what type of licence and do we need to find a mooring?

[Sue74]

We are hoping to buy our narrowboat in the summer so I am doing my research regarding Licences and moorings.

 

My husband is going to use the boat as a place to live from Monday - Friday whilst he is at work and then return home at weekends.

 

There will be times more so in the summer that the boat will be lived on longer and it will be taken out and about.

 

My husband is a contractor so he is not always based In the same place for a year. He could be working in central London for 6 months and then be working in Milton Keynes for 9 months and so on and so.

 

I was looking at getting a continuous moving licence but then I have been reading how the water ways are tightening up on people who are moored up on canal sides for months on end sometimes years with no permanent mooring licence. So I am now very confused what to do.

 

Do not want to spend our first few months watching our backs or starting our water days on the wrong foot.

 

would we be better finding a mooring ( although very hard to find) Would we be able to find short term moorings?

 

He will be working in St Albans for this year so we will be currently looking in this area for a boat and a mooring.

 

I would really appreciate everyone's help with my confusion.

 

[nicknorman]

Hi Sue, welcome to the forum!

 

Sorry I don't have local knowledge about St Albans, but just to mention about the licence, or at least the terminology.

 

There is really only one licence for the canals, but by default you need to have a home mooring to get it. However you can declare "no home mooring" and agree to move your boat at least every 14 days, and use the boat "bona fide for navigation" (whatever that means!). So then you are a "boater without a home mooring" which is colloquially referred to as a "continuous cruiser". It is still all the same licence though.

 

You're right, CRT are clamping down on folk without a home mooring who leave their boats moored for long periods or only move them a few yards. Obviously having a home mooring is best for peace of mind especially if you will be in France some of the time, but as you say, with that comes a cost, and more costly the closer to London you get.

[matty40s]

I would recommend having a mooring for the first 12 months so he can get used to boat life, not have to worry about moving around, and other not insignificant things like water/electricity/toilet waste etc.

During this period he can experiment with being out on the cut and always have the fallback.

He is essentially using it as a flat.

 

Roydon Marina on the Stort is probably the nearest, although the GU is probably not much further.

[kevinl]

Hi Sue

There is only one type of licence, however, you are asked to declare if the boat has a home mooring or not, this makes no difference to the price or indeed anything much else. Any boat on the canal can stay anywhere where mooring isn't forbidden for 14 or there are not 24/48 hour restrictions (there will be signs).

CRT only take an interest in people who break the rules by overstaying as long as you keep to the moving rules no problem. If you pay for a mooring then the rules are whatever the terms agreed are.

If you intend to stay in an area for 6 or 9 months then either you will have to pay for a mooring or move the boat to comply with the rules, exactly how far is a matter for debate (do a search and you'll see how hot a topic it is).

K

[alan_fincher]

He will be working in St Albans for this year so we will be currently looking in this area for a boat and a mooring.

I'm sure you know that St Albans itself is not on a canal. Nearest Canal is obviously the Grand Union, and somewhere between say Tring and Watford seems your strongest option.

 

Not a lot of "non marina" moorings come up on this stretch, and there are not actually many CRT controlled on-line moorings on it anyway.

 

You would probably find spaces are available at the BWML run marinas at Cow Roast or Apsley, though both attract "South East commuter belt" rates. There are also a number of private options, such as Herts and Middlesex, at Winkwell, just North of Hemel.

 

CRT enforcement on those with no home mooring has hotted up a lot in this area - I would suggest unless you feel you can easily comply with CRT's guidance for boaters without a home mooring that you do not try and use a boat as a week-time residence in this area without a permanent mooring to keep it on.

Roydon Marina on the Stort is probably the nearest, although the GU is probably not much further.

 

Must be around 3 times further to Roydon from St Albans than nearest bits of the Grand Union are. Nearest Marina option is surely Apsley.

[clbrof]

 

 

Must be around 3 times further to Roydon from St Albans than nearest bits of the Grand Union are. Nearest Marina option is surely Apsley.

Yes Apsley would be the closest or you could try Winkwell Docks

[Thorfast]

If you are using the boat asa base whilst you work on week days, and then plan on returning home to your bricks and morter home at the weekend you will not have time to keep moving the boat round the canal system every 14 days, so you will need a canal licence and have a home mooring. You will need to find a home mooring that suits your work place. Others here have already made good suggestions .

Edited January 15, 2015 by Thorfast

[harve90]

Hi Sue welcome to the forum

Check out this guy, Dan Brown he has taken the time to post a load of videos on u tube including those i have links to below with reference to mooring

 

 

[MtB]

I was looking at getting a continuous moving licence

 

 

 

Wonderful, CMer = continuous mover

 

A new confusion to add to the world of licencing. Welcome to the forum Sue!

 

 

MtB

[David Mack]

If you are using the boat asa base whilst you work on week days, and then plan on returning home to your bricks and morter home at the weekend you will not have time to keep moving the boat round the canal system every 14 days, so you will need a canal licence and have a home mooring.

 

And with that pattern of use you won't get much battery charging from the engine, and wont be there most of the the time when you can run a generator, so you will need a mooring with power.

[DeanS]

Hi Sue.

 

I haven't read this entire thread, but has your husband considered a camper van. They are sometimes more comfortable, more space for the price, and he can join the Caravan Club, which gives you a map with hundreds of red dots indicating farms in an area, where 5 vans can stay ...and the prices are roughly about £10/day...

 

It might give him/you the same sort of lifestyle, with less hassle?

 

I say this because it sounds like you're thinking of living in a boat because you need a cheaper residence solution, rather than for enjoying the boating lifestyle. A campervan is a lot easier to move around, and faster.

 

just a thought....

[gary955]

Sue

It should be perfectly possible for your hubby to use a boat as a Mon to Fri home while contracting. I've done it and it's a lovely way of life, a proper home away from home. It is possible to be a compliant continuous cruiser too, although in the winter it will mean moving the boat every other weekend rather than mosying on in the evenings as you can in the summer. But you needen't miss him, you could join him on the boat move weekends! the winter can be a magical time on the canals in a warm dry boat.

In the right boat with a gas fridge and led lighting you wont need to run the engine every day either, I managed with just a single 80w solar panel and only had to run the engine occasionally between moves. I was able to shower at work and the back boiler would provide water warm enough for washing up.

It would be simpler (but in some ways less enjoyable) to have a home mooring. If your husband is a ltd company contracter then he may be able to rent the boat to his company in order to provide himself with a place to stay while working away from home, and so recover the mooring cost as expences.

[OldGoat]

As I understood from the initial post, the need for a mooring was somewhere to live in the week - returning to home for the weekends. No mention of cost reduction was made.

As the contracts are for long-ish periods - how about keeping the boat in a marina? Hubby won't be a liveaboard as:-

• He has a permanent residential address
• He won't be on board seven days a week

thus there shouldn't be an issue for the marina - who are primarily bothered about permanent residents. Hubby then has the advantage of security and electrical hookup to preserve a reasonable lifestyle (whoops - prepare for attack).

 

Did I get that right??

[ditchcrawler]

As I understood from the initial post, the need for a mooring was somewhere to live in the week - returning to home for the weekends. No mention of cost reduction was made.

As the contracts are for long-ish periods - how about keeping the boat in a marina? Hubby won't be a liveaboard as:-

• He has a permanent residential address
• He won't be on board seven days a week

thus there shouldn't be an issue for the marina - who are primarily bothered about permanent residents. Hubby then has the advantage of security and electrical hookup to preserve a reasonable lifestyle (whoops - prepare for attack).

 

Did I get that right??

I think it depends if he wants a boat and go boating or just a flat that he can move from area to area for living in. One point to bear in mind is that most marinas don't do refunds so if he pays a year in advance and has to move after 6 months he will be well out of pocket, so only book for less time he actually thinks he wants and then extend.

[Sue74]

Thanks everyone,

 

I knew getting advice from the horses mouth would help.

 

Thanks Gary 955 your comments have been really helpful regarding being in the same situation as my husband. Good advice with the claiming for the mooring costs through his company.

 

I will certainly check out the names of the moorings given.

 

I actually would prefer a mooring if possible because my daughter will be hopefully living with her father and enrolling in a college near by. So for her safety I would like a secure lock up mooring.

We are an adventurous family and we love our pubs and grub so I think we would spend a lot of summer weekends cruising. As our kids are in their teenage years we would still have to accommodate them on the boat every now and then.

 

This makes life slightly harder when trying to find a NB suitable for us all.