Thursday 20 February 2014

What Makes a Good Marina?

If you own a boat or plan to buy one sooner or later, you need to check if certain criteria are satisfied. First and foremost, you need a marina in your city to moor the boat you buying because, well, you don’t drive boats on the road and can’t park them outside your homes. But looking for the mere presence of a marina won’t suffice as you need to have a ‘good’ marina. ‘Good’ here doesn’t mean in terms of cleanliness but by the nature of rules and regulations that the site follows. The most important of them is the hidden costs you need to look into. Here are some key point that may help you in determining a suitable marina.

Mooring fees
This is obviously important, especially when you have to moor your boat for years. There are a lot of hidden costs and claims may be made on the ‘extra usage’ of mooring space for instance and charge you exorbitantly. Therefore, make sure you are aware of the hidden costs.

Mooring space 
Whether it is a narrow boat or yacht, you need space in all any place to keep them. And to access them, you need a clear passage so that you can even take it out without any hassles. Check for the space and try looking for boat specific marinas. For instance, if you own a canal boat, you may try some Canalboat Marina UK where you may find suitable space to moor your boat.

Security
You may not plan on living on the boat for the rest of your life. In that case, when you return to your home, you should be free from the worries of your boat. Good arrangement of security would help in giving you a peaceful sleep.

Thursday 13 February 2014

Marina & Mooring – All about Anchoring On Docks or Basins

Marina and mooring are two words that are associated with one place and that is a dock or a basin. Here is an overview about these two –

Mooring – Mooring is a structure which is permanent in nature and is used for securing vessels and yachts.  To forestall free movement of the ship, a mooring is used to secure it. There are a variety of moorings and are used for the purpose of temporary anchoring because with the help of moorings the damage to the marine environment is avoided plus these mooring’s holding power is considerably more and last but not the least these moorings are convenient. The types of moorings include fore and aft moorings, swing moorings and pile moorings. The types of materials that are used into moorings on a regular basis are steel wires, polyethylene, polypropylene, chain, nylon, hemp, sisal and when it is about high performance mooring lines then the materials generally used include Aramid and HMPE.

Marina – Marina is a basin or a dock with supplies and moorings for small boats as well as yachts. Marina is not a synonym of port because marina is never into handling large passenger vessels or cargo. The usual location of a marina is on the banks of rivers which in turn connect to seas or lakes. They also find their application on coastal lagoons, coastal harbours, etc. The facilities that are available at the marina include washing and repair facility, marine as well as boat restaurants, stores and chandlers plus boat trailer and vehicle parking facilities also.  

Thus, Marina and Moorings are associated with one common word that is a dock or a basin.

Monday 3 February 2014

What to Consider Before Buying Narrow Boat

Buying a narrow boat is a very expensive investment one may make in his life and is similar to having a home away from home. Therefore, buying a boat ought not to be a hasty process as it includes a lot of money. Here are some things you may consider before buying a narrow boat.

Space
The first point to consider is where would you keep the boat once you buy it? This is one of the quintessential requirements before buying anything huge. Ensure you have ample space before considering buying a boat.

Mooring
Your narrow boat may be moored to the canal network that spans thousands of miles and you can moor the boat for a few days. However, you have to pay for the mooring and yes, Narrow Boat Mooring Costs may be an expensive affair.

Purpose
Mooring can be done at a place which is closer to the place you may prefer visiting, an island maybe. If you are using the boat as getaway home, then the place may be nearer to the home you live in. You should have an idea of the purpose of buying a narrow boat before you in on one.