Welcome to this month’s Dart Habour bulletin
Rob Giles, Harbourmaster
LOOKING FORWARD TO A NEW SEASON We have escaped the worst of
the winter weather and life in the harbour has remained calm. We are pleased that boat owners heeded our advice and made sure their boats were safe with mooring lines checked and furling headsails taken off to prevent damage. Please remember that it is your responsibility to ensure your craft is safely secured. We are now looking forward to
Spring, warmer weather and a new boating season. As usual our Winter moorings finish on March 31st and boats will need to be moved by this date. The office team is getting ready
to send out this year’s Berthing and Harbour Dues invoices – do remember if the latter are paid on time, before March 31st, there is a discount of 50 per cent. This offer is not extendable so if you want to get a great deal on your dues, do get in touch with us. The Dart Harbour office will soon
revert to summer hours opening, opening at weekends from March 21st and the yacht taxi will return to summer hours’ operation from April 1st running from 8am to 7pm, increasing to 11pm from May 1st. Our latest harbour guide is now out featuring up to date information about the River Dart and 2015 tide tables.
MARITIME EVENTS AND RALLIES With summer fast approaching and the evenings getting lighter,
we are starting to receive enquiries from organisations wishing to hold their maritime event or rally in Dartmouth. We do ask for at least four weeks’ notice but appreciate as much advance information as possible. Registration forms can be downloaded from our website – see http://www.dartharbour. org/information/article/event- registration
REGATTA Planning is now underway for this year’s Dartmouth Regatta which takes place from 27th to 30th August. As usual the harbour will be busy with rowing races, dinghy and yacht racing with the yacht clubs which run the sailing races keen to attract entries from one design classes. One which has already signed up is the J70 class which will hold its national championship as part of the regatta.
As usual, Dart Harbour will work with event organisers to minimise the costs for sponsors and competitors. And with the August Bank Holiday
immediately following the regatta, we are expecting large numbers of boats to visit. We have already noticed an increase in enquiries from boat owners looking for a berth, especially from owners of larger boats and would advise everyone that the harbour will be busier than usual over this time.
WINTER REFIT Over the winter, Dart Harbour’s
two water taxis The Maid and Phoebe underwent their annual refit and maintenance and are now back in service. Work included GRP repairs, new fendering, engine servicing, new propeller shafts, varnish, paint and antifoul work.
Lynx The vessels are used on a daily
basis clocking up thousands of hours of use transporting boat owners to and from their craft – since Phoebe was commissioned in 2007, she has been run for approximately 13,000 hours. Our pilot vessel Lynx also underwent its five year survey and coding with routine and essential maintenance carried out and I am pleased to report that our main workboat Hercules is now back in action after an extensive refit.
TOWN JETTY PONTOON FACILITY REPLACEMENT Work is due to start in March on the replacement of Dart Harbour’s Town Jetty pontoon. The new pontoon will be the same
size as the existing structure – 108m in length but will feature significant improvements.
Consultation has been carried
out with commercial users to enhance the design of the pontoon with features such as improved fendering, encapsulation of piling, improved cleats, improved electricity including three phase and improved deck lighting incorporated into the plans. “The new pontoon will be
Phoebe
much more user friendly than the existing one,” explained Deputy Harbourmaster Nick Clarance. “We have consulted with commercial users regarding the design and are also working with South Hams District Council. “One of the benefits of the new design will be that leisure vessels will be able to berth on the inside of the pontoon and not be restricted by the piling which, during the busy summer months can cause inconvenience to visitors. The
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