Mooring my monohull in the UK

[Marriner]

Hi team,

A fairly vague question so I don’t mind if I get fairly vague answers. I’m looking to take my 42foot monohull to the UK, ideally south east (Solent) but potentially Devon or Cornwall if affordable. I am looking for very rough costing to moor it on a buoy with nothing else added. Jut a secure mooring where I can leave it regardless of tide. I know where the websites for a lot are but none will give me a straight answer of monthly cost. I don’t want to contact every marina or agency at this time so was just wondering if anybody can give me a ball park figure per month or compare their own mooring costs in the uk. Thanks for any elk you guys can provide, Henry

[Pete7]

Henry, each year Practical Boat Owner (PBO) print an article of the marina charges around the UK and Ireland. I think the last was April 2017 which you can probably down load for a small fee from the PBO website. It will contain lots of marinas with astonishing prices especially in the Solent, but hidden in there are also the harbour masters type moorings which are cheaper. Sadly the wife threw my copy out last weekend.

Marina visitors' berth guide - now online! - Practical Boat Owner

Here are some starters, I have tried to aim and the cheaper end of the market and the website do give the costs for many of the locations.

http://www.portsmouthmoorings.co.uk/

Moorings For Rent | Temporary & Permanent Moorings | Boatbreakers

Moorings | Chichester Harbour Conservancy

Cowes Harbour Moorings, pontoons, berths, swinging moorings, Cowes Roads to the Folly, Isle of Wight

Poole Moorings and Jetties - Poole, Dorset

Three harbours with posh marinas but also cheaper harbour masters pontoons and bouys:

Tor Bay Harbour - Home

Dartmouth Harbour, River Dart - Dart Harbour Navigation Authority | Dart harbour

I have a club mooring at £1000 pa without water or elec and a dinghy trip to reach it in Portsmouth Harbour.

Pete

[Dockhead]

You don't get straight answers because simple moorings are mostly not available on the open market - there are waiting lists, sometimes decades long. Or you go into a commercial marina for big bucks.

You will find a mooring somewhere if you dig around and are flexible about location, but it will take some work.

One tip - winter is a completely different market from summer. Even September through April. It can make sense to winter in the most expensive and interesting place - the Solent - and spend the busy expensive months somewhere else. You can even have a mooring in the Hamble on a sublet without waiting if you are willing to take just the non-summer months. Cost is about 300 pounds per month IIRC, but you will have to separately rent a place to keep your dinghy.

Summer go to much cheaper (and glorious) France, or go up the Mud Coast somewhere.

[Yellowtulip]

See this:

http://www.cowesharbourcommission.co...icence_tariffs

I've no idea about availability. The Folly reach moorings are well-sheltered and almost available at all tides. You may touch bottom on very low springs. No power or water.

[Paramotorgreg]

As has already been said, there are very few long-term mooring buoys available around the Solent - the marina charges are so high in that region that mooring buoys are in great demand. Best of luck in finding one!

If you cannot find a mooring buoy then the cheapest marina is Cowes Yacht Haven. Marinas on the Hamble and in Lymington are the most expensive. Portsmouth is slightly cheaper. Example costs for Port Solent in Portsmouth for 40' yacht are ~£300 per month in winter and ~£1000 per month in summer. Water is included, electricity is an additional charge.

[out42]

In essence, the further west you go on the south coast, the cheaper it becomes until you reach Falmouth, where costs go up again. Moorings in Plymouth can be had way cheaper than in the Solent, and IMO it's a much better cruising area. Try Saltash or Cargreen Yacht club

[boatman61]

The Solent.. most interesting.. maybe if your a city boy.
Poole has good deep water moorings on the approaches to Wareham.. reasonably sheltered for winter months.. Holes Bays one can get a mooring on the trots.. other deep water moorings can be had near Brownsea Island but you'll need a decent engine on your dinghy as the tide runs strong through there.
There's also moorings in Portland, Brixham and Salcombe.
Plymouth is good and the further up river your prepared to go the cheaper they are.. need transport tho'.. or use taxi's.

[Paul Kelly]

There are a lot of moorings in Poole Harbour where I keep my 10m boat.

They are comparatively cheap. I encountered the owner of a Bavaria 36 in France last Summer who said he was paying £9,000 a year for a walk-ashore berth in the Hamble. I am paying around £700 for 7 months on a swinging mooring just off the main channel. The drawback of Poole Harbour is that you cannot keep your boat on a swinging mooring between November and April (the season is 1 April – 31 October). And for a 15m boat you’ll probably have to keep it on a mooring in the Wych Channel which is on the Brownsea Island side of the harbour and a 10 minute motor from the populated Poole side. So you’ll need a dinghy and outboard and secure dinghy storage space too. Map/chart here www.phc.co.uk/downloads/latest/PHG-2016-web.pdf

Some of the clubs in Poole Harbour manage moorings too including:

East Dorset Sailing Club East Dorset Sailing Club | Home
Parkstone Yacht Club www.parkstoneyachtclub.com
Poole Yacht Club www.pooleyc.co.uk/
possibly Lilliput Sailing Club Lilliput Sailing Club

And they have onshore storage facilities, parking and showers.

Poole Harbour Commission www.phc.co.uk/ oversee many of the moorings and lease them to the clubs. Some of the Marinas including Salterns Salterns Marina - Marina Berths & Swinging Moorings in Poole Harbour and Poole Quat Yacht Haven www.poolequayboathaven.co.uk/ also manage and offer moorings.

Poole is about 2.5 hours by sea from the Solent and 3.5 hours by sea from Weymouth and is a good jumping off point for France and The Channel Islands (Cherbourg is 60 miles away – a daysail in good conditions). There are also ferry and catamaran services to France and the Channel islands from Poole.

Poole Harbour is one of the largest natural harbours in the world and although it’s shallow, there’s lots to explore in the harbour itself. You can’t go wrong if you follow the channels. There are wintering services available at Cobb’s Quay, a good range of riggers, mechanical and electrical engineers and at least three good chandleries. It’s two hours by train from London.

[Paul Kelly]

Originally Posted by out42

In essence, the further west you go on the south coast, the cheaper it becomes until you reach Falmouth, where costs go up again. Moorings in Plymouth can be had way cheaper than in the Solent, and IMO it's a much better cruising area. Try Saltash or Cargreen Yacht club

Although I am now in Poole, I spent 15 years sailing out of Plymouth. I absolutely agree that Plymouth offers a much better cruising ground than the Solent/Poole area. Down in Devon you have a much better choice of really attractive harbours both East and West of Plymouth.

The drawback is this; Plymouth has lots of Marina berths but very few moorings close to the Plymouth Sound. Poole in contrast has comparatively few Marina berths and lots of moorings. In Plymouth there are some moorings up the Hamoaze (towards the Tamar bridge) but you have to cross over to Cornwall via the Torpoint Ferry to get to them. The moorings up at Saltash and Cargreen are 5 - 7 nm from Plymouth Breakwater. So, it's a good hour from those moorings just to get out of Plymouth. However if Plymouth is your choice there are better moorings up the Eastern side on the River Plym and opposite Turnchapel and Plymouth Yacht Haven Marina. Not sure who manages them and there may be a waiting list. Go to www.http://map.openseamap.org/ or Google Earth and you can get a good aerial view.

[breezydays]

Agree with most of the comments so far. We spent last summer largely on mooring buoys around the South West. Beautiful cruising area . Our experience is that you can pick up buoys for a week or two here or there but most places have waiting lists several years long for annual contracts. Also be aware that most insurance companies are cautious about insuring boats left on buoys and almost all seem to exclude boats left on buoys during the winter months (Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb) you should check. Some of the marinas in Plymouth now have flexible short term offers where you buy a months mooring but can split that time over the whole year , a few nights whenever you need it.

[peteh]

Hi,
I moor my 40ft monohull on a deep mooring at the entrance to Exmouth for £475 a year but during the winter I move her to alongside pontoon berth in a well protected canal 5 miles up the Exe estuary. Spare moorings advertised at the chandlers at the Exmouth docks. Boat taxi April till Oct every hour 8am till 6pm approx. Pete

[Terry107]

When do you expect to be in the Cornwall area and how long would you require a mooring for?

[Nadezhda]

Speak to the Hamble Harbour master. I have my own pontoon between two piles in the river. The idea is that there should be one boat either side but the Harbour master has not allocated anyone to my adjacent berth for about 18 months. So in my opinion the space must be free. I think the Piles are spaced for 40' to 50' boats.

[Shaneesprit]

Hi rather than start a new thread I thought I would add my search to this one -last week of May and most of June I am looking for a mooring that I could use for some or all of the month. I have a CAT only 25ft so. very Flexible to what type. And if those prices worry you go to wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 where I moor mine, being a CAT I can dry out - I actually pay nothing for mooring, but will probably pick up a swing in Wales for most of the summer, but June I want to be in Cornwall.

[Shaneesprit]

Hi rather than start a new thread I thought I would add my search to this one -last week of May and most of June I am looking for a mooring that I could use for some or all of the month. I have a CAT only 25ft so. very Flexible to what type. And if those prices worry you go to wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 where I moor mine, being a CAT I can dry out - I actually pay nothing for mooring, but will probably pick up a swing in Wales for most of the summer, but June I want to be in Cornwall.