Guest Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 We went to view a boat in Waikawa marina and another boat in Nelson marina, with a view to enjoy our retirement as casual cruisers [not full time liveaboards!]. However there was a feeling that - even if the right boat was found and bought at the right price - finding a marina berth could be a real worrry. It is the Nelson-Tasman/Queen Charlotte Sounds cruising areas that have attracted us. What chance is there of securing a berth or perhaps even a safe swinging mooring in those harbours? Any thoughts, experiences, suggestions welcomed. Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 Hi Tamboat. Depending on your Boat length of course, but there are currently Berths available in Havelock Marina. Waikawa is going to be going through further development in the near future, opening up another 250 berths. Just when that starts is anyones guess, as the key issue holding it up is that a large nu,ber of swing moorings need to be shifted. This resulted ina huge muck fight between Mooring owners and the Port Co and has been a couple of years of wrangling now. The formation of the "Mooring and Berth Holders Association" brought a collective voice together to be able to take the Port Co to court and to task and the issues are now almost resolved. Once they are shifted, the first expansion of the Marina wil take place. After completion, the Second stage of that is supposed to take place, bring the total number of new Berths to 500. A few of us have wondered if that second stage will take place though. We had an issue here of the Port Co saying there was a 3yr waiting list to get into Waikawa/ Picton and 30 something boats on a waiting list for Havelock. One result of this was a "Transfer Fee" was implemented by PM. So if you bought a boat in the Marina, you could not automatically have the Berth it was in. You had to pay a fee to take over the Berth. That Fee was based on a percentage of the boat value. Some people were paying as much as $10K for a transfer fee. That may have been dropped I think.....I hope. It is certainly being looked into anyway. Many of us believed it was poor record keeping and that this number of boats never existed. The Havelock extension took place and they now have many berths not occupied. The boats on the waiting list didn't actually exist in the end. It was a mix up of records. So we are also wondering if similar applies to Waikawa. Yes there are more berths required there, but over 250??? many of use doubt it. Another issue with PM marinas is cost. We are the most expensive Marinas in NZ at present. Havleock being slightly cheaper than Waikawa/Picton. Our boat is 14m and we currently pay for a Havleock berth, $5300/yr for a wooden finger. A concrete finger is another $1K and it is another $1K again if that was Waikawa. I believe that we may eventually be brought up to the same rate as Waikawa, certainly when the wooden fingers are replaced with concrete, which is in the furture plans. Nelson is half the price as over here and you can live aboard, providing there is room. They allow only a limited number to live aboard at a time in Nelson. They do not allow live aboards at all in PM marinas, although I heard a rumor some were living aboard in Waikawa due to some security issues arising when they kicked everyone out. Swing moorings are available to rent at times. Usually $80-100/mnth. You probably want to talk to the Boat Brokers up here to see what is around. As far as buying, well it is nothing to pay $20K for a Mooring in Waikawa. And if you do buy one, make sure it is registered. Some are not and when the move happens, you could lose the mooring altogether if you can't prove it is ligit. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 Fantastic reply - and so quickly! Many thanks for taking the time and effort to supply all that info. Interesting about the Havelock empty berths - we noticed the spaces when we drove through that area just before Christmas: did wonder if it was merely a case of several motorboats out for the afternoon! Very much appreciated. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 i have a 12 m on a mooring waikawa have been wait listed for so long for a marina, have given up, but i do hear on occasion they come up privately, even finding a mooring for a larger cruiser is diffcult . if you are buying through one of the agents im sure if they want to make a sale they will find you something even if it is just a mooring. Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 Brian, there is room in Havelock Marina, but I guess you are refering to picton and Waikawa. The shifting of the current mooring field in Waikawa has gone through all the discussion stage. A design of three seperate mooring fields has been tabled. I guess they have to make that public for critisism. But the entire operation is going to come under one Resource Consent instead of every individual having to apply. This will also open up room for the next expansion plan of the Marina. In regards to the Moorings, there is one guy that apparently dived around the bottom and found lots of old mooring blocks and reinstated them as moorings. He has something like 20 to 30 moorings and has made a pretty penny selling a few of them and renting the others. I am not sure if they are official registered moorings. So whent he move occurs, it is going to be interesting to see what of his and what he sold, actually gets moved. It could be possible that they simply get moved and instated as officially registered moorings. In some respects, I hope not, but in other respects, I hope they do for those people that bought or are renting. Now it is just a matter of time. Dawn is on the committee (although there is a dedicated sub committee just for this subject that she is not part of) and I will ask her to ask if there is any time table for shifting or ruff idea of when it is all going to start taking place. It seems to be a very long slow drawn out process. I will also ask if there is any easy process to get a new mooring laid and included in the proposed field. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 A work colleague of my wife bought a bach somewhere near Waikawa that came with a mooring. They don't have a boat a present, so we can use it whenever. Just got to get my yacht back in the water first It might be easier to get a mooring that way, by buying a bach. Link to post Share on other sites
PeteG 13 Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 Our 11m berth in the extension at Waikawa will be available for a while soon as we bring our boat around to Nelson for some maintenance over winter. Probably June/July if that is any use. The wait list is bollocks outside of summer- we could not get anyone to rent it the whole of last winter! Pete Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 I'm just buying a 10m yacht in Nelson and looking to rent a mooring in Waikawa or sounds area. There are several moorings near the rowing club close to the Waikawa township jetty that are empty and would suit me fine. Please give me a ring on 022 018 2494 or text with what have you. Boat is shoal draft so only need 1M at low water. What are the rules as far as long term anchoring if I can't sort a mooring? It's my understanding that anchoring is unrestricted. I guess that is a similar situation to the "unregistered" moorings. Thanks, Jeff Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 Check your insurance, as the policy probably states you can't leave your vessel unattended for more than 24 hrs at anchor. Link to post Share on other sites
grant 40 Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 and the local Harbourmaster is isn't going to be impressed with an unattended anchored boat long term either Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 There are empty berths In Havelock. Moorings are very hard to find in Pelorus and often a long drive to by road. Waikawa has the odd mooring come up for sale, but expect to pay around $120/mth. I believe there is one 4T block up for rent now. But that would be about it. They are very rare to find. Anchoring long term will be a no no and you can not leave an anchor down for long before it is called a permanent structure and then it has to come up to all the mooring legal requirements and be registered. Not sure what that time would be in marlborough, but most areas it's about 2weeks. Plus it is about 90ft of water mimimum in that bay where you would have to anchor. Link to post Share on other sites
temptation 0 Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 Any update on the Waikawa development? As far as I can tell nothing seems to have happened since 2010! Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 There has been on going issues and I doubt it will happen any time soon. But also, things have changed somewhat due to the economic climate, since then and apparently there are quite a few berths available now. Link to post Share on other sites
southernman 73 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 yep heaps of space now - we are moored in waikawa at the moment - just rung up and asked for temporary birth and did not have an issue. Link to post Share on other sites
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