this may not be a feature at Portland), waiting for your slot to go into the lock ( this could be uo to 2 hours peak in the summer) and then mess about with more warps and fenders through the lock process, then once free, put everything away. By the time you have gone through this process, tides turned and you are already planning the return process!
Now, I arrive at the boat, conduct my checks, engine on, sails prepared, then get the Mrs to let go. Away and free - put the food away.
Anyway those are the positives that outway the negatives, in my opinion.
Yes you have to arrange for the boat to come out elswhere and have the expense of storage lift out/in etc. However, joining a suitable club will offer quite a lot of these requirements and the costs - overall - are often a third of your marina annual fee - alone.

I have solar panels fiited and have found that, even through this last winter, the batteries were adequately charged and retained in a healthy state. Obviously if you can winterise the boat ashore then you may have access to power and all the benefits that brings.

I have always prefered to bring the boat ashore for at least four months - to allow the hull to dry out a little, in an attempt to keep the dreaded osmosis at bay. Different opinions about that and you are right, boats spend most of the year in the water.

Anyway, hope this assists.

 

[Kelpie]

Had a pontoon berth for winter once. Could only take the boat out in certain conditions, and never singlehanded. Of course some pontoons are easier to get into than others, and some boats are more manoeuvrable than others.
I found the boat kept drier when on the mooring because she was always head to wind- driving rain from astern can get in through the washboards.

OTOH my wife liked to go and sit on the boat to eat her lunch. Can't do that on a mooring.

 

[l'escargot]

I like my marina berth. Walk ashore, car park, toilets and showers, electric and water on tap, safer, sociable and more secure. I like to leave a boat in all year round, so much better suited to a marina.

 

[BAtoo]

Have had both Marina berths and swinging moorings (currently on one).

On the swinger I have used the boat much less - partly I expect due to a change in my personal circumstances - but the swinging mooring does take far more time to get from car to boat. The swinger essentially looses the quick evening sail etc (I live 30 mins from the boat whichever its being moored) and makes visiting in inclement weather difficult.
I have always had a full tide/non-lock marina not far from the sea so been a bit spoiled with that side of it but it costs...
However there is the price difference which may be significant (although this depends on where you keep it) - possibly up to half the price if using commercial moorings/marinas.

Keeping batteries topped up is quite easy with solar panels; I don't know about having a regularly working bilge pimp involved as my boat is bone dry when afloat (well so far anyway......)

 

[Seah0rse]

The two are quite different experiences and also depend on your own circumstances. Both have pros and cons. Being on a swinging mooring makes you appreciate a Marina more but, having done it, you understand why there are those who prefer a swinging mooring and it's not necessarily about cost. I only swung for a year but I have some indelible happy and unhappy memories alike. Fortunately more happy than not.

 

[antares]

We're on a swinging mooring in the harbour and there's no way I'd prefer to be alongside,or in a marina.At times it is a bit of a mission, wild rides out in the dinghy etc.but there's no comparison in quality of life aboard , far more peaceful and much easier to slip the mooring and get away.You do have to be a bit organised and I always winter ashore to deal with more serious work issues in the refit period, but the solar panel looks after the batteries OK and so far ,thankfully, no security issues either. I immobilise the wind generator as I think it'd just be too much and the panel has been fine . We have the mooring serviced annually for peace of mind.

 

[reginaldon]

I would normally say swinging mooring every time , however age and arthritis is giving me a hard time boarding and alighting from my inflatable, but £300+ or £3000+, looks like this sailing lark is over.

 

[Daydream believer]

Had a swinging mooring ( i look after 84 so get one free) could not wait to get into a marina
Mooring was 400 yards from house, marina 4 miles
Much easier to go to the marina, cast off & just go easier to take friends aboard without getting soaking wet & doing several trips
Far too much hassle rowing out etc, cannot go & just do a few jobs. Get seasick on a mooring
Also find it is difficult to have a conversation with someone 50 yards away. Much more civilised in a marina & nice to have others to chat to
Decent pub etc although our moorings are off the yacht lub

 

[TrailerSailer]

Hi
I am in Portland. I have a swinging mooring and use WPNSA for tender storage and the marina for over-wintering. This arrangement works for me and the marina treat me as an annual berth holder as I've used them every year for this since they opened. Aside from the wet bum (Portland kicks up quite a bit even on the best of days) it is quite convenient as I can do a touch and go on the WPNSA pontoons should I wish to load up crew and kit above and beyond that in a tender.

PM me if you want more details of moorings etc.

 

[Sandy]

Its a personal choice:

swan down to the pontoon unplug the electric and cast off...

or

load up the tender, chug out to the boat and slip the mooring.

Sailed with a chap who moved to a marina as he wanted the convenience of stepping onto the boat. So he now drives an hour to the boat, if the traffic is good I've not got my head round that logic, while we have started our day out on the water. I suspect we start sailing at the same time, but I consider sitting in a car for an hour a wasted hour.

 

[Daydream believer]

You could also read the post " the frustrations of boating" says a lot about the hassle of a mooring

 

[skyflyer]

Depending on where you are you could have the best of both worlds. We keep our boat on a swinging mooring (annual fee which gives free dinghy storage ashore, free storage on the hard in winter, free water taxi (limited hours) and discounted fees on visitors pontoon)

We thus generally arrive, take water taxi to mooring, collect from mooring, bring her alongside to load up, plug in shore power to top up batteries cool down fridge etc. For a short stay we dont normally get charged but will often remain overnight on the first arrival day anyway.

I worked out we would have to spend nearly 100 nights a year on the pontoon to make it worthwhile having a marina berth. In practice we probably do 20 to 30, so overall cost is somewhere between mooring and marina berth.

To my mind it is the best of both worlds. Some evenings we prefer the relative solitude of the mooring, at others its great to be able to walk back from the pub and not worry about a dinghy ride!

 

[Clarky]

My swinging mooring is £100 a year...for a thirty footer...

 

[Seajet]

I have used a swinging mooring since 1978 and it's lovely, close to shore and the club, a petrol station and 2 nice old pubs serving good food.

That's a half tide mooring though; when I had a fin keeler drawing 5' I found out the hard way that deep water moorings are a different proposition, often so exposed as to need a young lifeboat as a tender, also tidal access - the yacht may be happily afloat but there's only half tide available to launch or recover the dinghy.

Check the tidal dinghy access, also is there a secure place to leave the tender, also secure and available car parking.

I enjoy my swinging mooring very much, I feel it keeps me in tune with nature and wildlife ( many more people should stay on the boat dried out at low water ) and feels more seamanlike to me.

I have had a few annual marina berths over the years and enjoyed them, but they don't prevent it being a nasty chilly place in winter.

If I won the lottery I might well consider a marina, but for normal mortals I reckon a lift or twin keel boat on a half tide soft mud mooring is the way to go, my club and mooring fees inc lift in / out and winter ashore are less than £400.

 

[robertj]

I've had both the the best is by far the one you're happy with.
There's two sides to both as some mention here, the marina has easy access to your boat, making it available even for a short visit. Down side is close proximity to others and cost.
Swing mooring has difficult access etc., but the flip side is seclusion whilst afloat, better views and a feeling of being on a boat.

If your partner is new to boating the marina is your best bet, the ease of getting on and off will be a bonus for you to start with.

 

[Zagato]

It all depends on your own circumstances, budget, wants and what the marina and moorings are like.

A mooring for me as I like having a location better than the most expensive real estate! Waking up to the sound of birds or having a glass of wine in the evening on one of the most beutiful estuaries in the country is 50% of my sailing pleasure, it's the best holiday home. Not so great if you are opposite a junk yard near a motorway however.

I spent a week in Chichester Marina putting up with peoples noisy parties, neighbours two pontoons away arguing/swearing, TV's, radios constant blimmen noise and cooking smells - it was like a caravan park/Coronation Street , I can see why the choicest berths are at the end of pontoons as you get more privacy and less noise with people tramping up and down all the time. Birdham marina on the other hand is totally different, a beautiful quiet spot and a pleasant place to be.

My mooring is opposite a dinghy park and car park only for berth holders and we have a ferry to drop people onto their boats if family don't fancy the dinghy. Minus points are mobos going past rocking the boat and rowing out in windy conditions.

 

[Norfolknick]

We have this year gone from a mid water pontoon mooring (Wicormarine, Fareham Creek) down to a marina (Haslar, Gosport). The price difference is significant but it does have two distinct advantages, the first is that we are now in the Solent in 10 mins (not saying Pompey harbour isnt great, but I was in the RN for a long time, kind of been there and done that...) and its very much more attractive to SWMBO and other friends and family meaning that solo sailing is something I can now choose to do rather than it be an only option.

I would love to be at a swinging mooring (not just for the fiscal savings) but sorting out the dinghy, etc is a pain. My Father in Law has a swinging mooring in Falmouth (where has been for 20 years) and they have a substantial club launch that takes you to your boat, making the whole process so much less painful. Indeed my experience of the SW is that this is very much the norm (Salcombe, Dartmouth, Fowey etc) and is a great half way house.

Why can't more of the clubs in the Solent area offer that as a service? I appreciate that there is a cost implication, but it would not only offer a job to a couple of eager youngsters but also make sailing much more accessible.

 

[epervier]

Have to say, purely down to finances it's a swing for us, we simply can't justify the cost of marina berthing at something north of 4k, but fortunately she's in a basin with half a dozen other boats on swings at the princely sum of less than a couple a hundred a year to ABP Southampton, three months ashore during winter costs another 260 so allinall keeps boating costs to a level that as a pensioner I can afford, the row out to her is only 100 metres or so.