kalessin
Well-Known Member
I just wanted to put on record the fantastic service we received from Tollesbury Marina this weekend.
We sailed down from the Orwell in Kalessin on a Haven Ports YC club cruise. On board were me, volunteer crew Tim (who was also a highly recommended asset!) and my husband Sam who is a stroke survivor with limited mobility. Tollesbury allocated us a berth as close as possible to the clubhouse.
On Saturday evening, harbourmaster Tim Partington and his very strong son helped us get Sam down the ramp in his wheelchair at close to LW, and on to our yacht using halyard & harness.
On Sunday we attempted to leave... and had to return after our engine overheated. Tollesbury offered to tow us in, came out to meet us, put us on the crane bay, and harbourmaster Tim, who is a diesel engine guru in his spare time, came to advise on the engine problems.
Very early on Monday we attempted to leave again - overheated again - came back in again. A bit later we were lucky to obtain the services of an engineer from Volspec, all of about 30m away, who had a cancellation and was able to work on our engine. It appeared work was going to take quite a while so we decided to head home and leave the yacht in Tollesbury. The crane bay is very much less than accessible for someone with limited mobility, and far too narrow for a wheelchair, so Tim and crew arranged for Sam to be put in a full body climbing harness and hoisted off the boat using the marina's mast derrick! (See picture below).
I may have been rude in the past about Tollesbury's very limited tidal access and occasional wobbly bits. However with service like that they can easily beat off all opposition. When the overheat alarm came on we considered going over to Bradwell because it gave us so much more choice in terms of getting Kalessin in and out, but on balance decided not, because while accessible by boat Bradwell is a very long way from anywhere by road. It seems we made entirely the right decision to return to Tollesbury. Highly recommended.
We sailed down from the Orwell in Kalessin on a Haven Ports YC club cruise. On board were me, volunteer crew Tim (who was also a highly recommended asset!) and my husband Sam who is a stroke survivor with limited mobility. Tollesbury allocated us a berth as close as possible to the clubhouse.
On Saturday evening, harbourmaster Tim Partington and his very strong son helped us get Sam down the ramp in his wheelchair at close to LW, and on to our yacht using halyard & harness.
On Sunday we attempted to leave... and had to return after our engine overheated. Tollesbury offered to tow us in, came out to meet us, put us on the crane bay, and harbourmaster Tim, who is a diesel engine guru in his spare time, came to advise on the engine problems.
Very early on Monday we attempted to leave again - overheated again - came back in again. A bit later we were lucky to obtain the services of an engineer from Volspec, all of about 30m away, who had a cancellation and was able to work on our engine. It appeared work was going to take quite a while so we decided to head home and leave the yacht in Tollesbury. The crane bay is very much less than accessible for someone with limited mobility, and far too narrow for a wheelchair, so Tim and crew arranged for Sam to be put in a full body climbing harness and hoisted off the boat using the marina's mast derrick! (See picture below).
I may have been rude in the past about Tollesbury's very limited tidal access and occasional wobbly bits. However with service like that they can easily beat off all opposition. When the overheat alarm came on we considered going over to Bradwell because it gave us so much more choice in terms of getting Kalessin in and out, but on balance decided not, because while accessible by boat Bradwell is a very long way from anywhere by road. It seems we made entirely the right decision to return to Tollesbury. Highly recommended.
