January 2022 Newsletter

To all Mooring Licence Holders – January 2022

  • Changes in Personnel at Percuil River Moorings Limited
    Ian Eborall stood down as a Director after many years’ service to the Company and we thank him for all his considerable contributions over many years.  The Directors are continuing to seek a new Director to join the board and continue the excellent work undertaken by Ian.
  • Report on the 2021 season
    After a slow start to the season as a result of Covid-19 we had a quiet season with no major security issues and only a few incidents of boats coming into contact.
    Licensees are reminded of the requirement to maintain the numbering on their buoys at all times to enable rapid identification.
    The mooring moves undertaken recently have assisted in addressing areas of particular mooring proximity and we continue to make adjustments where possible and in the light of any proximity issues identified to us.
  • If you have a problem with your mooring
    If you have concerns about the location of your mooring in relation to its neighbours, you should discuss this with your mooring contractor in the first instance and also inform us.
  • Strops
    Mooring strops should be kept as short as possible to limit swinging circles with no more than 12-18 inches of spare length when the strop is pulled up vertically from the buoy.  The strop may be lengthened by up to 12 inches for the deeper water moorings in exposed areas.  Best practice requires that the bottom end of any rope strops should be above the water line, both to avoid contact with the riser and so they can be regularly inspected by the user.  Rope strops must be checked regularly for chafe or other damage to avoid your boat coming adrift.  Boats with bow-eyes should have chain, rather than rope, to the bow-eye and a supplementary strop onto the deck.
  • Propeller Protection
    There is no longer a mandatory requirement for protection of exposed propellers although such protection remains recommended as good practice.  The Board recognises the concerns of some Licensees and retains the right to require a Licensee to fit propeller protection.
  • Drogues
    Some boats (and typically high-sided, shallow draft motorboats) on moorings are particularly susceptible to swinging differently to adjacent deep keeled craft.  In some cases, this may lead to increased proximity of boats and contact between boats.  Where this is the case, we require such boats to deploy a sea anchor (drogue) at all times when on the mooring in order to mitigate the risk of contact.
  • Mooring Licence Conditions
    The Mooring Licence Conditions have been slightly amended: we remind all licensees that renewal of a licence includes a commitment to comply with the conditions.  See https://percuilriver.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Licence-Conditions-2022proposedv2approved-2.pdf .  We draw particular attention to the Licence Condition that requires moorings to be serviced by an Approved Mooring Contractor (AMC) every year before any boat is put on the mooring and that strops are the correct length.  In order to ensure the quality of moorings and mooring servicing is maintained, the PRML Board has decided to obtain annual confirmation from AMCs of their wish to be an AMC registered with PRML and their commitment to the AMC Guidelines (which have been updated).  A list of registered AMCs is also available at the Percuil River Moorings Limited website.
  • 2022 Licence Application and Mooring Fee
    The Board is pleased to advise that the AGM confirmed that the licence fee for 2022 would remain unchanged at £6.30 per foot of authorised length.

    Under PRML’s lease of the mooring area, there is a formal rent review underway with the Leaseholder, Place Estate.  It is highly likely that PRML will need to become VAT registered in the near future.  The Company will be unable to absorb the additional cost of VAT and will need to pass this on to Licensees: the Board will seek to delay this additional cost to Licensees for as long as possible.

    We continue to use email as our primary means of communication and your Mooring Licence Application Form/Invoice will arrive by email.  We will again not be sending out paper copies of your licence and your Licence Application Invoice; once paid; will form your licence for 2022.

    Payment of licence fees must be made by 16th May to avoid the late payment surcharge.  Payment by BACS is required as set out on the Mooring Licence Application Form/Invoice.  If you have changed email address or would prefer us to use a different one, please let us know, as well as providing any other new or changed contact details.

    It is important that you provide correct information about the boat using your mooring: a £30 admin fee is charged to reissue a mooring licence if the boat on the mooring is not the one authorised on the mooring licence.  Please inform us by email of any changes during the season: no fee charged if we are informed in advance of a change of boat.

  • Subletting of Moorings
    It is essential that licensees register all sublet moorings.  A renewal sublicence form will be emailed to those licensees who gave us details of their sublicence arrangement last year, and we would ask for these forms to be returned to us as soon as a sublet has been arranged indicating whether the details remain the same or are to be changed.

    If you are subletting as a new arrangement, please download a sublicence application form from https://percuilriver.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/SUBLICENCE-APPLICATION-2022-season.pdf and return it to us.

    As in previous years, the admin charge of £30 will be waived for the first issue of a sublicence provided the application is made in time for a sublicence to be issued in advance of the boat using the mooring.  Applications made later than this will be charged the usual administration fee.

    Please be aware that it is only permissible to sublet a Class A Mooring.  Class S moorings may however be sublet for one year only and subject to the prior approval of the company.  After such a period, the mooring must either be used by the licensee for their own boat or handed back to the company for reallocation as set out in the Licence Conditions.

  • Returned Moorings
    We need to know not later than 1st March 2022 if you intend to return your mooring this year.  Failure to notify by this date leaves the licensee liable for the annual licence fee.  This date will change at the end of this season such that if you wish to hand back the mooring before the 2023 season you will need to inform the company before 31st October 2022.

    We are just beginning to look at new mooring allocations for 2022 and any early notification of the return of moorings for this year would be much appreciated.

  • RYA webinar – Mooring and Anchoring in the Fal and Helford
    We have recently been notified by the RYA of a webinar that may be of interest:  Fal and Helford, Cornwall – Sustainable Anchoring & Moorings: Protecting our Marine Habitats.  This is to take place on 2nd February from 19:30-20:30.  You can register for free on the Green Blue Website https://thegreenblue.org.uk/get-involved/webinars/

 

If you see anything on the river that gives you cause for concern, please report it to the Company or to the Harbour Master.

For all contact with the Company please use Email contact@percuilriver.co.uk

We wish you an enjoyable season on the water in 2022.

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