THE owner of the new Bailey Bridge Marina said seeing people on their boats enjoying themselves in the marina was “heart-warming”.

The new marina, which cost more than £200,000, opened at the former MoD site earlier this month.

It has space for 50 boats on its dry berth storage unit as well as room for more boats across its 110 square metres of pontoons, with more pontoons on the way.

And owner Will Eveleigh, 44, said they already have 43 clients, despite aiming to have 45 in the third year of their business plan.

He said: “All the fencing, CCTV, lighting has gone in, we have 45 to 50 as maximum number of boats but we have already got 43 boats booked in, it is pretty incredibly so I am really chuffed.

“Over the weekend it was magical, we have launched boats and to see people having drinks on their boat enjoying the environment was really heart-warming.

“Our business plan involved 30 boats for the first year and then about 40 for the second and 45 to 50 in the third, that’s what we predicted.

“The fact we have only just opened, it is better than we have imagined.

“In the future, we are expected to expand on the mooring side of things. I think having 50 boats on the dry stock will keep us busy.

“We will look to create more moorings in the future but there is a lot of work to be done.”

Owners of boats kept in the dry berth storage use an app to request their vessel be put in the water.

The app communicates with the JCP operator, who then sends a message to the owner when the boat is ready for them.

And Mr Eveleigh said the app had gone down “really well”.

“The main thing people have come back with is it has been very easy to use which is brilliant,” he continued.

“We are working with clients of all ages and at the moment clients have come back and said it is easy to use.

“Over the weekend, clients were meeting and talking to each other on their boats, it was really nice to see.

“Going forward we hope to host more events to bring people together.”