This year’s Whitehaven Festival was the biggest and best ever – according to The Whitehaven News. Highlights included three major concerts – Katharine Jenkins, Status Quo and N-Dubz, all of whom packed out the harbour side arena.

Celebrity chefs Jean Christophe Novelli and Gino d’Acampo entertained the crowds with a series of mouth-watering cooking demonstrations. There were tall ships, army vehicles, a fantastic Made in Cumbria market, showcasing locally made products.

The marina was the busiest it’s ever been, with 75 visitor boats adding to the annual berth holders already moored at Whitehaven for the Festival Weekend. The marina staff all worked long hours to ensure all boats were safely moored in their berth and were on hand throughout to answer any customer queries. The harbour was awash with colour, as most of the boats had ‘dressed overall’ to take part in the best-dressed boat competition.

On Sunday much of the entertainment was in the skies, including displays and fly-pasts by a Dakota, Vulcan, Sea Hawk and Mustang, plus a team of skydivers who leaped out of a plane and spectacularly (and safely!) parachuted into the water from several thousand feet. The world famous Red Arrows brought the event to a close on Sunday with a breath taking aerobatic display.

The sun shone throughout the weekend and organisers estimate several hundreds of thousand people enjoyed the Festival activities. Plans are already well under way for next year’s event.

The marina is always fully booked for Festival weekend well in advance, so if you wish to be here next year, then watch out for a press announcement about dates for 2011.

‘Circus Boat’ Wins Best Dressed Boat Competition at Whitehaven Festival

One of the activities running over Festival weekend was a competition for the best-dressed boat in Whitehaven Marina. This year most of the fleet moored in the marina had entered into the spirit of the Festival, with colourful flags and bunting displayed from the rigging.

The Festival Committee, who were judging the competition, spent a few hours on Saturday walking up and down the marina pontoons viewing the boats all dressed up for the Festival weekend.

However there could only be one winner – and this year it was Peter and Elaine Lishman and their yacht “Falling Upwards” which was brilliantly dressed in red and yellow as a ‘circus boat’.

The boat resembled a circus ring, with red and yellow bunting pegged (with red & yellow pegs, naturally) all the way round the guardrails. Congratulations to Peter and Elaine who are pictured here with the trophy and their crew.

Latest News from Whitehaven Marina

Summer has well and truly arrived and much has been happening at the Marina!

Whitehaven Festival weekend 25-27 June 2010
There’s a great buzz in town this week as everyone gears up for Festival weekend. The concerts line up includes Status Quo, Katherine Jenkins and the National Symphony Orchestra and the hip hop band N-Dubz (playing directly after their appearance at Glastonbury the previous evening). There’s also cooking demos from celebrity chef Jean Christophe Novelli and Gino di Campo, Continental food market, Tall Ships and the Red Arrows all appearing over the weekend – so there’s something for all ages. The Saturday evening fireworks display is not to be missed! Please note that we don’t have any berths available over the weekend; the marina is FULLY BOOKED.
Full details here: http://www.thefestival.org.uk/

New Faces
We’re thrilled to have welcomed 25 new customers to Whitehaven so far this season and hope that they are enjoying the many benefits of keeping their boats at the Marina.
Berth-holders’ Party
The team hosted the first berth holders’ party on Saturday 12 June in the Boat Shed. The party was a great success, with over 175 customers enjoying good food and lots of beer. The large pig roast was expertly cooked by our very own Darren Simon, who also carved the meat after over 7 hours of cooking. Before saying a few words of welcome, Mark Bowden, Director for the marina started the evening with a short period of silence for people to reflect on the tragedy that had occurred in Whitehaven and other local villages 10 days previously.
Mark Bowden said that these annual Bertholders Parties are a great way to get people together from the marina and to thank them for their support over the last year. All reports were that the marina was unusually quiet on Sunday morning – a sure sign that fun was had by all.
The Whitehaven Sea Cadet unit attended the party, smartly dressed in their uniform. It was an opportunity to raise funds for various projects they are planning. Over £270 was collected on the night – many thanks to everyone for their generosity.

The Three Peaks Race June 2010
26 yachts of all shapes and sizes called into Whitehaven Marina on 21 June as part of the 2010 Three Peak Race. As the skippers prepared their boats for the next leg up to Fort William, their runners disappeared on foot to run up to Scafell Pike. The weather was settled, so a short but sweet carnival atmosphere was enjoyed for 24 hours. For more information go to: http://www.threepeaksyachtrace.co.uk/

Brand New Litter Craft
We now have a brand new custom-built litter craft, which we are using to clear the rubbish floating in the marina. The boat has an innovative ‘scoop’ net carefully positioned over the bow. All the Skipper needs to do is manoeuvre the craft around the marina and any floating rubbish is scooped up by the net. When the net is full, it is simply lifted out and disposed of ashore. What was a rather nasty smelling task that nobody wanted to do has now turned into a job that the marina staff all volunteer for and of course the water is kept clear of floating rubbish.

Business as Usual at Whitehaven Marina

The Whitehaven Harbour Commissioners and Whitehaven Marina are pleased to announce that the Sea Lock reopened on Tuesday 9th February and the inner harbour and Marina are fully operational again.

The Sea Lock has been closed since 20th January in order to carry out major maintenance of the gates and associated equipment. A specialist team of contractors worked alongside marina staff to complete an extensive overhaul of the Sea Lock, which included: -

• The complete drain down of the lock barrel to provide access to the lock gates.
• New thrust bearings have been fitted to the outer lock gates, facilitating smoother operation
• Installation of new gate seals on the outer gate
• Upgrading of the lock operating system software to introduce new safety features
• Overhaul of all hydraulic equipment that opens and closes the gates
• The pontoons on either side of the lock have been re-decked in hardwood timber, reflecting the quality of Whitehaven’s marina
• Over 18 tons of mussels have been scraped off the lock walls and gates by hand
• Additional anodes fitted to the outer gates to prevent corrosion of the steel structures

As the lock was re-flooded on Tuesday evening (9th February), Mark Bowden, Whitehaven Operations Director commented:

“We have completed a major overhaul of the sea lock to ensure the gates operate safely and reliably throughout the next 12 months. The maintenance programme was important not only for the boat traffic in and out of the marina, but also for the Whitehaven community, since the sea lock is part of the flood defence system for the town.

“Along with the specialist contractor, the marina staff have worked incredibly hard over the last 3 weeks to complete the job list and now we’re all looking forward to a busy boating season, welcoming both new and regular visitors back to Whitehaven Marina.

“We opened the gates at 2030 hours on Tuesday evening and within 10 minutes, three commercial vessels arrived seeking the shelter and facilities of Whitehaven Harbour. It was great to welcome them back after a very busy two week shutdown period.”

The Whitehaven Harbour Commissioners funded these works for the benefit of all who use the harbour, which includes the fishing fleet and commercial vessels, as well as leisure boats. The work was project managed by Marina Projects, who have considerable experience in this field.

Over 18 tons of mussels were scraped off the lock walls and gates by hand

Whitehaven Sea Lock Drained Down for Maintenance

Whitehaven Harbour – Sea Lock Update

The Whitehaven Harbour Sea Lock is currently closed for a programme of planned maintenance work, which is being undertaken by a specialist team of contractors and the local marina staff.  This programme has involved the complete drain down of the lock barrel to provide access to the lock gate structures for cleaning, inspection and the carrying out of the all important maintenance works.

On this occasion, the detailed inspections identified a need for an increased level of maintenance and as a matter of good practice, a decision has been taken to complete all the works before re-opening the lock. Unfortunately, despite every effort to maintain the original lock shut down programme, this has not proved possible and so Whitehaven Marina Ltd and the Whitehaven Harbour Commissioners have taken the decision to postpone the re-opening of the lock until the evening of Tuesday 9th February, to enable the full scope of works to be completed.

Mark Bowden, Whitehaven Marina Operations Director commented:

“We planned this maintenance programme in some detail, but it was only once lock was completely drained down and the gates exposed, that we could assess the full extent of the works required.

We regret any inconvenience caused by extending the lock shut down period for an additional 3 days, but I’m sure all boat owners and operators, as well as the people of Whitehaven will understand the importance of regular and thorough planned maintenance of the lock structure.  The lock forms an integral part of the town’s flood defence systems, as well as being the gateway to the marina and inner harbour and consequently the ongoing maintenance of the structure is of paramount importance.”

The Whitehaven Harbour Sea Lock will re-open during the evening of Tuesday 9th February 2010.

We have had 2010 Whitehaven Tide Tables printed and copies are now available.

Annual berth holders can pick up their free copy from the Marina Office during normal office hours.

The Tide Tables are also a useful guide for locals and visitors to the area; especially dog walkers, bird watchers and fishing enthusiasts. You can purchase a Tide Tables booklet for only £1.00 from the Marina Office.

Tel: 01946 692435 for further information.

With winter well and truly here, the Whitehaven Marina team is busy with a full maintenance programme to ensure that everything within the marina is in good working order before the boating season. This includes a long list of important tasks that need to be carried out on the sea lock. The dates for this year’s annual sea lock closure are as follows:

The Whitehaven Sea Lock will be closed between 0800 hours on 20^th January and 2300 hours on Saturday 6^th February 2010. (more…)

Prolonged sub zero temperatures are causing even the sea water at Whitehaven Marina to ice over. Marina Manager Simone Morgan reports that the ice is up to 10cm thick (almost 4 inches) in places and although the harbour does freeze over most winters, this is the first time in 5 years that so much of the marina has frozen over. While it provides a picturesque winter scene, the conditions are treacherous, with the marina staff working hard at gritting the pontoons and slipways to keep them as free from ice as possible.

Simone Morgan commented: “It’s amazing to see the salt water freeze over like this – and there’s even mini icebergs floating around in Lowther Marina in shady areas where the sun hasn’t had a chance to thaw the ice. Anyone coming down to check on their boats should take extra care when walking on the pontoons and ensure that children and dogs are kept well away from the ice; no-one should venture onto ice, under any circumstances.

Salt water requires lower temperatures than fresh water in order to freeze; hence it is only when we experience a long period of freezing temperatures that sea water freezes over. Also, in Whitehaven there are a number of fresh water streams that flow into the harbour from the hills nearby, thus diluting the salt water in the harbour.

It’s been a busy six months since Marina Projects took over the running of Whitehaven Marina in April this year. They have invested over £50,000 in improvements to the Marina, which have included electrical and safety checks, pontoon repairs, new signage, painting, cleaning and tidying. The staff have also moved to temporary offices on Bulwark Quay and a new marina management computer system has been installed. In addition a new boat has been purchased which will enable staff to easily collect any rubbish floating in the marina. (more…)