Mooring Problems !!

[Peter009]

Hi all we are in a boat yard fixing up our boat as many as you know and are not finished however I have received an email this morning that they intend to double the costs to be there in 3 months which is ridiculous however we did not want to be there anyway for reasons I wont go into on this forum but lets say things go missing all the time and it is not maintained at all for the costs.

 

We are now urgently looking for mooring hopefully on the GU near Heathrow, Reading Windsor or any of those areas does anybody know of anywhere that may have space for a 60 x 12 widebeam that wont charge extortionate rates or at least reasonable.  We would move up North if we could but feel our boat is just too big for the canals as not only is it beautiful there the rates are cheaper but for other reasons as well we need to stay South.

 

If anybody has any information please PM me as we are really worried now about what to do and where to go !

Thanks

[Boater Sam]

There you have the 2 dilemmas, the southern GU near London mooring pressure and the costs of a big boat.

Sorry to hear of your problems but you may well have to take the decision to radically change your lifestyle.

[sueb]

Try Thames and Kennet marina. Not cheap but boating isn't cheap

[David Mack]

Waterside Moorings shows only 3 moorings available for a boat that size - 2 on the Gloucester & Sharpness and one at Claverton on the  K & A.

[Alan de Enfield]

6 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Waterside Moorings shows only 3 moorings available for a boat that size - 2 on the Gloucester & Sharpness and one at Claverton on the  K & A.

But they are only 'leisure moorings'.

From memory Peter is 'residential' (liveaboard)

 

 

 

 

I know its of no use to Peter, but I found it interesting that C&RT have 41' 12" moorings available, but no 42 foot moorings.

 

Up to 41' 12" / 12.80m mooring available now

Edited March 29, 2019 by Alan de Enfield

[WotEver]

13 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

I know its of no use to Peter, but I found it interesting that C&RT have 41' 12" moorings available, but no 42 foot moorings.

How about 41ft 228”?

Edited March 29, 2019 by WotEver

[ditchcrawler]

Just now, WotEver said:

I guess he could always fib...

CRT say my boat is 56 foot 12 inches

[Alan de Enfield]

Just now, ditchcrawler said:

CRT say my boat is 56 foot 12 inches

They really do regularly make themselves look foolish.

[MtB]

9 hours ago, Peter009 said:

We are now urgently looking for mooring hopefully on the GU near Heathrow, Reading Windsor or any of those areas does anybody know of anywhere that may have space for a 60 x 12 widebeam that wont charge extortionate rates or at least reasonable.

 

Can't help but say if you buy a mahoosive feckin great boat, mooring is never gonna be cheap. 

 

I second the suggestion to go to T&K marina. £10K a year for such a big boat in commuting distance of London strikes me a very reasonable.

 

 

[Peter009]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions, appreciate we have a big boat but we was saving up to do this in a way that we can afford it, i.e look around for mooring all over the country regardless of location looking for somewhere pleasant to live and then change our lifestyle and work around that, we have, in my opinion illegally had our bill doubled due to the greed of where we are and because of the timescale we need to move now,  we still have not changed how we work to enable us to just move it someone maybe even up North where we believe it is so much nicer, we do not want to partiuclarly be around London at all there is no real reason for it other than the fact that from where we live it is commutable as we will not be able to move there straight away and the boat will be unfinished as not enough time.  

 

I hate to say it but this has really upset my wife and with the pressure we have been under with the boat and money we might end up selling as we just dont feel we ever get a break from it all and wonder if it is all worth it.  We are not rich wish we was people assume that because we have a wide beam but we have put everything we have worked for in this and starting to wonder what was the point.  To me the dream is slipping away and am not sure if we will continue the way things stand.

[OldGoat]

It's no good throwing your toys out of your pram - when you should have done some research before embarking on such a big boat.

You can live for less is you CC, but then there's a lack of comforts such as shore power and car parking. T&K's price is pretty average for the Thames (for comparison have you tried Bray or Penton Hook marinas or even Shepperton?

Most Thames marina contracts run from April to April, so I suspect that wherever you are is working on the same basis. There's nothing illegal in a price increase - it happens all the time...

Calm down and work around it....

[rusty69]

1 minute ago, OldGoat said:

It's no good throwing your toys out of your pram - when you should have done some research before embarking on such a big boat.

<Sarcasm mode on>

 

Maybe the OP should have expected a 100% price increase, I know I would have included this scenario in my research .

 

<Sarcasm mode off>

[OldGoat]

11 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

<Sarcasm mode on>

 

Maybe the OP should have expected a 100% price increase, I know I would have included this scenario in my research .

 

<Sarcasm mode off>

He doesn't say where he is moored, but on the Thames there are winter rates (a number of NBs take advantage of these...)  which are very attractive for CCers and coupled with the annual price hike I can easily see how there would be a doubling of the price  in those circumstances.

[MtB]

3 hours ago, Peter009 said:

we have, in my opinion illegally had our bill doubled due to the greed of where we are

 

<Harsh hat ON>

 

This is the downside of living in a free society. There is nothing illegal about sellers of mooring services raising the price to whatever they like. Saying it is illegal is plain petulance. The flip side was you probably had a mooring way cheaper than market rate until now, and you weren't complaining about that were you?

 

If the boatyard thinks they can re-let your space for double what you currently pay, then probably they are right especially given your difficulty in finding another place so cheap. As Goaty says, did you not do any research about mooring prices before buying the boat? Big boats cost a LOT to own and moor near London, as it seems you are only now finding out. 

 

<Harsh hat OFF>

 

 

CRT on line moorings are your best bet. CRT only charge 10% more for a fat bustud boat than for a thin one (which I think discriminates illegally against narrowboat owners  ). Widebeam moorings crop up from time to time at Great Bedwyn Wiltshire for about £3.5k a year, which strike me as exceptionally cheap for the area given it is an easy drive to London.

 

 

 

[OldGoat]

7 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

< . As Goaty says, 

 

 

 

I like it, I like it!! - perhaps I should change my ID to Goatee, but then I'm clean shaven. It's more to do with boat name than any hirsute appendage...

(BTW - as I'm addressing this reply to you - a belated welcome back)   

[rusty69]

<Logic mode on>

 

Boat yard services can increase their fees by x2, x4 etc.

 

Ergo, in order to own a boat I need an unlimited budget.

 

Where did I put that magic spinning wheel?

 

<Logic mode off>

[MtB]

3 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

<Logic mode on>

 

Boat yard services can increase their fees by x2, x4 etc.

 

Ergo, in order to own a boat I need an unlimited budget.

 

Where did I put that magic spinning wheel?

 

<Logic mode off>

 

 

Market forces prevent yards increasing their prices endlessly. Boats would simply move to other yards that are cheaper. Market forces limit the budget you'd need.

 

If the OP can't find a cheaper yard than even his new, doubled price, this illustrates his current mooring is seriously underpriced.

[rusty69]

 

Many years ago, when we first started mooring at a boat yard, one day talking in the pub with neighbours, one of them told of how he had been overcharged for electricity. We had also been overcharged,and mentioned it (the yard owner had been mixing up meter readings). 

 

A week later our mooring fees increased unexpectedly,we paid. Two months later we were told to leave,no explanation given,we left. 

 

'Coincidentally' that same week someone dunked our young cat in a bath full of used engine oil. The cat promptly went in the boat and got oil everywhere. When we got back from work, a trip up the vet,and big bill followed. The cat still suffers 18 years on.

 

Some months later we bumped into some of the people from the pub that day.The story had got back to the boatyard owner (who was an arsehole) that WE were stirring up trouble over mooring fees and electricity bills, and we were the ring leaders.

 

Moral of the story, be careful what you say to your neighbours.

 

As it happened, they did us a huge favour, and we are happy to have left.

 

[Bee]

4 hours ago, Peter009 said:

 

 

I hate to say it but this has really upset my wife and with the pressure we have been under with the boat and money we might end up selling as we just dont feel we ever get a break from it all and wonder if it is all worth it.  We are not rich wish we was people assume that because we have a wide beam but we have put everything we have worked for in this and starting to wonder what was the point.  To me the dream is slipping away and am not sure if we will continue the way things stand.

I have real sympathy for you. I can remember sleepless nights years ago when we lived on a (narrow) boat, problems with moorings and rocketing costs, we had two very young children and I was earning £3. 25 an hour driving HGV's. That was in the Thatcher years. In the end we sold up and bought a house. One of the things you need if you live on a boat is a thick skin, there is always some sort of officialdom trying to make life awkward and to be honest I am not too sure about the solidarity of some boat owners when it comes to sticking together in the face of adversity.  We just tied on a towpath British Waterways mooring for years then found a residential mooring that in the end became just too expensive. We now have a boat on the French canals that we live on for summer and for us that works really well. Don't despair, there is not much that CRT or anybody else can or is likely to do if you just tie on the towpath for the summer and keep looking. Good Luck. 

[Arthur Marshall]

Do you really need to be in a yard? Online is always cheaper and if you buy a decent generator you should be able to do everything OK. I more or less refitted mine online, and most of the welding got done there too. You've got three months warning - get enough done in that time to make the boat inhabitable, even if basic, and take it elsewhere. 

I'm in Macclesfield, the bloke on the boat next door comes down from Newcastle to fettle his boat. This is only a small country, and you can cope with a few hours commute to the boat if you can stay on it while you work. 

[ditchcrawler]

You may have a problem finding a marina who will let you fit your boat out, you dont say if you are on the river or the canals

[MtB]

11 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

You may have a problem finding a marina who will let you fit your boat out, you dont say if you are on the river or the canals

 

OP implies he's on the GU "near Heathrow".

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

You may have a problem finding a marina who will let you fit your boat out

Marina may well object if you are doing exterior work, noisy activities or employing contractors. But if you are quietly fitting out the interior you may get away with it.

[Peter009]

21 hours ago, OldGoat said:

It's no good throwing your toys out of your pram - when you should have done some research before embarking on such a big boat.

You can live for less is you CC, but then there's a lack of comforts such as shore power and car parking. T&K's price is pretty average for the Thames (for comparison have you tried Bray or Penton Hook marinas or even Shepperton?

Most Thames marina contracts run from April to April, so I suspect that wherever you are is working on the same basis. There's nothing illegal in a price increase - it happens all the time...

Calm down and work around it....

I am not throwing toys out of the pram   I have done my research so please dont assume we have not we are nowhere near the canals and are in a boat yard which have increased their prices overnight whilst in a contract that does not allow that so please dont assume that I should of done my research when the whole boat yard are up in arms about this not just us I know the costs on the GU canal however we was not expecting to move until later this year as per the plans and was told by the boat yard that was not a problem and they have changed this for no reason whatsoever.  

17 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

OP implies he's on the GU "near Heathrow".

No we are not on the GU we are in Sussex in a boat yard far away from the canals we are looking around that area

19 hours ago, Bee said:

I have real sympathy for you. I can remember sleepless nights years ago when we lived on a (narrow) boat, problems with moorings and rocketing costs, we had two very young children and I was earning £3. 25 an hour driving HGV's. That was in the Thatcher years. In the end we sold up and bought a house. One of the things you need if you live on a boat is a thick skin, there is always some sort of officialdom trying to make life awkward and to be honest I am not too sure about the solidarity of some boat owners when it comes to sticking together in the face of adversity.  We just tied on a towpath British Waterways mooring for years then found a residential mooring that in the end became just too expensive. We now have a boat on the French canals that we live on for summer and for us that works really well. Don't despair, there is not much that CRT or anybody else can or is likely to do if you just tie on the towpath for the summer and keep looking. Good Luck. 

We was thinking about the French Canals but with Brexit not sure what to do but that is where we would love to be can you PM me to discuss more thanks

[Peter009]

21 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

<Harsh hat ON>

 

This is the downside of living in a free society. There is nothing illegal about sellers of mooring services raising the price to whatever they like. Saying it is illegal is plain petulance. The flip side was you probably had a mooring way cheaper than market rate until now, and you weren't complaining about that were you?

 

If the boatyard thinks they can re-let your space for double what you currently pay, then probably they are right especially given your difficulty in finding another place so cheap. As Goaty says, did you not do any research about mooring prices before buying the boat? Big boats cost a LOT to own and moor near London, as it seems you are only now finding out. 

 

<Harsh hat OFF>

 

 

CRT on line moorings are your best bet. CRT only charge 10% more for a fat bustud boat than for a thin one (which I think discriminates illegally against narrowboat owners  ). Widebeam moorings crop up from time to time at Great Bedwyn Wiltshire for about £3.5k a year, which strike me as exceptionally cheap for the area given it is an easy drive to London.

 

 

 

Of course we did research and it is illegal to breach contract terms overnight with no notice when our planned move was already agreed and we were working towards that,  I guess this comes down to again insults because we have a widebeam or as you say bustud boat seriously ! what right do you have to presume anything about us if going to this forum just generates insults then that is really sad !!!  

Not bothering to view this post again the trolls have done their best to try to upset already upset people hiding behind the screen this sickens me is really does why do people act like that with others really sad to see this on here when there are obviously some very good people on here that the others let the site down ....