Which marina?

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Salty Sealine

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I was hoping to moor my boat at Bourne End, but that is now full, as is DB Marina at Cookham.

So current options are Bray, Windsor or Windsor Racecourse. Bray and Windsor are the same price, but which is better?

Bray and Windsor v Racecourse, again suggestions as to which to go for would be most welcome.

BTW I collect my boat on Thursday, so kind of need to make a quick decision.
 
Harleyford has some space if your boat is not too long and is not as horrendously expensive as you'd imagine.

No 'leccy and those moorings are seasonal.

Not far from Bourne End, so that's why I mentioned it.
 
IMHO:-

Bray or Windsor, both nice and homely with plenty of nice social life. Bray is more picturesque, Windsor sounds better if your mates ask where the Boat's moored... :)

Racecourse, previously described as 'Rough as a Bears arse has a tortuous entrance which isn't fun unless you own a Jetski...
 
I think you will find MDL - Windsor & Bray offer the best facilities as a quick visit to Racecourse Marina will demonstrate. Also, access down the creek to racecourse will be a challenge in an F33.
 
This may not be much help from a "staying there persepective" as I have only ever visited them by car to look at boats for sale, but FWIW here goes.

From memory Bray was a nice setting but maybe more difficult than the others to get stuff from the car to the boat.

Race course has plenty of parking but the pontoons seemed a bit tired and wobbly and still quite a trek from the car with gear.

Windsor looked about the closest to the parking, but the parking was limited. It semed more sheltered, but you inland sorts may not need to worry about that :D
 
We were at Windsor Race course until December, it was a friendly Marina with a great bunch of people running it, however as No regrets says the mill stream entrance is not ideal the pontoons are also very close together making it quite awkward getting in and out of the berths, especialy with a 34` boat. Not sure I`d go so far as to say rough as a bears arse tho, everyone seemed very pleasant and friendly there.
 
I am sure No Regrets will be happy to offer advice, as he is rather good at boat handling.

Look out for his immaculate Broom 30 called "No Regrets".

In fact any boat flying a burgee (small flag) that is red with a capital B and the OS map symbol for a church (square with a cross on top) will be friendly and willing to help. That is the Bray Cruiser Club burgee.

My boat, Silver Dragon, is not currently flying one. It is somewhere in the piles of gear I took off my old boat and I have'nt found it yet!

:)
 
heron said:
We were at Windsor Race course until December, it was a friendly Marina with a great bunch of people running it, however as No regrets says the mill stream entrance is not ideal the pontoons are also very close together making it quite awkward getting in and out of the berths, especialy with a 34` boat. Not sure I`d go so far as to say rough as a bears arse tho, everyone seemed very pleasant and friendly there.
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Yep, friendly for sure!

The angle iron holding the pontoons together wasn't too pretty though...

Welcome rdingley, you'll not regret it!
 
rdingley said:
Many thanks to all, Bray it is then. Thats where the boat currently is, so makes it easier all round. I will be sticking L plates on at the w/end.
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Good choice.

What no one mentioned is that in Bray, you can stop over at windsor (unlikely to need to) but more importantly Penton Hook for no charge. This allows a delivery cruise one weekend, an new cruising ground the next and a delivery back the weekend after - with the boat always secure in the marina.

You can also stop at Chatham and loads of places on the south coast if you take a blast out to sea. I used to spend half my time on the river and half on the south coast, and MDL will let you change from one marina to another and still keep all the annual benefits.

There is also a rarelt advertised reciprocal deal between shepperton and harleyford, not as flexible as MDL but still handy and just about as good if you're sure you never want to go out to sea.

I live near to you (Marlow) but I didn't bother bring the boat back last winter as I would still pay the full annual fee which has now gone up enough to make me think about it but with the lock closures I wouldn't get the use. Even so with MDL I know I can when I want to and I'll choose Bray when I do.

Oh and the restaurant is fantastic especially when it's not too busy.
 
Ramage said:
In fact any boat flying a burgee (small flag) that is red with a capital B and the OS map symbol for a church (square with a cross on top) will be friendly and willing to help. That is the Bray Cruiser Club burgee.
Click to expand...


As will anyone flying a rather superior (well made) double sided embroidered blue burgee depicting a tipsy mouse. Very senior members even have their names embroidered thereon as well....
 
Much more fun when they had the big old Sealine 45's coming in and out, I quite like the Amazon type entrance!
 
Very Happy

We recently moved up to Temple Marina opposite bank to Harleyford, pricing a little less than Harleyford. Imaculate grounds, plenty of space to sit and BBQ when not out in the boat, good shower and toilet facilities and a really friendly owner and helpfull harbour master
 
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