Woolverstone - no more lift-outs!

[LONG_KEELER]

Woolverstone is rather exposed to winter storms and does on occasions suffer damage. I think most of the berths at Royal Harwich come out wintertime which makes it all rather puzzling.

Hard standing at Fox's, Ipswich Haven and Levington is fairly full most winters. Perhaps Shotley could take a few more.

 

[Kukri]

I am on board at Woolverstone as I write this. I talked to the agreeable young man in the Marina office and he told me that the decision was taken because laying up ashore was loss making for MDL.

This seems remarkable, because surely the hard standing at the side of the road was fully depreciated decades ago?

My father bought a boat laid up ashore at Wolverstone in 1973 but I cannot recall how she was put afloat. It must have been “conventionally” with the then usual tractor and trailer.

 

[Chae_73]

one can only assume that this means "the income from boats laid up ashore is less than we think we can generate from putting the land to some other purpose".

Which in itself is not unreasonable. But if your floating customers then vote with their feet, what is the alternative income source for your pontoons? So perhaps a bit of a gamble on supply and demand.

 

[LittleSister]

I talked to the agreeable young man in the Marina office and he told me that the decision was taken because laying up ashore was loss making for MDL.

Astonishing!

Most of the activities and services in a marina are 'loss making', if considered separately to the overall product of which they form an integral part and which is what provides income and hence profits.

Should Woolverstone berth-holders & potential visitors fear the closure of the toilet and shower facilities, removal of the waste bins, an end to maintenance of roads, hard surfaces and railings, becasue these (and much more) are also 'loss-making'?

Should the Manager(s) at Woolverstone and the Directors of MDL not fear they, too, will be culled as, taken alone, they too are 'loss-making'?

 

[Leighb]

I am on board at Woolverstone as I write this. I talked to the agreeable young man in the Marina office and he told me that the decision was taken because laying up ashore was loss making for MDL.

This seems remarkable, because surely the hard standing at the side of the road was fully depreciated decades ago?

My father bought a boat laid up ashore at Wolverstone in 1973 but I cannot recall how she was put afloat. It must have been “conventionally” with the then usual tractor and trailer.

In the 70s they were still using the cable launching system that was installed by the Navy in WW11. Yachts in cradles were towed to the slip and the cradle was lowered or recovered using a cable system powered by a winch in the building at the top of the slipway.

I can't recall when they started using a crane.

 

[Marmalade]

Just curious - does that mean they couldn't / wouldn't lift a boat in an emergency?

 

[AntarcticPilot]

In the 70s they were still using the cable launching system that was installed by the Navy in WW11. Yachts in cradles were towed to the slip and the cradle was lowered or recovered using a cable system powered by a winch in the building at the top of the slipway.

I can't recall when they started using a crane.

Halls at Walton-on-the-Naze still use that system - float the yacht onto a wheeled cradle at high water and then tow the cradle with a tractor on a long cable or chain.

 

[PaulRainbow]

Just curious - does that mean they couldn't / wouldn't lift a boat in an emergency?

They haven't been able to do that for years, there is no on site crane.

 

[PaulRainbow]

Woolverstone is rather exposed to winter storms and does on occasions suffer damage. I think most of the berths at Royal Harwich come out wintertime which makes it all rather puzzling.

Hard standing at Fox's, Ipswich Haven and Levington is fairly full most winters. Perhaps Shotley could take a few more.

I doubt that, it's pretty full here during Winter.

 

[LittleSister]

Just curious - does that mean they couldn't / wouldn't lift a boat in an emergency?

Yes!

p.s. As per what Paul Rainbow said, only now it's more so!

 

[Tomahawk]

I doubt that, it's pretty full here during Winter.

Actually, if you look at Google satallite imagry (which appears to have been taken in the early spring) just about every boatyard around the entire coast is crammed to the fences. To me that indicates a serious demand for boatyard facilities.

 

[Charlie Boy]

Halls at Walton-on-the-Naze still use that system - float the yacht onto a wheeled cradle at high water and then tow the cradle with a tractor on a long cable or chain.

As do Kings at Pin Mill. It limits the number of launches/retrievals per tide, but they have it down to a fine art

 

[Tomahawk]

I have been thinking for a long time that dry sailing yachts on slipways and using launching cradles instead of travelhoists has a lot going for it. They do a very effective park and ride service at two yards in Brightlingsea. Why not upscale to bigger boats? The environmental benefits are very considerable, not to mention the saving on antifoul costs and osmosis.

 

[Blueboatman]

Funny old world
My first boat was ashore at woolverstone , the ex owner had one of those wooden cabins -edit: mobile static home things:-so his family could be happy sfter sailing up and down the river in an old leaky tired wooden meter boat…
And I did see a pic of the boat on the cover of one of those ‘ how to do boat maintenance’ 70s or 80s books, moored on Kukris very berth !?
Perfect for a wing engined long keeler

Along with its nice plywood pram dinghy stowed on cabin top , that dinghy was made by Woolverstone shipyard
When I needed a new exhaust for the aged Sabb diesel , the marina had a proper marine engineers , let me use their pipe cutter snd threader to build up a 2 inch odd assembly , pipe they had readily there ..
And of course a nice stroll along to The butt n oyster each evening whilst refitting , bits n bobs from Wards chandlery den..
These things are all simbiotic, it must look quite sparse and sanitised nowadays

If you can’t make money hauling boats in the marine sector , something is VERY wrong IMO!

 

[johnalison]

I have been thinking for a long time that dry sailing yachts on slipways and using launching cradles instead of travelhoists has a lot going for it. They do a very effective park and ride service at two yards in Brightlingsea. Why not upscale to bigger boats? The environmental benefits are very considerable, not to mention the saving on antifoul costs and osmosis.

I quite like the idea of dry sailing. I have only seen it done for yachts at Port Hamble, where they have a very efficient system of moving boats around. The yard is covered with smooth concrete and the cradles are towed at breakneck speed, which is quite alarming when it is your boat, as happened to us after one lift-out. As far as I remember, the cost for the user would allow about ten dunkings in a year for less than a marina berth, though I might have been comparing it to my East Coast marina prices.

 

[Tomahawk]

Yes, at the Hamble they have invested in a lot of expensive cradles and lifting gear. I think the opposite option of the owner providing the cradle (checked by the yard) would work very well. A lot of clubs use the model for self launching. It only needs a bit of imagination to take the next step on a commercial basis.

 

[Blueboatman]

Oh for a slipway and a boathouse ( a really tall one of course

 

[Marmalade]

At Marconi SC we used to use owner-built trailers / cradeles exclusively, but in recent years have moved to using travel hoists for all but the largest boats. Owner built (and therefore owner-maintained) trailers varied in quality and readiness - all too often crews were hanging around while someone attempted to free their seized wheels or steering. Safety was also a concern as failure of an owner- built component could result in a boat rolling backwards down the hard. It's fair to say that the quality of build and maintenance varied greatly.
The travel hoist, as well as being maintained and regularly inspected, allows us to place boats closer together in the cruiser park so we can get more boats in.
MSC doesn't have room for winter-storage only boats - only for moorings holders - you need to join the club !

 

[Tomahawk]

Take your point.Indeed there was an "incident" in Brightlingsea when the wheel fell off an owner maintaied trailer on the highway. Thatvlead to all sorts of further fun and games. But I don’t think it is beyond the wit of man to carry out adequate maintenance.

 

[DoubleEnder]

Shocking letter, didn't anyone check it first?

I am on board at Woolverstone as I write this. I talked to the agreeable young man in the Marina office and he told me that the decision was taken because laying up ashore was loss making for MDL.

This seems remarkable, because surely the hard standing at the side of the road was fully depreciated decades ago?

My father bought a boat laid up ashore at Wolverstone in 1973 but I cannot recall how she was put afloat. It must have been “conventionally” with the then usual tractor and trailer.

hmmmm. That doesn’t sound good at all