Which East coast marina?

Sniper said:
Well, Fox's it is for us this winter. I look forward to putting some names to faces from a closer range.
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They do an excellent winter package I saw. And being much closer to the A14 the journey time is shorter. Let's face it more trips in the winter are for maintenance or checking up than actually going sailing and the Orwell can be stunning in the winter if you just want to pop out for a bit.
 
Finchy said:
Hi dune16

Very glad you have gone with SO389 , absolutely a great yacht sure you will not regret your decision it is a pleasure to sail. We have found our SO379 to be reasonably quick and very safe with very few issues to date having covered some serious and very enjoyable passages since taking ownership from selling dealer C&C in June 2012.

Very much understand the importance in having close after sales support especially in the first year, initially we also berthed at SYH but now we much prefer to berth at Shotley Marina... D25 please drop in for a chat anytime around most weeks in season. We also have a small but growing SO379/389 community at Shotley currently 3x SO379s one deep fin and 2x shoal wing keels with another joining us next season. We therefore have a reasonable wealth of well rounded owner experience on this SO model , any help we can give you drop me a line only to pleased to help.... C&C have all my details ask Duncan if you need my contact details.
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Thanks Finchy, March can't come quick enough now! I am 90% sure I am going to do the first season in SYH purely because C&C are nice and handy there but am going to visit Shotley before I commit and will come and see if you're about.

Simon
 
Sniper said:
Well, Fox's it is for us this winter. I look forward to putting some names to faces from a closer range.
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What's berth availability like at Fox's? I'm close to completing a deal on a boat and starting to worry (well, think about) where to berth, Levington say no berths, but then again Ipswich / Fox's seem a long way up river....
 
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A1GSS said:
What's berth availability like at Fox's? I'm close to completing a deal on a boat and starting to worry (well, think about) where to berth, Lymington say no berths, but then again Ipswich / Fox's seem a long way up river....
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by the time it takes to get to drive to shy ot shotley,you can be o/b & motored to Pin Mill & on the + side food & beverages available onsite 7 days a week

PS live band on tomorrow nite too @ FMYC
 
Fox's to Shotley Spit by sea, 2 hours. If you're not going to sea, here for a meal or a sail on the Orwell, Fox's might have the edge.

Fox's to Shotley Spit via road and sea, 30 mins. If you're going to go somewhere, or for a day sail at sea, or a sail on the Stour, i'd say Shotley has it.
 
PaulRainbow said:
Fox's to Shotley Spit by sea, 2 hours. If you're not going to sea, here for a meal or a sail on the Orwell, Fox's might have the edge.

Fox's to Shotley Spit via road and sea, 30 mins. If you're going to go somewhere, or for a day sail at sea, or a sail on the Stour, i'd say Shotley has it.
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One slight fly in the ointment: you're working on the assumption that once at Shotley, you would be able to lock straight out.
You might be lucky (especially in winter) or on free-flow but more often than not, this is not the case.
Many a time we spent 30-35 minutes in our berth twiddeling out thumbs waiting to be called to the lock.
Same again on the way in.
And don't forget the annual maintenance of the lock. That's 3-4 weeks you're not going anywhere.

Every marina is a compromise. Price wise there isn't much difference between most of the marinas on the Orwell (apart from Woolverstone).
In the end, it comes down to personal preference and what it important to you.
Over the years, we've spent at least on season at Shotley, Fox's, Ipswich Haven and SYH.
In the end, we settled on SYH, because...
1. Easy access by road
2. Proximity to the sea
3. 24/7 access from the sea, without a lock.

Someone else may have different priorities. There are no right/wrong choices.
 
Hi Graham,

A1GSS said:
Levington say no berths, ....
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That means no berths of the right size for the boat you asked about on the day you asked. if you remain interested, speak to Chris Nunn and get yourself on the list. If a current berth holder of the right sized berth announces next week that he's moving elsewhere or swallowing the anchor, you could be in luck.

If you think about it, no berthing "waiting list" is a pure first come first served arrangement, but depends on the size of berths falling vacant. Nobody with a 30 footer wants to pay for a 45 foot berth, and no marina wants to let a 45 foot berth for 30 foot money. With 550 berths, SYH are bound to have some berth holders moving on over the winter. The most likely date for berths to fall vacant is 1 April, when the annual berthing falls due for renewal While most who plan to move on announce their plans in advance, some say nothing until they receive the bill for next year.

Peter
 
OR4751 said:
One slight fly in the ointment: you're working on the assumption that once at Shotley, you would be able to lock straight out.
You might be lucky (especially in winter) or on free-flow but more often than not, this is not the case.
Many a time we spent 30-35 minutes in our berth twiddeling out thumbs waiting to be called to the lock.
Same again on the way in.
And don't forget the annual maintenance of the lock. That's 3-4 weeks you're not going anywhere.

Every marina is a compromise. Price wise there isn't much difference between most of the marinas on the Orwell (apart from Woolverstone).
In the end, it comes down to personal preference and what it important to you.
Over the years, we've spent at least on season at Shotley, Fox's, Ipswich Haven and SYH.
In the end, we settled on SYH, because...
1. Easy access by road
2. Proximity to the sea
3. 24/7 access from the sea, without a lock.

Someone else may have different priorities. There are no right/wrong choices.
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I'd agree with pretty much all of that.

I had allowed a mere 10-15 mins for the lock. Sometimes as you say it could be 30 mins.

Only thing i'd question is the lock closure time. If i recall correctly, it's closed for a week (or a bit less), usually in Feb.
 
PaulRainbow said:
I'd agree with pretty much all of that.

I had allowed a mere 10-15 mins for the lock. Sometimes as you say it could be 30 mins.

Only thing i'd question is the lock closure time. If i recall correctly, it's closed for a week (or a bit less), usually in Feb.
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Annual lock closure is Monday to a week following Friday, usually early Febuary/late January, so one weekend lost.
 
PaulRainbow said:
Good luck with a waiting list, many are still waiting for a phone call after decades lol
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They wrote to everybody a couple of years back but if you have moved, etc. in the meantime it wouldn't have been very helpful.

We put our names down in 1999 but it soon became obvious that the waiting list was just that and securing a berth wouldn't happen that way.
 
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When we first wanted to move to this area there were waiting lists at all of the marinas we contacted. We just managed to squeeze a swinging mooring at Pin Mill. The novelty of dragging the dinghy up and down the river bank wore off pretty quickly. Wasn't too hard to find somewhere this time, no waiting lists.
 
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