I went down to Studland today, to make sure Cavatina is snug and dry (she is): and was astonished to see the last remnants of the slipway at Knoll Beach (NT) boat park being demolished. I knew a rebuild was rumoured, but had cynically assumed that's all it was - a rumour. Oh me of little faith. One of the NT staff involved kindly showed me what they are and will be doing (and, quite by coincidence, when I got home there was a letter explaining it all over again!).
The old slipway, which must have been there for at least 20 years, was short, steep and rather uneven. Turns out it was made of the bottom surfaces of redundant concrete railway sleepers, 84 of them (I counted, being nerdish) in two side-by-side rows with the massive steel rail chairs (for bullhead rail - long superceded) still attached and invisible underneath. It has been there for long enough to have acted as a groyne, with a marked difference in beach levels on either side: so, having removed it they will leave the beach to level itself, which they reckon will take about a month or so.
The new slipway will be about 60 yards North of the old one. It will leave/join the boat park at a different spot, will be longer and less steep, and will cross the beach and go into the sea at a bit of an angle: there is apparently an 'oceanographic' reason for this which escapes me, but there is an overall bid to work with, rather than against, the underlying foreshore and beach dynamics. Some sort of interlocking concrete blocks will be used. They couldn't tell me the width, but it will not be less than the old one which was 17 ft wide. They hope to have the new slip usable by the end of February, by Easter at the very latest. Progress will, of course, be weather dependent.
This is all to be paid for from the NT 'Operation Neptune' fund. I must say I'm somewhat gobsmacked to have an absolute bargain-priced berth in a sheltered boat park at a lovely spot, and then find we are to get a brand new slipway!
I took the opportunity to get more information about 'casual' launching. It's £18 per day for single hulls, £25 for multihulls, plus £8 for car parking unless you're a NT member when car parking is free.
Launching/recovery using a car is fine, they just want to avoid this clogging access for others. For the boat park there is a waiting list. I never worked out how this worked, but polite and cheerful nagging seemed to help shorten the time I had to wait. Slots depend on occupants relinquishing their places (I believe we are asked every Spring if we want to do that), tenure is otherwise 'permanent' provided we pay up each year.
There are no changing facilities as such. There is a tap+hose for rinsing boats. There are toilets, a cafe and a NT shop, a general stores a mile away in the village, and several pubs offering food. (The Greyhound in Corfe Castle is a hop away, but the beer is good and their fish and chips is to die for.)
For the boat park there is an upper length limit of 17 feet, so Storm and BR 17s would be OK. (Actually the biggest boat in the park is a Whammel-sort-of-design, and I measured it at 18 ft.) You might be able to persuade them to launch a BR20 as a one-off, but I guess certainly not a 23 or 26, and I wonder whether the 'lid' on BC20s might have a no-no effect (oh Swallow YACHTS, what have you done?!).
So, there it all is in case it is of any interest. I'll update when I've used the new slipway.
Michael
