Cruising Part Time Practicalities

[mark99]

We are both working we can only take off weekends and hols. But we want to cruise about on our boat (hop from mooring to mooring) in the Summer. How do others work this?

 

I assume say cruise for 2 weeks heading for a temp mooring in what-ever marina will have you for a temp period? then either taxi to local station or taxi back to car?

 

Note this is not continously cruising - we expect to pay for mooring albeit different marina's and we have a home mooring anyhow.

Edited April 27, 2013 by mark99

[john6767]

That's what was did last summer, and will be doing this summer too. A combination of leaving the boat on the towpath, and on a short term mooring in various marinas. We have the added issue of having a dog and you don't find many taxis that will take dogs, so beforehand we tend to leave a car at our destination, but have used the train where there is a station walkable from the destination.

[mark99]

Thanks John - it's the towpath mooring that is an unknown quantity for us. I assume you have to be pretty sure about the area before leaving a boat for 5 days on a towpath.

[David Mack]

Thanks John - it's the towpath mooring that is an unknown quantity for us. I assume you have to be pretty sure about the area before leaving a boat for 5 days on a towpath.

We've been leaving Fulbourne on towpath moortings for a week or two at a time for years and rarely had any problems.

 

Retrieving the car has been a combination of bus, train and bicycle. We rarely use a taxi. One person goes for the car then drives to the boat to pick up the rest of the crew. Or drop the crew off on the boat at the start of the trip and put the car where you expect to end up.

Somtimes its easier to leave the car at home and do the whole trip on public transport.

[john6767]

Thanks John - it's the towpath mooring that is an unknown quantity for us. I assume you have to be pretty sure about the area before leaving a boat for 5 days on a towpath.

I think it is just a call you have to make, some places where others would leave a boat on the towpath (and I suspect have no issues at all), I don't want to and will pay for a marina assuming there is one. Given that for us right now the boat is an expensive hobby, the additional cost of a few weeks visitor moorings at say £50 a week is not going to make much difference. Others will of course have a different opinion on that.

Edited April 27, 2013 by john6767

[plainsman]

I ahve also done this in the past when working, although now retired not so much as I don't need to get back. I used marinas, most have vacancies during the summer with the advantage in most cases is you can hook up to mains to top up batteries. I also used towpath but I always used 'popular' moorings as these tend to be occupied most of the time so the boat is hardly ever 'alone'. Another arrangement was to use the towpath but near a marina, that way there is plenty of activity to keep the boat company.

 

As far as transport is concerned, I got a railcard for discounted tickets and where possible plannbed ahead to get cheaper advanced booking tickets. Theses can be booked from anywhere and collected from your returning station (but not the unmanned ones). I also bought a cheap van from the auctions so that I could leave it where I would not normally leave my car and get transport back to it. In this case a ten year old Fiest van not worth nicking and at worse the wheels may be nicked, although bog standard steel wheels are not a prize for the half wits these days. On street parking is quite legal but I didoccasionally tell the neigbours as a matter of politeness. Most were OK.

 

I am sure you know good boat security it essential but it will never be thief proof.

 

Overall, my arrangements were very successful, in some cases I left the boat for the full two weeks on the towpath but marina was always my first choice. In three years of this I have never had a problem.

 

Good luck and enjoy your boating.