Harbour dues, Kinlochbervie

[Ocklepoint]

We made a brief visit to Kinlochbervie during the summer.

The harbour was virtually empty.(of boats)

We arrived at about 0800 and were gone by 1030.

Our two and a half hour stay cost £5.00. The charming lady harbour mistress/master said that this was Highland Council policy. The visitors berth had neither water nor power. Water was available across the harbour from alongside a nasty old pilings type pier.

I think the Lawrence book warns of steep charges even for short visits to Kinlochbervie.

Is anyone aware of this policy being imposed in other Highland Council harbours ?
Is this policy in the interest of Highland Council ?

[Yotter]

Does seem a lot for 2.5 hours but how much is an overnight stay? I seem to recall that Highland Council do some sort of discount, whereby you pay in advance for about 4 overnight stops at different harbours and this is very reasonable compared to commercial marinas or visitor moorings.

[Arghiro]

Oh dear, ohh dear! I have recently moved to Caernarfon partly due to lower costs, partly due to the friendliness of the locals. But one of the things I always liked about the CHT was that, if you went in during the day to do some shopping, but left without overnighting, there was no charge. You only pay if overnighting.

It makes complete sense to me, it encourages visitors, some of whom will decide to stop over anyway. It benefits local shops and generally meant that we always went to Caernarfon for shopping prior to dissappearing off to the wilder anchorages.

Is Kinlochbervie miles from any competition? I would choose to give it a wide berth for supplies given such a miserly attitude.

[SteveN]

Is anyone aware of this policy being imposed in other Highland Council harbours ?

Yes it is. We've paid the same at both Gairloch and I think Kyle of Lochalsh.

"Vessels requiring a short stay visit to a maximum of 4hrs between the hours of 8am to 6pm will be subject to a nominal charge of £5 inclusive of VAT, irrespective of length of vessel."

All charges for private leisure craft are in this document:
http://www.highland.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/46D2D9DA-5A4C-4E3F-B9EC-5C7C5076ACDC/0/harbourdues2008_9Publication.doc

Personally I didn't mind payiing up. The harbours seemed well maintained and staffed by helpful people.

[ParaHandy]

Is Kinlochbervie miles from any competition? I would choose to give it a wide berth for supplies given such a miserly attitude.

its as far North as you can get (on the west) and is (or was) a thriving fishing port and fishing ports don't normally welcome yachts ...

[Ocklepoint]

Not sure what the current landings are at Kinlochbervie.

The charming lady harbourmaster told me that there had been a big decline in fishing activity. Certainly the morning we visited there was no sign of any active fishing boats working there. It was deserted.

Perhaps if their fishing is in decline they should think about diversifying. Kinlochbervie is the only proper harbour up there but I think it is the only one which is noted in the pilot as charging for a brief stop.

I also stopped at Kyle of Lochalsh: went to see the HM, bought some fuel off him, did some shopping and left after a couple of hours, free of charge.

I would be happy to go back to Kyle and would advise others to do so.

[sam]

Hi,
Highland Council allows you to stay the second night for free and it doesn't have to be at the same harbour either. For example you can stay and pay at Gairloch and then move on to Kyle, show your receipt from Gairloch and you'll get a free night at Kyle. Therefore it costs about £6 per night to stay on a jetty which isn't bad.
The harbourmaster at Kyle is very yacht friendly as he is a sailor himself and keeps a boat at Kyleakin.

[Rowana]

I stopped in Helmsdale this year and I think I paid £12 or £14, the second night was included in this price.

There was no water or electricity on the pontoon, but there was water in the shower block at the top of the pontoon. The showers were clean and hot. There was an infra red heater on the wall, so showering was quite plesant.

The harbour master was quite a friendly sort of guy, and did say that the council were talking about installing water at some point.

I'd go back again if I were up that way.

[Ocklepoint]

Wick harbour seems to have grasped the diversification idea

This summer they had a limited length of pontoon which I believe is only in place during the season. I think water was available but no power, clean warm showering facilities, £10 for a "short overnight"

The HM told me that they were planning to develop their yottie facilities into another part of the largely deserted but quite large harbour.

I think Wick has its own Harbour Trust and is not run by Highland Council.

I was surprised by Wick: a spacious, not crowded Wetherspoons for a good pint and a not bad Indian. Nice town to wander around in. It didn't rain either.

Another place I would return to

[Rowana]

I would agree with you about Wick.

The pontoon is in the outer harbour at the moment, and is terribly affected by surge coming into the harbour. When I was there, they were moving some boats into the inner harbour, and I was advised to go in there and raft up to another couple of boats because of the surge.

I did see some plans while I was there, which showed some pontoons being installed in the inner harbour. Not sure when this is going to happen, but I'd go back there again too.

[ambriel]

I know this is a very old thread but I just wanted to update it with the current situation here in the NW.

When the original poster visited Kinlochbervie the new pontoons by the harbour entrance must have been brand new. Since then power, water and lighting have been installed by the council and free wireless broadband is provided by a local company. The old pontoons by the east wall are still available but access and services are poorer.

Because of our location the council's procedure is that if you pay for an night in Lochinver you get the next night in Kinlochbervie included in the fee, and vice versa.

It's unlikely you'd want to miss us out and try for the Cape the same day as leaving Lochinver, although I suppose you might consider skipping Lochinver if you were coming north from Ullapool.

Fishing boat activity tends to be busier in the winter months - presumably something to do with where the fish are and what quotas are available. Visitors are welcome to go along to the auctions in the market.

Unfortunately the Fishermen's Mission was closed a couple of years ago but good food and drink can be had from the Kinlochbervie Hotel and the local shops carry supplies of most things you'll need.

The village has a new website that holds a host of useful contact information as well as news, webcams, AIS, and local weather: http://kinlochbervie.info

I hope this is useful and look forward to maybe seeing a few of you if you visit us next year.

[garredfox]

We visited Kinlochbervie this summer on our way to Shetland and found the facilities good with all the staff very friendly and helpful. As you say the local shop is well stocked and again the staff were very friendly and attentive. We will certainly stop by again and recommend Kinlochbervie to all yachts.

[Telo]

Thanks Ambriel, very helpful.

[sahona]

We were led to believe you could buy a Highland Harbours 'pass' valid for them all, at Kyle of lochalsh.(but we didn't, and don't know the cost)
When we went to Portree, there was the £5 charge for using the landing pontoon, payable to the harbourmaster, and a mooring charge (if you used one) managed by the John, the lifeboat man. (summer 2009)
You can, of course use the stairs at the harbour wall instead,(for landing in the dinghy) but the tripper boats tend to hog them.

[Ocklepoint]

Glad to hear that facilities are improving in Kinlochbervie. When we stopped there, the new pontoons had not been installed. It was a fiver for the bottom of a ladder rafted up with no facilities for a 150 minute stop.



I think paying a fiver for a stop over on a berth with facilities is reasonable. But although reasonable I still do not think it the right attitude for making visitors welcome.

I can stop for a few hours for free in the seething metropolis of Tob. to refuel, do the shopping, have a pint. Waiting a tide for six hours in Stonehaven cost nothing. I seem to remember paying nothing to stop in Dunstaffnage for a couple of hours. Again, places I'd be happy to return to.

I understand that Kinlochbervie has few choices as a Council run harbour, but perhaps the Council officers there could be slightly more relaxed in there interpretation of the rules. (as they are at other Highland Council harbours)