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Mooring type / costs / advice


Jamie Marley

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Hi, I am looking for some advice as a lot of the research I have been doing it still slightly confusing. 

 

We are buying a narrow boat as a weekend retreat, holiday home if you like, we will still be living in our “brick and mortar home” 

 

As we are not going to live in the boat full time and it’s for leisure only, will we be able to moore up anywhere and leave it and then move it within 14 days or will we have to buy / rent a permanent mooring and this has to be the place we leave it when it’s not being used during the week? 

Do we get any kind of discount as it would only be an ongoing leisure mooring and not a mooring where we would live full time? 

 

Thank you 

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3 minutes ago, Jamie Marley said:

will we be able to moore up anywhere and leave it and then move it within 14 days

Yes, but you will need to license the boat as a continuous cruiser, and issue it is moved from one locality to another, and generally in an onwards direction, every 14 days.

4 minutes ago, Jamie Marley said:

Do we get any kind of discount as it would only be an ongoing leisure mooring

Leisure moorings are generally cheaper, particularly as they don’t need to include composite rates element...

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5 minutes ago, Jamie Marley said:

As we are not going to live in the boat full time and it’s for leisure only, will we be able to moore up anywhere and leave it and then move it within 14 days

Yes.

You will need to look carefully where you moor and check the time allowed.

'Rural' in the middle of nowhere just tie up to the canal bank moorings are usually 14 days.

There are many places where the canal side has been 'improved' and there may be bollards or rings to moor to - the time allowed on these can be anywhere between 2 days and 14 days.

There are then very-time limited moorings which can be as short as 2-hours simply to allow you to moor in a popular place and give you time to go shopping and then move on.

 

 

The thinking behind 'allowing' boats to 'continuous cruise' is that they will be undertaking a 'journey' and not just going from A to B to C to B to A (ie cruising in a limited area)

 

What you are proposing can be achieved (and is by a growing number who either don't want, or cannot afford a 'home mooring').

There is a derogatory name for these type of boaters "dumpers" - as they 'dump' the boat on a Sunday night and don't move it for 2-weeks. Some view that it not following the ethos of boating, but it is entirely 'legal and everyone has their own ideas and needs regarding boating.

 

What you will need to consider is keeping the batteries charged, emptying the toilet, filling the water tank, getting gas and fuel and making sure the boat is secure and moored in a 'safe' (low vandalism) area.

How will you get to the boat (that you have left 20, 30, 50 miles away from home), what will you do with your car when you get there, and when you moor up another 20-30-50 miles further away how will you get back to your car.

 

You are making life difficult for yourselves - I'd actually guess that 90% of boats that have 'moorings' in marinas are exactly what you are describing will be your usage.

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32 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

You are making life difficult for yourselves - I'd actually guess that 90% of boats that have 'moorings' in marinas are exactly what you are describing will be your usage.

That thought occurred to me also.

 

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33 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Yes.

You will need to look carefully where you moor and check the time allowed.

'Rural' in the middle of nowhere just tie up to the canal bank moorings are usually 14 days.

There are many places where the canal side has been 'improved' and there may be bollards or rings to moor to - the time allowed on these can be anywhere between 2 days and 14 days.

There are then very-time limited moorings which can be as short as 2-hours simply to allow you to moor in a popular place and give you time to go shopping and then move on.

 

 

The thinking behind 'allowing' boats to 'continuous cruise' is that they will be undertaking a 'journey' and not just going from A to B to C to B to A (ie cruising in a limited area)

 

What you are proposing can be achieved (and is by a growing number who either don't want, or cannot afford a 'home mooring').

There is a derogatory name for these type of boaters "dumpers" - as they 'dump' the boat on a Sunday night and don't move it for 2-weeks. Some view that it not following the ethos of boating, but it is entirely 'legal and everyone has their own ideas and needs regarding boating.

 

What you will need to consider is keeping the batteries charged, emptying the toilet, filling the water tank, getting gas and fuel and making sure the boat is secure and moored in a 'safe' (low vandalism) area.

How will you get to the boat (that you have left 20, 30, 50 miles away from home), what will you do with your car when you get there, and when you moor up another 20-30-50 miles further away how will you get back to your car.

 

You are making life difficult for yourselves - I'd actually guess that 90% of boats that have 'moorings' in marinas are exactly what you are describing will be your usage.

I would echo the above comments fully. Consider a genuine average weekend :- Arrive at boat straight from work, start engine to charge batteries & heat water (if before 8pm). Cruise Saturday, making time to fill with water and empty toilet /pumpout. Cruise Sunday am, find somewhere safe to moor with car parking nearby, get back to car by bike, taxi. drive back to boat to pick up clothes for washing, unueaten  food etc, drive home. I give such arrangements 3 months.

No, get a home mooring. 

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I cannot understand the mindset of spending tens of thousands of pounds on something that is impossible to make secure and then leaving it tied to the towpath in the middle of nowhere for weeks on end. You wouldn't do it with anything else and expect to find it in the state you left it, or even the same place! 

Depending on where you are, farm moorings are cheap, safe and plentiful. Marinas are more expensive. One or the other should, for a leisure boat, be included in the cost. 

PS leave it for weeks at a time over winter and it will be damp, your furniture & bedding mouldy, the fridge will be disgusting and the toilet unspeakable! And, of course, if you get flu so you can't get to it for a while and it rains/snows a lot, it'll sink. 

 

Edited by Arthur Marshall
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16 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

 And, of course, if you get flu so you can't get to it for a while and it rains/snows a lot, it'll sink. 

 

I recently had a flu jab.  Didn't notice any claims about it helping prevent the boat from sinking. However the cost now seems particularly good value.

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10 hours ago, Jamie Marley said:

As we are not going to live in the boat full time and it’s for leisure only, will we be able to moore up anywhere and leave it and then move it within 14 days or will we have to buy / rent a permanent mooring and this has to be the place we leave it when it’s not being used during the week? 

If you pay for a 'permanent' home mooring you don't have to leave the boat there when you are not using it.  (In fact, you might not have to leave it there at all, but then it might be a bit pointless paying for one!).  You can leave it there say full time over the winter, but then spend summer weekends moving around from place to place - subject to the complications mentioned above.

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1 hour ago, cougie said:

Hiring would seem to be a cheaper option for what you want. Would you even be able to get to the boat 26 weeks a year ? 

I would have thought that unlikley.

I suspect most boat owners dont live aboard and  aren't aboard 26 weeks a year.

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Cruising is all about visiting new places. Use a chain and padlock to secure the boat to arnco barriers if you can, trains often run parrelell to the canal bikes work well never pass a pub without having a pint never pass a village without a wander round. learn how springs work to keep jour mooring pins in.  

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7 minutes ago, Wide boat man said:

Cruising is all about visiting new places. Use a chain and padlock to secure the boat to arnco barriers if you can, trains often run parrelell to the canal bikes work well never pass a pub without having a pint never pass a village without a wander round. learn how springs work to keep jour mooring pins in.  

 

Did you not post this recently ?

 

Maybe the OP should be aware of this as another problem with "CCing"

 

"over 10 years of cc we have had the following problems when parking the car in lay-bys back window smashed, passenger window broken and tapes stolen, badly vandalised in lay-by on edge of canal, best place is in front of houses a 100cc scooter is lighter to lift on  and off."

 

 

 

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I think what you are proposing is making life very hard for yourself, paticularly over winter.

 

if you are intending to use the boat a lot during the summer, then one option is to have a mooring for say Oct to April, and then continuous cruise for the summer.  That will save you money on your mooring if that is your primary driver.

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Guys I just want to thank you all for your advice here, these forums are what newbies like me rely on before making a big financial decision.

 

I am going to look for a home mooring so I have somewhere to leave the boat without having the stress of worrying about keeping it on the move all the time, the battery issues etc

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11 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

PS leave it for weeks at a time over winter and it will be damp, your furniture & bedding mouldy, the fridge will be disgusting

 

Not if the boat is properly sealed (from water ingress) and ventilated. These problems are manageable. If the fridge isn't in use, leave the door open! If you are not going to use the boat in winter (but why wouldn't you?) get a pumpout or empty the bucket cassette before you leave it for any length of time. 

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2 hours ago, Wide boat man said:

learn how springs work to keep jour mooring pins in

This is key for all boaters! Learning how to secure your boat with more than two loose bits of "blue" string really is a sign of good boatmanship!

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Can anyone offer any advice on a good place to moor all year round, we are based in Kent but want to have good access to some of the beautiful London canals and river ways, as well as the Kennett and Avon, or is adding the K&A a bit too much? are there ample beautiful trips around the London waterways would you think? 

 

Again thanks for everyone's advice in here!

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The Lee and the Stort will be the easiest to reach from Kent, other than the Medway.  The downside is that they are out on a limb so when you go boating for a week or a fortnight, much of your time will be spent covering the same waterways.  Maybe fine for a few years though?

 

If you wish to have more choice of routes - somewhere on the Grand Union is probably the best option. Say between Uxbridge and Braunston.  It is a balance between time spent travelling to the boat and time spent boating. 

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What beautifull London waterways??

There was a time when a better description might have been "interesting".

Now that london proper is wall to wall boats, most of the way up the Lee to the East and Rickmansworth on the GU.

The tidal Thames has few and extremely expensive moorigs and not really suitable for cruising in a NB.

 

You're left with the non tidal Thames, the Wey, paerhaps the K&A (the railway runs alongside for quite a distance. You're stuck with marinas as any wild moorings are now policed - or more likely already taken by liveaboards.

If you don't mind paying for a marina mooring then there is some excellent cruising - especially as you can switch between locations in some group marinas.

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3 hours ago, OldGoat said:

What beautifull London waterways??

There was a time when a better description might have been "interesting".

Now that london proper is wall to wall boats, most of the way up the Lee to the East and Rickmansworth on the GU.

The tidal Thames has few and extremely expensive moorigs and not really suitable for cruising in a NB.

 

You're left with the non tidal Thames, the Wey, paerhaps the K&A (the railway runs alongside for quite a distance. You're stuck with marinas as any wild moorings are now policed - or more likely already taken by liveaboards.

If you don't mind paying for a marina mooring then there is some excellent cruising - especially as you can switch between locations in some group marinas.

 

3 hours ago, OldGoat said:

What beautifull London waterways??

There was a time when a better description might have been "interesting".

Now that london proper is wall to wall boats, most of the way up the Lee to the East and Rickmansworth on the GU.

The tidal Thames has few and extremely expensive moorigs and not really suitable for cruising in a NB.

 

You're left with the non tidal Thames, the Wey, paerhaps the K&A (the railway runs alongside for quite a distance. You're stuck with marinas as any wild moorings are now policed - or more likely already taken by liveaboards.

If you don't mind paying for a marina mooring then there is some excellent cruising - especially as you can switch between locations in some group marinas.

Thank you old goat. 

 

I think I will try and find a nice marina in London that will give me access to the K&A if possible 

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On 05/11/2019 at 08:38, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Did you not post this recently ?

 

Maybe the OP should be aware of this as another problem with "CCing"

 

"over 10 years of cc we have had the following problems when parking the car in lay-bys back window smashed, passenger window broken and tapes stolen, badly vandalised in lay-by on edge of canal, best place is in front of houses a 100cc scooter is lighter to lift on  and off."

 

 

 

 

Tapes stolen?

 

Granddad it's 2019. Who still uses cassette tapes? ?

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25 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

Tapes stolen?

 

Granddad it's 2019. Who still uses cassette tapes? ?

He does, obviously. But he's far from alone: a look at the Argos web site shows six different cassette players and/or recorders in their catalogue, and Amazon has over twenty.

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7 hours ago, Athy said:

He does, obviously. But he's far from alone: a look at the Argos web site shows six different cassette players and/or recorders in their catalogue, and Amazon has over twenty.

 

Must be some sort of retro movement. I don't think I've played a cassette tape since about 1986.

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