Advice please!

[jojoknitter]

Hello to all you wise boaters....!

We are thinking of buying a boat of our own to live on - we currently rent one- but the whole mooring thing seems to be difficult and 'political' ! So I have a couple of questions ; 1) Is it possible /viable to live aboard full time with no mooring, and therefore move from place to place - how many people do this?

and 2) How hard is it to get a mooring - as far as I am aware its a bit of a bidding war?

Would appreciate any advice on this !!

[Chickadee]

Hello to all you wise boaters....!

We are thinking of buying a boat of our own to live on - we currently rent one- but the whole mooring thing seems to be difficult and 'political' ! So I have a couple of questions ; 1) Is it possible /viable to live aboard full time with no mooring, and therefore move from place to place - how many people do this?

and 2) How hard is it to get a mooring - as far as I am aware its a bit of a bidding war?

Would appreciate any advice on this !!

 

If you go here http://www.waterscape.com/ you can bring up all moorings that have already been tendered this will give you an idea of how much they are going for in your area.

I did look at doing it this way but after watching what the moorings that i wanted were going for i realised i would never be able to afford it. I have reserved a mooring in a marina instead. This actually suits us better so im really happy with this. We will be out and about most of summer so just wanted somewhere safe and secure for winter.

[Malarky]

In my experiece B.W.B. staff was of violent lyeing vandals thieves and thugs, and the less you have to do with them, the better the quality of life. So for any long term situation I would avoid them for moorings.

As boating is such an excellent life I feel it important to avoid the people who can creep out of the woodwork and make it miserable, or in my case impossible.

Respect to all those who make the world a better place... no matter what the cost!

[sueb]

Unless you are retired or can work wherever you happen to be, you need a mooring. Moving every 14 days gets to be a bind especially in winter. BW can be a hastle moving you on and they can refuse to relicence the boat if you arn't obeying their rules.

Sue

[KenK]

Hello to all you wise boaters....!

We are thinking of buying a boat of our own to live on - we currently rent one- but the whole mooring thing seems to be difficult and 'political' ! So I have a couple of questions ; 1) Is it possible /viable to live aboard full time with no mooring, and therefore move from place to place - how many people do this?

and 2) How hard is it to get a mooring - as far as I am aware its a bit of a bidding war?

Would appreciate any advice on this !!

 

Your requirement for a mooring or not really depends on your lifestyle, if you are retired or rich enough not to need to work, then living on a boat without a mooring is perfectly possible and many people do it. If you need to work, unless you can do it from the boat, it is not so easy, people do it but it is not consistent with BW's rules for CCing.

 

Moorings come in many forms and costs, from simple, no facilities, on line moorings some run by BW some private landowners, to state of the art marinas with all the comforts. Finding one is easy in some parts of the country much more difficult in others, decide what you need and where and then do some searching. BW are currently running a tendering trial for their moorings but everyone else will tell you the cost upfront, longer boats and wider in marinas cost more.

 

Ken

[Chickadee]

, longer boats and wider in marinas cost more.

 

Ken

 

Good point, we wouldnt be able to afford the marina if our boat was any bigger than our 42ft NB.

That said a mooring of the same length that i looked at out on the Gloucester Sharpness went for a whole lot more than what the marina charge.

[jojoknitter]

I do need to work and its in Oxford so yes constant moving could get difficult. I get the feeling that a lot of boaters plonk themselves anywhere and hope for the best - even though our boat has a mooring we are unable to ''use'' it as the spaces along the stretch of canal designated are full..as there is a boat with no mooring there......and therefore we cant use the mooring we have until they move on. Its not much of a bother at the moment until the BW come along....

Is this how it is everywhere?

[sueb]

I do need to work and its in Oxford so yes constant moving could get difficult. I get the feeling that a lot of boaters plonk themselves anywhere and hope for the best - even though our boat has a mooring we are unable to ''use'' it as the spaces along the stretch of canal designated are full..as there is a boat with no mooring there......and therefore we cant use the mooring we have until they move on. Its not much of a bother at the moment until the BW come along....

Is this how it is everywhere?

Is the mooring a BW controled mooring? If so it is up to BW to move the interloper. If the mooring belongs to anyone else and you are paying for it, it's up to the mooring owner to remove it.

 

Sue

[GRPCruiserman]

I had a farm mooring for 15 years or so, only cost £100 per year including parking and water. Bit muddy in the winter though, but there are still a few around, some dearer with better facilities, I know of one that used to be £30 a month including post keeping and parking but it was a bit of a walk to the car.

 

You have to pay BW a 'mooring permit' but that's afixed charge usually at half of the nearest BW mooring so is pretty reasonable.

 

You get a cracking mooring in the country, pick one with good views, you get to see everyone going by, and it's pretty cheap and you never have to move if you don't want to, water and elsan permitting of course. If you get iced in, no-one will hassle you, no bidding wars, I loved it and never hanckered after a marina.

 

If you're living on board, then marinas can be good, there's one up here with wifi internet, electric, water, and you can pay quarterly. I also know of a boatyard which you can pay monthly with electric but they're getting pretty full these days.

 

Just look around, you'll be surprised what you can find, at least up here in Lancashire, anyway.

[jojoknitter]

I had a farm mooring for 15 years or so, only cost £100 per year including parking and water. Bit muddy in the winter though, but there are still a few around, some dearer with better facilities, I know of one that used to be £30 a month including post keeping and parking but it was a bit of a walk to the car.

 

You have to pay BW a 'mooring permit' but that's afixed charge usually at half of the nearest BW mooring so is pretty reasonable.

 

You get a cracking mooring in the country, pick one with good views, you get to see everyone going by, and it's pretty cheap and you never have to move if you don't want to, water and elsan permitting of course. If you get iced in, no-one will hassle you, no bidding wars, I loved it and never hanckered after a marina.

 

If you're living on board, then marinas can be good, there's one up here with wifi internet, electric, water, and you can pay quarterly. I also know of a boatyard which you can pay monthly with electric but they're getting pretty full these days.

 

Just look around, you'll be surprised what you can find, at least up here in Lancashire, anyway.

 

That sounds good....how do I go about finding that sort of thing - we are keeping an eye on the BW sites etc but I think around here they are few and far between..!?

[tillergirl]

We have always "intended" to cc for 8 months of the year and then apply to either a marina or bw for a winter mooring (living onboard of course). Is this still a viable way to work? The plan has always been to cruise the better months and work the winter months to replenish the coffers. We have asked at one of two marinas and they seem to be quite OK with one or two people doing that over the winter months as its hard to cruise with stoppages etc. One marina owner told us that whilst hes not residential he sort of turns a blind eye between October and March and as long as people pay promptly and keep their mooring tidy he does'nt mind.

[Chris J W]

We have always "intended" to cc for 8 months of the year and then apply to either a marina or bw for a winter mooring (living onboard of course). Is this still a viable way to work? The plan has always been to cruise the better months and work the winter months to replenish the coffers. We have asked at one of two marinas and they seem to be quite OK with one or two people doing that over the winter months as its hard to cruise with stoppages etc. One marina owner told us that whilst hes not residential he sort of turns a blind eye between October and March and as long as people pay promptly and keep their mooring tidy he does'nt mind.

 

That sounds like a reasonable plan to me. The main thing would be to really plan ahead for where you want to Winter-up so that you've got good access to shops etc and a regular coal+fuel boat that tootles by.

[tillergirl]

That sounds like a reasonable plan to me. The main thing would be to really plan ahead for where you want to Winter-up so that you've got good access to shops etc and a regular coal+fuel boat that tootles by.

 

Brilliant!! Sounds like we have a plan then.

 

EDITED to add: The only thing thats seems to be bothering us currently is this plan that BW have to up the cost to cc'ers for a licence and make them pay for visitor moorings they use during the year up front. Seems to be a very unfair way of getting money from people to us, especially if you "mostly" moor up in the middle of nowhere and only moor at facility points when you need them. I read in March WW that its one of the ways they have thought to increase revenue.

Edited March 23, 2008 by tillergirl

[NB Alnwick]

We have always "intended" to cc for 8 months of the year and then apply to either a marina or bw for a winter mooring (living onboard of course). Is this still a viable way to work? The plan has always been to cruise the better months and work the winter months to replenish the coffers. We have asked at one of two marinas and they seem to be quite OK with one or two people doing that over the winter months as its hard to cruise with stoppages etc. One marina owner told us that whilst hes not residential he sort of turns a blind eye between October and March and as long as people pay promptly and keep their mooring tidy he does'nt mind.

 

We know several couples who do exactly that. Two of our friends have lived that way for ten years and it works very well for them. One good place to stop in the Winter is Aylesbury - you may need to approach the Aylesbury Canal Society but there is always plenty of work in that area.

[Tusses]

there is always plenty of work in that area.

 

curious - from being self employed for what seems like forever, what kind of 'winter' work as available ? does it pay well enough to support this lifestyle ?

[cotswoldsman]

Brilliant!! Sounds like we have a plan then.

 

EDITED to add: The only thing thats seems to be bothering us currently is this plan that BW have to up the cost to cc'ers for a licence and make them pay for visitor moorings they use during the year up front. Seems to be a very unfair way of getting money from people to us, especially if you "mostly" moor up in the middle of nowhere and only moor at facility points when you need them. I read in March WW that its one of the ways they have thought to increase revenue.

 

To my knowledge there are no plans by BW to introduce new licence fo CC this is something that has been suggested by the hire companies and people on this forum who don't like the idea that CC enjoy life and have the freedom to move arround the system without having to pay for moorings....

[Chris J W]

Brilliant!! Sounds like we have a plan then.

 

EDITED to add: The only thing thats seems to be bothering us currently is this plan that BW have to up the cost to cc'ers for a licence and make them pay for visitor moorings they use during the year up front. Seems to be a very unfair way of getting money from people to us, especially if you "mostly" moor up in the middle of nowhere and only moor at facility points when you need them. I read in March WW that its one of the ways they have thought to increase revenue.

 

As Cotswoldman said, there's no substance in this rumour, so I'd not worry about it.

 

I'll second Alnwick's suggestion of Aylesbury, too. For a start you get a very nice run down the arm, which is very pretty, and the narrow-locks are a pleasant change after the broad locks of the rest of the GU. The society is a very welcoming one, and I THINK that if you join the society (about £20) you could probably get a winter mooring spot with power and water (and maybe phone?), too. They also have WiFi available for both visitors and members.

 

Whilst the actual town isn't, IMHO, that much to write home about, it does provide everything you could want and has good rail and road access.

[tillergirl]

The advice is duly noted for future reference