Using marina facilities whilst cruising ?

[Looby Loo]

Hello,

 

Apologies if this is a stupid question. Can you make use of marina facilities when you don't moor there? I would guess buying diesel/ coal/gas is fine as you are a paying customer but what if you only want to use their water/elsan/rubbish disposal facilities? Is this normally allowed and what is the etiquette if so? Do most marinas charge outsiders? If it's not marked in Nicholson's guide as having any facilities (eg Hatherton in my guide) does that mean no outsiders allowed or would it be worth enquiring in case it's an omission. Has anyone got any info re use of Hatherton? I have come across facilities which have not been marked in my Nicholson's.

 

Thanks for your help.

[Paul C]

It varies a lot, but often its chargeable and the charge is waived eg if you fill up with diesel.

[Neil2]

I don't think it's a stupid question, I don't know the answer because I've never had occasion to use a marina solely for those services. I don't even know what our marina's policy is! Isn't it likely though that it will vary across the network? I doubt there is an "etiquette".

[Higgs]

Most privately run places will want to charge. It costs them to dispose of the waste.

[Southern Star]

I believe that some places charge a quid or two to use the Elsan point or fill up with water etc but as Paul said will waive that fee if you are buying diesel or something from the chandlery etc.

[bottle]

The etiquette would be to ask first as marina's are private and someone's business.

 

Just think about someone turning up at your house or boat and expecting to use your water and/or dump their rubbish in your bin

[Alan de Enfield]

Think about it from the Marina's pont of view

 

They pay £15 per week per wheely bin to have it emptied (well we do)

They pay £300 a time to empty the septic tank (well we do)

They pay for every litre of water going through their meter

 

I'd be a bit miffed if someone came and just made free use of something I'd paid for.

 

On the other 'side of the coin', I would think that asking if you could use the facility and offering to pay would result in "its only a few pennies - don't worry', or "put something in the charity box"

 

If you ask you will know 'where you are'.

Edited January 17, 2015 by Alan de Enfield

[Paul C]

I'd say certainly, the correct ettiquete is to ask first and be fully prepared to offer payment if you were only using the rubbish/elsan/water.

[pearley]

On the Great Ouse several marinas allowed you to fill with water free. Buckden allowed you to empty the elsan as well but Hartford asked for a donation of £1 to the RNLI.

 

Moored opposite Packet Boat Marina on the GU at present. A BWML marina but you can use the water and elsan for free, and much nicer than the CRT facilities at Cowley Lock. Denham Yacht Station at Uxbridge charge £1.50 for water but free if you spend more than a tenner.

[Dave_P]

Looby Lou - don't expect Nicholson's to be right all (or even most) of the time. Think of it more as a vague guide to services, facilities and features which may or may not be there, or were there at some indeterminate point in the past.

[ditchcrawler]

Hello,

 

Apologies if this is a stupid question. Can you make use of marina facilities when you don't moor there? I would guess buying diesel/ coal/gas is fine as you are a paying customer but what if you only want to use their water/elsan/rubbish disposal facilities? Is this normally allowed and what is the etiquette if so? Do most marinas charge outsiders? If it's not marked in Nicholson's guide as having any facilities (eg Hatherton in my guide) does that mean no outsiders allowed or would it be worth enquiring in case it's an omission. Has anyone got any info re use of Hatherton? I have come across facilities which have not been marked in my Nicholson's.

 

Thanks for your help.

As others have said it will vary from place to place but one piece of advice I can give after 25 years is do not believe all that you read in Nicholson's or the guides that are published each month in one of the waterways magazines, they all contain errors.

[ditchcrawler]

Hello,

 

Apologies if this is a stupid question. Can you make use of marina facilities when you don't moor there? I would guess buying diesel/ coal/gas is fine as you are a paying customer but what if you only want to use their water/elsan/rubbish disposal facilities? Is this normally allowed and what is the etiquette if so? Do most marinas charge outsiders? If it's not marked in Nicholson's guide as having any facilities (eg Hatherton in my guide) does that mean no outsiders allowed or would it be worth enquiring in case it's an omission. Has anyone got any info re use of Hatherton? I have come across facilities which have not been marked in my Nicholson's.

 

Thanks for your help.

They list Pumpout and diesel coming soon on their web site http://www.hathertonboats.co.uk/

[Bettie Boo]

Hello,

 

Apologies if this is a stupid question. Can you make use of marina facilities when you don't moor there? I would guess buying diesel/ coal/gas is fine as you are a paying customer but what if you only want to use their water/elsan/rubbish disposal facilities? Is this normally allowed and what is the etiquette if so? Do most marinas charge outsiders? If it's not marked in Nicholson's guide as having any facilities (eg Hatherton in my guide) does that mean no outsiders allowed or would it be worth enquiring in case it's an omission. Has anyone got any info re use of Hatherton? I have come across facilities which have not been marked in my Nicholson's.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

I don't consider it a "stupid question" at all, since I asked pretty much the exact same thing before we left the marina for good, where we were based for our first 6 months of living on-board.

 

We've adopted the following practice and it seems to work quite well for us.

 

Before pulling into a marina, I simply call them and enquire as to their charges for diesel, & pumpout advising them we are a widebeam and asking if there are any charges and if they have the facilities for us to dispose of a bag or two of garbage and top up our water tank at the same time. In general, if we are taking on diesel & having a pump out, they normally waive the waste disposal or water charges. But at least we know what to expect before using their facilities.

 

The other benefit of calling first is to get directions to the facilities within the marina if it's the first time we've been there and also some of them can see from their office if there is a boat already on the facilities. It's easier for us, in most situations to wait on the river or canal then trying to maneuver inside the confines of a marina if there is already a boat on the facilities.

 

But with all the water & waste facilities available on the canals & non-tidal Thames, we've only had to store a bag of garbage on a couple of occasions and then it was only for 1 day. Mind you we've only traveled on the K&A, GU & Thames, I have no idea what the rest of the network is like.

 

Enjoy your cruising

[Machpoint005]

Ask nicely first. Same as in real life!

[Emerald Fox]

Hi Looby Loo (which seems an odd name when discussing Elsan disposals?) -

 

At Hanbury Wharf (near Doitwich Spa) the shop said 'it belongs to the company next door, nothing to do with us' so we used the Elsan 'hole in ground' twice and said nuffin! (Oct 2013, June 2014)

 

At Lyons Boatyard, south Birmingham (Stratford Canal) they didn't charge for the Elsan loo, as we had other work done there (and the boat had been there many times for much work previously)

 

At Alvechurch Marina, Worcester & Birmingham, they charged us 2 Pounds for the Elsan disposal. Nice folks there, by the way, they helped us a lot with our boat.

 

Calcutt Boats, Grand Union (just to the west of Napton Junction) charged us a couple of quid for Elsan disposal - again, nice folk.

 

Cropredy Marina, 3.5 hours north of Banbury - have not charged us for Elsan disposal when we were there 2 times, it was waived as we bought other things (such as Calor gas & overnight fee)

 

Stratford-upon-Avon - there's a place 5 minutes' walk from the basin, they charged a Pound or so - needed a special key to open the manhole cover

 

In an emergency I'm sure the cassette can be emptied into a pit in a field, and rinsed with water from the canal. Elsan stations are few & far between. For those who (inevitably) will be horrified at my field suggestion, may I change it to the steps of No 10 Downing Street, London?

[sueb]

After getting free from the ice in 2012 we went to Whilton for water and was told we couldn't have any. They relented and suggested we put some money in the charity tin. I had pointed out that having to go to the top of Buckby and returning wouldn't create good publicity for them.

[Tom Richmond]

I stopped in at Bath Narrowboats to use the Elsan which was marked in the Nicholsons, not even realising that it was private. After spending ten minutes single handed, trying to moor between two other boats across a horrible brick corner with a wind off the shore, a maneuver which would have been about a thousand times easier had one of the staff wandering about on the dockside offered to pull me in, I completed my business, and was promptly asked for £5! I spluttered in disbelief, maintaining that I had believed it to be a public facility, but he was having none of it! As I payed up and cast off, I made no secret of the fact that for £5 I would not just expect someone to catch my centre rope, I would expect valet parking, and someone to do the business for me, and my cassette reinstated in the throne room smelling of roses with a chocolate on top.

[Alan de Enfield]

I stopped in at Bath Narrowboats to use the Elsan which was marked in the Nicholsons, not even realising that it was private. After spending ten minutes single handed, trying to moor between two other boats across a horrible brick corner with a wind off the shore, a maneuver which would have been about a thousand times easier had one of the staff wandering about on the dockside offered to pull me in, I completed my business, and was promptly asked for £5! I spluttered in disbelief, maintaining that I had believed it to be a public facility, but he was having none of it! As I payed up and cast off, I made no secret of the fact that for £5 I would not just expect someone to catch my centre rope, I would expect valet parking, and someone to do the business for me, and my cassette reinstated in the throne room smelling of roses with a chocolate on top.

 

Maybe if you had asked first it would have been "no-charge"

[Emerald Fox]

"I completed my business, and was promptly asked for £5!"

 

-what if you had said 'No!' to paying? What would they have done? However, Alan (above this) provides the obvious route.

[Looby Loo]

Thanks very much for all your replies. It looks like the easiest thing will be to phone ahead and ask as it seems to vary.

[ditchcrawler]

Thanks very much for all your replies. It looks like the easiest thing will be to phone ahead and ask as it seems to vary.

The only time I have needed to use a marina's facilities was on the Thames and there was a notice telling you the price of water

[BGA]

Hi Looby Loo (which seems an odd name when discussing Elsan disposals?) -

 

At Hanbury Wharf (near Doitwich Spa) the shop said 'it belongs to the company next door, nothing to do with us' so we used the Elsan 'hole in ground' twice and said nuffin! (Oct 2013, June 2014)

 

At Lyons Boatyard, south Birmingham (Stratford Canal) they didn't charge for the Elsan loo, as we had other work done there (and the boat had been there many times for much work previously)

 

At Alvechurch Marina, Worcester & Birmingham, they charged us 2 Pounds for the Elsan disposal. Nice folks there, by the way, they helped us a lot with our boat.

 

Calcutt Boats, Grand Union (just to the west of Napton Junction) charged us a couple of quid for Elsan disposal - again, nice folk.

 

Cropredy Marina, 3.5 hours north of Banbury - have not charged us for Elsan disposal when we were there 2 times, it was waived as we bought other things (such as Calor gas & overnight fee)

 

Stratford-upon-Avon - there's a place 5 minutes' walk from the basin, they charged a Pound or so - needed a special key to open the manhole cover

 

In an emergency I'm sure the cassette can be emptied into a pit in a field, and rinsed with water from the canal. Elsan stations are few & far between. For those who (inevitably) will be horrified at my field suggestion, may I change it to the steps of No 10 Downing Street, London?

Its a long walk with a full toilet cassette from the nearest canal to No 10 Downing St, Oh I see you were joking

[Kendal]

Thanks very much for all your replies. It looks like the easiest thing will be to phone ahead and ask as it seems to vary.

I never bother to ring first, just tie up if there's a spot then go straight to the office and talk to them about the service I would like (diesel, pump-out, water, rubbish disposal etc). More often than not the water and use of bins has been free, and always when getting diesel and/or a pump out. Only once did I regret not phoning ahead - I found out they were closed after spending 5 minutes faffing about mooring up.

 

ETA: if I'm getting diesel I always ask about the split first. If they are not prepared to accept a reasonable allocation then I will go elsewhere (without using any of the facilities), unless I'm desperate for a pump out that is

Edited January 28, 2015 by Kendal

[Emerald Fox]

"Oh I see you were joking"

 

That reminds me of the line in the movie Trains, Planes & Automobiles:

 

"We were robbed!"

 

"Do yuh think so...?"

 

There was a copy-cat movie made of this called 'Due Date' with Robert Downey, Jr. starring - I started to watch this but it was abominable (look thesaurus for all words that match!), absolute rubbishy-rubbish. Very little can beat the original with Steve Martin (his finest acting I think) and John Candy - if you have never seen it, head for amazon/ebay straight away

[boots]

Last year we went from Swanley to Great Heywood ( and back ? ) for a two week holiday. One of the concerns we often have is access to laundrette facilities. This time we decided to book into to the Great Heywood marina for one night which gave us full access to all facilities, inc electric, and the staff couldn't have been more welcoming or helpful. Would certainly consider doing it again