The sky's the limit on dry stacking

A handful of open dry stack facilities exist – particularly around the Solent - but the UK’s first fully enclosed purpose built dry stack opened earlier this season at Plymouth’s Yacht Haven Quay providing a state of the art, space saving facility.

The multi-million pound development provides dry stacking for more than 200 boats – up to four times the number of boats which could be accommodated without stacking. And the operators say take up of spaces has been very positive.

'At the moment dry stacking is still a new idea,' says yard hand Ian Pitman. 'Once owners experience what we have to offer, they’re very keen to have a berth. Quite a few customers came in for a seasonal berth over the summer and have converted to an annual berth in the dry stack. Also customers who have previously trailered their boat, launching it down the slipway, have converted. I’m sure it will help to prevent many divorces taking place on the slipway.'

Dry stacking cheaper
With dry stacking costs cheaper than an annual marina berth, peace of mind for the owner – if the weather is rough owners don’t need to worry about their lines, no antifouling required, no lift out in the autumn and lift in the spring, and none of the hassles of launching, it does seem as if dry stacking is the way forward for boat owners.

'Once owners get their head around the concept, they love it, though to begin with they do find it difficult to get their heads around the idea of having their boat launched on demand,' says Pitman. 'It’s a very smooth operation. The owner gives us notice and their boat is waiting for them when they arrive. At the end of their session, they leave their boat on a pontoon and we put it away for them.

And he said the idea has been customer driven with several preferring the system as it also provides added security for owners - if their boat is kept in an enclosed building, it’s less likely to be the target of petty thieves or vandalism. It also makes sense for marina operators as it maximises any profit for the space with berths for up to four times as many boats compared to a wet berth marina.

And with marinas costing vast sums of money to build with increasing legislation and time involved, it’s no surprise that operators need to maximise profits.

Marina Projects Ltd works with the marina industry on marina design, waterfront development and operational management and says projects are taking longer and longer to come to fruition due to legislation becoming more complex with planning and environmental concerns having a greater influence on the industry.

Director Mike Ward says there's far more which needs to borne in mind than 15 to 20 years ago and a much greater level of risk to bring a project forward.

One such example is the outer harbour project at East Cowes which he has been working on for the last four years.

Detailed plan
'Projects now take this sort of time to bring forward to a detailed plan or model,' he told BB. 'There are social and environmental impacts to consider, overlapping legislation from a series of regulators. We try to get the regulators together so they can talk and understand their respective roles. The whole process is very complex and costly and the number of new developments is extremely limited because of these costs.'

Even reconfigurations and redevelopments of existing sites have an extensive list of consents needed, he added. 'There’s a shopping list of requirements...'

At East Cowes, consent licenses are currently being applied for with the next step being to appoint a developer and operator for the scheme which, as well as a new marina, also includes a new fixed outer breakwater and a new eastern channel for leisure craft.

The project has involved partnership between the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) and Cowes Harbour Commission with consultation between a number of regulators and stakeholders, plus extensive surveys before the final plan could be drawn.

If all goes according to plan, the marina could be built next year.

'Everyone has to be more aware of what can be reasonably achieved, said Mr Ward, though he added the new marine bill due to become law later this year will 'hopefully iron out' some of the problems.

'This is due to streamline the process although it will be overarching in the early stages. When you drill down to the framework, there are still lots of conflicting areas,' he said. 'Redundant areas such as docks are slightly easier as the activity has already been established and it’s easier to bring forward proposals.'

Serious impact
The marine bill could also have a serious impact on marinas with its proposals for coastal access says Brian Clark, British Marine Federation (BMF) environment executive.

'Natural England, as the lead agency, is trying to establish a continuous path around the English coastline and looking to create a path as near to the sea as possible. While beaches and promenades are easy, ports and marinas are harder and this could have serious implications on the part of our members who have large forklifts and trailers operating. This could cause a problem with members of the public due to health and safety reasons so we need to get legislation which works in the best interests of the marine industry.'

With consultation in progress, the BMF has received reassurances that diversions will be made around working areas in order to protect marinas and boatyards with sections of the coastal path taking a slightly more inland route.

The BMF has also been working closely with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) which has announced it is due to carry out a series of unannounced visits to marinas, boatyards and boat builders in the area from Norfolk to Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, to provide advice and also to look for irregular activity such as people who shouldn’t be working or actions which contravene the BMF’s best practice guidance.

The visits follow serious accidents which have taken place around the Solent and the HSE will be promoting good practices saying operators which follow recognised procedures have nothing to fear.

For marina operators, health and safety is a major consideration when investing in new equipment.

Safety ladder
Marina equipment distributors, Wave Seven Marine, says one of its most popular pieces of equipment is a pontoon safety ladder which fits onto the side of pontoons.

'They’re very useful and can be easily pulled down for use if someone does fall in,' said MD Roger Nadin. 'Marinas are getting more safety conscious and are increasingly investing in safety equipment.'

We’ve also had a lot of success with sublifts, our semi-submersible lift from Sweden, he added. These are being used by marinas, harbours and boat clubs, even the Royal Navy. The smaller ones – 12 to 25 tonnes are the most popular though they can lift up to 300 tonnes. They’re suitable for any size of marina.

Europe’s largest marina group, MDL, says health and safety is always at the forefront of any planning and investment with dedicated health and safety and environmental policy managers who advise on how performance can be improved.

And the company says it's continually investing in new equipment and improvements to its marinas.

'Equipment includes slipway hoists and general hoists to custom-made cradles and boat movers, and we continue to tailor the equipment we use to meet any changes in the lifting requirements of our marinas. For instance, last year we invested in a 20 tonne crane at one of our inland marinas, Penton Hook, to provide a cleaner and quieter, but also a much more efficient craning operation,' says Dean Smith, head of sales and marketing.

And he says one initiative which has proved popular is the setting up of dedicated marine service centres at some marinas offering a central point for customers with teams to coordinate and liaise with service providers to schedule work including any boat emergencies. These have proved so successful there are plans to expand the project.

Other initiatives include the introduction of free Wi-Fi such as at Lymington Yacht Haven.

Marinas and boatyards now need waterfront land to be made available to them and local authorities to take into account marine issues when deciding planning applications in order to allow the marine industry to continue to grow.