Am I wasting my time?

[Denis R]

20 years ago I regularly cruised the canals with short term hire boats and at about the same time looked at having a boat of my own to live on. For various reasons it came to nothing.

I'm now in a position to do something about it. As a newcomer to the forum I'd like to ask those that are doing it, have I literally missed the boat? Am I wasting my time even starting a feasibility study and looking for a residential mooring?

My geographical area would be a sort of inverted 'y' from Oxford up to Braunston, across and down to Uxbridge, with the tail up to Crick - I guess pretty much an 'oversold' area already?

If I can't do it properly with a 'grade 1' mooring, I'll not do it at all - I've no desire to bridge hop.

Thoughts, advice, encouragement or a forthright 'wake up and smell the coffee' would be welcome....

[Trelawney]

It's not impossible, but it's quite a tall order. You are at least thinking the right way, in that the mooring is the most important thing, and then you can worry about the boat.

 

I don't want to discourage you but a similar discussion (albeit a boat first, mooring second discussion) was recently covered here.

 

It started in the Moor Help Needed thread, in the New to Boating section.

 

It later spilled over to a debate about Continuous Cruisers / Bridge Hoppers and License fees. See Continuous Cruisers in the General Boating section.

 

Good luck!!

[gaggle]

so now if i can understand what your saying denis if you dont have a grade one mooring it is not proper.that may be your opinion but check the continuos cruiser thread and you will find not everyone on the canals shares your opinion.

[DHutch]

We currently have a deal with a boat yard that we have a "permanent mooring" with them, although we have been there for years.

Then we find a marina every winter, and just cruse all though the summer, possabley leaving the boat at third marina for a fortnight while where busy.

 

Daniel

[maffi mushkila]

so now if i can understand what your saying denis if you dont have a grade one mooring it is not proper.that may be your opinion but check the continuos cruiser thread and you will find not everyone on the canals shares your opinion.

No that is not what was said.

If I can't do it properly with a 'grade 1' mooring, I'll not do it at all

So for Dennis it is important that he has a 'grade 1' mooring. This is not an opinion its his first requirement.

[Richard Bustens]

Also everyones opinion of what a grade 1 mooring is, is different some want electric and water others just want solitude.

[Denis R]

Guys,

 

I apologise for the misapplication of 'properly'.... Maffi's interpretation is correct. What I was trying to get across is that I'd want to do it in a formal manner with no ambiguity as to status, paying my council tax and any other dues, and yes with a power hook up point and telephone connection if possible.

Perhaps I need to go away and research the definition of 'grade 1'!

 

Denis

[Richard Bustens]

Denis

There is no definition of grade 1 just look round work out what you want and get it

That is then a grade 1 mooring for you, to someone else it may be no use at all

[Denis R]

Richard,

 

Thanks for this - I thought 'Grade 1' was a formal definition (based on a sample of 1 - an enquiry placed on the BWML website regarding moorings, to which I haven't yet had a reply)!

 

Cheers,

 

Denis

[gringogordo]

If you are buying a new boat they often come with a mooring in a marina. Not as good as the cut I agree but you could go on the waiting list while you are there. This is a general observation, I don't know much about the area you speak of. I did buy my boat from Cowley (Uxbridge) though and the guy I bought it off had said he had had to bridge hop for a few months before he got a mooring and that was probably 4 or 5 years ago.

 

Also despite the harsh words on this site, bridge hopping is not so time consuming or unpleasant as you might think. And in my experience other boaters are still pleasant to you most of the time! If you really wanty to do it I wouldn't rule out bridge hopping as a means to an end... (this is a personal opinion and is not intended to provoke any kind of response!)

 

Cheers,

 

Ben.

[John Orentas]

Ben.

 

As I have said before 'Bridge Hopping' is not always a good description of the practise. Moor on one of four available spaces outside a popular pub for four weeks and see how popular you are then.

 

Like most things in life if you do it with sensitivity and don't frighten the horses, it is ok but there are so many that do not think like that.

 

I think you will find that the great majority of the 'fitting out berths' offered by boat yards will have strict time limits on them.

[gringogordo]

Ben.

 

As I have said before 'Bridge Hopping' is not always a good description of the practise.  Moor on one of four available spaces outside a popular pub for four weeks and see how popular you are then.

 

Like most things in life if you do it with sensitivity and don't frighten the horses, it is ok but there are so many that do not think like that.

 

I think you will find that the great majority of the 'fitting out berths' offered by boat yards will have strict time limits on them.

20952[/snapback]

 

Fair enough (it would never occur to me to moor in a popular place for too long though, partly just because I'm a good citizen and partly because, as you say, you would end up being spat at ).

 

I have never seriously looked at buying a new boat, and so it is only a vague suggestion, but it does seem to me that a lot of boat builders seem to have special relationships with marinas and can help you 'jump the queue' if you buy a boat from them. This may be a false impression though, and apologies if I'm leading you up the garden path.

 

Cheers,

 

Ben.

[tomandsophie]

Denis,

A word of encouragement...

Sophie (my wife) and I started looking into moving onto a boat in October last year. Now we our boat is almost finished (see website link below if interested!) and we have secured our permanent residential mooring on the river between Bristol and Bath. When we first started looking into it everybody said it was impossible to get a proper residential mooring in the South West, but with a LOT of persistence and one big phone bill we got one in the end!

A word of advice...

When phoning up BW to find out about moorings, we found that if we said that we had a boat on the canal already then they were much much more willing to help. When I first phoned them to ask about moorings (and I told them that we were thinking of getting a boat) they said that they had a 20-year waiting list. So I phoned up a couple of days later saying that I had a boat on the cut already, and magically their waiting list was only 3-6 months!!!

All the best - try try and try again...

Edited May 27, 2005 by tomandsophie

[ChrisPy]

I intend to have a marina berth in the longer term. Presently I am on the hard in Bristol Marina, and plan to remain there as the fitting-out proceeds until I can find a floating berth in Bristol, Saltford or wherever.

 

The marinas I have contacted have no space, they just say 'keep phoning'. No suggestion of an organised waiting list, and probably no reason why they should bother having one from the marina operator's point of view, because they know they can always fill a space quickly when another boat moves on.

 

The upside is that it will take at least six months for my boat to be ready to take to the water and another year before it'll be ready to go cruising, so in theory I could pop it in the water any time I find a berth comes available, over a period of a year.

 

We'll see.

[Denis R]

Hmmm.... I might have made my first mistake then. I filled in the on-line enquiry form at BWML regarding a mooring at Apsley or Cowley and told them on the form that the boat hasn't been built yet....Perhaps it's no wonder they haven't replied.

In this case I do hope that they're as disorganised as I fear so that I can have another bite without them putting 2 and 2 together....

[Sam]

Hmmm.... I might have made my first mistake then. I filled in the on-line enquiry form at BWML regarding a mooring at Apsley or Cowley and told them on the form that the boat hasn't been built yet....Perhaps it's no wonder they haven't replied.

In this case I do hope that they're as disorganised as I fear so that I can have another bite without them putting 2 and 2 together....

20975[/snapback]

 

Dennis,

If BWML have not replied that is a bit strange - When did you fill in this form?

Please remember that:

BW are very busy people and as I know it is very hard to keep up with some emails let alone hundreds.

Sometimes emails can get lost or deleted by accident!

And im sure they wouldn't care or put 2&2 together if you sent your enquiry again !

And im sure that they would not just ignore you - maybe you are on a low priority list!

 

So im sure that they will get back to you basically!

[Denis R]

I filled in the form online about a week ago. I expected some acknowledgement of receipt by e-mail. not necessarily a response.

I'm not far from these locations, so I might pop my head round the door and ask them how it looks....

[maffi mushkila]

Thanks for this - I thought 'Grade 1' was a formal definition (based on a sample of 1 - an enquiry placed on the BWML website regarding moorings, to which I haven't yet had a reply)!

Denis

 

Surely if you feel you have found the best mooring for you, that meets all your requirements then in your eyes it's 'Grade 1'.

[gosser]

If I can't do it properly with a 'grade 1' mooring, I'll not do it at all - I've no desire to bridge hop.

 

20872[/snapback]

 

Being honest, I reckon if everyone took this line then there would be very few liveaboards on UK wateways. Most seem to get the boat first and then gravitate towards a good 'leisure' mooring through trial and error, waiting lists etc., eventually quietly settling there. It's unofficial but few of them seem to get any bother. It's a good idea not to have rows of beans, a goat and chickens, though. Anyway, what makes a liveaboard a liveaboard? Living there two thirds of the time? Four fifths? A private address on land seems to resolve most problems for the floating non-voters I know.

[bottle]

My definition of a liveaboard:

 

Boat is soul residence used 24/365, 366 in a leap year.

 

And a postal address (relatives) for communication only when absolutley neccessary.

[gosser]

My definition of a liveaboard:

 

Boat is soul residence used 24/365, 366 in a leap year.

 

And a postal address (relatives) for communication only when absolutley neccessary.

21140[/snapback]

 

My soul is on board all the time, but the flesh is often elsewhere

[Denis R]

Bottle's definition is close to what I aspire to, except that my vision includes it being a regular postal address for communication too. Sure I know it's a big ask, but I'm still in the 'honeymoon' phase and not experienced enough yet to immediately re-visit my expectations! That may of course change as time goes on and I appear to make no progress....

[jbb]

Are you planning to buy new or used? An option would be to buy a boat already on a residential mooring.

 

Good luck

[gaggle]

seen berthfinder.com not a lot on offer but section to leave your details as "looking for berth"

[Sam]

Did you get a reply from BW?

If not keep us posted won't you!