October 2020 Newsletter
The Directors of Percuil River Moorings Limited hope that you have been able to enjoy the season since the relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions earlier in the year.
With the season beginning to draw to a close, may we bring a number of matters to the attention of all licensees.
Should you be planning to have a boat on your mooring during the winter, you are required to have an additional mooring check by an Approved Mooring Contractor not later than the 31st October.
As in previous years we have a considerable number of people on the Waiting List for new moorings. We would ask that any licensee who is considering handing back a mooring does so at the earliest opportunity to allow mooring allocations to be made as early as possible in the new year. Whilst the latest date to notify us of returning a mooring for next year is 1st March 2021 (beyond which the full licence fee will be payable) an earlier notification of return would be greatly appreciated.
You may be aware that what have been traditional methods of washing down vessels at the end of the season need to be reconsidered in the light of updated environmental protection. The Environment Agency has been working with Cornwall Council and the Cornwall Marine Network over the last year to raise awareness of the environmental impact of vessel washdowns and anti-fouling. The boatyards and others who undertake washdown of vessels following removal from the water will need to take account of these requirements. We bring this to the attention of licensees who undertake vessel washdown themselves to highlight that any vessels causing the entry of polluting matter to coastal waters while using the inter-tidal zone to washdown and remove and/or replace anti-fouling would be committing an offence.
Your Board has continued their efforts to reduce proximity problems on the river – building on the extensive mooring repositioning over the past couple of years. Whilst, in a congested river such as the Percuil, there will always be problems when wind and tidal conditions are balanced against one another, almost without exception this year, contact between vessels (other than in such conditions) has been attributed to one or other mooring not being compliant with the mooring specification guidelines. Whilst the expertise on these specifications lies with your AMC, we would encourage you to ask your AMC to confirm that he services your mooring in accordance with the guidelines and to ask him for a copy of the mooring service report that he has to submit to us.
We wish you well for the remainder of 2020 and look forward to a more normal year in 2021.