advice needed on berthing options

[j.fishwick]

Dear all,

I have been operating a new 6.8m ribcraft rib for four months now as part of my role as a marine scientist at Plymouth marine laboratory. A decision was made at the outset to permanently berth the rib in a local marina as it would be in constant use but for several reasons the rib wasn't anti fouled. Lifting and cleaning is now becoming a bind and therefore I am hoping to convince management to invest in a dry dock. I have spoken with both versa dock and aqua dock and the main differences I can see are the rollers integrated into the aqua dock system. Also aqua dock have told me that my rib will still have a foot or so of her stern in the water whereas versa dock claim she will be completely high and dry. I have twin 90s on the back and her weight was estimated by ribcraft to be 1.5tonnes.

Any advice or experiences with various dock options would be greatly appreciated.

James

[treerat]

Have you looked at the dry stack option? Not sure how this stacks up price wise but seems to work ok.

[j.fishwick]

Yes we do have a drystack here in Plymouth but it is up the river and requires 10 - 15 min driving time from the lab and probably 30mins steam to open water. Price wise it works out similar to a berth in the marina. With our boat being commercial it is heavily used and at present very handy just down the road and straight out into the sound. Thanks for your suggestion.

James

[vyper 2]

hi
my thoughts
i have a sealine s25 berthed in the plymouth dry stack been there for a year now & to be honest its brilliant !! staff are freindly & can't do enough for you lauch when you want & also give you free over nights in there marina.
the speeed limit in the cattewater is 8 knots & it takes me about 7-8 mins from leaving the jetty to the mountbatten breakwater well past the uni slip

also they can launch you at all states of the tide as they have dredged the lauch exit channel
have a chat with lorna or william there they are great people & part of the deal they wash your boat down every time she comes out, sercurity is very good also with new key codes for the gates emailed every week
also they have dry service berths so any tinkering you need to do they just put you on ther for as long as you like
cafe on site, toilets showers & boat marine supplies onsite also very handy
if you want to see something in action email me and when i'm next down i will get them to launch my s25 & we can time the run to the breakwater
from your uni to yacht haven quay approx 5-6 mins in the car

i also have a 5.5 metres humber rib on lauch & recover at QAB marina which is also great again lads are very freindly but you cant lauch 1 to 1.5 hours either side of low water on springs this may be an option for you but the addtional costs are something to consider trailer wise

[Ian Austin]

Hi
My rib is at Yacht Haven dry stack, very useful washed off every time it is lifted out of the water, will launch at just about a moments notice, the rib is already out of the water if you need to clean, service or repair, so still no additional costs,
It isn't that bad a trip to open water, i work on behalf of sea start so i go up and down the river a lot, it gives you time to to set yourself up for the trip ahead and a run down on the return and the staff are very helpful and make the whole experience very painless,

Ian

[j.fishwick]

Sorry guys I stand corrected on times down the plym, it was just a quick guess. I have only heard good things about the drystack and possibly should give it some further consideration. I am currently berthed in millbay and it is really handy as I work at Plymouth marine laboratory based about 2 min walk from marina. I had reservations previously based on travel time but wasn't sure how the constant in and out would be with some trips only being half an hour or so in duration.

As for qab I think they have a length restriction of 6m to be on the hardstand, also wasn't too sure about security.


Do I take it that the docks are probably an expensive luxury for a small amount of convenience compared to the drystack?

James.

[vyper 2]

Hi James
in response i tried antifouling my previous rib & had her moored in sutton harbour what a pain that was performance was PANTS if you left it unused for 3 -4 weeks not to mention the addtional fuel & the costs sometimes it got that bad i trailered the rib back to sheffield & it took 4-5 days cleaning to get the tubes anything like

then i don's suggest you do this but i accidentally hit the brand new shutter on my girlfreinds warehouse thus causing £600 quids worth of damage to the shutter door & another £400 quids worth of damage to the boat so its QAB for the rib now

we have never had any seccurity issues with them at QAB & i have done 4 seasons there now summer lauch & recovery & winter storage ashore on the slip

can be a pain when the power boats racing is on as they exclusively use QAB for all the launchs & recoveries (couple of weekends a year)

as said have a chat with lorna @ the drystack they now run a text service you send a text to them 30 mins before you go down & they have her launched & tied up ready to go, when u get there

Ian @ Austin Marine works out of there with sea start try emailing him a pm for any further queries

John

[Poly]

Originally Posted by j.fishwick

Do I take it that the docks are probably an expensive luxury for a small amount of convenience compared to the drystack?

They are certainly not cheap. You'll need to work out if it is a small amount of convenience or a PITA. If I was using a boat professionally on a daily basis then the choice of walk out across the road and drive away or waste say 40 minutes (there and back) every time I wanted to use, I could soon make a financial case for why it was not an expensive luxury.

Lets say you drive 10 minutes in the car each way to the dry stack. Thats 20 minutes driving per trip, and what 10 miles? If its your own car then at 40p per mile you are looking at £4 per use. if it is a university vehicle then its still costing the Uni as similar amount in real terms.

Then you have to motor say 10 minutes extra each way, so 20 minutes. With twin 90s at the 8knot speed limit you probably aren't burning barrels of fuel, but its not going to be its most fuel efficient. So what another 3 litres of fuel each trip? Not sure if the Uni can claim commercial rates for fuel - I suspect not so that will be another £4 at least (more if you fill up dockside). You will also add to other general running costs like servicing (if used 6 trips a week would mean each engine needed 1 extra service a year, just for the pootle in out the river - £300+).

Then there is your time. If 40 minutes total is about right, then presumably like every other university it "charges" your time at some massively inflated rate they call "Full Ecconomic Cost" due to the universities exorbitant overhead structure. You probably know what that is but for the sake of demonstration call it £50/h (which assumes you are relatively "cheap" in university terms!). So every time you use the boat is £33 of cost for your extra travel time.

Now lets say the boat gets used 3 days a week on average throughout the year. That is 156 trips. 156*(33+4+4) + 150 = ~ £6.5k per annum in extra cost for having to make a relatively short extra trip. Not sure what versadock etc cost, but I'd be surprised if it was enough to make an ongoing £6.5k p.a. cost look attractive. Even ignoring your time cost (which if it is externally funded they may not care about) you can probably build a case if you amortise the cost of the dock over its expected lifetime.

Of course the "wise" accountant / budget manager will also want to know the alternative - e.g. keep boat where it is and antifoul (cost of treatment, cost of jetwashing a couple of times a year, extra depreciation because antifouled ribs are worth less, estimated loss of fuel efficiency due to slime that does grow etc).

[j.fishwick]

Thanks for all the thought provoking advice so far. The dry stack obviously has many advantages but the convenience of the marina is the prime reason for berthing her there in the first place. Our previous rib was on a trailer and it became a real hassle to launch and recover it with vehicle and personnel availability being a real problem, this was internal not on a marina. If I decide to keep her in her present berth does anyone have any advice to offer on the use of versa docks etc.?

Just to clarify Plymouth Marine Laboratory is not part of the university we are an independent marine research lab based at west hoe, Plymouth.