Live-aboard in the UK, mostly on anchor?

leo.hyde

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Hello,

I'm thinking to buy a small <30' sail yacht (e.g. a Jaguar 27) to live on in the UK. I'm imaging that I wouldn't have a 'home' mooring/ berth.

How feasible is it to live-aboard on a sailboat in the UK living on anchor the majority of time? For example coping with storms, availability of free anchorages, frequency of provisioning at marinas/ harbours etc.

I'm curious about this as it will affect my budgeting a lot (free anchoring vs expensive moorings/ berths). The initial seasons sailing ground would be the West Counties (so mostly South Devon & Cornwall). Later I would be repeating the experience in other parts of the UK.
 

atol

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most places where you would want to anchor to be close to facilities are taken up by moorings,costing roughly £ 20 a night
if your boat is able to dry out between tides then your choice of possible free mooring spots becomes greater,but again most easily accesable and close to shops etc are taken up by mud berths and strictly controlled by the council.
no free lunch unfortunatly in the sw uk
 

Wansworth

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Chichester harbour affords you sheltered water and you pay harbour dues ,not a lot,and you can choose from various anchour ages with occasional night in Chichester marina with access by bus to Chichester for shopping or emsworth where there is a pontoon giving access to emsworth for shopping.......showers in harbour office!
 
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xyachtdave

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Being retired/cash rich on your boat tucked away doing as you please, life doesn't get any better. However if you've got to be somewhere during the working week I'd forget this idea.

if you are mainly at anchor on 27ft of boat in the UK, you'll have a full time job getting water, food, making sure you've got enough charge in your batteries and doing your laundry.
 

Kelpie

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It'll be fun over the summer, but the winter might be a bit less enjoyable. Most liveaboards head to a marina so that they can plug in to shore power- being able to run heating and/or dehumidifier makes an enormous difference.
Fortunately heating a boat has recently become much more affordable, thanks to the Chinese Eberspacher clones. But you will still need to feed the beast, and over a UK winter that is likely to mean ferrying a fair quantity of fuel aboard- diesel for the heater itself, and perhaps petrol for a suitcase generator to keep your batteries topped up. You can recharge your batteries using your main engine but it's noisy and less efficient. And you can try using renewables but that will likely struggle in a sheltered anchorage in a UK winter.
There are simpler heating systems that use no electricity, such as solid fuel, but they cost more to buy/install and it can be hard to find space for one on a 27ft boat. Probably a drip-feed heater (Refleks, Sigmar, Taylors) is the way to go if you can afford one and can find somewhere to mount it.
 

PlanB

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Are you going to be working - do you need to think about transport, clean clothes, showers and toilets? How will you access water?
Just a couple of superficial questions.
 

V1701

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As others have said you can get a winter berthing contract (the 6 months from october to march) for about 1/3 of the cost of an annual, on a 27 footer you'll get a berth for 6 months for £1k or less. Milford Haven springs to mind. if you do that there's so much more chance of you having an enjoyable experience than if you try to tough it out. Just look at the winter gales we've had this year, can you really imagine enjoying life at anchor through that lot? If I were contemplating similar I'd be looking at a drip feed diesel heater, solar panels, whichever boat you choose will need work on insulation, some are double skinned already which is a big help, e.g. Sadler, Etap. Cockpit tent makes a massive difference, the smaller the boat the more difference it makes. And again as others have said no way if you have to go to work. Good luck with your adventure but don't spoli it for yourself by turning it into an endurance test, if money is so tight continuous cruising on a canal boat would be a much better proposition...
 

Wansworth

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But it’s the adventure,living on a boat in a marina is just being uncomfortable and attached with an umbilical cord whilst at anchour or mooring body there is the whole struggle to do small things and also enjoying the being aboard on quiet summer evenings which you don’t get in a marina.Marinas are very convenient but it’s not really living on a boat.
 

V1701

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But it’s the adventure,living on a boat in a marina is just being uncomfortable and attached with an umbilical cord whilst at anchour or mooring body there is the whole struggle to do small things and also enjoying the being aboard on quiet summer evenings which you don’t get in a marina.Marinas are very convenient but it’s not really living on a boat.

I totally get what you're saying, I've done it and loved it in Greece but personally would not contemplate doing it through the UK winter nor encourage anyone else to. It's bad enough in the UK in a marina through the winter but on the whole I still enjoy living in a UK marina (10 years now) as well, have to work full time so don't have much choice at the moment...
 

leo.hyde

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Thanks everyone for your quick & informative replies!

I have a couple of Q's at the bottom of this post. Money isn't super tight, but cheaper = less time working and more time enjoying the lifestyle. I should probably have added some more detail of my thoughts (incorporating your comments):

Winter
Lift the boat out and become a landlubber.

Summer
  • 2 weeks in 4 spent as a landlubber in a city (e.g. London) earning money & seeing friends. Leaving the boat alone somewhere cheap & safe (e.g. drying mooring) in this period.
  • The two weeks aboard a month:
    • The main thought here is to be cruising along the coast (rather than living on anchor in an estuary). When I get competent I would like to do a slow UK circumnavigation.
    • Spending time in coastal anchorages when possible; escaping storms in estuarine anchorages.
    • Provisioning of the boat at a marina (e.g. once a week?). Fuel, water, food, laundry, battery top up etc
    • Working part-time remotely via a computer & boat based internet connection.

Boat
  • Able to take the ground.
  • Insulation, diesel heater, solar panels &/or wine-vane. Cockpit tent?
  • Single handed.
  • Toilet cubical. Shower from solar bag in the cockpit.

Q's
  1. How feasible does this sound to do in South Cornwall & Devon?
  2. How feasible does this sound to do in other parts of the UK?
  3. From you posts it sounds like I could ride out storms in a sheltered estuary anchorage (provided I'm provisioned), and wouldn't necessarily have to resort to a mooring/ marina. Have I understood correctly?
  4. Any thoughts on (or a link to historical data) probability of days of fair weather that could be enjoyed on the open coast by month & location (before needing to find shelter)?
 

Wansworth

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Won’t need heating between end of April toOctober,a good sleeping bag.Most harbours you have to enter will charge you harbour dues a mooring or marina would be extra.There are several anchour ages on the Devon coast one outside Brixham and one in Plymouth called Cawsands but I expect her are others but depends on wind which in the summer will be mainly SW for a strong blow!
 

V1701

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As I see it the biggest issue with the plan you've outlined is where to leave the boat during the two weeks you're working. marina day rates are prohibitively expensive, finding moorings will be feasible some of the time but you're gonna have to plan very carefully, be lucky with the weather and you cannot simply leave a boat at anchor for two weeks.

Sorry I seem to be the one playing devil's advocate but the logistics of what you're contemplating would not be easy, you would almost certainly end up having to leave her in marinas on day rates some of the time. Half way through your two weeks of sailing you'd be fretting about where you're gonna leave her for the next two weeks, are there trains from there back to where you're staying, etc. You can ride out storms at anchor but if you're new or newish to sailing you'll likely scare the bejesus out of yourself unless the particular anchorage you find yourself in happens to offer perfect shelter from the particular storm. It's a last resort, most people if they knew a storm was on the way would try to reach a port if at all possible.

I suspect you'd have a more relaxed and enjoyable time of it if you, say, work until you can afford a year off, set off in the spring, see how you get on, where you end up, how you feel about what to do for the winter, etc. than trying to do what you've outlined...

Here's something to whet your appetite...

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noelex

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As far as I can tell, very few people do this, but it is not only feasible but it is a great experience. We have been full time cruising and anchoring almost exclusively for last 13 years in many countries, and we have spent a couple of winters (but not summer) in Scotland.

Advances in boat equipment such as much better anchors, solar panels, LED lights etc make this practical. However, I am not sure about the South Devon and Cornwall area. This type of lifestyle is more suitable in less crowded areas where more anchorages are available. Combining this with employment and important land based social commitments would be difficult, perhaps very difficult depending on the circumstances. I have never attempted this.

Good luck. Take small steps. You need to develop experience and refine your boat equipment to be able to cope with high winds at anchor, limited electrical power, cold temperatures, condensation etc etc, but I can thoroughly recommend the lifestyle if you can get the details right.
 

laika

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Here's something to whet your appetite...

Am I right in thinking that at the end of your vid you're anchored in that bay north of start point? How was it, and how deep was it where you were?
EDIT: Having watched the start of the next one I see the answer to the "how was it?" part is "a bit rolly"
 
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James_Calvert

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Moorings in the SW aren't particularly cheap. You can expect to pay in the region of £100 per week.

Public transport can be very expensive back to London. Buses to the station may not readily connect. Taxis can be dear. Parking your own car is problematical. It is difficult to find anywhere free, or with space in the high season. Water taxis for getting ashore can be a bit dear, where and when available. Otherwise you need a spot to safely leave a tender ashore for a while, if you can find one.

For all those reasons it's easier to use Marina or Boatyard facilities but you'll pay £200 a week or more.

Harbour authorities won't let you leave an unattended anchored boat overnight. If you are on board at anchor many will want harbour dues at about half the rate for a mooring.

Some places you can't anchor.

But do come along anyway, it's a lovely area for yacht cruising.
 
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ryanroberts

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This was roughly my plan before Covid, bring over boat and mess about on the South coast figuring stuff out. I have lived on cruising canal boats for years but tides and waves and a new boat are going to be a big, expensive learning curve. I'm assuming mostly using moorings, head for a winter marina in September, I work mostly remote even when not in a pandemic. Looking at things it's not going to be cheap though, bad flat sort of prices + boat costs. Probably more expensive than I think too, lots of things go wrong off grid and will probably need a plug more than I would like. Having to work while on a boat with dodgy electrics is challenging even when you can step off into the middle of a city.

Internet is easy, 4G works well. You need power though, most small yachts in UK I looked at do not come with electrics that will cope with living and working on board. Currently I get paranoid at anchor even when all I need to do is drink beer and sleep, I would not want to be trying to work anywhere even slightly marginal. Try to find something with big tanks, 50L of water is not a lot and you will use fuel when your solar is inevitably not doing the job.

Heating is difficult off grid, I wouldn't want to rely on blown air all winter. Liveaboard canal boats use solid fuel or drip stoves in winter for good reasons. A pontoon / hard standing + an electric heater is going to be a lot easier on a small boat.

All in all its a stupid idea but I am going to try it anyway, hopefully see you around :)
 
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duncan99210

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OK, whilst not UK based, we’ve lived on board either full or part time for the past 11 years. Our practice has been to spend as much of the season (April to October) as possible at anchor: that’s proved practical in the Med, more so in Greece than anywhere else. We’ve never bothered to try wintering at anchor but booked into a marina at what are usually cheap rates.
In the UK, the being at anchor bit is often not free, as it is in much of the Med, therefore increasing costs. Moorings are available but they’re not cheap, especially on day rates. You might do better looking for an annual contract with a marina/boatyard. For example, I have an 18 foot boat in Mylor Harbour (near Falmouth) which costs £1500 a year: their charges are £253 per metre for a year, to give you an idea of costs. The advantage of somewhere like Mylor is that the contract comes with parking for one vehicle plus unlimited use of the water taxi as well as the usual shoreside facilities. If you can find that sort of money, then you’ve got the ability to sail over most of the south west using the place as a base.
The other alternative is to find a private or club mooring. I used to have a club mooring but found that although it cost about 40% of the marina cost, it didn‘t have any parking and I had to use the dinghy to get to an from the boat. Not a killer, but then the boat needed moving to another place for the winter (too exposed to leave her their all the year) so by the time you add in winter storage, car parking, mooring servicing and the hassle of using the dinghy, I opted to pay a bit more for the ease of a single contract.
As to sitting out bad weather in an anchorage, it’s perfectly possible. I’ve sat out 10 days of high winds in Greece before now, not the most comfortable of occupations and the diet becomes monotonous to say the least but it can be done. Added bonus is that it becomes possible to get a decent output from the wind generator and it’s therefore worth getting it sorted and rigged. However, it all depends on finding sheltered water which is not always possible in the south west without running to another anchorage. And everyone else will be doing the same thing at the same time.....
Have a read of the blog linked in my signature block. That’ll give you some ideas. It’s getting a bit long now as it cover 10 years or so of cruising....
 

jdc

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You can ride out storms at anchor but if you're new or newish to sailing you'll likely scare the bejesus out of yourself unless the particular anchorage you find yourself in happens to offer perfect shelter from the particular storm. It's a last resort, most people if they knew a storm was on the way would try to reach a port if at all possible.

Sensible comments in this post which I agree with except possibly the snippet above which is slightly ambiguous; absolutely, reach shelter if at all possible, but that doesn't have to be a port in the sense that you can tie up alongside.

For us lucky enough to have a mooring or marina berth in the west-country a storm is usually from the S which can make it more comfortable to go and anchor up river. The steep valleys with trees down to the water's edge really absorb a lot of the wind, and there isn't any swell which otherwise can work its way into some of the marinas. I've warped myself out of a marina in an 'interesting' F10 from the SSE and run under spray-hood up the Carrick roads to anchor off Roundwood Quay in perfect shelter. A 27' boat can certainly find similar places to go and hide - all the more so if it can take the ground. The Fowey above Golant springs to mind, or above Weir quay in the Tamar or most of the way to up to Gweek in the Helford. A plus point for these places is you probably won't be asked for fees, at least not in bad weather.
 

V1701

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Am I right in thinking that at the end of your vid you're anchored in that bay north of start point? How was it, and how deep was it where you were?
EDIT: Having watched the start of the next one I see the answer to the "how was it?" part is "a bit rolly"

Exactly, wasn't so bad though, beautiful deserted anchorage, I really would have liked to have spent more time and stopped at more places during the trip, isn't that always the way though. If I remember I was in 6 or 7 metres at the lowest, could've gone in closer, it was the first time at anchor with the boat...
 
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