Winter berthing at Spinola Bay

I urge all Spinola boat owners to support my friend Nick Coppini (The Sunday Times, September 14).

Like him, I am a resident of St Julian's and the proud owner of a 19-foot sailing boat. My berthing fees are fully paid up. I have been taking part in maritime activities in St Julian's Bay for 40 years. I have owned several boats, including a luzzu for about 11 years.

My sailing boat is now in its 10th year.

St Julian's Bay is not a port. It is not sheltered all around and is totally exposed to bad weather from the east and northeast (grigal). Berthing in this bay is like playing cat and mouse with the weather.

We try to follow closely the forecasts so when rough weather is coming our way, we quickly avoid it by simply pulling ashore. The bay is well equipped with several slipways purposely built by previous administrations. Some are also equipped with winches.

All these amenities are located on public land, most of which was reclaimed from the sea. Like many others, I used these amenities by right and have always had free access to them by road for trailer service and car.

Last winter, rough weather caught everybody by surprise and losses were considerable. It totally destroyed what was left of the paving on shore and made a mess of the whole area. Many of our boats either sank or were smashed to pieces.

This is when our trouble started. It was not just the natural disaster that caused us so much distress. One would have expected some support from our local council to recoup our losses, but instead the council decided to act against the boating community.

Final notices were pasted on to our broken boats, giving everyone a few days to clear the area so that the embellishment of Xatt is-Sajjieda could start quickly. Everybody co-operated with the council and the works went ahead without a hitch.

I launched my boat without finishing my repairs, thinking I would finish them after the works were done, but little did I know that the council decided to prohibit everyone from pulling ashore. I believe that this is illegal and I intend to challenge it in court. It changes public land into private land to be only enjoyed by the restaurant owners and a few garage owners.

The council gave these people keys so they can have free access to their premises, and rightly so, but to the rest of us the council issued fines. Surely this amounts to discrimination.

Now only wooden boats are allowed to pull ashore. Fibreglass boats cannot do so; only registered fishermen now have the right to come ashore.

Boat owners can take their boats home on a trailer, but this is not an option for me and some others who own sailing boats. Our boats on trailer, with keel and mast, reach some 30 feet in height.

When we drew the council's attention to this, we were told to take our boats to Manoel Island or Sliema Creek. This would be very risky in rough weather; all we need to do is pull ashore for shelter.

Denying access to boat owners discriminatory. All those who own boats in Spinola Bay should not take this decision lying down.