Waterside Accommodation Library

[Peter Cockerton]

Coastal or inland waters members guide to useful places to rent for sailing breaks. I for one would find this useful when planning a family break. The entry could go in the Library section of the forum where members could give a brief overview of accommodation and local amenities, boat related information i.e slips, local sailing information, contact numbers etc.

Thoughts anyone.

Peter

[Tony]

Good idea.....

Include a section on campsites for the fresh air freaks amongst us?

Don't forget parking for trailers - often difficult - and post codes for SatNav users.

[Colin Lawson]

Yes I second that - an excellent idea. I have a few to offer and would be interested in finding more.   

[Jonathan Stuart]

Yes, good idea. When it comes to sailing breaks with the family, I have often looked for somewhere that combines nice accommodation with easy launching, trailer storage, parking and then good access to the boat.

I'm happy to create a page for this on the website so everyone pls share their suggestions here and I will collate them.

I'll kick off with a recommendation:

Mylor Yacht Harbour: One of my favourites; Mylor is a small harbour just north of Falmouth with some on-site holiday cottages. It doesn't get easier than this because you can keep the boat on a pontoon 100m from your cottage. There is also plenty of trailer and car parking. I love sailing on the Fal and Mylor is perfectly positioned for this. http://www.mylorharbourside.com/ and http://www.mylor.com/.

Here are a few others I know of but haven't tried:

St Anthony-in-Meneage, on the Helford river. Holiday cottages plus launching, storage and moorings. http://www.stanthony.co.uk/

Redcliffe Farm camp site, Wareham. Camp site on the Frome at the NW end of Poole harbour. Has it's own slipway and plenty of trailer parking. About a 10 min motor down the Frome to Poole harbour, but is much quieter than most Poole slipways and is part of the camp site. I've never camped there (mainly because I live 15 mins away!) but use the slipway a lot. Also a good spot for canoeing on the Frome. http://www.redcliffefarmcamping.co.uk/

Rockley Park, Poole. Don't know much about this other than it is a caravan park in Poole which has it's own slipway, boat park and sailing school. http://www.rockleypark.co.uk/

[Peter Cockerton]

Jonathon

What an asset to the association you are thanks very much for making this happen so quickly and for your initial input. I along with many others i guess tend not to sail with the spouse on board as several conditions have to be just right for her to come along so sometimes it becomes an issue for me to sail. Staying in accomodation close to the slips helps because it cuts down the total "outing time" if sailing alone and also tempts the wife to take a short trip knowing she can always get back on shore again if she wants to.

As this is now going to implemented would it be possible to have some prompts for input information so some of the usefull bits don't get forgotten to be put in i.e contact numbers of accommodation letting owners/agents etc etc.

Whats your thoughts on making this area of the library open for member input so you are not troubled for data entry. Also it would be good to be able to search on geographical area if the knowledge base gets to be of any size.

Once again thanks for giving your personal time and expertise up for the association it is much appreciated.

Peter

[Jonathan Stuart]

Thanks, Peter!

Yes, good idea to open this up so registered users can edit the page and then it can become a community effort to maintain this. Thinking about this further, that approach would work well for other pages and we could have an area of the site that is community-maintained. I'm thinking of something like Wikipedia, but with the right controls, etc! For example, when I setup the site I added the Boats page and I intended that we could have a linked page for each boat giving a detailed specification and description, etc. That might be all the more relevant now that the range of boats detailed on the new SB website is quite limited. It would be good if the effort to create and maintain those pages could be shared...

As it stands I can't do any of this without making some changes to the Wordpress security and probably adding some new plugins, so I'll have a look at that sometime this week (subject to work and Southampton BS visit, etc).

[Rob Johnstone]

This is a super idea and I wonder if it could be extended to include "overnight stop points" - places where the trailer and tow vehicle can be safely parked whilst the driver rests /eats? Some motorway services are a nightmare!

[Colin Morley]

Good work team. I would love to stay at all of them.

This Easter we stayed at Mariner's cottage in Emsworth see  http://mariners-cottage.com

It is about 100 yd from the hard where I have launched my BR20. I have also launched it and kept it in the Emsworth yacht harbour.

Trailer parking may be a little harder. I belong to to Emsworth sailing club so i put in their car park for a few days.

[Tony]

This is a super idea and I wonder if it could be extended to include "overnight stop points" - places where the trailer and tow vehicle can be safely parked whilst the driver rests /eats? Some motorway services are a nightmare!

Parking!
Another good suggestion.  Printed Launch Guides limit themselves to the venue and can't deal with en route stops – this could end up as large as a set of encyclopaedias! Easier to handle on line.

Non specific comments are hardly useful ..............but:-
Towing across France and Italy to Greece.  Seven years in a row – never a problem.  Service stations mostly  have designated spots for cars with trailers or you can park in the shade of a nice big lorry at lunch time.  Hotels find you a place where you can leave everything hitched up and the receptionist can keep an eye on it.
In the UK motorway services  are very variable. The caravan spaces are often filled with cars, especially if they are closer to the Cafe, and, on the other hand, I have been ordered  off lorry parks by gentlemen in peaked caps before now.  Hotels are usually helpful but often have inaccessible parking, (narrow gates, small spaces).   Motels, by and large, don’t  give a damn where you park. 

[PaulHarris]

My 1st post on this forum after many months of reading.  Have to say its just great and when and if I even manage to get a trouper 12, somewhere to store it and a few minutes to sail it then I'll be a happier chap.

Re this online resource. Great idea for planning, plotting & dreaming, especially for landlocked Marlborough armchair sailor.  If you want to consider stretching its boundaries to safe 'pottering' waters in brittany (if such a thing exists) with high landscape and good countryside as well as UK waters then I wouldn't complain one little bit. 

Could I suggest Google maps? I've absolutely no idea how its done but this camper company has 3 suggested itineries posted online that all can update - nice graphic driven resource with friendly icons and the ability to link the information. Keeps your main website forum secure as well I assume. This is the one for north devon and it came from www.southwestcamperhire.com
 
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?msid=210622927557584256531.0004af0877be2e507525e&msa=0

Paul

[Andy Dingle]

Have a look at www.boatlaunch.co.uk. Has lists of thousands of slip ways/launching locations around the country, also with google mapping so you can see what it looks like. Information on parking/trailer storage etc. Toilets/facilities in local area, directions, cruising area, navigation, tidal access etc etc. Has contact telephone number too.
There is also a physical book (for about a tenner) that accompanies the web site that you can keep in the boat or car. I've got a copy and it seems to be worth the money. The book also informs whether or not jet ski's are welcome - mostly not, I'm glad to report.

Would appear to be aimed primarily at Motor Boats (sorry to swear) and there isn't any references for accommodation that I can see. But a useful tool for planning all the same.


Andy

BR20 No12 'Psalter'

[Tony]

Re: Planning.
No one has mentioned Google Earth yet. Switch to Google Maps for the ability to zoom in on street signs.

[Graham W]

I've booked Elastic Cottage for a week with these people for next year http://www.kingairloch.co.uk/self-catering/  Not far from Fort William, the estate provides several free mooring buoys (and a slipway of sorts) just around the corner in Loch a'Choire and there is also an excellent seafood restaurant there.

Much more expensive, how about this one on Skye, complete with pontoon and room to moor several Swallow Boats?
http://www.skyeboatlodge.co.uk/index.html

Or even more expensive, this one on the inaccessible (by car) Knoydart Peninsula, complete with two moorings?  Fully booked until June 2014!  http://www.knoydarthouse.co.uk/

[Llafurio]

Kenmare Bay, Co. Kerry, Ireland
Near Kenmare.
Standalone cottage on extensive grounds, 3 bedrooms, with private slipway into sheltered anchorage. To be completed early summer 2013, and to be rented out thereafter. Min. rental duration 2 weeks. BayRaider 20 also available for hire.

P.S.
The house is adjcent to and overlooking Dinish Island, http://www.panoramio.com/photo/42806035 .