Yacht "NO BERTHING" Kirkcudbright

[AngusMcDoon]

When you tie alongside, do the warps cross the outer hull to reach the cleats, or is there something else on the outer hull which you tie them to? No particular reason for asking, just curious.

Personally I might avoid a small trimaran out of concern that the floats aren't strong enough for me to berth against. Logically if they're strong enough to keep you upright at sea then they should cope with another boat in a sheltered harbour, but still. To us lead-mine sailors, folding tris look spindly and fragile

When folded use the normal cleats on the main hull so springs cross the folded in floats. When unfolded use non-cleat strong points on the outer ends of the beams for attaching springs. The aft beam strong point is where the asymmetric block attaches and the forward one is for an anchor bridle. They're just not cleats.

I'm quite surprised sometimes at the sparsity of attachment of keels in some flighty boats sometimes, but then they're out of sight and out of mind I suppose.

The beams and floats are plenty strong enough to take one or two similar sized boats rafted. I wouldn't want to be the inner boat on an 8 deep raft of increasing sized boats.

 

[Steve Clayton]

OP (davidgrieves) is conspicuous by his absence and not yet responding to solwaycruiser.

 

[Sybarite]

Best one I heard of was a sail cover with ' Come alongside and talk about Jesus ' in large print down each side.

Or have a string of washable nappies hung up?

 

[RichardS]

OP (davidgrieves) is conspicuous by his absence and not yet responding to solwaycruiser.

I agree .... we need to hear from the OP!

PRV is right - the sign is misleading and inevitably open to misinterpretation. If I were putting up that sign with another boat within speaking range I would definitely say that "I am sorry but this is an official harbourmaster sign" rather than "you can't moor here .... on no you're not". If that is not what was said the OP has misled us.

Richard

 

[[70521]]

Or have a string of washable nappies hung up?

I find reaching for my bagpipes, I don't play them, works wonders

 

[Trop Cher]

Have been there frequently in the past. There was usually pontoon space but if not, rafting on the outside of the pontoon was the norm, but not too deep, and with shore lines. LW depth varies along it's length, deeper at upstream end IIRC.
Be aware that the ebb runs very quickly past the pontoon as soon as the tide turns. Can make leaving exciting. Flood seems much more gentle.

Once you're at Kirkcudbright there is no Plan B which doesn't involve drying out. However, I think they always manage to fit people in; I certainly haven't heard of people being turned away. The sensible thing is to ring Peter the harbourmaster when you are thinking of setting off and let him know your plans. That lets him juggle berths, with particular regard to the depth.

I went in there as a visitor - an odd experience to be visiting somewhere fifteen miles from the house but a hundred and fifty miles from my mooring - last summer and it was all very smooth and easy. If you're visiting, don't try to get up the river before half flood. It can be very shallow in places and the channel often moves faster than Peter can keep up with the buoyage. There are good anchorages in Ross Roads and around the south end of Ross Bay which are handy for waiting. Finally, be prepared for strong tides through the marina, and remember that after heavy rain, or when Tongland power station is going full whack, slack water at Kirkcudbright occurs well before high tide. Or, to put it another way, at high tide you can already have 2kt past the pontoons.

Many thanks for the replies and information, I hope to visit my hereditary home one day, Castle MacLellan.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Many thanks for the replies and information, I hope to visit my hereditary home one day, Castle MacLellan.

Don't let them fool you. The rather impressive castle in Kirkcudbright was never finished and has effectively been a ruin since it was built. A very few remains of the real castle can been seen just downriver of the marina, the road to which is Castledykes Walk.

 

[JumbleDuck]

PRV is right - the sign is misleading and inevitably open to misinterpretation.

It may be a little brusque, but I can't see much ambiguity in "NO BERTHING". I'm afraid that many yotties just don't take gentler hints.

 

[prv]

I can't see much ambiguity in "NO BERTHING".

I see lots. Who is ordering me not to berth? Why not? Do they have any right, either moral or legal, to make that order?

Such ambiguity is bound to lead to misunderstandings and consequent friction, as this thread shows.

Pete

 

[dom]

I see lots. Who is ordering me not to berth? Why not? Do they have any right, either moral or legal, to make that order?

Such ambiguity is bound to lead to misunderstandings and consequent friction, as this thread shows.

Pete

I was in St Peter Port a couple of years back and got back to my boat to find another boat rafted beside me - I said hi, but he studiously ignored me. About half an hour later said bloke was readying to go ashore when the Harbour Master happened along and asked him to move. Bloke went nuts and it was only then that I realised that unbeknownst to me the HM had attached a "No Berthing" sign to my guardwires. Upshot was he moved and the HM mentioned the next day that he charged the bloke for a 14m boat as opposed to a 12m to take account of his davits!

 

[JumbleDuck]

I see lots. Who is ordering me not to berth? Why not? Do they have any right, either moral or legal, to make that order?

Such ambiguity is bound to lead to misunderstandings and consequent friction, as this thread shows.

There are certainly other questions which can be asked, but the message itself is defiantly unambiguous. I've seen "No Berthing" signs in many other places, and it has never occurred to me to get umpty about why they are there. You visit a port, you follow the rules there.

 

[RichardS]

There are certainly other questions which can be asked, but the message itself is defiantly unambiguous. I've seen "No Berthing" signs in many other places, and it has never occurred to me to get umpty about why they are there. You visit a port, you follow the rules there.

But is that a port rule or an obnoxious boater rule?

Richard

 

[JumbleDuck]

But is that a port rule or an obnoxious boater rule?

This is not the Solent. Very few boaters here are obnoxious. Incidentally, I don't think the OP was either - I think he just misunderstood.

 

[BobnLesley]

This is not the Solent. Very few boaters here are obnoxious...

Ouch, a bit of a generalisation, but I had to smile!

 

[haydude]

I think it is all a matter of respecting other people who arrived before us. I would never want to raft to somebody who does not want me there, and neither would I tolerate anyone to raft up to my boat if that time I decide it does not suit me for any reason, whether it is because I decide he has a shabby boat and thus would not care about mine or simply because for once I am not in the mood to familiarize.

Live and let live.

 

[prv]

neither would I tolerate anyone to raft up to my boat if that time I decide it does not suit me

Don't visit Yarmouth or Lymington quay then

I don't know what the harbourmaster would say if you insisted on that, but he might well require you to leave. You cannot monopolise 25% of the available berthing (in the case of Lymington) and prevent four other boats getting a space for the night, just because you feel like it.

Pete

 

[JumbleDuck]

I think it is all a matter of respecting other people who arrived before us. I would never want to raft to somebody who does not want me there, and neither would I tolerate anyone to raft up to my boat if that time I decide it does not suit me for any reason, whether it is because I decide he has a shabby boat and thus would not care about mine or simply because for once I am not in the mood to familiarize.

I suspect you're joking, but in case not ... That's fine when it's your own berth for your exclusive use; you can then choose to have friends alongside or not. When it's someone else's berth, like a visitor spot, you play by their rules or you bugger off.

 

[steve yates]

There are certainly other questions which can be asked, but the message itself is defiantly unambiguous. I've seen "No Berthing" signs in many other places, and it has never occurred to me to get umpty about why they are there. You visit a port, you follow the rules there.

I think what he is getting at is, while the sign may be unambiguous, it's authority is questionable. No one has the right to arbitrarily refuse to allow someone to raft up surely if the pontoons are busy, simply because they don't want another boat against them?
Now normally, folk may assume such a sign carries an implicit authority, but since yaughties seem to contain more than their fair share of twats and jobsworths., ( and i say this as a newcomer to the scene, this being an impression I have absorbed over the years as an outsider) I would suppose it's only natural to question it's validity.
If it said by order of HM, then that would make it crystal clear, all for the sake of a few letters of ink

 

[l'escargot]

Best one I heard of was a sail cover with ' Come alongside and talk about Jesus ' in large print down each side.

A bit of a high risk strategy - an open invitation to be joined by a boat load of Jehovah's Witnesses? Bit like the nappy trick, when we sailed with young children, we would look out for other boats that showed signs of having children on board and raft alongside them...

 

[wully1]

but since yaughties seem to contain more than their fair share of twats and jobsworths., ( and i say this as a newcomer to the scene, this being an impression I have absorbed over the years as an outsider)

A sad but very true observation. Fortunately the nobbers are heavily out numbered by the vast majority of good folks you have the pleasure of meeting when messing about in boats.