|
Theres some good points in these replies, so thanks for all the points of view responding to my OP. For me, its personal preference, balanced with cost, location and time to access the solent once launched.
My boat is currently in Devon, takes me 2.5 hours to get there (on a good day), with about a 40 minute low speed ride down river before i get to the open water and all on a self launch option.
Southampton is well placed from home and I can get to SDS in under 2 hours (have yet to test that on a busy bank holiday), have the boat launched and be in the solent far quicker than my current arrangements, all for a relatively small increase in costs. Being solent based also gives me a massive variety of locations to access, so its unlikely i'll ever run out of places to visit. I wont have the hour long activity at the end of the day to wash down, cover and store the boat myself (although i do quite enjoy that - but my wife doesnt!) so SDS appears to work for me going forward.
Hamble would be marginally further for me and as i noted above, the team at SDS were head and shoulders better than the place i currently use in terms of showing me round, enthusiasm and genuinely wanting to help me get the most out of my boating.
Yes i could get a cheaper option; yes i could get a location with quicker access to the Solent and yes i could get something with better facilities, but SDS ticks the boxes for me now and i'll give them a try for a season. Once i've got some more time with them i might decide some of my requirements have changed and if thats the case i'll look at other options.
__________________
|
