Very interested to get a boat soon. What are my options if I need to go away for 3-4 months a year? Haul the boat out and drydock it seems about £200 a month plus haul out fee maybe £500 which is a lot for me, or leave it in a marina I guess would be about the same. Are there any other options? What about for a week or two. Do people just leave them tied up on the bank?

Most boats are left sat in marinas or other permanent moorings for months (sometimes years). 3-4 months between visits during the winter isn't unusual. As long as the boat has self-draining decks and/or properly fixed canopy or tonneau covers to prevent rainwater collecting inside it will be fine. Some folk fuss about keeping batteries charged and background heating, others just winterise their boats so they don't need attention.

You can leave your boat just tied up to the towpath for up to 14 days, or such shorter period as may be signposted.

Its often about the same cost being ashore in a marina as  moored in a marina.

You might be able to find an online mooring with other boats. Just leaving it randomly abandoned is not really a permanent solution. Things can happen and they often  need attention.

Boat clubs might suit, but you can't live on board , and again, you are expected ro be readily available.

I read somewhere that the canal trust has winter moorings on canal banks all over the country for about £130 a month. Then every third year, haul it out for blacking and maintenance and store it in dry dock for 3 months. Am I on the right track here?

2 hours ago, ushfuhg said:

I read somewhere that the canal trust has winter moorings on canal banks all over the country for about £130 a month. Then every third year, haul it out for blacking and maintenance and store it in dry dock for 3 months. Am I on the right track here?

 

Nearer to £200 I think, depending on the area. High demand so you'll need to have your wits about you when the sites get published in October, they generally sell out immediately. 

 

Storage on the bank generally costs the same as in the water.

 

 

2 hours ago, ushfuhg said:

I read somewhere that the canal trust has winter moorings on canal banks all over the country for about £130 a month. Then every third year, haul it out for blacking and maintenance and store it in dry dock for 3 months. Am I on the right track here?

Do you plan to live on the boat in the winter or leave it to it's own devices for 3 months? 

 

1 hour ago, MtB said:

 

Nearer to £200 I think, depending on the area. High demand so you'll need to have your wits about you when the sites get published in October, they generally sell out immediately. 

 

Storage on the bank generally costs the same as in the water.

 

 

Are they auctioned? What makes me think that?

I would be looking for boatyard who have a few online moorings, then you have someone who can keep sn eye on the boat, sort any issues, and so on.

The CRT are not going to be advising you, they are a legal entity, set up as a  charitable organisation,  legally, not a charity.

Edited September 24Sep 24 by LadyG

4 hours ago, ushfuhg said:

 Then every third year, haul it out for blacking and maintenance and store it in dry dock for 3 months.

You certainly won't store a boat in a dry dock. They are hired out by the week at a rate that would be unaffordable for longer than is necessary for whatever work is being done. You can have the boat craned out or lifted out on a trolley and stored on land, but with the lift out and lift in charges its probably going to cost more than a floating mooring if its only for 3 months.

Most canal boats are in the water 365 days a year except for blacking, surveys or any work to the hull.

Edited September 24Sep 24 by David Mack

1 minute ago, David Mack said:

You certainly won't store a boat in a dry dock. They are hired out by the week at a rate that would be unaffordable for longer than is necessary for whatever work is being done. You can have the boat craned out or lifted out on a trolley and stored on land, but with the lift out and lift in charges its probably going to cost more than a floating mooring if its only for 3 months.

 

And you still have to do the winterisation.

1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

Do you plan to live on the boat in the winter or leave it to it's own devices for 3 months? 

 

I intend to possibly live in and cruise though I hear that the frozen canals can prevent that. But I need 3-4 months off a year so was just looking for the cheapest way to do that. 

So are the CRT sites sold out in minutes online? Is it that competitive? What do most people do over the winter?

There really is so much to learn. 

Possible my biggest concern as a total novice is buying a money pit boat. 

 

Would you recommend, as I don't have a clue about narrowboats, buying from one of the big marinas / boat dealers. Are they generally the safest option? 

18 minutes ago, ushfuhg said:

1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

 

I intend to possibly live in and cruise though I hear that the frozen canals can prevent that.

When the boat is iced in, the 14 day movement requirement is suspended. Ideally take a dated pic of your boat iced up, in case you are questioned by CaRT. With climate change, deep, persistent cold snaps are less common, but can happen. You still need to get fuel, water, empty waste, which can be grim in a deep freeze and you can't move the boat. Pays to keep an eye on the long range forecast and be close to clvilisation ahead of the ice forming and be filled up/emptied out all ready. 

1 hour ago, ushfuhg said:

But I need 3-4 months off a year so was just looking for the cheapest way to do that. 

So are the CRT sites sold out in minutes online? Is it that competitive? What do most people do over the winter?

 

Just find a temporary mooring in a marina for those months you don't want to use the boat.  Most people leave steel boats in the water, just drain down the domestic water system.  In the last 14 years the only time ours has been out of the water is for the few days it takes to redo the blacking every 3 years.  

1 hour ago, ushfuhg said:

Possible my biggest concern as a total novice is buying a money pit boat. 

 

All boats are money pits!!

 

 

Edited September 24Sep 24 by MtB

28 minutes ago, MtB said:

All boats are money pits!!

 

But some are small hand-dug ones and others are massive opencast ones... 😉 

2 hours ago, ushfuhg said:

Would you recommend, as I don't have a clue about narrowboats, buying from one of the big marinas / boat dealers. Are they generally the safest option? 

I think the biggest challenge is finding the money, (keep some back). You can say that you get what you pay for, but start with a very, very rough budget of £1000 per foot,   you might start looking at what you can get for say £55K, which would probably  be over ten years old and less than thirty. 

The well established brokers may have an idea of the boats their customers are looking for, the smaller brokers sell whatever they are offered. Neither of them will survey the boat for you, some will survey the boat, but remember, that is their survey, not yours!

If you look at the site of ABNB there is masses of information on boats. Rugby boats are also well established. Whilton marina will have lots of boats and let you do your own research, handing over the keys. You are not expected to take it out of the marina!

Brokers take a commission, and while there may be some legal protection IF you are buying a boat which they happen to own, this is not the norm, you need to ask. 

Edited September 24Sep 24 by LadyG

1 hour ago, MtB said:

All boats are money pits!!

"Ohh no they arent!!" 

19 minutes ago, PuckFutin said:

"Ohh no they arent!!" 

 

I hope you had that surveyed before shelling out good money on it....

 

 

And why does it have a wooden pike in it?! 

 

 

16 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

I hope you had that surveyed before shelling out good money on it....

 

Nah, the broker said it was surveyed in 1998, dump out toilet, custom built, ready to live aboard, bespoke high end wood fit out. 

Just now, PuckFutin said:

Nah, the broker said it was surveyed in 1998, dump out toilet, custom built, ready to live aboard, bespoke high end wood fit out. 

 

Not my style actually. All looks a bit too posh....

 

 

3 hours ago, ushfuhg said:

I intend to possibly live in and cruise though I hear that the frozen canals can prevent that. But I need 3-4 months off a year so was just looking for the cheapest way to do that. 

So are the CRT sites sold out in minutes online? Is it that competitive? What do most people do over the winter?

There really is so much to learn. 

Possible my biggest concern as a total novice is buying a money pit boat. 

 

Only the good spots get sold out. the others are empty. If you are going to live onboard you will still need water, empty the loo and charge the batteries, so in my opinion you may as well keep cruising, its on 6 moves after all. If you are leaving the boat would you be happy leaving it moored unattended for 3 months just on the towpath. If it was me I would put in in a marina

53 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

I hope you had that surveyed before shelling out good money on it....

 

 

And why does it have a wooden pike in it?! 

 

 

 

Don't tell him about the pike... 🤣😂

On 22/09/2026 at 03:01, ushfuhg said:

Very interested to get a boat soon. What are my options if I need to go away for 3-4 months a year? Haul the boat out and drydock it seems about £200 a month plus haul out fee maybe £500 which is a lot for me, or leave it in a marina I guess would be about the same. Are there any other options? What about for a week or two. Do people just leave them tied up on the bank?

Antipodeans with canal boats in England typically leave their boats  afloat in secure marinas for the six to seven winter months they are away on the other side of the world  each year. That is how our boat survived 11 succesive winters, and two owners, without even shore power. Except for the couple of days before and after each cruising season as the boat was reprovisioned and then winterised.  Certainly not a recommended battery maintenance regime, so it had at least 3 changes of leisure batteries, and was due for another when we sold. 

Haulouts are very dependant on hull coating type. Bitumen based blacking requires far more reapplications then epoxy onto properly prepared sandblasted base.

We suspect that the need to replace a calorifier, and a toilet bowl, the same year by her first owner was down to frost damage in one particularly cold winter.

Winterising consisted of ensuring all water channels on the cruiser deck and well deck were totally clean, The fuel tank was near full, the water tank was at low level. And there were no bottles that could burst if frozen. All pipework drained as best as possible, until all taps ran dry,  and the shower head mooved to the floor broke suction.

And the stern tube was not dripping at all for some hours after the last engine run. The engine hole did remain dry. But there were risks.

I think the only times the marina management had to intervene, were when smoke alarms, and a burglar alarm,  failed in noise mode,  because of cold depleted batteries. 

The hardest thing to recommision each year was the vacuum cassette toilet. Here the clam seal acquired a coating of lime scale. This required lots of applications of white vinegar and cooking oil to reestablish it's sealing ability. 

 

Mix citric acid with warm water until its saturated and wont dissolve any more.

 

Then pour this into toilets and the like, let it sit for a bit.

 

Its far more effective than vinegar, faster too. I put it in a spray bottle because where I live the water is full of calcium, its absolutely crazy how much of it builds up on everything here. Quick spray of taps and showers, let it dry out and then rinse... all gone and shiny.

 

Costs very little, a 1kg bag of it is easy to find on amazon, ebay etc.