News...    

                         ELIZABETH MARINA TEMPORARY DISRUPTION   

Please read the following file explaining the works that will be carried out in Elizabeth Marina for the next 12 weeks which will affect electricity in the marina, please read this for more information.                                                       

Elizabeth Marina Tide Gauge

After awaiting spare parts for some time, we are pleased to advise that T.T.S. have repaired the electronic tide gauge and it is now operational again.

May Committee Meeting Report

Matters Arising

Guernsey Boat-Owners – MS said a 2010 committee had appeared on their website, but his emails to the secretary had bounced & he would try to phone him.

St Helier facilities notice board – MS said it now contained current adverts.

SOLAS V Guidance – PDD reported work pressure meant that the lawyer was not in a position to respond yet.

Chairman's Report

Boat Show – MS said by all accounts it had been a success. He had been invited to the VIP area for the beating of the retreat & to a lunch with the naval officers & had sent a letter of thanks & congratulations. In response to RT he said it was too early to learn it it was a commercial success for Harbours.
Elizabeth mooring buoys – had not been checked yet & the tug was away for a six week refit. PR said he, for example, could not use them earlier that one hour before opening, putting more pressure on 4&5 berths.
Cartaret dry-stacking – He read a letter from Cartaret Yacht Club campaigning against a plan to site stacking adjacent to the club, with noise for the visitors pontoon & loss of parking.
Berths for Boat Show sales – responding to an issue raised by PR, MS & PDD said that Myra had previously confirmed that no purchaser jumped the queue, but traders were allowed to permit use of their own moorings until the owner reached the top of the waiting list & NW said this was his experience. However PR said he had been told by a trader that Harbours would actually allocate him an additional 'traders berth' & his wife intended to raise this with Myra.
MS said evidence of this alleged practice was needed before we could complain.
St Helier marina incident – a member had sent him a copy of his complaint to Sen. Maclean of abuse from a number of youngsters whilst working on a boat on the drying pad. MS said Harbours staff had been helpful, the police had been given CCTV footage & he understood that Sen. Maclean was discussing temporary closure of the skate-board park.
Elizabeth Depth Gauge – MS asked if KH, in his new job with TTS, could find out what was happening & NW highlighted the danger when moving craft for the first hoist lift.

Treasurer's Report

PH reported that membership had increased to 604 with only two subs awaited.
She said Magellan Flags had been unable to quote due to factory problems & she tabled quotes from House of Flags. These were 50 for £466.31 (£9.33 each) or 80 for £595.91 (£7.45 each). MS suggested purchasing 80, giving a lower unit cost & keeping the sale price at £10 & this was agreed.
Following her research for the newsletter, she had been sent a supply of St Cast marina booklets, which she handed out.

Newsletter / Website

PH explained the difficulty she & PR had had getting detail of Jersey Post's new size & price bands. The upshot would be an extra £72, a 50% increase, for the A4 size. She had therefore labelled B5 envelopes, although these could be retained for the AGM mailshot, if it was decided to send the newsletters unfolded. It was agreed that the extra expenditure was not warranted & PH thanked PR for his assistance. (PR left the meeting at 1820)
PDD tabled a mock-up of the newsletter in A5 format as an alternative, but felt it was only practical if stapled. It was agreed to proceed with the folded A4.
PDD then referred to the problems in publishing the new website and said that unless they could be resolved shortly, he reluctantly recommended deferring the launch to coincide with the AGM mailshot. NW said he had spent considerable time trying to make the necessary html code adjustments & had researched web forums from which it was clear that there were fundamental difficulties in uploading the database & he felt the only solution was for him to set up a clean Joomla site for PDD to replicate his localhost site manually and this was agreed. (NW left the meeting at 1830)
PDD said in anticipation of this outcome, he had edited the newsletter, replacing reference to the launch of the new site with other copy & MA agreed to proof read the changes.
PDD confirmed that Len Stevens had kindly agreed to produce the photocopies & he would arrange a mailshot session when they were ready.

AOB

Pink ticketing – KH said there was some confusion about the operation of the system & the time allowed on La Collette holding berth particularly on both sides of neap tides. MS said he would obtain clarification & also establish how long users have to pay at the office, before being sent a bill & admin charge.
Elizabeth marina - MA reported that, since the electricity points had been replaced, berth numbers had not been reinstated.
Boats on Sth Pier – RT said that he had been billed for last winter & Myra had responded to his query within 24 hours, cancelling the charge. MS confirmed that the charges had been re-instated, but only applied to drying moorings.
Sth Pier parking – MS said that the new layout would be painted once the remaining boats were removed & parking over the lines would be policed.
Harbours new website – PDD had circulated some comments about the inadequate weather information & SOLAS content. MA said the tide tables had no indication whether the times were GMT or BST and it was agreed that PDD submit the suggestions for improvement.Pink ticketing – KH said there was some confusion about the operation of the system & the time allowed on La Collette holding berth particularly on both sides of neap tides. MS said he would obtain clarification & also establish how long users have to pay at the office, before being sent a bill & admin charge.
Elizabeth marina - MA reported that, since the electricity points had been replaced, berth numbers had not been reinstated.
Boats on Sth Pier – RT said that he had been billed for last winter & Myra had responded to his query within 24 hours, cancelling the charge. MS confirmed that the charges had been re-instated, but only applied to drying moorings.
Sth Pier parking – MS said that the new layout would be painted once the remaining boats were removed & parking over the lines would be policed.
Harbours new website – PDD had circulated some comments about the inadequate weather information & SOLAS content. MA said the tide tables had no indication whether the times were GMT or BST and it was agreed that PDD submit the suggestions for improvement.

Next meeting - will be arranged in September, unless urgent matters arise during the season.

April Committee Meeting Report

New Member - MS welcomed Peter Rose and said he was delighted that he had agreed to join the Committee

Matters Arising

Minister's letter - PDD had send a reminder & a copy of our letter, but a response was still awaited.

Guernsey Boat-Owners – MS had not been able to make contact & intended to try another source.

Jersey Rowing Club – MS said they had approached him for advice, having been notified of a sharp increase in rental for their yard & he had suggested they speak to Myra.

Boat Show – MS understood that Sara had now been given organising responsibility.

Chairman's Report

MS said he had written to Myra with the matters raised at the last meeting and he & PDD had met with her to discuss them:-

Elizabeth disabled toilets – were now functioning again, but were the subject of an on-going dispute with the developer.

Holding buoys – she had been advised that they had not moved, but would have them looked at with a view to the possibility of repositioning and additions.

Albert Pier Racers – Planning had agreed that Harbours were exempt from the requirement to obtain consent for a barrier, however, due to the high cost, other solutions such as traffic calming were being considered.

Management of holding pontoons – no guarantee at present, as she cannot recruit seasonal temps en-bloc, but now has to justify each addition to head count, due to States economy drive.

La Collette holding – pink ticketing is being re-introduced and the +/- 8m idea is to be considered.

St Helier parking abuse – will be monitored & '3 strikes & you're out' policy applied.

Non-residents on waiting lists – funding for Elizabeth was agreed on the basis that 18% of berths would be for non-residents, bringing benefit to the economy, so Harbours pay 82% of the amortisation, which has two years to run.

Use of blocks – Myra has agreed to charge per metre from next year. NW felt that the blocks should be free for boats on old harbours moorings, but MS said this was not warranted by their low fees.

Drying pads – recognising the problems with the other marinas, Myra confirmed that owners could book the town marina pad.

Elizabeth Depth Gauge – advised that TTS were awaiting parts.

Inshore Safety Regulations – MS had pressed his suggestion of insurance discs as evidence of cover. PR said they could be similar to the stick-on surf board licences. Myra has passed some preparatory paperwork to PDD, which he said raised some potential problems.

Rowing club – have been given temporary use of one of the La Folie sheds to help them tidy their area & the adjacent area is also to be cleared.

PH said when phoning Harbours about her account, she always got an answer-phone & her messages never received a reply. MS agreed to raise this. PDD said messages he had left on the marina office number, 447730, advising that he was returning, had always been acted upon.

Treasurer's Report

PH reported that she was pursuing leads on further flag suppliers and expected to be able to put a proposal at the next meeting.

She said she paid out the donations to RNLI & CIAS, agreed at the AGM & had received letters of thanks. Bank balances after these payments totalled £8,116.50.

She was pleased to announce that a personal ambition had been achieved, as membership had reached 600.

Newsletter Progress

PDD reported that over the last few days he had received several articles & now had almost enough content to fill 6 pages. He would be filling the remaining space with 'Snippets'.

AOB

New website – PDD reported that the data had been transferred from his to NW's computer & NW said that the next stage of uploading to the host was proving more complex than expected. He was making progress, but still needed to write some code.

Marina works – PDD said he & MS had met with Ian Lamy & Ray Hines, who advised that funding was available in Harbours' budget for the necessary replacement of La Collette pontoons & some St Helier marina piles. They were therefore working on ideas for the practical coordination of the replacement work to give flexibility to fit into any future development plans, avoid duplicate works and create some more berths to reduce the waiting lists.

Security breach – NW said that some 30 youngsters had got into the St H marina on 1^st April with bikes & skateboards. MS said that there had been no reports of vandalism, but they had been abusive to marina staff and it was a concern that the police had taken an hour & twenty minutes to respond.

Next meeting - 13^th May 2010.

Barraques Renovation

It's good to see renovation work being carried out on the historic barraques on South Pier, which had fallen into a sorry state of disrepair.

Following lobbying by the Committee last year, Myra Shacklady took up the cause and funds were allocated in Harbours' 2010 budget. We understand that the work will be carried out in stages as & when T.T.S. can allocate staff.  You can read about the history of the barraques in Nick Wood's article in the 2009 Newsletter on the 'Downloads' page.

March Committee Meeting Report

Matters Arising

Minister's letter - MS said no reply had been received and asked PDD to send a reminder.
New website – PDD said he had progressed in resolving some issues, but the Joomla v.1.6 upgrade was running late. However a satisfactory conversion from 1.5x was promised and he proposed to launch in the current version.
Committee vacancies – Prospective new member, Peter Rose, attended the meeting.

Chairman's Report

South Pier - MS said that a cable supporting the dinghy pontoon had been replaced, involving 3 days work & a crane.

Fees - He reported on a meeting with Myra on 11th March at which she had produced a printed schedule of all Harbours fees for 2010. Marina fees had been increased by the agreed 4%, however the square metre calculation for drying moorings had been replaced by LOA with one rate per metre up to 9m and a higher rate above 9m. MS had questioned this and persuaded her to cancel the higher rate. She had also agreed a lower flat rate for smaller boats using the blocks and he had since suggested a simpler rate per metre charge.

She is also re-introducing the lapsed charge for winter standing on the quays. There remained issues on holding in La Collette on vacant fingers and with staff interpreting the fees incorrectly. PR & MA referred to problems with the timing constraints when holding on 4/5 berths. PH asked if there was a charge for use of the drying pad in St H marina, MS said it was free for marina berth holders & that should apply to those in the other marinas as the pad in La Collette was for fishermen & that in Elizabeth was subject to dangerous surges. He suggested everyone study the schedule and email any aspects of concern to PDD for collation & he would then refer them to Myra.

Inshore Safety Regulations – Myra expected the regulations to be brought into force in June or July, including a new one-off boat registration structure and 3rd party insurance requirements. She had agreed to consider his suggestion of insurance discs as evidence of cover. PDD said he had asked her for a copy of the draft regulations in time to summarise them in the Newsletter.

Treasurer's Report

She had circulated what appeared to be a copy of a letter sent to Harbours in December by a member, critical of declining service standards in Elizabeth marina. PR said he had seen boats going out on the plane & ignoring the traffic lights. MS said he would respond to Mr Pyman.
18 subscriptions remained outstanding & she was pursuing them.
She said she had obtained quotes from two other flag suppliers of £22.50 & £44.50 per flag. PR & PDD agreed to obtain details of alternative suppliers.
Finally, she said she would be paying out the donations agreed at the AGM before the month end.

SOLAS V Guidance

Gus Lewis, the RYA lawyer had expressed serious doubts as to whether Jersey Coastguard's Guidance Notes provide adequate protection from unwanted consequences from the regulations. Further local advice is being sought.

Island Plan Consultation

PDD had circulated a draft submission, critical of the lack recognition, support and protection of Marine Leisure & its associated industries afforded in the Plan. It was agreed that the paper should be submitted on behalf of the Association, with copies to the Minister, Asst. Minister & Harbourmaster.
Newsletter Content.
PDD said he was looking ideas for external contributors, to add some variety to the basic news content. Several ideas were put forward and will be followed up.

AOB

PR raised a list of matters:

He asked about meetings with the Marine Traders body, suggesting a means of giving them feedback on issues arising from pontoon chat. NW said that a number of small businesses were not members of the federation.

He said he felt it wrong that Harbours marketed berths to non-residents when locals were on the waiting list and allowed purchasers at the boat show effectively to jump the queue and he had written to Myra. NW said that the traders did get worthwhile extra business from non-resident owners.

He asked about the proposed barrier by Maritime House, to stop the noise of boy racers on Albert quay disrupting crew holding overnight. MS said the first application had been refused by Planning, but he understood it was being resubmitted.

Finally, he reported that the Elizabeth electronic tide gauge was out of order and some holding buoys had moved, or been removed. MS said he would add these matters to his list.

KH asked about CCTV & MS said the new system was in place & connected to the Coastguard & police station and additional cameras were on order.

He also referred to the idea of segregating boats holding in La Collette by size & asked about holding on the South Pier fuel barge. NW believed the barge would be reopened shortly & MS added the 8m reminder to his list.

NW suggested another Safety Evening, perhaps at a hotel or school with a pool. MS said use of a hotel would have to be out of season and he would make enquiries with a view to arranging an event in the winter

Next meeting - 15th April 2010.

Island Plan Review

The Review document, which runs to over 500 pages, classifies the areas East of the Albert pier, including La Collette, as Regeneration Zones, but has very little to say about St Helier's harbours from the perspective of marine leisure.  The Committee is concerned at the development potential of waterside land being given preference over the provision of infrastructure necessary to support boating.

At its meeting this week, the Committee agreed to make a submission to Planning, objecting to the lack of recognition, support and protection that the Plan affords to Marine Leisure and its' associated industries and encourages members to make their own comments on the Plan before the consutation period ends on 31st March.

Click here to read the Committee's submission.

Click here to make your own comments to Planning.

Boat Jumble 27th Marchsland Plan

St Aubins Boat Owners Association is organising a sale at St Aubins parish Hall to raise funds for a defibrillator. For further information, visit their website via our 'Links' page.

February Committee Meeting Report

Matters Arising

SOLAS V: - The need for the recently issued Further Guidance Notes had been highlighted by Gus Lewis, the RYA lawyer at the Coastguard seminar last June. It was therefore proposed that his advice be sought as to whether they provided adequate protection from unwanted consequences from the regulations.

Boat park security – clarification is to be sought as to the time & responsibility for closure of the gate.

Committee vacancies – candidates are being sought.

Chairman's Report

Following the vote against flooding the old harbours & the joint survey of members, the Chairman & yacht club Commodore had held two meetings with the Harbourmaster and agreed the need to maintain a good working relationship on other matters, notwithstanding the differences on this issue. Subsequently, the Economic Development Minister had suspended all Harbours' development plans and, with his agreement, MS had publicised this decision.

Treasurer's Report

As the stock of house flags is running out & the existing supplier's prices have risen sharply PH is seeking another source.

32 of the 43 new members since the end of October are based in the old harbours.

Minister's letter suspending Harbour's plans

Consideration was given to the Minister's proposed new marina development group & its relationship with the East of Albert Project Board. It was agreed that a formal response should include a number of questions and concern at the loss of the Marine Leisure Growth Group, which had a wider remit and also at the delay in reducing the waiting list by creating extra finger berths in St Helier marina, with a consequential loss of income to Harbours. Click here to read the letter.

New Website & Image

Plans were outlined for an improved website, including a 'members only' section, which it is hoped will be launched in May and a new letterhead was agreed to provide a consistent image.

AOB

St Aubins BOA will be running a boat jumble at the parish hall on 27^th March. Phone Jan Chapman on 07797 765 735 to book a stall, or to donate items to their stall, which is raising funds for a defibrillator.

Next meeting - 18^th March 2010.

Further Guidance on SOLAS V

At their seminar on the new Regulations last June, Jersey Coastguard explained their intended pragmatic approach to policing leisure vessels. On the advice of the RYA's Legal Manager, they also agreed to produce further guidance relating to some difficult aspects of Regulation 19 (Carriage of Equipment), which we were concerned could, inter alia, allow insurers to avoid settling a claim.

We are pleased to report that Jersey Coastguard have at last issued formal further Guidance Notes. They are posted on our 'Legal' page, together with an explanatory note from Capt. Peter Moore.

All Harbours' Development Plans Suspended!

Economic Development Minister, Senator Alan Maclean, has suspended all work on plans for the reconfiguration of St Helier Marina, 4 & 5 berths and the Old Harbours.

The Marine Leisure Growth Group is to be replaced by a Marina Development Task and Finish Group for which he will appoint an independent Chair, who will also join the East of Albert Project Board. Please click here to read the Minister's letter to the Association Chairman.

The Committee will be meeting next week to consider this development. 

Old Harbours on the Radio

Following a meeting with the Harbourmaster, Mike Stevens was interviewed yesterday by Chris Raynor on BBC Radio Jersey 'Hometime'. Click here to hear what he had to say.

PDD 30/1/10 

January Committee Meeting Report

Summary of matters discussed at the meeting on 21st January.

Matters Arising & Chairman's Report:

SOLAS V: PDD had reminded Peter Moore about the further guidance notes & on 20th November, he had agreed that they would be produced in a few days. MS suggested another chaser.

Old harbours concept plans: As required by the proposition carried at the reconvened AGM, PDD had drafted a letter to the authorities and it was approved & signed by MS. (Click here to read the text.). There was disappointment at the JEP article, quoting the Harbourmaster downplaying the vote as a small proportion of the so-called 5,000 registered boats & it was agreed that MS should respond.

Elizabeth parking – MS had received a complaint from a member whose car had been blocked in a drop off space by a dog walker's car

Treasurer's Report:

Membership had increased to 601, representing 420 boats, however 55 subscriptions remained outstanding & were to be chased.

Members Survey:

MS, PDD & the St Helier Yacht Club Commodore are to discuss the results with the Harbourmaster & Commercial Director next week.

Any Other Business:

Committee vacancies – Two candidates were suggested and it was agreed that they would be followed up.

Next Meeting: 18th February.

Our vote hits the headlines

Mike Stevens and Myra Shacklady appeared on tonights Channel Report. Click here to watch the video.

PDD 19/1/10

Overwhelming vote to retain drying harbours

St Helier Yacht Club was packed last night as the AGM reconvened to consider the proposition against any loss of the drying harbours in St Helier.

Using a flip chart, proposer Chris Fairbairn summarised Harbours' concepts for ponding the area and highlighted a number of failings in their ideas, which he emphasised would be detrimental to users. After many members had spoken in support, the Chairman asked if anyone wished to speak against the proposition and this was met with silence. He then called for members of the Association to vote and the proposition was resoundingly carried by 114 in favour and 2 against.

PDD 19/1/10

Members Survey Results

191 members of the Association and the two yacht clubs completed the survey on Harbours' marine leisure development concept plans. For a summary of the results, click here.