Uk Marinas

Sandy said:
You live in a very different universe to me. I have been met with nothing but helpfulness and good cheer even in Weymouth.
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I'm delighted you have such a charmed existence but I have to say it is not just me who has found Weymouth not to be the place it once was. Several of my sailing friends have remarked on how unfriendly Weymouth is these days. Add in the fact the ability to refuel there is now in effect impossible and the general loutishness on display and it it any wonder that some people now avoid the place altogether?

And talking of places not being the friendly easy going places they once used to be, do you remember Yarmouth in the old days? The relaxed calm of the berthing masters as they met you at the entrance, directed you to a berth, and may even had time for a brief chat? What have we lost in the robotic world of online pre-booking? Sometimes I am even glad I am coming to the end of my sailing days, because I am not sure how much more ruination I can take of a world I knew so well and loved with all my heart.
 
aqua_sax said:
I'm delighted you have such a charmed existence but I have to say it is not just me who has found Weymouth not to be the place it once was. Several of my sailing friends have remarked on how unfriendly Weymouth is these days. Add in the fact the ability to refuel there is now in effect impossible and the general loutishness on display and it it any wonder that some people now avoid the place altogether?

And talking of places not being the friendly easy going places they once used to be, do you remember Yarmouth in the old days? The relaxed calm of the berthing masters as they met you at the entrance, directed you to a berth, and may even had time for a brief chat? What have we lost in the robotic world of online pre-booking? Sometimes I am even glad I am coming to the end of my sailing days, because I am not sure how much more ruination I can take of a world I knew so well and loved with all my heart.
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Need to go to Lymington Town Quay, especially outside the "summer" period. Staff helpful and time for a chat !
 
aqua_sax said:
I'm delighted you have such a charmed existence but I have to say it is not just me who has found Weymouth not to be the place it once was. Several of my sailing friends have remarked on how unfriendly Weymouth is these days. Add in the fact the ability to refuel there is now in effect impossible and the general loutishness on display and it it any wonder that some people now avoid the place altogether?

And talking of places not being the friendly easy going places they once used to be, do you remember Yarmouth in the old days? The relaxed calm of the berthing masters as they met you at the entrance, directed you to a berth, and may even had time for a brief chat? What have we lost in the robotic world of online pre-booking? Sometimes I am even glad I am coming to the end of my sailing days, because I am not sure how much more ruination I can take of a world I knew so well and loved with all my heart.
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I haven’t been able to cruise outside my area since Covid but your account sounds sadly plausible. I can’t say that we ever found Weymouth unwelcoming, though it was certainly nicer in the early 2000s when we first went there. As well as less pressure on berths, the YC was fully functional and Floods restaurant was lovely and great value. The town is itself a lovely spot but its visitors have never been noted for their sophistication, at least not since the railways came.

On our first visits to Salcombe at the same time we often had a choice of one of the buoys near the town or a chance to take up an unoccupied private mooring buoy. The young attendants later on I think tried to be helpful but the pressure of numbers was that much greater. I’m not glad to be no longer cruising, but a lot of what I hear makes me think that I was lucky to have experienced it in easier times.
 
the last two large south coast marinas I have had annual contracts they were built on space recovered from salt marsh or shallow muddy ground. Two others nearby/ adjacent marinas were created from what was old commercial or Navy docks. All four of these marinas are large ones. A trip up the Hamble is quite amazing to see how many leisure vessels can be packed into one short river, on piles, trots, moorings and marinas. It must a huge amount of income for the local economy.
 
Lucky Duck said:
Pretty much every time a survey from my marina comes around I suggest offering an incentive for berth holders to notify the marina office when they are away (gold standard is probably the Yacht Havens where a percentage of any visitor income is returned) but nothing yet.
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I understand this completely. I have no interest in notifying my Marina when we are away so they can re-let my berth (which I’ve paid for for the whole summer) for their additional income when I can’t have a slice of it.
 
My marina was talking about opening up for visitors. I did point out that it would mean someone there full time at weekends to sort out shower access and electric supply as presently electric meters are where we plug in on shore. I suspect that any income will be dwarfed by the expense of the extra staff.
 
We find the best way to visit Weymouth is to sail into Portland marina -once you have got over the cultural and culinary backwater that is Portland notwithstanding the presence of Lidl a taxi (or if you want to sample local life and have time on your hands a bus) to Weymouth. The one bus trip which is worth the money for the driver entertainment is up to the Portland lighthouse. Clearly some like the huddle of Weymouth afloat but we prefer the tranquility of Portland ,at least when helicopters not practicising and walks along front etc .
 
langstonelayabout said:
I understand this completely. I have no interest in notifying my Marina when we are away so they can re-let my berth (which I’ve paid for for the whole summer) for their additional income when I can’t have a slice of it.
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The practical problem is that being able to visit many places is dependent on people notifying their absence so the fewer people that do so means less space for everyone
 
langstonelayabout said:
additional income when I can’t have a slice of it
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The marina will say the extra visitor income generated goes towards reducing the cost of annual berths. Since we have no way of seeing their detailed accounts nor the reasoning behind how they set the annual berthing rate, we will just have to take their word for it (or not, depending on our own inclinations towards the marina management).

We shouldn't forget that in the good old days it was fairly normal practice for a visitor to use a resident berth holder's mooring when the resident berth holder was away. Done sensibly and courteously, such a practice does make sense, because it increases capacity without the need to adding additional moorings.
 
Sandy said:
You live in a very different universe to me. I have been met with nothing but helpfulness and good cheer even in Weymouth.
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I was at Weymouth this weekend gone and the staff were very helpful in juggling spaces to fit everyone in. A group of 6 boats from 6 to 10 metres)

One staff member took 20 minutes looking at their berthing board in order to shuffle people around.

The new pontoons on the harbour masters side are very nice indeed!
 
Hot Property said:
I was at Weymouth this weekend gone and the staff were very helpful in juggling spaces to fit everyone in. A group of 6 boats from 6 to 10 metres)

One staff member took 20 minutes looking at their berthing board in order to shuffle people around.

The new pontoons on the harbour masters side are very nice indeed!
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I do believe there may have been some recent staff changes in Weymouth, so things may well have improved.

However, it does still seem to me you are still playing into the idea that everyone must be micro-managed and controlled ('staff...juggling spaces to fit everyone in' / 'took 20 minutes looking at their berthing board in order to shuffle people around'). Six boat between 6 to 10 metres is neither a large group nor is any boat particularly large. I imagine it might have been some sort of rally. Why not just let everyone moor up in their own good time in a berth of their own choosing within the visitors berthing area set aside for their size of boat?
 
aqua_sax said:
I do believe there may have been some recent staff changes in Weymouth, so things may well have improved.

However, it does still seem to me you are still playing into the idea that everyone must be micro-managed and controlled ('staff...juggling spaces to fit everyone in' / 'took 20 minutes looking at their berthing board in order to shuffle people around'). Six boat between 6 to 10 metres is neither a large group nor is any boat particularly large. I imagine it might have been some sort of rally. Why not just let everyone moor up in their own good time in a berth of their own choosing within the visitors berthing area set aside for their size of boat?
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During out of season (outside summer holiday period) that normally happens or has in the past. Much better trying to keep a rally together as they are all likely to leave at the same time.
 
Boathook said:
Much better trying to keep a rally together as they are all likely to leave at the same time.
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I agree, and if it was a rally as I surmised then they will naturally want to be together, but the point I am making is they can sort this out themselves, they don't need a berthing master to manage it for them, they can do it themselves.

And yes, it was what we did in the distant past, and it worked just fine, but I also mentioned previously a more recent occasion in Weymouth when I was micro-managed onto a raft five boats deep while there were still adjacent empty berths that in the event turned out to be empty berths.
 
aqua_sax said:
I agree, and if it was a rally as I surmised then they will naturally want to be together, but the point I am making is they can sort this out themselves, they don't need a berthing master to manage it for them, they can do it themselves.

And yes, it was what we did in the distant past, and it worked just fine, but I also mentioned previously a more recent occasion in Weymouth when I was micro-managed onto a raft five boats deep while there were still adjacent empty berths that in the event turned out to be empty berths.
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I've had that. When I queried the berthing guy a quite large rally had cancelled. HM and staff annoyed over the short notice and why places don't reserve berths unless you pay up front. The likes of Yarmouth and Lymington will only reserve a certain number of berths anyway.
 
This thread reminds me of why I keep my boat in Southern Brittany !
Included in most berthing contracts is a 'Passporte Escales' card / APP which enables me to notify online that I'm out of my home marina for any number of days and gain points to use for additional nights, it also gives a minimum 2 nights free in most other marinas in the region and as far afield as MDL in UK and marinas in the Med.
From June to September in many Brittany marinas there's almost always a Capitainerie RIB on duty until 2000, sometimes later at weekends, to assist visitors and find them a berth, if you check out of your home berth but fail to edit your plan returning early you'll likely find someone in it.
Unlike my general past experience in the UK it's strangely as if they actually welcome you...

As an aside, I don't know if they still do, but Darthaven Marina used to leave a blackboard outside of the office when it closed with the berth numbers of any vacant berths ?
 
aqua_sax said:
I agree, and if it was a rally as I surmised then they will naturally want to be together, but the point I am making is they can sort this out themselves, they don't need a berthing master to manage it for them, they can do it themselves.

And yes, it was what we did in the distant past, and it worked just fine, but I also mentioned previously a more recent occasion in Weymouth when I was micro-managed onto a raft five boats deep while there were still adjacent empty berths that in the event turned out to be empty berths.
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I have also been on the 12m pontoon with one boat on and the rest of the pontoon was empty. I was told to berth on the boat that was already there………I hadn’t realised that running Weymouth yacht berthing was that difficult, however maybe things and staff have changed now. I try to avoid now and prefer Portland, it’s quirky but at least they take your money with a smile.
 
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