What is the worst marina/ harbour you have ever been to?

[photodog]

Jolly harbour, Antigua. Toilets were a mess with no seats... Shower was a dribbling pipe.... Literally. Second was probably Rothsay.... Not so much for the decrepit pontoons.... But the bloody ferry which sideswiped the place ever so often...

 

[Stemar]

I don't do marinas if I can help it, but I do have a a general nomination: Anywhere, but anywhere with loops rather than proper cleats. Add a cross wind or irate tide and they're a royal pain in the bum.

 

[capnsensible]

Jolly harbour, Antigua. Toilets were a mess with no seats... Shower was a dribbling pipe.... Literally. .

That's sad to hear, JH was always well looked after over the times I visited. Too much public access I suppose. How about the showers by the pool? Used them quite a bit.

 

[Sgeir]

Tobermory on the island of Dull, Western Isles in Scotland. 2009. The Harbour Master .............

You have made a personal attack on an individual well known to many on this forum. I believe that you should withdraw the post.

Without any explanation from you, I find it absolutely unfair and extraordinary that a public forum should be used like that. We usually call in at Tobermory a few times each season and have found Jim and Barbara to be nothing but helpful on every single occasion. I'm sure that plenty of others in here will agree.

 

[michael_w]

It's not just Jolly Harbour aka Mosquito Cove, but the whole island. Antigua has sold its soul to the tourist dollar, fleece the visitor for everything they can get, and dammn the consequences. Antigua also has the rudest officials I've ever had the misfortune to deal with. I visited there in 2004 and 2011. Between those dates the visiting boats had declined by 50%, whereas the rest of the eastern Caribbean had increased by the same.

 

[NormanS]

You have made a personal attack on an individual well known to many on this forum. I believe that you should withdraw the post.

Without any explanation from you, I find it absolutely unfair and extraordinary that a public forum should be used like that. We usually call in at Tobermory a few times each season and have found Jim and Barbara to be nothing but helpful on every single occasion. I'm sure that plenty of others in here will agree.

+1. From his posts, ds must be the most cheerless person that I wouldn't like to meet.

 

[StUrrock]

Interested to read how others find Bradwell tight. Makes me feel a bit chuffed that I have managed to put my long keeled boat into a 'tight' berth singlehanded.

Not a marina but I dont like Halfpenny Pier at Harwich - always uncomfortable and noisy - but others I know love the place!

SWMBO loves Bradwell and so do I very Friendly and the Dog likes it too!
Tried showing off in my Long Keeler one Day in reversing out of the pontoons! Not a good idea

Another vote for Eastbourne as the least favorite, but staff there, top notch!

 

[Mistroma]

Strangely enough, Peterhead marina is OK. It's beside what's really quite a nice sandy beach and this year we actually managed to find a nice pub, although it was quarter of an hour's walk away. And the marina manager is a nice guy, although you need to take his tips on tidal gates with a pinch of salt. They'll even speak English to you, though the chat between Port Control and the locals is quite incomprehensible.

Agreed, been years since I've been there but not that bad. I did quite like the harbour in pre-marina days. I remember one English skipper being asked to move his vessel as a "Fashion boat" would be arriving shortly. He moved alongside us and wondered if it might be a photo-shoot of some sort. I hadn't the heart to disappoint him and he was a little confused for a few moments when an old trawler arrived, then the penny dropped.

Accent much worse at Rosehearty, I had to detour around the range after 5 failed attempts to understand their response on VHF. Fisherman in Aberdeen admitted he sometimes had trouble with their accent.

 

[West Coast]

Tobermory on the island of Dull, Western Isles in Scotland. 2009. The Harbour Master ............

Sorry, but complete tosh in my experience. Tobermory marina is one of the most friendly places, when I arrived there a year or so back with a failed engine, Jim (marina master) was amazingly helpful in helping me berth the boat, find local help and was sympathetic with the berth charges knowing my situation.

 

[AliM]

I certainly agree with Great Yarmouth. You missed out the rusty ladders, which were the only way to get ashore, and the pilot boats doing handbrake turns a few meters away, bouncing the boat against the horrible metal rusty, jagged, piles in the harbour wall. We never found any facilities - mind you we didn't find the harbour master either, so he didn't get paid. And we did find a rather good restaurant who put up with our wet, dirty selves and fed us very well! This was several years ago, and we will not go back unless we absolutely have to.

 

[NickRobinson]

I have never taken my boat there, but Peterhead marina must be a bit grim. No pub etc nearby, and sited in the middle of an oil service base. No wonder it is cheapest rates in all uk in annual magazine surveys.

Peterhead is OK, and my folding bike and later feet made short work of the 15 mins into town. spent an hour watching the local youth service taking yoof canoeing and dinghy-ing. Interesting arriving at night single handing and queuing for permission to enter.. http://britainbyrivendell.weebly.com/a-blog-and-now-a-facebook-group/previous/1

 

[davidej]

May I nominate Great Yarmouth.

Harbour staff initially curt and unhelpful, then completely unresponsive (VHF or phone). Lie up to rough wall on town quay in strong tide with projections that defy protection of a small boat with fenders and board (up every half hour all night to adjust them to suit flow/height). No suitable rings or bollards to tie onto (unmodified ship quay), so you have to tie to the cat's cradle of gash bits of rope and string you find there. To arrange this you have to climb up the wall, where you find the quay is popular as a dog toilet.

When (or if) the bridge will lift to give access to the Broads is a closely guarded secret - no information (about this or anything else) is provided at the Bridge or town quay, and harbour control don't answer phone or VHF. The lift has to be booked the previous working day, office hours only. Whether anyone has already booked it who can tell? If there are any facilities we certainly didn't find them.

Throughout the evening and night the road along the town quay is used as a drag race track and sound system volume test facility by the local youths who have cars, while those without cars use the quay for drinking, shouting, fighting, urinating and vomiting.

All the more galling is that the town looks like it desperately needs to find ways of attracting some extra cash into the place, could be a real gateway to the Broads and an attractive stopover for coastal cruisers , and appears to have extensive areas of vacant land on the river/harbour side.

I have to agree with this one.

I thought someone had come to take my ropes when we were mooring near the Town Hall. However, it rapidly became clear it was the local wino. We moved to tie up to an unoccupied houseboat which obviated adjusting the lines.

The next day we got permission from the VTS to leave. Then half way down the river a harbour boat came over to give us an earful for being there!

 

[LittleSister]

I certainly agree with Great Yarmouth. You missed out the rusty ladders, which were the only way to get ashore, and the pilot boats doing handbrake turns a few meters away, bouncing the boat against the horrible metal rusty, jagged, piles in the harbour wall.

So I did! It's all coming back now (unfortunately).

we didn't find the harbour master either, so he didn't get paid.

It never occured to us that anyone thought anything was being provided to warrant charging! Or that anybody cared enough about anything to lift the phone/VHF mike, let alone get up out of their chair to do anything. I seem to recall the harbour master's office is overlooking the entrance from the sea - i.e. a very long way from the town quay.

we did find a rather good restaurant who put up with our wet, dirty selves and fed us very well!

We didn't dare to leave the boat unattended against that wall.

 

[ferroboat]

Chatham, Youths hanging around the toilet block openly smoking dope on the weekend we were there.

http://moonshineofmersea.wordpress.com/

 

[PeterWright]

Tight enough to squeeze

Interested to read how others find Bradwell tight. Makes me feel a bit chuffed that I have managed to put my long keeled boat into a 'tight' berth singlehanded.

Hi Peter,

On one visit to Bradwell, about 12 yeas ago, we found the berth we were allocated literally tight, as in not wide enough for our beam. The marina was built with piles for mooring astern, rather than finger pontoons and when they installed fingers for the comfort of customers, they clearly didn't want to reduce the number of berths by spacing them wider. Aware of this, I advised the harbourmaster on approach of our length (33') and beam (11' 6") adding "she's pretty fat". He allocated us a berth, which looked a bit tight, but having faith in his knowledge, we tried. As our chainplates came to the point of maximum beam of the boat in the neighbouring berth, we stopped to the accompaniment of squeals from the fenders both sides - to get right into the berth we needed at least another 6" abeam. Back on the radio to the harboumaster who could only advise try thinner fenders!

The couple of subsequent visits I've made, we've been lucky enough to get a hammerhead (beam of current yacht 13' 4"). No probs except for the rusty steel boltheads protruding from the pontoon timber.

Peter

 

[photodog]

That's sad to hear, JH was always well looked after over the times I visited. Too much public access I suppose. How about the showers by the pool? Used them quite a bit.

We never got that far.... We were stuck over by the yard... It was ASW 2002.

 

[NUTMEG]

Spent a night in Bradwell last summer. Beam 10' Space allocated...10', I measured it. We got in by crushing fenders flat, and two chaps hauling on our shrouds. I told the marina on VHF the beam of our boat but... Never again, and I will not mention the cost of fuel there!

Ramsgate on the other hand was fine, in fact I found the staff very helpful and would certainly use it again if down that way.

 

[soya764]

Wow,that's so nice job !!!

 

[Nostrodamus]

OK, I agree there are some pretty bad marina's and harbours out there and most of us have managed to find them. We all have our least favourite and Ramsgate just happens to be mine but I have really enjoyed all the contributions. Thank you all so much.

 

[charles_reed]

Can't comment on UK ones - they've all seemed mock-palatial (and requiring a king's ransome) but two which stick in my memory were la Corunna and Licata, both are now (I understand) quite reasonably upgraded.
Personally I eschew marinas, far prefer the hook - but then round Greece there are lots of decent anchorages - I found too that there were lots of unrecorded but perfectly good places along the S Breton coast - but at that time I was doing the Pilot.
Portugal and Atlantic Spain have bags of fantastic anchorages (and a few marinas), unfortunately through the Straits and Med Spain is a place to get past with minimum lingering, though it starts to slowly improve past Cabo del Gata and Barcelona can be fun if you lock everything up and have a guard dog.
Every half-reasonable anchorage along the French Med coast has been converted into a marina - usually so far ahead of UK marinas in facilities as to justify their in-season prices and remarkably cheap out of-season €160/month or €12/night for a 10m boat.
Usually, marinas outside the UK are run by the local authority and not with a top-hamper of shareholders (your friendly neighbourhood vulture capitalist) and admin staff.
I couldn't afford to sail in the UK, and can scarcely afford to live the 6 months a year I spend here (and I don't think I have a particularly spendthrift wife). The UK taxman is particularly grasping... and the National Health System is probably 2nd or 3rd best in Europe.