being honest about live aboard

[dominicebs]

I am currently in a marina that doesnt have residential mooring. I have a residential address so can claim not to live there. My current marina are fine with that. However I may soon need to move to a new marina. One of the marinas I have looked at has in the T&C that the person should not use it for a main residence. There are no specified restrictions on the number of nights aboard - just that item in the T&C.

 

My question is how honest should I be about my intentions

[Alan de Enfield]

If you do not have a 'plan B' (ie an alternative mooring available at very short notice) then I'd suggest that you sort out your mooring situation 'honestly' with the marina - at least then you will not be potentially 'removed' at a 'moments notice' if they find out that you are living aboard.

[Naughty Cal]

I would be open and up front with the marina about your intentions.

[koukouvagia]

And you've given the name of your boat, so I suspect that any marina owner might ask a few questions.

You'd be surprised just how many people visit this forum!

Edited October 17, 2016 by koukouvagia

[Arthur Brown]

People really have been moved on "within the hour" for breaching the terms of marina mooring permissions, which may be very hard if you have job and transport plans. So it would pay to check that your new mooring is suitable for your intended purpose.

[Neil2]

In many parts of the network marina moorings have exceeded demand, and I would be surprised - if you put your cards on the table - if the marina management didn't find a way for you to meet their "no residents" condition.

 

We've moored in two marinas and though both had a clear "no liveaboards" policy, both had lots of boats where the owners were clearly using it as their main or only residence.

 

For example, there's one boat moored near us where it appears the owner occasionally takes it out onto the cut for a day or two, literally a few hundred yards, in order to stay within the marina conditions.

 

I think you would get into serious trouble though if you tried to use the marina as a postal address, or even have occasional parcels directed there.

[madcat]

Have a quiet look at how things work in your intended new Marina , just general chit chat about boats and see what gets revealed or what you notice.

 

If you have a residential address and your post goes there then presumably it's a very grey area for everybody.

 

FWIW where I moor has a time limit on the number of nights a leisure moored can sleep on board . There are some people sad enough to check up on others which is really quite depressing .

[Naughty Cal]

In many parts of the network marina moorings have exceeded demand, and I would be surprised - if you put your cards on the table - if the marina management didn't find a way for you to meet their "no residents" condition.

 

We've moored in two marinas and though both had a clear "no liveaboards" policy, both had lots of boats where the owners were clearly using it as their main or only residence.

 

For example, there's one boat moored near us where it appears the owner occasionally takes it out onto the cut for a day or two, literally a few hundred yards, in order to stay within the marina conditions.

 

I think you would get into serious trouble though if you tried to use the marina as a postal address, or even have occasional parcels directed there.

There are several in our marina who do the same. Our terms and conditions state we can stay onboard for 11 months out of 12. No mention of which 11. So the liveaboards just spend a few days here and there out of the marina to rack up their 30 days away from their berth.

[boathunter]

If anyone leaves the marina I'm in they get a round of applause. The royal mail come once a week and open a post office in the marina to collect mail and parcels. They are happy to receive post and courier deliveries in the office.

There are no residential berths. This is the sort of thing to ask in person and be honest about.

[Bee]

Two ways of looking at this, one is that if you keep a tidy boat, no stuff all over the place and no heap of old junk on the roof you can probably just smile at everybody and tell white lies if anybody asks - or start every conversation with, for example, I stayed at my sons/daughters/mothers/in a police cell last night/all last week or you can pretend to work away every so often. This is the sensible way. Or you can tell everybody that its your b****** boat and as its yours you can and will do as you choose and tell any number of big black lies about where, and with who, you sleep and anybody has a problem with that then perhaps they would like to step outside and sort it out. Personally I would start with the first way and keep the second in reserve. I do find it annoying though that you can spend a lot of money on a boat, then pay a lot more to myriad other people just for permission to actually use the thing, after all, the boat is there whether you are on it or not.

[The Lockie]

Low profile always works best!! As previously mentioned ask around the durrent moorers to get a feel for how it works.A direct question to the marina may getvyou the "official" response .They may need the no resi rule in their T&Cs to cover themselves with the council

[mrsmelly]

Low profile always works best!! As previously mentioned ask around the durrent moorers to get a feel for how it works.A direct question to the marina may getvyou the "official" response .They may need the no resi rule in their T&Cs to cover themselves with the council

 

At last the voice of reason. Low profile always and no hassle ever. The ones that make me laugh the loudest are the ( pretend ) liveaboards with the RBOA sticker in the window

 

Tim

[Retardedrocker]

 

In my opinion the best plan is to be completely honest, then everyone knows where they stand.

 

When I was boat hunting, every marina I visited asked if I would need a mooring and would I be living aboard. I always told them yes and yes and without exception I was told it wasn't a problem.

 

It's a question of bums on seats. The marinas want to fill empty berths and if you keep your head down they will turn a blind eye.

 

Anyway, how do you define living on a boat? A few weeks holiday abroad, a couple of weekends staying with friends, some weeks cruising, Not exactly full time is it?

 

 

Cheers,

T.

[Starcoaster]

Ask if they restrict the amount of time you can be aboard and tell them that you spend "a lot of time" on your boat.

[Aunty_Rinum]

I have lived in three marinas, none of them were resedential, and all had liveaboards in them.

The marinas were happy with this arrangement and the last thing they would want to do is discuss it with you. If they discuss it then they would have to tell you that it's not allowed, in fact there's usually a clause in the berthing agreement that it's not permitted.

In reality, as long as you keep your head down, how can anyone tell that you are living aboard unless they watch your boat for 24 hours every day? If you have a postal address elsewhere but you spend a lot of time on your boat you can be regarded as a frequent visitor, which would be your answer if you were ever challenged, which is unlikely.

[Ange]

We were never great fans of marina dwelling, but there were a few times when it was necessary. We were always up front about the fact we lived aboard.

 

My favourite response to the question "do you have residential berths?" was "no, but a few of our moorers live on their boats". I got the impression they quite liked the additional security that the ears and eyes of the permanent residents gave the site.