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Boat licence - Which way is best?


Richardcn

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Hi All

 

My step-son has just acquired his first boat (a 60ft narrowboat) and we will be helping him to move it off its current (private) mooring on the Thames as soon as it becomes possible. He's bringing her over onto the Lea & Stort for the next year so (at that point) he will need a River Only licence. She will still be licenced for the Thames when we finally move her (assuming that's not another 3 months!) so what would be the best (cheapest) way to licence her to cover the 2-3 day canal transit to the Lea? A short-term licence seems like an awfully expensive option so maybe get a Canal & River Licence then apply for a partial refund? I guess we could wing it but not sure if we'd be 'busted' when booking Brentford Lock as I've not done it before (done plenty of research on the Thames journey on here though).

 

What's the best way to go?

 

Regards

Richard

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That's a great idea thanks but still probably not a solution for us. The thought of the boat being taken down that stretch of the Thames within hours of taking ownership wouldn't be a popular choice I feel. Ongoing social distancing rules would also make that difficult plus, my step-son would like to make as much of the journey at the tiller as possible. Even if iit was possible I think it would be way too scary for him and us. I do like the out-of-the-box thinking though :)

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Possibly may depend on the actual date you have in mind for moving the boat. A one week canal and river licence is about £109 for a 60' boat but will run for seven days from specified date. If your planned move is on something like the 27th then a long term licence 3 months or more will just give you a couple of days of that first month. Just a thought.

Edited by BilgePump
corrected price
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where is the boat now?  If you leave the Thames at Brentford although still in the tidal flow it is quieter . Research the tide times and go in a small tide (neap) up the Grand Union to Bulls bridge  turn right onto the Grand Union Paddington arm.  follow through onto the Reagents canal, going through Camden Hang a left at Old Ford onto the Hertford union canal. then onto the Lee and Stort. A gold licence covers the Canal and River trust and the River Thames the Lee and Stort is a Canal and River Trust waterway so you need their licence. you can buy day licence for the Thames usualy a threee day licence will cover your trip in the river.

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37 minutes ago, BilgePump said:

Possibly may depend on the actual date you have in mind for moving the boat. A one week canal and river licence is about £109 for a 60' boat but will run for seven days from specified date. If your planned move is on something like the 27th then a long term licence 3 months or more will just give you a couple of days of that first month. Just a thought.

I'm not quite sure what you're saying here but basically I've found that a one week canal & river licence costs roughly a sixth of the cost of an entire years river licence! It's that which we are trying to avoid for a 2-3 day transit, if at all possible. Does anybody know if boats entering the system from the Thames are licence checked when booking the lock, Brentford in our case?

 

ETA Not avoiding paying our dues but the comparative excessive cost.

Edited by Richardcn
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Brentford do check licences, but are not always in a position to sell you a new one. This can mean that you have to purchase it post transit( this has happened to me twice on two different boats). Getting to the L&S and then purchasing your river licence could work. Otherwise, purchase your river licence in advance and hope they dont check too closely.

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6 minutes ago, matty40s said:

Brentford do check licences, but are not always in a position to sell you a new one. This can mean that you have to purchase it post transit( this has happened to me twice on two different boats). Getting to the L&S and then purchasing your river licence could work. Otherwise, purchase your river licence in advance and hope they dont check too closely.

Great, that's useful to know. I'll probably also look into CRT licence refund T's & C's to see if there's an option to buy a canal & river then downgrade to river only. I know they allow it as we've done it but what the small print says in terms of timescales I'm not sure.

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27 minutes ago, Richardcn said:

 

ETA Not avoiding paying our dues but the comparative excessive cost.

 

It sounds to me as if that is exactly what you are trying to do. The Rivers Only licence covers you for the Lee and Stort, including the Limehouse Cut. So will cover you if you go in at Limehouse or Bow. If you want to go in at Brentford then either pay the short term canals and rivers licence, or for a little more buy a full 12 month canals and rivers licence and have the whole network available to you.

  • Greenie 1
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14 minutes ago, David Mack said:

 

It sounds to me as if that is exactly what you are trying to do. The Rivers Only licence covers you for the Lee and Stort, including the Limehouse Cut. So will cover you if you go in at Limehouse or Bow. If you want to go in at Brentford then either pay the short term canals and rivers licence, or for a little more buy a full 12 month canals and rivers licence and have the whole network available to you.

No. Just trying to find the most cost effective way of doing it for my step-son. We're always fully paid up members of whatever we're doing but he doesn't have the luxury of being retired yet.

3 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

It looks as if you buy a river only licence you can get your 7 day Canal and river licence half price so a years riverlicence and a weeks river and canal licence looks the way to go 

image.png.8f070974cc7092b88223009721c8905d.png

Fantastic find! This is just what I was hoping for. You sir are a star, most grateful :)

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If your step-son thinks that he might venture back into central London in the next year a good licence to buy would be an Explorer one on top of the rivers only one. An Explorer licence allows you to boat on canals for 30 days in the year after buying it. Again there is a 50% discount as you already have a rivers licence. We only buy an annual rivers licence as we moor on the Soar and then buy Explorer ones when we boat on the canals.

  • Greenie 1
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14 minutes ago, Richard T said:

If your step-son thinks that he might venture back into central London in the next year a good licence to buy would be an Explorer one on top of the rivers only one. An Explorer licence allows you to boat on canals for 30 days in the year after buying it. Again there is a 50% discount as you already have a rivers licence. We only buy an annual rivers licence as we moor on the Soar and then buy Explorer ones when we boat on the canals.

Excellent! We'll give that some consideration. Many thanks :)

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4 hours ago, Richard T said:

If your step-son thinks that he might venture back into central London in the next year a good licence to buy would be an Explorer one on top of the rivers only one. An Explorer licence allows you to boat on canals for 30 days in the year after buying it. Again there is a 50% discount as you already have a rivers licence. We only buy an annual rivers licence as we moor on the Soar and then buy Explorer ones when we boat on the canals.

but that is £218 and the absolute maximum the OP could save would be £109 for the licence he is trying to avoid.

 

edit: sorry completely missed the 50% discount point which changes it all. Scrub what I posted above

Edited by BilgePump
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