Weymouth Harbour sees income boost with increase in visiting boats
July saw a 10 year high
Summer income for Weymouth harbour has increased – with more visiting boats and most of the 400 marina berths let, achieving a ten-year high in July.
But the success is not reflected at West Bay and Lyme Regis where many of the stats’ for the year to date are down.
The only reductions at Weymouth came from visiting commercial fishing boats which have dropped in a year from 79 to 32 at the end of August. Weymouth’s own commercial berths are also down, from 89 to 83, with more than twenty vacancies.
The public slipway had brought in £22,700 to the end of August compared to £17,600 at the same time last year.
Figures produced for the joint harbours committee also show an increase in the number of bigger boats visiting Weymouth, with a rise from 63 to 208 in those 20-metres or more and from 158 to 572 for those between 15 and 10 metres.
Income from visiting boats has gone up from £118,400 last year to £133,600 at the end of August this year.
Based on figures to date the harbour is predicted to make an operational profit of £188,000 at the end of the financial year in April 2023, compared to the expected £104,600 which was forecast at the start of the financial year.
Overall, when other income, including car parking, is added in, the end of year surplus could be as much as £436,400, compared to the predicted £349,400.
Because of the extra income the harbourreserve budget could rise to more than £2m by next April – money which will be used in the future for works including expensive repairs to several harbour walls.
West Bay has not seen the same success over the period – with most figures down year on year.
The harbour report to the end of August shows a drop in season ticket sales from 85 to 82; single launches down from 525 to 422; visiting boat nights down from 167 to 123 and boat lifts down from 69 to 30.
Despite this the harbour continues to have a waiting list for both leisure and commercial moorings with mooring occupancy for private boats at 97 per cent and commercial at 100 per cent.
Lyme Regis shows a similar trend with season ticket and single launches down although visiting boat nights have risen from 375 to 410.
The reduction in activity is reflected in boat lifts which show an income of £14,700 last year but only £1,470 this year with quayside parking income down from £15,500 to £9,200 and shop sales from £6,600 to £2,800.
As with West Bay the Lyme harbour has a waiting list for leisure and commercial moorings.
Both harbours are expected to show a modest profit at the end of the financial year – forecast to be £22,400 for West Bay and £9,200 for Lyme Regis.