Time To Move On.

[Alan de Enfield]

Had many happy years on the canals, then bought the 'fat-boat' (the 14 foot beam cruiser NOT the 23 foot beam Catamaran) and had the last 4 years on the Rivers - costs seem to be ever increasing, and the new 'owners' at BWML are after their 'pound of flesh'.

 

I have had one boat in BWML Kings Marina for about 7 or 8 years and another boat in BWML - Hull for a couple of years (both at the same time) so they have had a fair few pennies from me.

 

Last year we moved the boat from Hull down to Plymouth, but having negotiated a 'loyalty discount' kept the other one at Kings.

 

This year an almost £500 increase in mooring fees at Kings and after discussions "no discounts allowed on instruction of the management - they need to increase their income to fund the planned improvements" means we will be moving on. - as it happens, our mooring is shown as being one of those that is being made into a 'floating homes' mooring, so we'd be moved anyway.

 

My fees at Kings :

2016/17 £1369

2017/18 £1739

2018/19 £1763

2019/20 £2220

 

I suggested that they may regret their stance as they lose more moorers than they gain from their increases - I was told that my concerns would be passed onto 'Senior management'.

 

So, its time to move onwards and upwards.

 

It looks like it will be Lowestoft we'll head to.

£1800 per annum, No Licence fees, No BSS, no worries.

It is 2 1/2 hours (111 miles from home) but Que Será, Será.

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Had many happy years on the canals, then bought the 'fat-boat' (the 14 foot beam cruiser NOT the 23 foot beam Catamaran) and had the last 4 years on the Rivers - costs seem to be ever increasing, and the new 'owners' at BWML are after their 'pound of flesh'.

 

I have had one boat in BWML Kings Marina for about 7 or 8 years and another boat in BWML - Hull for a couple of years (both at the same time) so they have had a fair few pennies from me.

 

Last year we moved the boat from Hull down to Plymouth, but having negotiated a 'loyalty discount' kept the other one at Kings.

 

This year an almost £500 increase in mooring fees at Kings and after discussions "no discounts allowed on instruction of the management - they need to increase their income to fund the planned improvements" means we will be moving on. - as it happens, our mooring is shown as being one of those that is being made into a 'floating homes' mooring, so we'd be moved anyway.

 

My fees at Kings :

2016/17 £1369

2017/18 £1739

2018/19 £1763

2019/20 £2220

 

I suggested that they may regret their stance as they lose more moorers than they gain from their increases - I was told that my concerns would be passed onto 'Senior management'.

 

So, its time to move onwards and upwards.

 

It looks like it will be Lowestoft we'll head to.

£1800 per annum, No Licence fees, No BSS, no worries.

It is 2 1/2 hours (111 miles from home) but Que Será, Será.

Hmm, can't say I blame you. We moved this year (although not for the same reason) and the new berth is about 3 hours 20 from home (Plymouth, as it happens). It's rather nice to have the boat based in a completely different stamping ground where it also serves as an overnight stop on journeys to as a holiday cottage when not navigating.  Having your cat in Plymouth, you're already used to it, but it may be food for thought for others who struggle to find or afford a mooring on their doorstep. 

[Alan de Enfield]

5 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Hmm, can't say I blame you. We moved this year (although not for the same reason) and the new berth is about 3 hours 20 from home (Plymouth, as it happens). It's rather nice to have the boat based in a completely different stamping ground where it also serves as an overnight stop on journeys to as a holiday cottage when not navigating.  Having your cat in Plymouth, you're already used to it, but it may be food for thought for others who struggle to find or afford a mooring on their doorstep. 

Yes - it would take about a week (steady cruising) to get the boat down to Lowestoft, but only 2 1/2 hours by car.

 

Bridlington has a 3 year waiting list

Whitby has a waiting list

Scarborough has a waiting list.

Wells Next Sea - drying.

Great Yarmouth - horrible mooring on a wall.

[cuthound]

3 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Had many happy years on the canals, then bought the 'fat-boat' (the 14 foot beam cruiser NOT the 23 foot beam Catamaran) and had the last 4 years on the Rivers - costs seem to be ever increasing, and the new 'owners' at BWML are after their 'pound of flesh'.

 

I have had one boat in BWML Kings Marina for about 7 or 8 years and another boat in BWML - Hull for a couple of years (both at the same time) so they have had a fair few pennies from me.

 

Last year we moved the boat from Hull down to Plymouth, but having negotiated a 'loyalty discount' kept the other one at Kings.

 

This year an almost £500 increase in mooring fees at Kings and after discussions "no discounts allowed on instruction of the management - they need to increase their income to fund the planned improvements" means we will be moving on. - as it happens, our mooring is shown as being one of those that is being made into a 'floating homes' mooring, so we'd be moved anyway.

 

My fees at Kings :

2016/17 £1369

2017/18 £1739

2018/19 £1763

2019/20 £2220

 

I suggested that they may regret their stance as they lose more moorers than they gain from their increases - I was told that my concerns would be passed onto 'Senior management'.

 

So, its time to move onwards and upwards.

 

It looks like it will be Lowestoft we'll head to.

£1800 per annum, No Licence fees, No BSS, no worries.

It is 2 1/2 hours (111 miles from home) but Que Será, Será.

 

So that's where she ended up. ?

 

 

Edited May 8, 2019 by cuthound
Spillung

[Naughty Cal]

2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Yes - it would take about a week (steady cruising) to get the boat down to Lowestoft, but only 2 1/2 hours by car.

 

Bridlington has a 3 year waiting list

Whitby has a waiting list

Scarborough has a waiting list.

Wells Next Sea - drying.

Great Yarmouth - horrible mooring on a wall.

What about St Olaves for the fat boat?

[Alan de Enfield]

13 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

What about St Olaves for the fat boat?

Thanks - I hadn't thought about them - but it is another £600 ish for the Broads licence (that's 50% more than C&RT) and the mooring fee is £2350, so it actually works out more than staying on C&RT waters.

I still need a BSSC

 

Reading the website it appears that boats come out for the Winter - that would be a negative.

 

I'll give them a call tomorrow and see what they have to say.

Edited May 8, 2019 by Alan de Enfield

[GUMPY]

We moved off the canals to the Nene this year to a mooring in our village. Saving over £2.5k on mooring fees (£4300 v £1600).

Then on a "whim" decided to move house 250 miles away so once we sell this house it will be  4hrs to the boat rather than 5 minutes.

 

[blackrose]

If you can afford to own & run a house and also afford to keep boat(s) in different parts of the country then to my mind you're not doing too badly. For lots of people, myself included, the only way to own a boat is to live on it full time. As far as increases in mooring fees are concerned the market will decide. Like everything else it's just demand and supply. If Alan's marina has increased fees beyond what the market will bear then demand will fall, supply will increase and at some point they'll be forced to reduce the fees. In general that doesn't happen though because demand is high.

Edited May 8, 2019 by blackrose

[Momac]

5 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

My fees at Kings :

2016/17 £1369

2017/18 £1739

2018/19 £1763

2019/20 £2220

 

It looks like it will be Lowestoft we'll head to.

£1800 per annum, No Licence fees, No BSS, no worries.

It is 2 1/2 hours (111 miles from home) but Que Será, Será.

 

I know of some people who moved a few years ago to Kings as it was significantly cheaper than Farndon. While Farndon prices have risen it seems Kings have almost caught them up.

The huge  increases may well see the Kings  short of boats  - but perhaps that is what they want ?

 

Not sure how you manage to find  time to keep and make use of  two boats but good luck.

 

 

 

 

 

[Alan de Enfield]

4 minutes ago, MartynG said:

 

I know of some people who moved a few years ago to Kings as it was significantly cheaper than Farndon. While Farndon prices have risen it seems Kings have almost caught them up.

The huge  increases may well see the Kings  short of boats  - but perhaps that is what they want ?

 

Not sure how you manage to find  time to keep and make use of  two boats but good luck.

 

 

 

 

 

Farndon works out about £200 more than Kings, but when you look at the facilities at Farndon (Chandlery, workshops, hard standing, hoist etc etc) then Farndon is 'worth it'.

 

Kings has non of the above.

 

Part of the 'problem' is that Kings is primarily geared up for NB's and anything over 9 foot beam is now getting a 'surcharge'.

Farndon is geared up for 'boats' and NBs are not allowed.

 

Horses for courses.

 

21 minutes ago, blackrose said:

If you can afford to own & run a house and also afford to keep boat(s) in different parts of the country then to my mind you're not doing too badly. For lots of people, myself included, the only way to own a boat is to live on it full time. As far as increases in mooring fees are concerned the market will decide. Like everything else it's just demand and supply. If Alan's marina has increased fees beyond what the market will bear then demand will fall, supply will increase and at some point they'll be forced to reduce the fees. In general that doesn't happen though because demand is high.

 

I've been fortunate - I was able to retire at age 46 with no debts or mortgage so have had plenty of 'good boating years' on lumpy water & on the canals before C&RT started letting things slide.

We have had Offshore cruisers, sailing boats, narrowboats, inshore cruiser, Catamaran, but the freedom of the sea takes some beating.

 

[Phoenix_V]

7 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

It looks like it will be Lowestoft we'll head to.

£1800 per annum, No Licence fees, No BSS, no worries.

It is 2 1/2 hours (111 miles from home) but Que Será, Será.

We went one step further than that a few years ago and moved the boat to Belgium, mooring cost about 900 euros, licence 150 euros, hundreds of miles of waterway to explore, just 40 minutes drive from the port at Dunkirk. Unfortunately it looks like Brexit may bugger that up for us.

Edited May 8, 2019 by Phoenix_V

[noddyboater]

Someone told me their mooring in Sawley Marina had increased to over £4,000 recently. That’s for a full length fat boat, I believe residential. They were discussing leaving and coming out onto the “cut” with their neighbours, and you can’t blame them. Expect to see an increase in residential wide beams on the towpath as prices rise. 

[mrsmelly]

Facts are very simply that prices rise over the years. Houses, boats, everything. We moved aboard full time 30 years ago and whilst I dont have accurate figures our mooring fees when not ccing were in the low hundreds per year and the licence even less, red diesel was fifty pence a gallon. Same with property, no one ever loses on property long term, I defy anyone to tell me of a house bought thirty years ago that is worth less today, wherever it is in the country. Problem now is for such as me living aboard is a lifestyle choice and we used our property for days away whereas today hard working decent folk cannot afford property so buy boats to live on and CART and the like put mooring costs up as Blackrose says basicaly cos of supply and demand. 

[OldGoat]

"You lot" don't know how lucky you are...

I pay 3+ times the prices that are quoted above on the Thames.

A nice mooring - but hey....

[Bee]

11 hours ago, Phoenix_V said:

We went one step further than that a few years ago and moved the boat to Belgium, mooring cost about 900 euros, licence 150 euros, hundreds of miles of waterway to explore, just 40 minutes drive from the port at Dunkirk. Unfortunately it looks like Brexit may bugger that up for us.

We have moored in Holland and various bits of France including Valenciennes where the price was so reasonable that I can't even remember what it was. I reckon that its quite possible to cover the cost of putting your boat on a lorry after a couple of years and if you've got a stupidly expensive Thames mooring then you might even do it in less. Sodding brexit is the big unknown but I'm not bringing the boat back to the UK whatever happens, its a rip off. (Sorry old goat, posts crossed)

Edited May 9, 2019 by Bee
stmpathy for Goat

[Sea Dog]

15 minutes ago, OldGoat said:

"You lot" don't know how lucky you are...

I pay 3+ times the prices that are quoted above on the Thames.

A nice mooring - but hey....

Oi! There's nothing "lucky" about me not mooring "darn sarf" thank you very much!

 

[Naughty Cal]

17 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Thanks - I hadn't thought about them - but it is another £600 ish for the Broads licence (that's 50% more than C&RT) and the mooring fee is £2350, so it actually works out more than staying on C&RT waters.

I still need a BSSC

 

Reading the website it appears that boats come out for the Winter - that would be a negative.

 

I'll give them a call tomorrow and see what they have to say.

Pretty sure not all of their boats come out for the winter. 

 

As you say not a cheap option.