We are now coming to the end of a very relaxed, but busy Harbour season. Ali and myself pulled all the stops out this year by getting the Harbour Marine Coastguard agency compliant with the much valued help of Paul Brown. Ali and his team of helpers installed a hand rail on our slipway which has vastly increased accessibility making it safer to get down onto the sand. We introduced weekly stays on the mooring ropes which was a great success and whilst increasing our revenue stream, it added vastly to the local economy as these were new visitors and Salcombe boat users who then spent money with their family and friends in our village. We are ready to mark “Goody” rock and “The basses” as part of our Risk assessment whilst mindful of the new vessels visiting Hope Cove. This will e completed for next season.There was a significant increase in Kayaks and Paddleboards this year and will be have to be more vigilant on making sure we charge and sticker all items locked on the harbour chain, after all, we have an expensive sea wall to repair! The red honesty box at the top of Inner Hope Slipway was better received this year as hopefully water users understand it does cost to run the Harbour and Ali and myself put ourselves out to ensure you have the best possible safe experience. It is now apparent that craft insurers are pushing for the level 2 Power boat qualification. Myself and my family did the course this year and it was surprising how much I learnt! Ali’s grandson Reane set a great example by also doing the course. We encourage everyone to take it on board, if nothing else it will help in your defence if you have to make a public liability insurance claim!
As most of you are aware we now have an official harbour website design by Charlie Pearson who we feel has done an amazing job. https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fhopecoveharbour.com%2F&data=05%7C01%7C%7Cf991b96b07d14d815eee08dbb9f1adf4%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638308219876554516%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=1Wl8cmfRecil8V7yEcebDEsl175qTZVQjF%2FTwQfBheo%3D&reserved=0. A big thank you to our Harbour users for supplying photographs and especially to Dan Coleman of Image 360 for giving us the aerial photographs. The SHDC toilet and bin team have done us proud this season in keeping are village in pristine condition for which we are very grateful. The season didn’t sadly go without incident but the brilliant emergency services and our planning worked like clock work. Our Hope Cove Independent Lifeboat was called out many times, mainly to paddleboards, some of which had small children sat on the front with an adult but no life jacket on! The RNLI at Mouthwell were our First Aid team for the season but Ali,myself and Hazel will soon be basic First Aid trained!😬 Please ensure all craft are removed from the harbour by the end of October unless you have spoken to us. There will be a few changes next year but we have to discuss these with the commissioners at the next meeting. Thank you for being part of our amazing Harbour!😎