Sailing boat on london canals?

[Tomm]

Hi,

 

Im a student currently looking for the right boat to liveaboard. I have been told that a sailing boat would be a better option for me. I was surprised hearing this as Id always though they were not suitable for canals? It would be moored kings cross canal way on. Would a sailing boat be suitable?

 

Tomm

[Tam & Di]

Hi,

 

Im a student currently looking for the right boat to liveaboard. I have been told that a sailing boat would be a better option for me. I was surprised hearing this as Id always though they were not suitable for canals? It would be moored kings cross canal way on. Would a sailing boat be suitable?

 

Tomm

 

I can't imagine why you were told this. It could only be moved by some sort of engine or being towed. Even if you want it purely as an immobile houseboat I can't see why you would have more space in a sailing boat than almost any sort of motorised one - grp cruiser or narrowboat/wideboat. An absolutely daft idea.

[tafelberg]

ROFL it doesn't bare thinking about you would spend your life embroiled in trees and narrowboats...

[OldGoat]

Quite apart from any other consideration -

I would have thought you'd not have enough draught for any sailing boat on the canals; probably not enough either on the Lee.

These things have a keel to keep them upright - even a bilge keeler draws quite a bit.

 

I can understand the thought, you can by a wreck of a sailer for a lot less than a ditt nb.

[Lady Muck]

I've seen the odd small sailing boat up here on the River Lee a handful of times. They're not suitable for canals, no, the keel renders them unsuitable - you're better of with the tin bath shape of a narrowboat, get a boat designed for the waterways it was meant to be used on because a sailing boat is for, uhm sailing.

 

Aside from a sailing boat being unsuitable, have you done your research on cruising in London?

Are you aware that BW became a trust (the CRT) in the summer? Are you aware that the members on the boaters council are all members of the IWA, a group which recently declared action on continuous cruisers?

 

I am only asking because it may not be so easy to live on a boat in London without a home mooring on a permanent basis in the future.

 

What will you do if you buy a boat only to find out you are required to make a much longer journey over a year than you expected? Are you able to cruise up to, say, Milton Keynes or Hertford and travel in for a few weeks/months of the year?

 

What will you do if the restrictions on the visitor moorings are changed and you can no longer moor there for more than 48 hours, or seven days in one year? Because this is already planned to happen on the Lower GU and we suspect could be rolled out to encompass moorings in London? Are you willing to move three times a week and keep moving?

 

Existing boaters, it has been suggested, will be able to take community moorings or buy a roving mooring permit and remain on Londons waterways, but there will only be one issue of these. New boaters will not be able to buy these, will be expected to provide a cruising plan, before they can buy a license.

 

I am not making any of this up, only repeating what we've seen in a document, which you should read before you make your decision. Of course there will be protests, but will they have any effect, well it remains to be seen, but I do think you need to be aware of the risks that come with your plan.

 

Read this thread and these papers for more information.

 

My link

 

My link

Edited October 27, 2012 by Lady Muck