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Please note: The Club's boats are only for use by paid up Club Members, they are not available for use by the general public.
Donations:
The fishing trips are for the members pleasure only, charges made for
the trips are by donations, preferably Gift Aid Donations, and all money
received are paid into the Club Funds and used for the general purposes
of the Club.
For every £100 of Gift Aid Donations the Club can claim £25 more in Gift Aid tax relief.
If you regularly give Gift Aid Donations please ensure you pay enough tax to cover your donations.
Booking a Fishing Trip
The best way to book or request a fishing is to come on down to
the members' Thursday Club night meeting at the Mumbles Rugby Football
Club (MRFC). You will then see what is on offer, have a chat with the
skippers and then put your name on the booking planner for a trip that
already has a skipper or to request a fishing trip on a date that may
not yet have a designated skipper. Alternatively, if you cannot make it
to the Thursday night meetings you can book or make a request via:
You can monitor the fishing trips by looking at the e-fishing calendar on this website.
To meet all health, safety, and insurance requirements only Club
Members (Paid-up) up to a maximum of 12 anglers plus 2 crew will be
allowed on Oystercat and 6 including the skipper on the Mumbles
Belle.
Our mode of practice for the Oystercat
restricts us to a maximum of 12 anglers plus 2 crew. These limits
will not be exceeded under any circumstances. However, we do find
that a maximum of 10 anglers gives a much more enjoyable fishing
experience. The actual number of anglers per trip is subject to the
skipper's discretion and depends on the type of fishing being
undertaken. Boat fishing trips will only leave when the Skipper is fully
satisfied that all safety precautions are in place and the weather
forecast is satisfactory for the duration of the fishing trip.
The marina operates a system where boats leave the locks to go to sea
and the hour and return to the marina through the locks on the half
hour. All Oystercat fishing trips leave on the hour which is the
marina's out-lock time (i.e. 08.00 hrs).
You should aim to arrive at
the entrance the marina berth 30 minutes before the departure time. It
would be much appreciated if you could wait at the gate, in the car
park, until called to board by the skipper. The skipper and crew will
have arrived much earlier to carry out the pre-departure checks and
prepare the safety equipment prior to anyone boarding. Once invited to
board by the skipper you will be issued with lifejackets and taken
through a safety at sea procedure, which requires your full attention.
These fishing trips are for members only and you will be
required to show your photo membership card for the current year when
boarding a boat.
No alcohol or drugs are allowed on our boats.
Alcohol and boating do not mix.
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Check the calendars first
Before using the Booking Form please have a look at the Boat Fishing Calendar for dates, details and places that might be available. Duration of fishing trips are flexible: 2 to 4 hours, 4 to 6 hours, 6 to 8 hours, longer trips to Lundy fishing marks. Trips can be arranged for morning, afternoon, evening or all day. Please state your preference on the form when making a fishing trip request.
Check the weather forecast also
Before making a request and/or booking time off work it is a good idea to check the weather forecast to make sure the weather is suitable for a fishing trip on the day you want to go.
Or, you can come down to the Mumbles Rugby Football Club on a Thursday MMBFC club night and book a place on a fishing trip using the Booking Planner. This can be used for booking a trip on the Oystercat, Mumbles Belle and shore fishing.
Using The Booking Form
Making use of booking form does not guarantee a booked place. If there is a
place available we will confirm by email that a booking has been made.
Should you have to cancel, for acceptable reasons, then please do so
within 48 hours of your fishing trip date/time. Failure to notify a
cancellation or a non-show at the appointed date/time will lead to a charge of £10 to cover the loss of a donation.
The boats are designed and insured for a maximum number of
passenger and crew, when the skipper and/or crew intend to fish along
with the other anglers or it is a special type of fishing trip the
skipper has discretion to limit the number of people on-board to a lower
number. This information will be made available at the time of booking
so anyone booking on the trip will know the number of people
contributing to the cost of the trip.
All fishing trips take place subject to suitable weather
condition,
the skipper's decision is final. It's a skipper's nightmare to drag
members down to the marina and then not be able to go sea. This happens
rarely. Skippers can only be guided by the forecast and by checking with
the coastguards, and are the only ones who can make the decision to
cancel. If there is time the skippers will contact the booked anglers at
least the day before the trip to let them know it's cancelled. Booked
anglers who find they cannot make the trip should give the skipper at
least 48 hours notice so that a replacement can be found. Members
failing to notify the skipper of a cancellation will have to pay the
donation for the trip, currently £10. Be assured all we want is for
you to enjoy your day out fishing with the Club.
Type of fishing trips undertaken:
Smoothhound; Tope; Rays; Wrasse; Bass; Cod; Bream; whiting;
General; Evening; Club specials: etc. It is also possible to start an
individual or small group organised day. Just send an email or use the
booking form with your request to start the ball rolling.
Our single biggest
problem is the weather.
We acquire our weather
information from a number of sources; shipping forecast, inshore
forecast, internet weather stations, Met Offfice, Marina, Coast
Guards, TV etc., and use it in deciding whether or not to go fishing.
Our intelligent interpretation of the best forecasts available does
not guarantee a correct decision; we cannot be held responsible if
the booked anglers have a wasted journey.
You are advised to call
the skipper the day prior to the trip to check the conditions and
whether the trip is still on. If the skipper cancels the trip due to
adverse weather conditions, problems with the boat, illness or
indisposition on the part of the skipper or crew we will endeavour to
give at least 24 hours notice to the booked anglers.
If deteriorating
weather conditions force an early return to the marina, the decision
to return is the skipper's and his alone. | |
Car Parking
Booked anglers should not board their boat until cleared to do so
by the skipper and on the production of their membership card.
The marina has
introduced a new car parking arrangement which means the day long
temporary car parking permits are no longer available. You will now
have to park in the public car parks close to the marina. It will be
possible to unload and load your fishing gear from your car at the
entrance to the marina boat berth, as the council allows 10 minutes
of free parking for this activity. There are two free car parks
further down the marina 1. (Pilot House Wharf) by the public toilets and tackle
shop and the other 2. more towards the sea front by the apartments.
It may be prudent to car share where possible; liaise with the
skipper on the car parking arrangements for the fishing trip.
The Paxton Street car park is free on Sundays.
Should you use these free car parks and are able bodied it may be possible for you to board the boat
from the fuel dock. If you decide to do this please
let the skipper of your trip know before hand. Any member who cannot
board at the fuel dock, due to the access being via a short vertical
ladder, should make arrangements with the skipper to board at the marina
berth. | |
Marina layout and car parking.
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Fishing Trip Bookings
Running costs for the fishing trips are recovered through the boat anglers making a donation, preferably a
Gift Aid donation.
For the Oystercat these are based on a flexible overhead depending on the
length of a fishing trip up to a maximum of £70 for a full day fishing trip
(6-8hrs) and fuel used at £4.00 per mile. This total is then shared by
the number of anglers on the fishing trip. For the maximum 8hr fishing
trip with 10 anglers the donation will be approximately £15.00 per
angler (£70 + £80 = £150/10=£15). The overhead for shorter fishing
trips will determined either on a per angler or per hour basis, but will be less
than the £70. The fuel rate will stay the same at £4.00 per mile.
All
the money raised through these donations is paid into the Club funds
and applied for the general use of the Club.
For the Mumbles Belle the donations are £10 per angler + the cost of the fuel used, from £1 per angler depending on mileage.
Where
skippers have shown, on the calendar, their availability to take a
Club boat out for a fishing trip it is up to the members to make a booking
for the places available using the booking form,
or phoning the Club or skipper or, making a booking on the paper
calendar on a Club Night.
Skippers do not send out invitations to
members as this would be deemed to be a bit 'clickie', unless there is need to find anglers to make a trip viable. Bookings are
made on a first come first served basis so please do not wait for
personal invites to go fishing. When there is a shortage of anglers
for a specific fishing trip it may be necessary for a skipper to
phone around to try and fill the places for a trip to go ahead.
Please
keep looking at the calendars, make a booking and come out boat
fishing with us, this includes our junior members.
We
are still at a loss to know why we do not have a lot more members
taking advantage of the Club's boat fishing trips. We seem to have
the same satisfied members coming back for more fishing trips, it
would be nice to see a whole range of members out fishing with the
Club. We need to make more use of our wonderful boats or we could
lose these marvellus Club facilities.
Why
not make a booking now, there is good fishing for all our members.
Skipper in charge
The skipper of the boat reserves the right to return to the marina
at any time during a fishing trip if s/he feels the safety of the boat
or its anglers may be compromised in any way.
All anglers are recommended to wear a life jacket when under way on Club boats and must follow the instructions for wearing given by the
skipper of the boat at other times.
The RYA recommends a lifejacket should be worn:
- by non swimmers
- at night
- in a tender
- when reefing
- at any time the skipper asks
- in rough weather
- when the user wants to wear it.
Normal departure times
are on the hour and booked anglers who do not arrive within 15
minutes of an agreed departure time may be left behind, and still
have to make the donation for the trip.
Placement of a booking will be taken
as an acceptance of the above conditions and other Club boat fishing
rules by the member going fishing.
Please Note: Any member making a booking and then find they
can no longer make the trip must inform the Club/skipper at least 48
hours before departure so that their place can be offered to members on
the reserve list. Members(s) failing to notify a cancellation will
still have to pay a donation of £10 towards the charges for the fishing trip.
All our members are important to us and your comments are most welcome. |
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