inverary moorings

[Burst Boiler]

2 flat grey discs, hard to see until right on top of them. No pickups and shackle on top a bit on the small side to loop anything substantial through. Sited north of the pier, so taking up the anchoring place off the river. Could have been further in to give more shelter and preserve the existing anchoring area. Seems a bit noisy with traffic from the main road accelerating away from the lights at the single track bridge. Pier is ramshacle and fenced off so no landing there (I understand its privately owned). Vital Spark puffer currently on the pier. 2 more moorings planned off the gaol, presumably using up the other anchoring place. I like the community has given it a go, but it could be done a lot better. I might contact them with some suggestions for when they relay them next year.

[BlowingOldBoots]

Yes, contacting them would be good. Also tell them to get the pier fixed and place a pontoon down the inside and dredge it a bit. A fixed pier with pontoon would attract Cruise Liners; they need a place for the shuttle boats to discharge / pick up. However, before we know it, if it gets renovated, the small space will be full of local boats, hence visitors will still rely on anchoring or using a mooring buoy. The money is in Cruise Liners, or the Super Yachts that appear from time to time tying up alongside.

The pier is under new ownership, quote below from Argyll Advertiser, June 2019. It is a subscription service, you will need to pay to read more.

Owners of the Inveraray Inn, the Byrne family, has taken over the pier, and company director Geaspar Byrne is keen to stress a good deal of work will be needed before it can be re-opened – first of all on the stone-built section before looking at the wooden pier.Mr Byrne is careful not to raise expectations at this very early stage, but he has already made a positive impression on local groups.

[Corona]

Amused by Scottish Canal's mooring outside the sea lock at Ardrishaig, put in after they removed the waiting pontoon. Spherical plastic buoy with a big 'V'on it, no eye, no strop, only way to use it is to lassoo the riser. Been there since spring but no one has managed to use it yet.

[AlyICC]

Hi, I am a member of the Inveraray Community Council. We have been offered the opportunity to purchase the pier for the community, which we are raising funds for and applying to grants.

Our knowledge of boating is little to non existent and I was wondering if anyone would be willing to let me know what you would like to see at Inveraray Pier? Firstly for the stone section and secondly, stage 2 of the plan would be for the wooden extension. Any suggestions welcome, what would you pay, how would you like to book, are 4 moorrings enough, what are the difficulties etc?

I need to produce a business plan for a large grant we intend to apply for.

Many thanks in advance.

[Burst Boiler]

Many, many thanks for giving us an opportunity to feed into the process. I'll take a bit of time to distill my thoughts and come back to you, as I'm sure others will too.

[Burst Boiler]

One thing that might be useful for your project would be to research other similar setups, both the infrastructure and the legal structure and financials. Close to you, the strachur pontoon and moorings folks will be happy to share details. Oystercatcher at otter ferry, Loch Goil(Carrick castle, Loch Goil Cruisers and Lochgoilhead moorings) also have some good aspects and Loch Long have recently got a new facility. Further afield, Gigha, Loch Melfort and Rum are good examples. Download the free Welcome Anchorages brochure to get a feel for what's out there.

Overall, moorings shouldn't take up established anchoring areas, but should complement them by putting them where people wouldn't anchor, eg deeper water. Then folks have a choice of anchor or mooring. This is important for inverary since its a long way up there and there's the concern of what to do if all the moorings are taken. You might want more than 4. A good strop (the loop on top of the mooring that people hook onto their boat) is appreciated as is regular servicing. Rum have a QR code on thiers to make online payment easier, which probably increases the proportion who will pay. Carrick castle and Gigha have WiFi to the moorings, again makes it easier to pay online. On the pier, depends if you anticipate people coming ashore from yachts by dinghy in which case a small wooden pontoon with a ramp up to the pier is fine. If you want to get yachts alongside, something more substantial is needed, and you'd need to check how deep the water is at low tide. You might convince Antares or Clydeport to do a survey. For facilities, a water hose on the pier can be handy if yachts go alongside even if only at high water. A shower is a great bonus - what is in the public toilet block just now, and can you get one put in? I reckon £10 is the going rate for a mooring overnight around here. Given the facilities in the village (pub, shop, chippy etc) I think it would bea popular destination.

[Burst Boiler]

For bigger boats/mini cruise ships the best people to reach out to would be Majestic Line based in Holy Loch. There's also Argyll Cruising - the skipper is from Loch Fyne and I'm sure would help. These bigger boats have higher-end guests looking for interesting things ashore, like visiting Inverary Castle or the jail so I'm sure they would consider adding you onto one of their itineraries. Their mooring needs are a bit more substantial than what most folks on here are, so can help speccing out a beefed up wooden end for the pier.

[BlowingOldBoots]

On the stone pier, inside: -

I would like to tie up along side a floating pontoon.
Dredged to offer at least 2m at low tide for as far as you can. The reason being many yachts are now larger than in earlier years where less depth would have been required.
You must maintain visitor access as many of these developments end up with local boats tied up and blocking visitors from access the pontoon. There is already one wreck of a junk boat tied up tot he railing, it's an eyesore, the white GRP motorboat. It will never sail again.
You must allow rafting, hence depth needs to be maintained about 40' out from the pontoon.
Steps from the pontoon to the harbour.
Rubbing recycling bins neatly screened i.e. don't just lazily dump 3 big bins, for example at the end of the pier.
Toilet and shower facilities that are maintained clean and exclusive, pay to enter or included in the mooring fee.
Fresh water hose for filling tanks.
Notice board with taxi numbers, near by services and adverts for eateries etc.
If you will be encouraging liners, you will need to have a secure fencing / gate system arrangement for passport control.
Electrical hook up points on the floating pontoon.
Internet access.
Move the Vital Spark onto the beach at the landward side, sitting on the beach. They were designed to do that and this one will never sail again without serious plate work on the bottom of the hull. Right now it is blocking valuable real estate that has a rental value to it.

On the wooden pier: -

Life saving devices.
Extend the T section landwards to provide a shelter for the floating pontoon
Fit boards to stop swell rolling under the pier uprights
Big enough for the Waverley and larger boats
Berthing inside the T sections on the ends with recessed ladders.
Seaward side of T wooden pier, fit a landing area for cruise ship tenders with steps up to the the pier
Electrical hook up points.
Internet access

On the stone pier, outside: -

Ladders regularly spaced.
Bollards to tie up too.
Dredged to 2m at LW if possible.
Steps down to the water and a small pontoon near the head of the pier for dinghy landing area.
Electrical hook up points.
Internet access

Moorings
Make them large and capable of holding 15 tonnes, say 5 in total, with a sinking pick up line and pick up buoy for the main mooring pennant. Do not use the type with a solid ring or padlock on top, they are crap and will get wrecked as people lassoo them and damage the underside of the buoy. It is incredibly inconvenient trying to reach down to a ring on top of a buoy. Also floating pick up lines get chopped up and caught in propellors.

Your target customers will be cruising folks from the Clyde marinas that like Tarbert and Portavadie, hence look at their pricing and facilities and aim to offer a price that encourages folks to travel that bit further.

You have a great town, popular and that in itself is an attraction. Try and build in discounts for restaurants.

I have a 41' boat, for the facilities mentioned, I would pay £30 for the night, which is about a £5 less that Tarbert.

Today people expect electrical hook up, internet access and decent toilet facilities. I would also provide a Web Cam that pans around and records teh boats on the moorings so that you can chase them up for money. I would also provide barriers to keep non berth users about a meter away from the edge and or a raised edge all the way around to stop stuff blowing over, falling in. If funds allow replace the wooden end with a stone built structure.

Blue Sky thinking, build a marina, build another breakwater out from the road towards the pier and dredge out the inside. There is a shortage of marina berths and demand is there.

[AlyICC]

Thank you very much for feedback, much appreciated and has given me direction.

Phase 1 will be concentrating on the stone pier, the wooden park is a bigger project and we had considered floating pontoons. I had thought of an honesty box for payments, but the suggestion of a QR code is far better.

We are also considering purchasing the toilets and offering better facilities, its exciting times.

Any more suggestions please let me know.

[Bodach na mara]

The QR code is all well and good but I have rarely managed to get my phone to recognize one, and I am not alone. At Lochranza the moorings have notices with bank details (sort code and account number) instead of an honesty box, as payment can be made without going ashore. That idea is good but an improvement would be to make the characters larger so that they can be read from the deck of the boat, ie. At least 9ft away. Payment may not be immediate as some of us are too mean to use mobile internet but at least we'll probably pay by BACS when we get to a wifi connection.

On cruise ships, the larger ones will be expected to anchor and the big cruise lines ships are all too big to get as far as Inverary. I have seen several small cruise ships around but in general they are not from UK lines, but German French and Italian lines. Since they scrapped Boudica and Black Watch I doubt whether Fred Olsen has anything small enough to get past Otter Ferry. I don't think that the small-ship lines like Majestic need customs and immigration controls for their limited number of passengers.

Good luck with the project.