Rip-off Rubicon Marina
Malua
Harry Watson Smith
Sun 11 Nov 2012 18:36
We left the bay of Papugaya after two days of rock and roll as the swell came round the western tip of Lanzarote and the wind camee from a different direction. The rock and roll was not that bad but it meant that I had to hold my wine glass all the time rather than set it down at the table. We arrived as per my previous post and stayed a day taking the RIB to the beach and walked along the headland towards the town of Playa Blanca.
After the MOzzie net we set off to the Rubucan Marina and requested a berth via channel 09. We were instructed to tie up along side the fuel jetty which we did. We had just closed down the engine when a fellow appeared and said we had to move immediatly to another jetty and then go to the Office which would open at 9:00. We started the engine untied the lines and redocked just across the harbour.
I collected the ships documents and went to the office. I was third in line so had to wait while the lady dealing with the other Masters filling in their papers, and aswered the telephone and also the radio which seemed to go off every 2 minutes.
When I sat down she took the official Australian ships papers, passports and insurance papers copied them and then entered the details into the computer. During this time Malua's name was mentioned a number of times as she chatted on the radio in Spanish. She presented me with the papers to sign and said they had while I was waiting measured Malua and found "The length on the Australian Registration papers is wrong" The length of Malua according to them is 14 meters. This adds two meters to the boat's length and adds an extra 20 something euros to the all ready expensive marina fee (42.80 E).
I objected which resulted in further discussion in spanish on the radio. I later find out later they have measured Malua with a tape measure while I have been sitting in the Office. I refuse to sign the papers until they use the official information on the ships papers. They finally let me cross the error out and agree to a refund of the money they had taken via my credit card. I have to go back the next day and demand the refund because they have not credited my account.
Watch out for the Rubicon Marina they are a rip-off. The wifi does not work, the showers are no where to be found and the toilets require you to put your long distance walking shoes on to reach them. The list of rules goes to 22 points many starting with "It is forbidden....." "It is prohibited to......"
Thankfully Piers and I had a wonderful day on the island exploring with the use of a hire car.
A day on Malua