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I got 2 for Wild Oats and last week, the first time I used one,I dropped it in the water (they don't float) so now I have one. Luckily the key pad is still working otherwise I was stuck on the pier.

 

Dambo, the tag will only work on one pier.

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Don't get me started , I hate the bloody things,Little F%$#@!&^% wallaby bollocks.

Crew issues are one thing , the sudden acceleration of dropped keys and pocket fumbling just to get in the place is one thing, the 100's of metres of extra walking needed to let your kids and guests in to go boating is one thing, but the demolishing of a community of like minded people for some spurious reason is totally unacceptable.

 

I asked at the office for more piers so I could visit my friends and check their boats like I have always done( and they've done for me)and was turned down.

 

Whats more , the individual who turned me down used a totally irrational and illogical argument as to why.

Some ludicrous analogy about 'if you visited your friends house would you expect to just walk in the front door'.

My answer, 'Well actually ,quite possibly , but even if I didn't I wouldn't expect to be locked out at their front gate so it forced them to walk 100 metres every time a visitor calls.."

 

If you have a tag which is keyed personally to you " for security" so as , to paraphrase the words of that same person " stop the prostitution , drug dealing and theft at the marina"( who knew?)......then you should be able to go onto all piers with your individual wallaby bollocks security tag. If there's a problem , they can look at the tags and narrow the problem down. Thats rational , thats logical , but not to Westhaven/ Council.

 

What really gets my goat though , is Westhaven / City council using the word "community" in their latest newsletter when this wallaby bollock policy is divisive and designed to stop community spirit within Westhaven. Here we have a special interest group called boaties who all keep their boats together in one place and are often friends with each other and who help each other. A group who are not allowed by new policy to mix with each other without some un-needed, un-wanted and un-asked for policy imposed on them.

 

How many times have we seen that the reason Westhaven is being developed is to make Westhaven more inclusive of the wider community of Auckland . Its a buzz word ,community this , community that .. so long as you aren't a boatie who keeps their boat in the marina, because then you just become split off and separated from your boating friends by bars and locked gates.

 

Its just plain wrong ,and is a bad idea.

 

I'd rather see the prostitutes and drug dealers that are apparently rife in the place , never seen one yet in the 20 odd years I've been in the marina but hey If Westhaven office says its just one big brothel and tinny house, who am I to disagree, they must know.

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Similar issue at Seaview, simple solution in my view is have the gates locking in the hours of darkness, after all that is when all the drug dealing, murdering, assaults and prostitution is going on.

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When I filled out the Westhaven survey last year or earlier this year I ticked every box as excellent. Great staff, great place ,a lot of my friends ,and the giant satisfaction that I get from going to my boat to go boating from a safe place to be.

But I haven't been as annoyed as this since those 40 ft coastguard launches went through Westhaven at 15 knots leaving screaming kids and irate men and women behind them, endangering lives on piers as breaking waves hit them just so he could rush on out to 'rescue' some dickhead who ran out of fuel off Cheltenham.We know what happened to that guy .. he did it once too often and got stopped by social media.

Oh ,and when the psycho seagull of c pier, a commercial bird scarer, was installed to drive seagulls and people out of the marina. A probably illegal installation of a device not intended for urban areas and a badly thought out and implemented concept.

Two issues in 20 or 25 odd years.Not bad.

 

But this one is serious, because it seeks to make a community within a community unworkable, not viable. You can't have mates in Westhaven because practically speaking ,you ain't allowed to visit them ,or them you.

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I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets pissed off with the dog s#$t. The other dumb thing westhaven has done on U is the rubbing strip on the loading dock. It was constantly breaking so some bright spark put a hard plastic cap over it. Not a bad idea except that they didn't replace half of the rubbing strip, which effectively makes half the dock unusable.

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prostitution, murdering, assaults, drug dealing and theft... I know I called myself and a few others slutty but honestly!  Ya wonder where we find the time.

 

All very sad.  

 

So. Another question to WH.  From time to time I've hired a berth for the night (because the boat has been kept elsewhere) and enjoyed being able to book and pay via the electronic method then sail in when I please. This won't work anymore because I wouldn't be able to get out/off the pier - I'll have to drive to the office first to pick up a thingie?  That's bloody inconvenient.  Or maybe now I'll have to radio as I'm coming in and hope that the security guard can come and meet me then escort me like the criminal I am to the office, during office hours...

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How about the hound of U pier that regularly leaves human sized turds around the dinghy racks?

I thought it was just me that was being grumpy about this! 

 

F&*k1ng hate it and it's a regular thing I add to the survey.

 

I have seen owners let their dogs pee all over the hosepipes & crap on the bottom of the posts. When I see it I have a go at them and they wonder what is wrong with me.

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Agree with everyone’s comments on the tags.

 

How about the removal of the large loading zone on X that they removed to build the new berths, and instead of reinstating a similar area on Y, replaced with two silly little loading zones on V and W?  And don’t even think about trying to use that area on Y as a loading zone – that’s now a fuel berth.  They’ll kick you off there quick-smart, citing the possibility that someone might need to access the fuel pumps, even with no vessels in sight and about 140m of open fuel jetty sitting unused.

 

Too much effort going into building walkways costing $12M for non marina users benefit, and not enough into stuff for the marina users. 

 

While I’m at it, how did they get away with using horizontal wire on the balustrading for that monstrosity of a walkway?  If you wanted to put that around your deck at home you’d be told it wasn’t allowed because the horizontal wires are climb-able and the gaps are too big.  One rule for the council, another for the rest of us?

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Hi all

 

Interesting discussions! Hopefully we can put some myths to rest for you.

 

We bought in programmable swipe tags for good reason. The PIN system was misused badly, more than most people writing here obviously realise.  Our customers expect a high level of security, and nearly every other marina in New Zealand and overseas, uses swipe tags, in order to ensure control over who comes and goes. We realise that there are some fairly significant downsides, but introduced the tags after a lot of thought and discussion. To mitigate the inconveniences you’ve mentioned here, we have retained the keypads so that they are an option when needed, worked with yacht clubs to cater for those with very large crews, and introduced crew and contractor tags for regular users of the marina. We also have some flexibility to use the key pads for special circumstances such as the short stay bookings that Dambo has pointed out. We know there are times when it’s a real hassle to let visitors in, but most of the time, swipe tags are okay, once you get used to them.  

 

Once we sit down and discuss gate access options with individual boat owners face to face, they usually agree with us that swipe tags are necessary in this day and age, especially once we tell them about some of the shenanigans that have gone on down on the piers in recent years! We had a meeting for BEU holders (lease owners) where this was debated in detail a few months ago, and most there came around to see that the increased security is worth the fairly minor inconvenience of having to meet visitors at the gate. 

 

Dambo, you’ve added murders and assaults to our list of things that do go on at Westhaven. We didn’t say that and it's simply not correct. The issues are around theft and security of property, poaching, and some boats have famously been used by prostitutes too, and again this is where the PIN code system is a major security weakness, because boat owners need to take responsibility for the behaviour of the people they allow in. If you are coming for a short stay, please discuss our gate access arrangements with customer services when you book and we will sort something out. 

 

John B - you’re obviously a long term customer and we’d like to discuss your thoughts and concerns with you in more detail, if you’d like to get in touch via the PM, could we arrange a phone call or meeting?    

 

Twisty - we will bring up the rubbing strip on U pier with the marina crew next week, and get back to you. Thanks for pointing it out. 

 

Knot Me - the Auckland Council, via Waterfront Auckland owns and operates three marinas: Westhaven, Silo Marina (for super yachts) and Viaduct Marina (in the CBD). The other marinas in Auckland are independent. When prices are compared in terms of rental and OPEX rates across the same sized berths, Westhaven is actually very reasonably priced, and as such it has a long waiting list. Interestingly there is a shortage of berths in Auckland especially for boats over 14m, and we are working on adding more capacity within the marina so that the sport and the industry can be successful. Please be assured that the surpluses from berth income, once an appropriate return on assets is delivered, is reinvested in marine operations. Also, the costs of public facilities such as the Promenade, are not met by boat owners.

 

Weatherbeaten - the balustrading is council compliant. That is actually a question that has been asked on this thread before, and answered. The eastern side of Y Pier is provided as a fuel dock and as accommodation for large boats overnight, and access to it needs to be maintained. Fuel prices in the precinct have come down significantly since the new facility opened, thanks to the competition. The loading zones for the pile berths are smaller than before, yes, but the marina is at full capacity, and pile berths are provided as a cheaper option because they are unserviced. 

 

As for the hound of U Pier, we are with you on the importance of dog owners cleaning up after their pets! 

 

Cheers,

 

The Team at Westhaven  

 

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Thanks for the reply Westhaven.

 

I'm not sure I'd classify "tough luck, you're only on the piles and we can make money off selling fuel" as a great response from the point of view of those of us not lucky enough to be able to afford a full berth, but at least it is a response and we know where we stand.  I could even understand moving people on when the fuel dock is busy or there's a boat waiting to berth for the night, but to police it when there are no other boats in sight and the loading zones are full is pedantry.

 

I realise the piles are unserviced - we don't get power or water or walk up access and pay less accordingly, but I would have thought a decent loading zone like we used to have wasn't too much to ask, particularly since dragonboaters and other non marina users have been provided with a nice new floating jetty for their use and don't pay any berth rental.

 

I didn't see any question or answer about the balustrading in this thread, sorry I must have missed that.  All I know is that is not an "acceptable solution" under F4/AS1 for the building code for areas accessible by persons under 6 years of age, and therefore must have been approved as an alternative solution, which would never get through except for the fact that in this case the council is processing its own application.  This beef isn't really with Westhaven as such though, more with the council consent processing team, so I'll leave it at that.

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The murder and assaults was

a) stated by others in the thread who were

B) deliberately exaggerating 

 

It's called "extracting the urine"

 

I'm pleased to hear that my casual berthing with booking online is still a reality - thank you.

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Hi Weatherbeaten, it would be great if you could email us via the Westhaven website with details of the times and days that you are struggling to get space on the loading docks. If you can provide specifics it will be useful feedback, and we can keep an eye on things.  

 

Not sure if you know that the pontoon that the dragon boaters use was created from the old X Loading Pier - it was cut in half, and half was placed on the western side of the bay for dinghies for pile berth users and the Ponsonby Sailing School and the other half was for other sports to use. The other pontoon by Z Pier helps make use of the parts of the bay that are otherwise difficult to access because of the tides. Just as a matter of interest. 

 

Dambo - glad to hear that's what you were doing!   ;-)

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Hi Westhaven, the times we've had trouble have been before and after races i.e. Richmond Winter Series etc.  Although I've just been told that you've already said we can tie up on Y after races in another thread (http://crew.org.nz/forum/index.php/topic/10664-westhaven-pile-moorings/?p=140774).  If this applied before races too it would sort the problems we've had so far.   I do wonder how the smaller loading docks will go on a Friday night before a long weekend etc as well though.

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Thanks Island Time for your words, and Knot Me - it's encouraging to hear some good feedback. We'll make sure this is passed on to everyone in the office.

 

We are always happy to hear your questions - while we'd prefer to get them through our website /Facebook page / at our Forums / in person, we do keep an eye on what's said here and take your thoughts and opinions into account. Thank you.  

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