Room For Future Moorings

[Andrewcook]

OVer the Year's New Boats have come on the scene so the Old ones gets Sold off either on to the Broads or other Water ways in the UK . Will there be enough  Mooring spaces on the Broads for the Hiring and Private Boats in future ?I like to add Day Boats are getting very popular once again that also takes up Moorings so has the Broads Authority looked at any near future Moorings to be added ? 

[CambridgeCabby]

I believe , and stand to be corrected if mistaken , that there are less boats on the system now than there was in the heyday of the 70’s .

What is becoming more and more noticeable is the increase in the picnic boats available to hire which often fill the space of four stern moored day boats on moorings such as Horning green .

Also the relatively recent increase of 45ft cruisers available for hire , often with just four people aboard , soon fills available moorings .

That said , we shouldn’t complain , it’s the popularity with hirers and owners alike that keeps The Broads thriving and long may it remain so .

[Cheesey69]

Also looking at old films, people seemed more willing to double moor. 

[Oddfellow]

2 hours ago, CambridgeCabby said:

I believe , and stand to be corrected if mistaken , that there are less boats on the system now than there was in the heyday of the 70’s .

What is becoming more and more noticeable is the increase in the picnic boats available to hire which often fill the space of four stern moored day boats on moorings such as Horning green .

Also the relatively recent increase of 45ft cruisers available for hire , often with just four people aboard , soon fills available moorings .

That said , we shouldn’t complain , it’s the popularity with hirers and owners alike that keeps The Broads thriving and long may it remain so .

Don't worry about the 45ft boats. Richardsons are selling off all the Ideal 45s and with Sandersons and Freedom gone, that's about 30 fewer boats for the 2022 season. Watch out for the tolls hike to compensate.....

 

[Bytheriver]

With double the number of hire craft albeit mostly smaller in the 1970s there were a lot more steel piled embankments which served as mooring places and by the end of the summer numerous wild moorings against trees & tree roots clearly marked by paint & gel coat no doubt started when hirers had to force a mooring in high season. Provision of BA Free Mooring is a balance between leasing charges/ cost of purchase etc. Hopefully the swing towards new craft being on the large side will mitigate  the loss of some of the Richardson craft especially if they stay in private hands even without the hire multiplier

[PCL023]

I quite like those pontoons that have been put in at Oulton Dyke, I wonder if they could catch on in some other locations as well? As mentioned the balance between free and chargeable moorings verses, maintenance, leasing etc. may be a hard one to stack up, that said a mud weight and dinghy takes some of the pressure off the moorings and finding one if left to late in the height of season. 

Compared to 20 years ago and much before; now a 30’ boat with a 10’ beam is considered small. You see it a many of the moorings where the mooring posts no longer line up with the length and width of many of the boats produced today. 

I wonder what the average length and width of boats built say in the last 20 years are, compared to those built 30 / 40+ years ago? 

[Graham47]

I was watching the Barnes Brinkcraft webcam on Monday. There were no mooring spaces available at Barnes Brinkcraft, Boats were going into NBD and coming straight back out again. Two boats were moored outside the Wroxham hotel. There was only 6ft  under Wroxham bridge and the cafe mooring had their day boats where cruisers can normally pay to moor. At best, the only chance of mooring in Wroxham currently is if the two moorings outside the hotel are vacant. I also remember the heyday of the seventies when there were a lot more boats on hire than there are now. Equally there were more boat yards to moor in and as also mentioned above double mooring was quite common and I remember mooring 3 abreast at Yarmouth. 
 

 

[vanessan]

7 hours ago, PCL023 said:

I quite like those pontoons that have been put in at Oulton Dyke, I wonder if they could catch on in some other locations as well?

There was talk of pontoons replacing the Thurne Mouth moorings when they were ripped out but it never happened. I too like pontoon moorings but, for us, they need to provide bank access for dog walking. That means, I assume, paying a landowner and that of course comes from our tolls.
I have every sympathy for the BA, having to locate suitable places for moorings and then negotiate with landowners who undoubtedly want the maximum buck for providing their land. With the demand on moorings now, I think any leases coming up for renewal are going to be a battle to retain let alone the possibility of finding new ones. 

[Smoggy]

The pontoons have the advantage that if a mooring lease expires or gets overpriced you can move the pontoons elsewhere whereas bank works are lost money once the mooring is lost.

[NeilB]

8 hours ago, Graham47 said:

I was watching the Barnes Brinkcraft webcam on Monday. There were no mooring spaces available at Barnes Brinkcraft, Boats were going into NBD and coming straight back out again. Two boats were moored outside the Wroxham hotel. There was only 6ft  under Wroxham bridge and the cafe mooring had their day boats where cruisers can normally pay to moor. At best, the only chance of mooring in Wroxham currently is if the two moorings outside the hotel are vacant. I also remember the heyday of the seventies when there were a lot more boats on hire than there are now. Equally there were more boat yards to moor in and as also mentioned above double mooring was quite common and I remember mooring 3 abreast at Yarmouth. 
 

 

I thought Brinkcraft had to provide a couple of moorings under the terms of a planning application?  Or am I mistaken - which is likely!

[andyg]

There definitely is a reluctance by many to double moor nowadays. It was incredibly common back in the 70/80s even Yarmouth yacht station would see boats moored 3 deep. People seem to object to it today, weary of whom might just pull along side I guess. I've only had one boat double moor it was at Norwich yacht station. It wasn't a great experience the mother of the crew of the other boat, used very colourful language and wasn't afraid to use it lol...

[Andrewcook]

Yes it's very  some  Boats Yards gone and some turned in for Private Moorings now . As to Winter Cruising with some Boat Yards becomes available careful planning due to some Boat Yards got all their Boat's in for the Winter such as Wroxham / Potter Heigham beware untill February / March when Boating movement starts very slowly once again may be not as it used to be as  Bookings are up again from February 2022 I've now notice.  .

[marshman]

The trouble with early "spring" is that it always come late to Norfolk!!! Surrounded as we are - almost- by sea that warmth benefits us this time of year but not as sea temperatures fall over winter months and even April can be pretty chilly!

OK its a generalisation but we seem to be having warmer autumns and cooler springs - or is it me getting old???

[vanessan]

We’re all getting older!!

[rightsaidfred]

2 hours ago, NeilB said:

I thought Brinkcraft had to provide a couple of moorings under the terms of a planning application?  Or am I mistaken - which is likely!

Only if space is available and chargeable at their discression.

As for new moorings its not just cost not all landowners are prepared to have moorings on their property assuming the site is suitable, litter, vandalism etc have caused problems in the past.

Fred

 

[Vaughan]

17 hours ago, Graham47 said:

I also remember the heyday of the seventies when there were a lot more boats on hire than there are now. Equally there were more boat yards to moor in and as also mentioned above double mooring was quite common and I remember mooring 3 abreast at Yarmouth. 

In the 60s, before the building of the Hotel Wroxham, Jack Powles and John Loynes yards between them, owned pretty well all of both sides of the river from the bridge to the first bend. All available for the mooring of hire cruisers and yachts. Broads Tours in those days was upstream of the bridge, on land later owned by Porter and Haylett (Connoisseur).

Here are some of the yards in Wroxham in the late 60s, from memory, and all offering free moorings to hire and (almost always) private craft :

Windboats.

Barnes.

E.C.Smith & Sons.

Burecraft.

Faircraft.

Sabberton (Sabena).

Jack Powles.

Norfolk Broads Y.C.

Porter & Haylett.

Royalls.

John Loynes.

Summercraft.

R.Moore & Son.

E.C. Landamore.

E.R.English.

Brinkcraft.

Dawncraft..

C&G Press.

Earnest Collins.

These are some I remember. Those with better memories may be able to add to the list?

What is missing nowadays is that infrastructure of yards, where all hire boats could always find a mooring and all the services : refuse bins, showers, toilets, water, breakdown service, toilet pumpout, etc.  In those days there were 3000 hire boats on the Broads.  Nowadays there are only about 700, but now there are 3000 private boats, a lot of them ex hire boats and all looking for moorings and service when they go cruising.

I have no idea what the answer is but the problem, to me, is "as clear as mud".

 

[Wussername]

1 hour ago, Vaughan said:

In the 60s, before the building of the Hotel Wroxham, Jack Powles and John Loynes yards between them, owned pretty well all of both sides of the river from the bridge to the first bend. All available for the mooring of hire cruisers and yachts. Broads Tours in those days was upstream of the bridge, on land later owned by Porter and Haylett (Connoisseur).

Here are some of the yards in Wroxham in the late 60s, from memory, and all offering free moorings to hire and (almost always) private craft :

Windboats.

Barnes.

E.C.Smith & Sons.

Burecraft.

Faircraft.

Sabberton (Sabena).

Jack Powles.

Norfolk Broads Y.C.

Porter & Haylett.

Royalls.

John Loynes.

Summercraft.

R.Moore & Son.

E.C. Landamore.

E.R.English.

Brinkcraft.

Dawncraft..

C&G Press.

Earnest Collins.

These are some I remember. Those with better memories may be able to add to the list?

What is missing nowadays is that infrastructure of yards, where all hire boats could always find a mooring and all the services : refuse bins, showers, toilets, water, breakdown service, toilet pumpout, etc.  In those days there were 3000 hire boats on the Broads.  Nowadays there are only about 700, but now there are 3000 private boats, a lot of them ex hire boats and all looking for moorings and service when they go cruising.

I have no idea what the answer is but the problem, to me, is "as clear as mud".

 

Perhaps the answer is THE DINGHY. A bit of kit you towed behind your boat. Rowing or lugsail Sir?  The former allowed you to get to the pub. Life jackets obligatory, not for the going, but the return. The lugsail, for the children of course. Children love them, an adventure. I have even placed a child, in a wheelchair, in a lugsail dinghy. A child with mental and physical issues, with the help of my friend Simon a County Rugby player, a very strong and fit man, the child at no time was at risk. The joy which she showed was reward enough.

The Broads will allow the unforgettable, you just have to look for it. Don't expect it. You have to seek it. You will forever remember it.

Old Wussername.