How long do marinas take to answer a berth enquiry?

If a marina is going to answer you, it usually does so within a day. If you've heard nothing after three days,
ask somewhere else as well.

That's what we found when we timed the replies to the berth enquiries we sent for boat owners between 8 September
and 4 October this year. We could time 69 answers from the moment we sent the enquiry to the moment the marina
replied.

What the timings showed

22 of the 69 answers came within four hours. 39 came within a day, and 61 within three days. Only one came after
more than a week. The middle answer took about 18 hours.

The day you ask makes less difference than you might think. Enquiries sent Monday to Thursday were answered in
about 16 hours at the middle. Those sent Friday to Sunday took about 19. Plenty of marina offices answer at the
weekend in autumn.

Where you ask makes more. Marinas abroad answered faster than UK marinas in these weeks: about 15 hours at the
middle for the 45 answers from abroad, about 40 for the 24 UK answers. September is the end of the season in the
UK and the start of the winter booking rush further south, and you can see it in the replies.

Not every marina answers

Not every marina answers. A busy office with a full pontoon often has nothing useful to say, so it says nothing.

That's the main reason to ask several marinas at once rather than one at a time. If you wait three days for each
one in turn, a month can go by before you find space.

How to get a faster, straighter answer

Give them everything they need in the first message. A marina can't say yes or no without:

1. Your boat's overall length.
2. Her beam.
3. Her draft.
4. The dates you want, or "annual" if it's a full year.

We wrote more about why those four matter in
the four numbers every marina needs before they can quote you.

Say whether you'd take a swinging mooring as well as a pontoon berth. Some places that are full on the pontoons
still have moorings, and they'll only offer them if you ask.

And if you're flexible on where, say so. A marina 20 minutes along the coast may have space when the famous one
doesn't. In the Solent, for example, there are a lot of marinas within a short drive of each other
(see the Solent).

If you'd rather not chase them yourself

Tell us your boat once and we'll ask the marinas that fit, and pass their answers straight to you. It's free for
boat owners. Ask for a berth.

Duncan
BerthFinder