Hugh Marriage Posts

At the end of October Kingsbridge held the 9th and final race in the Stand-up Paddleboard (SUP) National Championships and over 100 competitors made their way south to round a mark in Frogmore Creek. Their struggle back across Widegates to the finishing line at the Crabshell was against a stiff breeze, but in lovely sunshine. Kingsbridge is now well established as a national centre for SUP. Kingsbridge has also become much more on the boating map since dredging resumed in…

As everyone will know from the road sign, for 50 years Kingsbridge has been twinned with both Isigny and Weilerbach. Indeed, it’s more of a tripletting as Weilerbach and Isigny are also twined. Weilerbach has an Isigny-Allee and a Kingsbridgering (Kingsbridge Crescent). This year Kingsbridge twinners went to Weilerbach, on the German borders with Luxemburg and France. Unlike Isigny, Weilerbach has neither a harbour nor, as its name implies (weiler = hamlet; bach = stream) a river that you would…

In August I wrote about the perils of a houseboat off Newhaven. They are clearly taking some care with the last houseboat: she has been boarded up and ready to leave for a little while, but the weather has not been suitable, and when it has been good, the tug was not available. Her departure will open up a 200-metre stretch on the east side of the Bag for potentially different uses. By contrast, the Egremont is staying put for…

The 2014-15 Harbour accounts are now available and show a surplus of £75k on a total income of £1m. There is always an element of relief when the final accounts show a surplus. The costs of the Harbour are relatively predictable; but the weather can have a significant impact on revenue. In spite of some dreadful summers, as a result of considerable hard work the Harbour has generated a surplus every year throughout the recession. This is good, as reserves…

Summer is here and Salcombe’s unique sheltered golden sandy beaches are coming into their own. The bathing water quality is excellent. The EU standard has been upped this year but South Sands has met the more demanding specification so can still fly the coveted Blue Flag, one of the few beaches in South Hams to be able to do so. Indeed, all the Harbour’s beaches south of Salcombe meet EU standards. That is because of hard work and help by…

An elegant start to the season was a visit by the tall ship, Stavros S Niarchos, in April. News is getting round that the Bar has diminished, so larger vessels can venture in. The proposals for the Salcombe Harbour Hotel pontoon have been changed from a high-tech, semi-suspended pontoon to a two-pile fairly standard outfit: but concerns remain around Salcombe’s famous seagrass beds. Plymouth University is surveying seagrass along the south coast and early results suggest Salcombe’s is by far…

It seems we have to get used to uncertainty about the Egremont. The latest position appears to be that the trustees have put in a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for just under £1m. If they get this, and the required matched funding from individuals, Egremont will go away for a major refit this autumn or in early spring 2016. In the meantime, the sailing school side of the ICC has been acquired by Chris Turns so is expected…

How should motor boats be rated for harbour dues? The old-fashioned method for all boats was by length. But that doesn’t work well for modern craft: sailing boats (apart from multi-hulls) are long and thin, whilst motor boats are short and fat: so if length alone is the determinant, sailing boats pay relatively more than motor boats of similar value or capacity. Gradually harbours began to adopt a rating for motor boats which was a combination of length and engine…

February’s Harbour Board was dominated by discussion on the Harbour’s compliance with the Port Marine Safety Code. This is important business but, dear Reader, I will nevertheless spare you that. The good news was that 2013 saw an increase at last in the number of visiting yachts, spread over a much longer season and reflecting, no doubt, the better weather both sides of the school holidays and perhaps also the attractions of the reduced ‘shoulder season’ prices. A longer season…

It wasn’t an auspicious start to the year. First, the news that 2014 was the hottest on record, the 38th successive year with above-average temperatures, something which would happen by chance alone less than once in 27million times, so this is not natural climate variation. Global warming is undeniably going apace and a major driver is the temperature of the sea. No wonder we were able to have a picnic BBQ on the beach on Christmas Day and a number…