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Mooring At Thurne Dyke - Thoughts?


RickWhiteHorse

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Hi all,

I am looking to canvas opinion on how we can proceed with our moorings down at thurne in the near future.

Currently we offer free 24hr mooring down the windpump side which is ours and have carried out works to ensure that side is now safe (13k worth), the other side is owned by a local farmer whom charges £4 overnight. 

By the end of the summer we will need to do a deal with said farmer to keep his side able to accommodate holiday boats and not long term moorings which is his wish (financially worth alot more to him). This deal will mean we have to pay him to keep his side open as such and will set us back around 10-12k a year.

So the question I am asking is what sort of fee should be considered for both sides that is fair?

£5 overnight

£10 overnight with it redeemable against a meal

Another figure?

We would love to keep it free but unfortunately have had a lot of people abusing that basis already and cant swallow the financial hit.

Love to hear anyone's opinions?

Rick

White Horse & Lion Inn

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Is both options not available , or am I missing something?

£5 overnight or buy a voucher for £10 which is really beer/ food tokens?

i will pop in and say hello late September.  Do you have a pool table or dartboard?

cheers

neil

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Hi Rick

Just a couple of thoughts. Firstly, liaising with the farmer is a very sound idea. I guess 99% of people will not know that the two sides of the dyke are separately owned, so it makes sense to keep things consistent if you can.

Secondly, if you charge a fee (which I think you have to) you will need a member of staff to check the moorings and collect the fees. You will need someone with quite good customer skills! It also might be worth having a large sign at the top of the dyke clearly stating the mooring fees.

The amount to charge is a tricky one. I think £5 overnight would be very reasonable and if you can afford to do this it might be your best option and its simple to operate. Otherwise, again £10 redeemable against a meal seems very fair, would this have to be a meal or could drinks be included? I’d perhaps be inclined to keep it as simple as possible.

I assume you are not going to charge during  the day?

Also large “no barbeque” signs might be a good idea! Also to ask people to move up reasonably close together too, they will leave 20 foot gaps given half a chance! As I say, managing the moorings will be half the battle.

Hope none of this is Granny and eggs!

Good luck!

 

 

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Just a thought but if you make the fee redeemable against a meal, how is that going to work for the farmer? Personally we are happy to pay for a mooring and always ensure that we have some cash with us when we are out on a boat for exactly that reason. Let's face it, when you moor on Ranworth Island you pay for overnight and you haven't got any facilities at all.

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Actually been thinking about this a bit more. The difference between here and the other moorings that charge is that they probably don't care if you moor there or not, from a financial point of view, but here Rick wants people to moor to get their custom but has to charge to cover his costs.

If you go down the £10 redeemable route why not offer say 10% off your bill up to a max of £10. That way if a group of 6 rock up and spend over £100 they get their mooring for free. If my wife and I pop in for a couple of drinks we pay around £8 for our mooring, if you see what I mean. ( still too expensive, might have to stay for another couple!!)

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I'd be more than happy paying £5.

We don't generally eat out so it would mean £10 to moor overnight for us too if you went down that route.

We would certainly be using the pub for drinks if we moored there however so would like a reasonable fee for non eaters if possible.

Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app

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55 minutes ago, Wonderwall said:

Is both options not available , or am I missing something?

£5 overnight or buy a voucher for £10 which is really beer/ food tokens?

i will pop in and say hello late September.  Do you have a pool table or dartboard?

cheers

neil

afraid not on those yet, hoping to add a dartboard when we do the other side of pub that is currently closed off and a pool table when arcade is finished, hopefully for 6 weeks holiday

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44 minutes ago, NorfolkNog said:

Hi Rick

Just a couple of thoughts. Firstly, liaising with the farmer is a very sound idea. I guess 99% of people will not know that the two sides of the dyke are separately owned, so it makes sense to keep things consistent if you can.

Secondly, if you charge a fee (which I think you have to) you will need a member of staff to check the moorings and collect the fees. You will need someone with quite good customer skills! It also might be worth having a large sign at the top of the dyke clearly stating the mooring fees.

The amount to charge is a tricky one. I think £5 overnight would be very reasonable and if you can afford to do this it might be your best option and its simple to operate. Otherwise, again £10 redeemable against a meal seems very fair, would this have to be a meal or could drinks be included? I’d perhaps be inclined to keep it as simple as possible.

I assume you are not going to charge during  the day?

Also large “no barbeque” signs might be a good idea! Also to ask people to move up reasonably close together too, they will leave 20 foot gaps given half a chance! As I say, managing the moorings will be half the battle.

Hope none of this is Granny and eggs!

Good luck!

 

 

i am inclined to think it will be easiest to do a set fee at this point with no redemption so as to appease people whom want just a drink and those who wish to eat. I could see a nightmare scenario of people wanting to redeem against food and then we cant feed them if full or something like that.

it would be tough to redeem against just drink as the margin isn't there to make it work financially really

yes free during the day until 4pm is the plan

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39 minutes ago, Wyndham said:

As a couple who rarely eat out in the evening, for us £10 redeemable against a meal would really mean £10 for the night, a bit steep perhaps. However, £5 or £6 pounds per night with a decent pub nearby we'd happily pay. 

thinking a flat £7/7.50 at mo to hit the rent target of 12k, the previous estimates of 2000 boats at 7.50 would give us 15k and then 12k after tax 

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38 minutes ago, SwanR said:

Just a thought but if you make the fee redeemable against a meal, how is that going to work for the farmer? Personally we are happy to pay for a mooring and always ensure that we have some cash with us when we are out on a boat for exactly that reason. Let's face it, when you moor on Ranworth Island you pay for overnight and you haven't got any facilities at all.

we would pay the farmer the money he would lose out on by not being able to put private boats on his side c.12k which would enable us to then do whatever we wish with his side. the downside is we have to charge both sides then to pay for his side.

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12 minutes ago, Wyndham said:

Actually been thinking about this a bit more. The difference between here and the other moorings that charge is that they probably don't care if you moor there or not, from a financial point of view, but here Rick wants people to moor to get their custom but has to charge to cover his costs.

If you go down the £10 redeemable route why not offer say 10% off your bill up to a max of £10. That way if a group of 6 rock up and spend over £100 they get their mooring for free. If my wife and I pop in for a couple of drinks we pay around £8 for our mooring, if you see what I mean. ( still too expensive, might have to stay for another couple!!)

 

12 minutes ago, Jayfire said:

I'd be more than happy paying £5.

We don't generally eat out so it would mean £10 to moor overnight for us too if you went down that route.

We would certainly be using the pub for drinks if we moored there however so would like a reasonable fee for non eaters if possible.

Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
 

i think a flat fee may be best and easiest to enforce. If we start doing multiple options it could lead to confusion and logistical issues with the team trying to enforce and then redeem correctly against bills.

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I'd happily pay £7.50 with no redemption. We don't tend to eat out when onboard but do like a couple of pints in the evening.

As has been mentioned Ranworth Island & Stracey Arms charge a fee with no facilities. I also agree it would be better to control both sides 

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I'd be happy with the £7.50 as a hirer, I can see the private user wanting round the £5 been their more often.

And you have to charge both sides otherwise one would fill up.

As Deebee we tend to eat onboard or mid afternoon when not as busy in the pubs

 

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2 hours ago, RickWhiteHorse said:

afraid not on those yet, hoping to add a dartboard when we do the other side of pub that is currently closed off and a pool table when arcade is finished, hopefully for 6 weeks holiday

Cheers, regardless I will be in , and if your about I will say hello .

all the best 

Neil 

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I for one am happy to pay a mooring fee and believe a figure of £6 for overnight would be good , and perhaps a fee of £3 for short stay if not overnighting payable all day would more than compensate for the £1.50 short fall .

This system seems to function well at Salhouse and I'm in no doubt that the management of the Broad looked at how best to maximise their income.

if a sign was erected explaining the charges something like 

Mooring Charges Applicable 

in order to continue to provide and maintain the dyke moorings the following fees are payable 

Short Stay £3  (moorings to be vacated by 17:00hrs)

Overnight £6  (max 24 hrs) 

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I suspect the costs of collecting daytime mooring fees would outstrip the revenue; someone would have to be constantly up and down there.  A simple evening/overnight fee (if you're there at/after say 5.00pm you pay) would be simpler and more cost effective to collect.  

Of course we all want free moorings if we can get them, and if not, then to pay as little as possible.  However it is entirely reasonable for you to charge what is needed to cover your costs.  The trick is going to be establishing a fee that fills the mooring and does not dissuade people from being there.  It's a fine line, and obviously what you really want is for people not only to moor, but to come into the pub and spend (the more the better).  The more welcoming the mooring, I think the less people will object to paying; so well maintained, grass cut, mooring rings or posts easy to locate... Good atmosphere, food and drink in the pub (and if the White Horse is the standard you aspire to, that's a given).  

Does the pub still offer a shower facility?  Sometimes nice to get off the boat for a proper wash (especially for sailors).  

Are you able to offer cooked breakfasts, maybe even just a bacon roll?  I don't think they still do it, but when Stuart ran the National Trust cafe at Horsey, he offered bacon rolls, and sold fresh milk and newspapers (if ordered the night before).  It made the place a real pleasure to be at, and made the mooring fee (actually collected by the Buxton estate and not even by Stuart) more tolerable.

Basically, the more that is available at the mooring, the less of a burden a fee seems to be.  For me £7.50 seems reasonable enough.

 

 

 

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9 hours ago, Wyndham said:

...If you go down the £10 redeemable route why not offer say 10% off your bill up to a max of £10. That way if a group of 6 rock up and spend over £100 they get their mooring for free. If my wife and I pop in for a couple of drinks we pay around £8 for our mooring, if you see what I mean. ( still too expensive, might have to stay for another couple!!)

For all boat moorings, I feel sorry for the couple in a 20' boat who pay the full whack as a 44 footer with twice the beam, take up half the space, and can only spend enough for two meals.

Then people insist you close the gap... I paid for up to 44 ' so I can have a minimum gap of 12' front and back. lol

If it's a Broads Authority (free) mooring, then I have paid the toll pro rata on length, so I don't feel grieved.

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