Best Way To Get Out Of The Marina

[Ray T]

HAVE YOU LEFT THE MARINA YET?

 

Watch out for piano's falling from the sky. (Top Gear for those unaware of this phenomenon)

[Jamm]

Why does working prevent you from leaving a marina?

[bizzard]

Oh! don't keep hassling them you lot, let them be. They'll venture out in their own good time, you'll see.

[Lmcgrath87]

Why does working prevent you from leaving a marina?

 

Because I'm at work and not at home?!

[mark99]

You could leave T+K and moor in another Tingdene marina free.

 

Windsor, Pyrford, Walton? two on Thames and one (Pyrford) just off Thames.

Edited July 6, 2015 by mark99

[patty-ann]

Book annual leave...before you know it summer is over and autumn days can be blustery...i don't get out as much as I want due to the house renovation and it annoys me but I must have a home for the winter this year.

[Lmcgrath87]

Book annual leave...before you know it summer is over and autumn days can be blustery...i don't get out as much as I want due to the house renovation and it annoys me but I must have a home for the winter this year.

 

I certainly want to , I used most of it getting the boat to reading, so only have about 4 days left to take, which need to be booked around everyone else's holiday, but it's something we need to do.

 

You could leave T+K and moor in another Tingdene marina free.

 

Windsor, Pyrford, Walton? two on Thames and one (Pyrford) just off Thames.

 

That is a good plan, again, Windsor would certainly work, as the early morning commute wouldn't be too bad for hubs. We need to get something planned certainly!

[MtB]

I really think you are making an unnecessarily large meal of this. Book a holiday in order to leave the marina???

 

When I was in T&K I would untie and head out for an hour's cruise on a whim. Often would just go across to Tesco on the opposite bank for a brief trip in an evening.

 

You don't even have to leave the marina. Just flippin' untie the boat and go for a cruise over to the pump-out pontoon and back when you get home from work tonight!

 

If you don't get on and do it now with the light evenings and calm weather, you sure aren't going to when it's chilly, blustery and/or dark when you get home in the evening...

[Neil2]

I really think you are making an unnecessarily large meal of this. Book a holiday in order to leave the marina???

 

When I was in T&K I would untie and head out for an hour's cruise on a whim. Often would just go across to Tesco on the opposite bank for a brief trip in an evening.

 

You don't even have to leave the marina. Just flippin' untie the boat and go for a cruise over to the pump-out pontoon and back when you get home from work tonight!

 

If you don't get on and do it now with the light evenings and calm weather, you sure aren't going to when it's chilly, blustery and/or dark when you get home in the evening...

 

I see I'm not the only one then...

 

I can't visit the boat without taking it somewhere even if it is just an hour or two up and down the cut or even a spin round in the marina. But (as MTB will know) there are scores of boats on our marina that never leave the pontoon and I suspect, (well actually I know first hand) it's because many of the owners have never built up the confidence and the know-how to get the boat on and off the mooring safely.

[bizzard]

Same at coastal marinas. I used to give a weekend service in spring and autumn of transporting, launching, rigging and retrieving, de-rigging sailing cruisers, mainly at Bradwell on sea marina. If I had time I'd ask the owner if they'd like a little sail around the estuary to make sure all was ok, usually they did. Anyway, when autumn and hauling out time came around I discovered that most of the boats I'd rigged and set up hadn't been sailed at all, I just knew because everything was just as I'd left it in the spring and still all in the particular way in which I tie things off. They may have popped around the bay on the auxiliary motor, but that was about it.

[mark99]

 

. But (as MTB will know) there are scores of boats on our marina that never leave the pontoon and I suspect, (well actually I know first hand) it's because many of the owners have never built up the confidence and the know-how to get the boat on and off the mooring safely.

 

 

Agreed. I posted earlier in thread that marinas can become a trap. Everything can be too easy, put off till tomorrow and then can be a confidence issue when it really does not have to be.

[DeanS]

 

 

Agreed. I posted earlier in thread that marinas can become a trap. Everything can be too easy, put off till tomorrow and then can be a confidence issue when it really does not have to be.

 

Yes...we normally leave our marina in May......and it takes a lot of mental planning (how will we survive without the dishwasher, microwave, shorepower etc). Once you've left though, it's a good feeling, and life takes on a different style.. (we're only going back to our marina in Nov hopefully). I normally have to prepare the wife and kids a month in advance...."We're leaving the marina in 30days....." and then there's a rush of last minute clothes washing, hair straightening, dish cleaning, before that final announcement..."I'm unplugging the shorepower cable"...and the inevitable reply...."just a few more minutes"...with me replying..."nope....click."

[Neil2]

Same at coastal marinas. I used to give a weekend service in spring and autumn of transporting, launching, rigging and retrieving, de-rigging sailing cruisers, mainly at Bradwell on sea marina. If I had time I'd ask the owner if they'd like a little sail around the estuary to make sure all was ok, usually they did. Anyway, when autumn and hauling out time came around I discovered that most of the boats I'd rigged and set up hadn't been sailed at all, I just knew because everything was just as I'd left it in the spring and still all in the particular way in which I tie things off. They may have popped around the bay on the auxiliary motor, but that was about it.

 

I was down in Weymouth a few years ago and got talking to a guy who sell boats down there. I asked him why, on a near perfect day for sailing, just about every boat in the municipal marina was still tied up. He reckoned that very few of the owners would know how to get the boats off the pontoon, let alone go sailing. Most of them are just holiday homes he said, it's a lot cheaper to buy a big yacht than it is a small flat and you're just a stone's throw from the beach. It's the same on Lake Windermere I've been out on a yacht on fine summer days and seen maybe two or three other boats actually sailing.

 

However I'm sure a lot of narrowboat owners do buy them with every intention of cruising the network but get spooked by a bad experience, usually at close quarters. And when there's people watching of course.

[Machpoint005]

 

I see I'm not the only one then...

 

I can't visit the boat without taking it somewhere even if it is just an hour or two up and down the cut or even a spin round in the marina. But (as MTB will know) there are scores of boats on our marina that never leave the pontoon and I suspect, (well actually I know first hand) it's because many of the owners have never built up the confidence and the know-how to get the boat on and off the mooring safely.

 

I must be very lucky, with a winding hole 400m to the right, and another less than 1km to the left of my mooring. Works fine when the grandchildren want to "go somewhere" in the boat!

Or I can just turn it around to wash the other side ...

[cuthound]

I must be very lucky, with a winding hole 400m to the right, and another less than 1km to the left of my mooring. Works fine when the grandchildren want to "go somewhere" in the boat!Or I can just turn it around to wash the other side ...

Likewise, a winding hole 10 minutes one way and 20 minutes the other way.

 

Try to take the boat out at least once a week for a day trip unless we have time (and a cat sitter- Tom definitely isn't a cut cat) to go out for longer.

 

Lucy, the more you use your boat, the more confident you will become in handling it, so get out there on it now whilst the weather is being kind.

[Lmcgrath87]

I will! It's going to become my focus for a while, getting out on the river for a bit. If I can manage to get a few days with no appointments we can even moor fairly near to my office and I can walk/get public transport there so we can make it work!

[ditchcrawler]

I will! It's going to become my focus for a while, getting out on the river for a bit. If I can manage to get a few days with no appointments we can even moor fairly near to my office and I can walk/get public transport there so we can make it work!

You don't need a few days, just a few hours would get you over that first hurdle

[Lmcgrath87]

You don't need a few days, just a few hours would get you over that first hurdle

I know, but if we're going out we might as well go somewhere.

[MtB]

You don't need a few days, just a few hours would get you over that first hurdle

 

 

Seconded.

 

I suggest you just untie, go out onto the river and cruise up and down for for half an hour, then come back into the marina and your mooring.

 

Or better, as I suggested the other day. Untie and cruise across the lake to the visitor pontoon, where you can practice approaching it, stopping, getting off and tying up in stationary waters. The go back to your mooring when you feel you have the hang of it.

Then go out onto the river for a longer trip.

[patty-ann]

I just amble down to my sisters turn round and go back..just building up confidence this year. She comes with me as the Tunnel I find freaky and the big locks cannot manage solo. But we have trip booked next year to sons in London..hopefully.

I love my boat but do still get a bit worried until out of marina then alls well..well Karen has to pole me out of the Marina cos my turning skills a bit naff.

So just chug out even if as others say go across Marina and practise turning..you can never get enough practise.

Go for it cos summer over soon.

Edited July 12, 2015 by patty-ann

[Peter X]

With your working hours being very different to your husband's, the way to get some boating done may be to invite a friend along as crew. Maybe one weekend you go out with one of your friends, another weekend he goes out with his, or sometimes you work out a combined schedule for a long weekend, involving both of you plus someone you both get along with? The last option would be crafty, because it would start with him being the one to get the boat off its mooring on the Thursday afternoon after work...

 

I would definitely advise you to start off by taking up any offer you get to do a short trip with MtB or some other experienced helmsman, to give you the confidence of knowing how to get out of the mooring (and back in). I'd feel a little bit edgy doing a tight manoeuvre like that for the first time, in my own boat and near other people's boats, as my steering experience so far is mostly just taking over for a while going down an open stretch of canal or river to give the skipper a break.

[Shockabilly]

Ask your friendly harbour master to give you a demonstration, if he or she struggles then ask for a different mooring slot!

[IanM]

Often if we feel like a day out we'll drive the 2 hours to the marina, take the boat out for probably no more that 45 minutes, go to the pub for lunch, drive 2 hours home.

 

You really don't need to book a holiday to take the boat out or indeed go very far in order to get your boating fix

[IanM]

Edited to remove double post.

Edited July 28, 2015 by IanM

[tidal]

I still rely on the sound advice I was given when I first started boating

 

1. Take it as slowly as you can whilst maintaining control
2. Take any sensible help that is offered
3. Don't panic whatever happens
4. When it all goes wrong (and it will, no matter how experienced you are) aim for the least expensive boat available