Where have all the mobos gone?

[peterandjeanette]

Just got back from a great couple of weeks bumbling along the north Brittany coast. Good night crossing to Cherbourg, refuel in St Peter Port and down to St Quay.
Along the coast to Paimpol. Lezardrieux, back to St Quay for a little fuel (who was the owner of the big Princess refuelling with 1500 litres diesel and then had his credit card rejected? Took up too much time on the fuel berth) then on to Binic and St Cast before returning to St P.P. to fill fuel and back to Southampton.
We were amazed that throughout the whole trip we only saw two other mobos from mainland UK - one from Torquay the other from Dartmouth. Last year we were rafting at times - this year we had the choice of berths.
Is it the price of diesel making boats reluctant to travel too far, the weather (which was a lot better than in the UK) or people not taking holidays like they used to?

 

[gjgm]

I posted much the same in June about our trip westwards- and that is even still in home waters !

Edit
ohh, we did see a submarine; I dont know if that counts or not, though?

 

[DAKA]

Just got back from a great couple of weeks bumbling along the north Brittany coast. Good night crossing to Cherbourg, refuel in St Peter Port and down to St Quay.
Along the coast to Paimpol. Lezardrieux, back to St Quay for a little fuel (who was the owner of the big Princess refuelling with 1500 litres diesel and then had his credit card rejected? Took up too much time on the fuel berth) then on to Binic and St Cast before returning to St P.P. to fill fuel and back to Southampton.
We were amazed that throughout the whole trip we only saw two other mobos from mainland UK - one from Torquay the other from Dartmouth. Last year we were rafting at times - this year we had the choice of berths.
Is it the price of diesel making boats reluctant to travel too far, the weather (which was a lot better than in the UK) or people not taking holidays like they used to?

I echo your findings , especially noting boats from Brixham area.
Except I believe this is one of the most settled seasons in the last 10 years.

I also noted the visitors were predominately Flybridges (15-20 years old)
I wonder about the popularity of current trend of the enclosed helm, it gets intimidating being inside with waves lashing against the screen partially blocking visibility, could this be having an effect ?

 

[Harpsden]

I think it's been the same all season; even in the Solent the numbers of mobos seem to be way down on previous years especially during the week on those occasions when I have been able to get out on the water.



Harpsden

 

[Seahope]

I think it's been the same all season; even in the Solent the numbers of mobos seem to be way down on previous years especially during the week on those occasions when I have been able to get out on the water.



Harpsden

Well, this is my first season so I can't comment on previous years. For me given the cost of fuel and additional 'boat parking' charges I will only go anywhere if the weather is reasonably nice and the wind reasonably low as I can't see the point of spending a lot of money for no pleasure.

I am now actually on holiday having just returned from a few days out of the country and looking at the weather forecast it seems I may be able to take the boat out just once next week on Monday. Looking out of my lounge window now at a completely grey sky I'm wishing we had stayed where we were for longer, we didn't see a cloud all the time we were away and the temperature averaged around 42 degrees C during the days with a night low of around 28 degrees

 

[Tugw]

Ive been itchin to take me old tub out but the weather and one engine duff makes it a bit un-atractive.

 

[whisper]

I posted much the same in June about our trip westwards- and that is even still in home waters !

Same this last 2 weeks.

On a day trip K'b - Yealm - Saltash - K'b we only saw 3 mobos on the move all day with one of these being inside Plym. Sound!!
Lots of yachts though.
On other short jaunts usually saw no mobos at all.

Weather was probably the main reason, I think.

 

[crazy4557]

Spent 5 days in Dartmouth last week, 3 nights on the town quay. On one occasion no boats all day on the quay apart from us. When did you last see that in mid August?
I really think that most people are being more cautious about how they are throwing money around at the moment and also 80p + per litre doesn't help either.
My trip from Weymouth to Salcombe over Lyme Bay and back without any other usage cost me over £500.00 in fuel and that was at the quayside cost of 62p per litre, at 80p+ it would have been £650 or more. I still had the Soton-Weymouth return leg to pay for which all in all cost me just over a grand.
Boats ain't cheap to run is an understatement!!!!

 

[nedmin]

Its the cost of fuel,I,ve noticed a lot less traffic this year,as an example my friend went to Holland every year but didnt this year.He said I can take wife on a cruise for the same amount I would spend on fuel and she,s much happier doing that.

 

[nicho]

Spent 5 days in Dartmouth last week -in all cost me just over a grand.
Boats ain't cheap to run is an understatement!!!!

I guess you may have the same engines as me (TAMD 74P?) - on our recent trip from Hamble to Dartmouth and back via Weymouth, it cost £958 in fuel (calculated from actual usage via the fuel meters), and now we are retired, we can't do that too often!! We will only do a couple of longer trips per year now, though we are pretty active in the Solent area..

I have to say there was not a lot of mobo activity seen on the West Country trip, and most of the yachts arriving in Dartmouth were German, French and Dutch registered. In spite of the great weather this year (up to a couple of weeks ago anyway) we have found it pretty quiet mobowise even in the Solent.

Next year we plan for CI and Northern Brittany (one trip) and back to dartmouth for the second foray.

 

[[2068]]

Belgium?
Currently waiting in Nieuwport, waiting for a magic millpond to appear.

 

[IDAMAY]

Well we were there too

We were in Lezardrieu, St Quay and St Peter Port around the same time. We have been down south as far as Isle D'Yeu and are now on our way back to Falmouth via Dartmouth and other west country haunts. We have changed this year from a Sealine T47 to a semi displacement Trader 42 HT. Just about getting used to the roly poly bit but have spent much less on fuel than we would have in the Sealine (a 50% plus improvement).

Like you we haven't seen too many MOBOs around though we were in comapny with a Trader 54 and Grand Banks 59 for much of the time. We also saw a few Channel Islands based boats south of the Raz. We also had no difficulty getting berths and I cannot remember a "forced raft" even in the height of the French holiday season.

Whilst fuel is an increasingly large proportion of the cost of our boating, it is still less than depreciation or mooring fees. It comes third but is closely followed by maintenance. And that is based on annual mileages usually between 1500 and 2000nm. For us the joy of boating is still worth the cost!

Richard.

 

[crazy4557]

I guess you may have the same engines as me (TAMD 74P?) - on our recent trip from Hamble to Dartmouth and back via Weymouth, it cost £958 in fuel (calculated from actual usage via the fuel meters), and now we are retired, we can't do that too often!! We will only do a couple of longer trips per year now, though we are pretty active in the Solent area..

I have to say there was not a lot of mobo activity seen on the West Country trip, and most of the yachts arriving in Dartmouth were German, French and Dutch registered. In spite of the great weather this year (up to a couple of weeks ago anyway) we have found it pretty quiet mobowise even in the Solent.

Next year we plan for CI and Northern Brittany (one trip) and back to dartmouth for the second foray.

Exactly the same as you guessed...74p's

I also agree about the lack of Mobo's, in Slacombe just a couple of so of mobo's from Torquay and two or three from the Solent area. I was thinking it was going to be challenging to get a space there but I had a choice of river moorings all on my own!

Luckily there's enough interesting places to vist in the Solent and comparatively lower cost fuelwise.

 

[Scubadoo]

I used to go out as often as I could come rain or shine, as fuel was cheap. Now I tend to think more about fuel and going out when the weather is better. When I think back that is used to cost me less than £50 to fill up (0.23p) and that would last prehaps two weekends, now more like £200 does make you think.

Reading the other posts where it cost a grand is shocking for a reasonably short trip, no wonder people think twice.

 

[aquapower]

Its more difficult to get visitor berths this season as marinas seem to rely on the berth holders being away so they can re let their berths to visitors so are strugling to fit you in, im in Brixham at the moment and have noticed a lot of space on the council pontoon and the MDL events pontoon next to it which I have never seen in august before.

 

[mateyboy]

Idamay, would you have used 50% less fuel in the T47 if you travelled at Trader speeds anyway?

 

[strakeryrius]

There do seem to be fewer boats around in Southern UK waters, but from what I hear the CI are pretty busy. A pontoon neighbour has just had 3 weeks in the CI and N Brittany, and on the way back they couldn't get into SPP but had to go round to the QE2.

I think the reasons why there are fewer boats out and about in UK waters are multiple -

The cost of fuel is keeping some people off the water, or making them decide only to go out only when they can be sure of sunny days.

The weather over the last few seasons hasn't been good. My SWMBO has said that she's not prepared to consider a family holiday aboard the boat until she had a decent holiday somewhere the sun is guaranteed to shine.

And also the recession has meant that there are tens of thousands of unsold package holidays in Spain and Greece that can be had as last minute deals for a fraction of the price of a week's boating on the S coast. Two weeks of guaranteed sunshine with loads for the kids to do, vs two weeks aboard with a real chance of bad weather and bored teenagers = No contest.

 

[duncan]

I used to go out as often as I could come rain or shine, as fuel was cheap. Now I tend to think more about fuel and going out when the weather is better. When I think back that is used to cost me less than £50 to fill up (0.23p) and that would last prehaps two weekends, now more like £200 does make you think.

Reading the other posts where it cost a grand is shocking for a reasonably short trip, no wonder people think twice.

rule of 1/12ths doesn't just apply to tides!

any trip that costs me less that or equal to 1/12 of my annual fixed costs and is fun, enjoyed etc is a success.

or put another way - everything is relative.

back to the original post - we ran west from poole 2 weeks ago and saw no MBs at all outwith the immediate vicinity of Torquay, Dartmouth, Salcombe and Plymouth sound (1 boat!)

running back in one go we saw a steady stream of yachts heading West (in a straight line) but no mobos.

I blame the weather, with many using the boat earlier in the year when it was 'good', and refraining from August...

We normally go South rather than West - but will be looking to make better use of earlier weather next year - as well as any window Sept gives.

 

[IDAMAY]

Trader Speeds

Idamay, would you have used 50% less fuel in the T47 if you travelled at Trader speeds anyway?

Nope. We actually spent a lot of time on the T47 travelling at sub 9 kts. Whenever the sea state allowed we would drop off the plane. The overall mpg for the T47 was .8 and for the Trader it has been 1.25. If we could keep the speed down below 8kts, that would be much closer to 3mpg. However, we find that in a beam or quartering sea we get better stability at around 10kts. Equally, in any lumpy conditions we had to get the T47 on the plane for comfort.

Overall it is always a trade off between speed, consumption and comfort.

 

[DougH]

Where have all the MoBo's gone?

Simple, they are all in Mallorca this year.

Never seen the Cala's so busy.

Mind you the weather is Hot Hot Hot