Where are all the boats??

paultallett

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We went back in the water yesterday.... Blimey it's good to be afloat again.

Hamble Points hard standing has slowly emptied over the last couple of weeks as people make the best of the good weather. After a blast out to sea I returned to my mooring @ Mercury and was shocked by how empty the marina is..... Lots of empty berths.

We went back in the same time last year and the marina was defiantly fuller, but I just guessed that more maybe was ashore at Mercury?? A quick walk through the car park to retrieve my car from Hamble Point and Mercury's hard standing wasn't jammed packed...... So where is everyone??
 
TAXED TO DEATH !!!!!!.................price of fuel? moorings half empty? not enough income?....so sir says, "i know, let put the prices up" !!!!!!!!!!!!.............................. im thinking of becoming an,"even more of a couch potato" than i am allready !!!!! they aint got a tax for that ....YET !!!!!!
 
Down here............

All our raggie friends are still firmly ashore and peering out the clubroom bar window for the Easter break.
First saily event of the year is the Hoo Freezer,then the hards start emptying and the trots filling up.
The first MoBo event of our club will also start around Easter.Think the weather and time of year has more to do with the lack of floating glassfibre than money at the moment.
 
Funny you say that I was around the marina last week and thought much the same - and a close look around showed a couple of boats being worked upon (incl JTB fine vessel) a/c fitted, pazz installations etc - all going to the med.

There are certainly loads of open moorings in the hamble these days.
 
What I'm struggling with is there is no more boats on the hard than normal, yet the marina is emptier than normal at this time of the year.... noticibly so.

They can't have all sold over the winter, so that must mean they must be at other marinas be it in this country or the med / abroad??

Almost forgot..... Wake Shot from yesterday!!
 
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there are cheaper marinas on the east coast that generally seem to be fuller or at least no emptier and their prices are holding up. Assume that this has got to be something to do with the South Coast emptying.

Inland though where it is even cheaper holes are opening up in all the marinas where there used to be waiting lists.
 
My understanding is that many mainstream UK built boats have been sold over the winter period and gone to the Nordic countries. That cannot account for all the empty spaces though. Perhaps they have been nicked and are all stored away safely waiting for an upturn in prices. Anyone know what scrap GRP sells for nowadays?:confused::confused
With that thought in mind, I have checked at the factory on our in build Steel and Aluminium boats and they are all still accounted for, so the cable nicking scally wag fraternity have, so far, not been and pinched them to sell as scrap:D:D
 
Our marina in the Bristol channel seems about the same. But not sure what the other places are like yet as have had only one trip out so far.

Fuel cost will be an issue, but I think that this year will be more planned trips, then just out for a blast.
 
Quite a few berths at Portishead are allocated to the new flats but the haven't been taken up, particularly the ones on the main walkway up by us and 'New Ports'

It would be nice to think that one day south cost marinas are going to have to drop prices to get boats back.

All pigs fed and ready for take off!
 
Agree with that, berthing is way to expensive now. Even Portishead is pushing it's luck.
Also fuel at cost price would help a bit with the running and we would be more likely to use the boats more.
 
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