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Thames Rules for Continuous Cruising?


Thomas C King

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I've been on the Environment Agency website but not found an answer. I was wondering how often you have to move if you are a continuous cruiser on the Thames (e.g., near Oxford), and what the rules are regarding coming back to the same place after a while? I know most mooring places are 3 days maximum (and paid).

 

Any answers or links would help a lot, I really can't find the answer anywhere.

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The Thames is different because the EA doesn't own the river bank, so can't dictate where you can or can't moor.

Thus mooring  is between you and the landowner.

However, be aware that there is an increasingly aggressive car parking company (!) threatening you with economic extinction if you moor on any of its customers land.....

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15 minutes ago, OldGoat said:

The Thames is different because the EA doesn't own the river bank, so can't dictate where you can or can't moor.

Thus mooring  is between you and the landowner.

However, be aware that there is an increasingly aggressive car parking company (!) threatening you with economic extinction if you moor on any of its customers land.....

But the question was 'can I CC on the Thames' (ie not have a mooring)

 

Would you be granted a licence (registration) if in 'question 5' (usual mooring) you put 'none', or left it blank ?

 

Happy to be corrected but my understanding is that you need to declare a mooring or you are refused a 'registration'.

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

But the question was 'can I CC on the Thames' (ie not have a mooring)

 

Would you be granted a licence (registration) if in 'question 5' (usual mooring) you put 'none', or left it blank ?

 

Happy to be corrected but my understanding is that you need to declare a mooring or you are refused a 'registration'.

For years (in fact as long as we've been cruising) I've reported 'river Wey',  or latterly 'Marlow'. Never anything specific. Perhaps next year I'll put something illogical and see what happens.

I'll make a point  to ask next time I see a knowledgeable member of EA (there aren't many of them left).....

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I had a Gold Licence for several years when I was continuously cruising the boat between the K&A and the rest of the system via the Thames. Whilst I rarely stayed in any one place for more thna a day or two, I got the impression that providing I moved around and observed rules on free moorings, there was no problem. Whether that would have changed if i was constantly moving back and forth through the same few locks, I do not know.

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On 20/07/2018 at 10:13, Thomas C King said:

I know most mooring places are 3 days maximum (and paid).

 

Most? I think a lot are 24 hours, but I suspect if you pay up properly I doubt there would be any issues.

 

Having to pay to moor is what prevents all but the most hardcore piss-takers migrating from the canal system onto the Thames. It will I suspect, take years for anyone to notice you are alternating between two sites whilst legitimately paying up though, and/or raise any objection to you doing this. And more years again for anyone to take any effective action to stop you because as you have realised, there ARE no rules on it so far.

 

Just my opinion though.

 

 

Edited by Mike the Boilerman
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You don't need a home mooring to get a Thames visitor licence. I have a CRT 'ccing' licence and always just told the lockies that when getting a Thames visitor licence, never been a problem and you can go back and forwards between a few different spots so long as you pay and obey the other rules (some sites like many of the EA 3 day moorings say no return within 24 or 48 hours). The EA don't care how far you travel along the river during your licence period. Hope this helps!

Also a few of the private (ie nonEA visitor moorings may let you stay longer than the official duration if you ask nicely and pay in full up front...)

Edited by Dave123
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I managed to to cruise between Reading and Oxford regularly without ever paying for a mooring, admittedly some of them involved tying up to trees, and one was an overnight moorings next to a pub, which was OK providing you did not want an early night.

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54 minutes ago, Dave123 said:

Oh yes forgot to mention...there are some great wild moorings, even on some islands, if you don't mind where you are and don't need a train station or a town

 

Yes I agree. Plenty of places to moor free of charge actually, it's just that canal boaters tend to expect to be able to get off the boat and visit a pub and/or some shops when they look for a mooring, which limits their options quite fiercely.

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There are a couple of widebeams that are based on the Thames that seem to cruise when they can and then take a winter mooring in a marina.

 

But that's precisely what they do - cruise. Probably every day. I have seen them from Lechlade to Teddington and up the Wey. There are few options on the Thames around Oxford. And not that many public mooring locations.

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1 minute ago, Mike on the Wey said:

There are few options on the Thames around Oxford. And not that many public mooring locations.

 

Most of the options seem to be in Sheepwash Channel and Dukes Cut. What licence is required for those and what enforcement happens? Last time I was there I saw several boats clearly settled in for the long term, but this was five years ago.

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10 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Most of the options seem to be in Sheepwash Channel and Dukes Cut. What licence is required for those and what enforcement happens? Last time I was there I saw several boats clearly settled in for the long term, but this was five years ago.

They are still there Mike. At least one has built a shed in which he has his gennie with an umbiicle attached to his boat. They are situated both sides of the cutting on the approach/exit of the lock.

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There are plenty of informal moorings on the RHS between Kings and Eynsham locks - but access by land is questionable (we've never tried)

There's a boat club above Eynsham bridge that has space on the nearside from time to time (I guess it's shallow for cruisers but OK for NBs

Bus stop on the bridge approach

Oxford cruisers often have space and some moorings below the yard.

 

Get on your wheels and ask around

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4 hours ago, Thomas C King said:

Thankyou everyone. To clarify, we want to stay in the Oxford area and so we're just trying to work out what is best because there is only one leisure mooring available at the moment. Your responses have been very helpful!

 

How many leisure moorings do you need then?

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5 minutes ago, Thomas C King said:

It's an auction so we don't know if we will win ;)

 

An auction Thames mooring? That's curious, I've never heard of this before. Is it an EA mooring and they're copying CRT? Or is it for sale as in you buy the freehold for squillions of squids?

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1 hour ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

An auction Thames mooring? That's curious, I've never heard of this before. Is it an EA mooring and they're copying CRT? Or is it for sale as in you buy the freehold for squillions of squids?

No, it's on the Oxford canal. I was asking about the Thames as an alternative to being on the canal.

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On 21/07/2018 at 11:11, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

 

Having to pay to moor is what prevents all but the most hardcore piss-takers migrating from the canal system onto the Thames. 

 

The other thing is that finding safe moorings in winter isn't that easy and most boaters who are used to canals probably wouldn't know how to deal with the Thames in winter anyway. 

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