Universal Marina - Hamble

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Kaste

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26 Jul 2005
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Lymington
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New to the area and currently in a berth on The Hamble. We have been offered berthing by Universal, and we are considering moving as it appears to be a lower cost with free water & electricity. Whenever we've been nearby, it seems to have many berths available - we wondered why?
Any opinions good or bad sought.
 
Steve

I've been on the Hamble for a good few years - (like many on here!)they have put in new pontoons etc - I walked there New Years day, nursing a hangover ! and enquired in the office for 2008 - as I have paid for current berthing for 2007 - the price list given was POA, so not alot of help ! And I wasn't up to a long discussion at the time ! But he did say some available pontoon moorings could be had.

The Lulworth, on site restaurant/cafe' seems to do OK food etc (only had coffee in there myself, but seen breakfasts being despatched like billy !)

PS. Nice boat you have.


Adrian
www.cleanandshiny.co.uk
 
For a long time Universal was not really seen as a main stream marina. It had a range of deep water moorings and drying moorings. It is also a bit off the beaten track by road with no real apres boaty activities on site.

The past year has seen major changes with a lot of new walk-on deep water pontoons; and the opening of the Lulworth has by all accounts made life better for resident berth holders. Although the shower/toilet facilities have a but to be desired in my opinion!

As far as access to the Solent is concerned there is no difference to any of the other upstream marinas on the Hamble - Mercury or Swanick for example.

One of the reasons I heard that there was a lot of space was the costs were high, but that is only hear say.
 
Kaste, we berthed our boat at Universal for a few years before moving out to the Med and we liked it a lot. OK, when we were there, there was nothing in the way of facilities like restaurants or chandleries but these can be found within easy driving distance. We liked the relative peace and quiet and the fact you could walk along the river in both directions. I also liked the fact that the car park was relatively close to the pontoons so humping gear to the boat was easy. We found the staff friendly and the boat hoist was very convenient for getting the boat lifted
On the downside, the tide runs pretty hard through the outer pontoons so berthing could be nerve wracking but its no worse than some other marinas in the area. The access road to the marina is also quite narrow so transporting larger boats in and out of the marina by road is impossible
If you or your family prefer to berth in a marina with loads of things to do, you might find Universal a bit boring and you would be better off in a place like Ocean Village, Port Solent or Chichester but if you like a bit of peace, then Universal could be attractive
 
Thanks for info. Regarding costs, comparing current quote from Universal with MDL there's about £400 difference plus the free water and electricity. No big deal really - but probably a big contribution towards the fuel costs for the season. Just wondered if there was any other aspects to consider.
 
And you could always take the dinghy across to Burseldon or Mercury.
I think I saw the water taxi the other day running someone from Mercury to Universal so there's another option.

I looked into the costs a couple of years ago and at the time Universal was fractionally less than Mercury but being MDL, Mercury was offering discount on fuel and lifts so there wasnt any difference in the end - I think MDLs oferall cost came out less in the end.
 
Familiar pub the other side a few minutes by tender, just a little more to the bridge and all nearby. Bought All Gold from there a few years ago and kept her there for a few months before moving to HYC and then Thames.

Crableck Lane was a bit of a palaver to find first time around and you didn't want to meet someone coming the other way.
 
Hi Steve

Happy new Year, im on True spirit ,just along from you ,we have met, I looked at Universal but for the difference it was not worth it, its nice to have Hamble village a short walk away.
 
Hi Ian, HPN to you too. had a look at Universal yesterday. It is slightly cheaper but with the proposed building work due to take place we feel it won't be for us this year. So we'll be in MYH again this season.
 
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