Living on cruising moorings?

[luctor et emergo]

It is something I am wondering about as I want the security of a marina but there appears to be a lack of residential moorings.

 

 

Google 'galvanic corrosion'.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My work is done.

 

[Lady Muck]

so why not bid for an engineers wharf mooring then? Its hardly difficult to get one!

 

I've commuted from Milton Keynes, to London (I lived in Towcester, at the time).My ex commuted from Northampton.

 

When ccing I worked full time in Rugby and the actual proportion of the network, I could cover whilst still being an hour's commute, was more than enough to keep BW happy.

Its amazing how many stunning /seemingly out of the way places we manage to moor at on the network and still get to meetings in London. If I were to cc I wouldnt bother doing the River Lee shuffle, too many other nice places to be!

[matty40s]

The West Coast mainline means you can be within 1hr 30 min of London as far North as ...yes, Birmingham.

 

Below Rugby,Long Buckby station is perhaps the first to be really near the GU, but from there down, you are never more than a couple of miles from a station. You can get into town centres, or be in glorious countryside, and still be within 20 mins, bike, bus from a station, and most stations north of watford, you can find free parking if you look and need to use your car.

What you need to do is decide whether you are buying a boat because you want to live on a boat and enjoy the waterways, or live,trying to stay within regulations and notices, moving because you have to, puting your family under that pressure too.

[alan_fincher]

Below Rugby,Long Buckby station is perhaps the first to be really near the GU, but from there down, you are never more than a couple of miles from a station.

 

Sorry Matty, but that really is stretching it more than a bit.

 

To be true further up, the GU would have to accurately follow the divided part of WCML that actually has open stations on, (which it doesn't), and even then those stations could be no more than 4 miles apart, (and they are simply not that close together).

 

I've not dragged a map out, but my guess is that many of the places like Stowe Hill, Bugbrooke, Weedon, Heyfofd, Stoke Bruerne, etc have to be in excess of 5 miles from Northampton or Buckby and in some cases seven or more.

 

For many people it's hardly a "hop on your bike for 20 minutes" thing up there.

 

Not disputing there are many places lower down where stations are easier to find, but once above Wolverton, you often cannot easily get from the cut to the trains.

[SimonRNABO]

Bear in mind also that in reality you do not need to cruise all year. A lot of people who would call themselves Countinuous Cruisers in reality buy temporary moorings during part or all of the Winter months, typically either through the BW Winter Moorings scheme, (where BW offer, for a price, up to five months temporary extended mooring, usually on the towpath in specific locations) or by booking in for a month or two into private yards/marinas or a combination of both.

 

In my experince marinas will often be much more comfortable about letting you live and commute temporarily on your boat for a few months if they are confident you are not going to take root and will be off again in the Spring. Reality is also that there will be times if you live afloat where you will need to be away from the boat for short periods, even if just for a week's holiday. Building up a relationship with a few private operators including cruising clubs and establishing places where you can get short term moorings off the towpath is no bad way to go for anyone without a long term mooring. Many yards do like having a few boaters around 24/7 for the security benefits.

 

By the way word is that Engineers Wharf is not a nice mooring - that's why there are frequent vacancies there. I know several local boaters who tried it and didn't stay for long. Last report I heard was that there is a lot of anti-social behaviour towards the moorings. One boater has claimed to me that someone tried to break into his boat while he was aboard on the first night he stayed there! It may be better now but do check if you think about that option.

[Lady Muck]

I know of two couples who moored there - don't think they experienced any of the problems you mentioned. Both have moved to other residential moorings in the area, mainly because although they're no cheaper (£5k p.a. being the going rate in London), they have large garden areas. I still think the OP should consider it. Once you have a mooring you get to hear about other moorings. Moving from cc to a mooring seems to be more difficult! That's the way it seems to be!

[koukouvagia]

Some marinas, even though they have spare berths, have tried introducing a "high user" surcharge for people they know to be largely living aboard, even though the moorings do not have full residential status, (so could be said to be profiteering from a situation they probably should not be allowing in the first place).

 

And to avoid the “high user” surcharge, boaters leave the marina for a few weeks and moor outside on the towpath then go back. Result more pressure on scare towpath visitor moorings.

[Chrissyboy]

And to avoid the “high user” surcharge, boaters leave the marina for a few weeks and moor outside on the towpath then go back. Result more pressure on scare towpath visitor moorings.

 

Not necessarily. They can moor off the rings, allowing visitors to mooroo up. It happens all the time. If they do hog the rings. then BW have every right to move them on and rightly so.