Woolverstone Marina.... Reviews please?

Well, we like shotley were we are... But there is no useable restaurant, and I doubt that the pink one on the corner is gonna be any good now that it has reopened without a lot of money being spent.. The facilites at woolverstone were very good and clean we felt, and the price is £300 more per annum... And I would offset half of this per year by cutting the 10 to 15 minutes drive off the journey from Nottingham... So, when you add in the no lock, and nice outlook, and the three drinking and eating facilities within walking distance... Suddenly it starts to look a better bet.

But if they fixed the shipwreck, which has become a very sore point due to the particularly disdainful way they have treated swmbo and Fred in the past .. (she is a veggie...).. Then I would stay.
 
photodog said:
Well, we like shotley were we are... But there is no useable restaurant, and I doubt that the pink one on the corner is gonna be any good now that it has reopened without a lot of money being spent.. The facilites at woolverstone were very good and clean we felt, and the price is £300 more per annum... And I would offset half of this per year by cutting the 10 to 15 minutes drive off the journey from Nottingham... So, when you add in the no lock, and nice outlook, and the three drinking and eating facilities within walking distance... Suddenly it starts to look a better bet.

But if they fixed the shipwreck, which has become a very sore point due to the particularly disdainful way they have treated swmbo and Fred in the past .. (she is a veggie...).. Then I would stay.
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you would save even more with the phone no i gave you & Fred would have play mates too ;)
 
I have had 5 seasons at woolverstone and i think this is my 6th at Shotley. Left Woolverstone because of the damage i was suffering on F pontoon every winter and they wouldnt put me inside, inspite of me having a very young family and on 2 occasions it was too dangerous for me to get them off the boat, this was of no concern to the bold Trevor, who promised me for 2 seasons he was going to move us, but he couldnt be arsed.
wouldnt go back there if it was free.
staff are/were good though. Buttermans, pretentious, was better in my opinion, when it was the unpretentious club run by John Green.
Much is talked about the lock at Shotley, but in 6 years i have been held up 4 times, there is also the special excitement of trying to stop in the lock when a strong tail wind is blowing and you have an audience of 10 people who could probably do better.
Shipwreck is now officially poor value unfortunately
 
pvb said:
The biggest problem with the Shotley lock is the painfully slow speed at which most boats go up and down the entrance channel. It's frustrating to be waiting for the lock when you can see boats dawdling along the channel, barely making steerage way. The situation would be improved if the lock-keepers always asked these inconsiderate skippers to make their "best speed" in the channel.
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For some of us 'best speed' is barely more than steerage way - with 9hp on a 4tonne boat going astern doesnt give a lot of stopping power but does skew the stern a lot so being singehanded I prefer time to get a rope on.

Back to Woolverstone - kept my first boat there on a mooring - on launching (I wasnt present) in 2003 they put the boat on a pontoon near the outside of the marina and by the time I got down the rubbing strake was gone (fenders provided) and they refused to accept liability so I wont be rushing back.
 
Only one visit to Shotley. 45 minutes wait to lock in, and that meant tooling around in the Harwich port entrance. An hour's wait to lock out, we just put the kettle on and waited for the VHF call.

Personally I don't 'get' Shotley. The drive has never taken as little as the 15 minutes from the A12 quoted & I don't like the commercial port location. But we're unlikely to like that sort of location as we chose to be based on the Deben. On the other hand those based at Shotley love it and defend it. They'd have a lot of legitimate points to make about our marina which only has access 2 hours either side of HW, has a winding set of buoys to get access and the "Marina staff" are Mel & Simon with help from Mel's wife Jenny :)
 
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The Lazy Kipper said:
Only one visit to Shotley. 45 minutes wait to lock in, and that meant tooling around in the Harwich port entrance. An hour's wait to lock out, we just put the kettle on and waited for the VHF call.
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:)

The Lazy Kipper said:
Personally I don't 'get' Shotley. The drive has never taken as little as the 15 minutes from the A12 quoted & I don't like the commercial port location. But we're unlikely to like that sort of location as we chose to be based on the Deben. On the other hand those based at Shotley love it and defend it.
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I think 15 mins quoted is the time from Woolverstone to Shotley - that's what was being compared against.

As a Shotley resident, I too dislike the commercial port location, however for me it's the place I set off from, not the place I go to. As a result, I'm seldom there for very long. The Deben is a truly beautiful river so I'm likely to go there instead ...

I like it there for its 24/7 ease of access to a range of sailing areas. Two rivers for sheltered sailing, 10 mins to the sea for access to the Suffolk rivers, or south to the Essex sailing grounds. Cross channel trips can be undertaken without a 2 hour journey to the 'start point'
 
I used to like that part of Shotley when it was the 'Lower Track' of HMS Ganges :D

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Used to hold the annual fireworks display there when I was a mere child (in the 60s)
 
Haven't stayed in Wolverstone for some years but the one thing I do remember is the constant slapping of the waves on the bow, almost kept me awake
 
A nice spot, but Woolverstone Marina is overpriced. The staff’s personal skills are limited. The shower facilities were under refurbishment for an unnecessary year or more due to them hiring a couple of teenagers to do the job, and although most berth holders complained, no compensation or apology was ever forthcoming. Some/one of the staff can be rude and petty. There is no restaurant anymore due to the incompetent management.
 
Plum said:
I visited last month. Great showers, great staff but the Riverside bar/restaurant was closed and i was told it was closed just for the winter months.

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk
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I was there a few days ago delivering a boat and found the staff very helpful. I was told the Riverside would be open at the end of the month. Seems reasonable for a restaurant in such a location to be closed for a short while out of season, the Shipwreck at Shotley has just been closed for three weeks. Doesn't quite square with "There is no restaurant anymore due to the incompetent management."
 
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