Anchoring, what is ‘The Law” in regards to it?

[fredrussell]

My mooring on my local estuary has been removed, along with a few others. I’ve put my name down for, and will be laying, a mooring in a month or so but in the meantime does anyone know what the rules are re long term anchoring (6 weeks max) in one spot or area? Is it a question of contacting the local authority or is there some sort of nationwide set of rules that apply?

 

[Tranona]

My mooring on my local estuary has been removed, along with a few others. I’ve put my name down for, and will be laying, a mooring in a month or so but in the meantime does anyone know what the rules are re long term anchoring (6 weeks max) in one spot or area? Is it a question of contacting the local authority or is there some sort of nationwide set of rules that apply?

Suggest you look on the RYA site as there is a comprehensive paper there on the subject, explaining the law and the role of harbour authorities and other owners or managers of the seabed. You maybe won't find a simple answer to your specific question although you don't give enough information to hazard a guess.

 

[Motor_Sailor]

I would love to know how the current laws and rules around moorings developed.

In 'Cruising Hints' by Francis B Cooke, ( various editions 1904 to 1948, reprinted by Lodestar) he talks about a test case brought by the Essex Yacht Club in 1897 which established that everyone had the right to put down a mooring as part of their 'right to navigation'. The court, and later the Master of the Rolls on appeal, saw no difference between anchoring and mooring, and all the law lords agreed that "this is a public right of everybody (unless an enemy) navigating navigable waters".

Now I presume that at some point in the 20th Century, a 'Marine Resources Act' or some such, was passed when oil and gas was discovered and hey bingo. 'our rights' were usurped by the Crown as a nice little earner.

 

[Tranona]

I would love to know how the current laws and rules around moorings developed.

In 'Cruising Hints' by Francis B Cooke, ( various editions 1904 to 1948, reprinted by Lodestar) he talks about a test case brought by the Essex Yacht Club in 1897 which established that everyone had the right to put down a mooring as part of their 'right to navigation'. The court, and later the Master of the Rolls on appeal, saw no difference between anchoring and mooring, and all the law lords agreed that "this is a public right of everybody (unless an enemy) navigating navigable waters".

Now I presume that at some point in the 20th Century, a 'Marine Resources Act' or some such, was passed when oil and gas was discovered and hey bingo. 'our rights' were usurped by the Crown as a nice little earner.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The law is well established, although in some ways complicated and controversial. Read the RYA summary on the subject. However the Crown does have comprehensive rights but they are not new.

 

[Motor_Sailor]

Nothing could be further from the truth. . .

In what way?

In 1897, the Appeal Court said mariners had the right to lay moorings as part of their 'right to navigation' and landowners had no right to regulate or interfere with this right.
In 1968, Fowley Marine vrs Gafford said that there was no commoner's right to lay moorings and the land owner, which by then included the foreshore and sea bed out to 12 miles and was mainly in the hands of the Crown, had a right to charge.

There must have been a process along the way which allowed for this 180 degree change in the courts opinion. I'm interested to know what it was.

 

[Tranona]

In what way?

In 1897, the Appeal Court said mariners had the right to lay moorings as part of their 'right to navigation' and landowners had no right to regulate or interfere with this right.
In 1968, Fowley Marine vrs Gafford said that there was no commoner's right to lay moorings and the land owner, which by then included the foreshore and sea bed out to 12 miles and was mainly in the hands of the Crown, had a right to charge.

There must have been a process along the way which allowed for this 180 degree change in the courts opinion. I'm interested to know what it was.

You were suggesting that legislation has been passed which affects our rights and this is not the case.

Courts continually change details of the law as cases are brought before them. That is how the common law works. The court looks at the arguments and interprets them against the law. Sometimes that results in a change either because circumstances change or previous decisions are found to be wrong. If this were not happening the law would ossify.

There are examples of such decisions by the courts every week. Two notable ones this week were about the status of marriages under Sharia and the need to go to court for permission to turn off life support. In both cases they reflect changes in our attitudes and raising of new issues. However their impact, particularly the first may well be limited because of the specifics of the case. They will both create precedents that future courts may follow.

 

[EdWingfield]

Fred, you ask us, without telling which is your local estuary. All you will get is guesswork nonsense.

Why don't you find out who the Authority is. and ask them directly? And then report back here.

 

[BelleSerene]

Read the RYA summary on the subject. However the Crown does have comprehensive rights but they are not new.

Tranona, could you point to a reference please? A Google search isn’t throwing up anything decent from the RYA.

 

[macd]

Tranona, could you point to a reference please? A Google search isn’t throwing up anything decent from the RYA.

Not trying to impersonate Tranona, but perhaps this?: https://www.google.com/url?q=https:...:q6bmwzlzprs&usg=AOvVaw3IGxnd9LEZa_O6mvtBycpL

 

[BelleSerene]

Not trying to impersonate Tranona, but perhaps this?: https://www.google.com/url?q=https:...:q6bmwzlzprs&usg=AOvVaw3IGxnd9LEZa_O6mvtBycpL

Thank you; yes, I found that but it’s so shallow on the legal basis of anchoring rights and restrictions that I doubted it was what Tranona was pointing to.

 

[langstonelayabout]

Looks like it's a marina for 6 weeks then. I certainly wouldn't want a boat of mine to be unattended at anchor all that time.

Has anyone else left their pride & joy at long-term anchor under such circumstances?

 

[moomba]

https://www.rya.org.uk/sitecollecti...Moorings/ANCHORING AND VISITORS' MOORINGS.pdf
As posted before this lays out the law out quite well
to summarise
1. you have a right to anchor anywhere you like under the the rights of navigation
2.this can only be surpassed by any bylaws that are in place (i.e near a naval base or nuclear power plant or a really anal council who might not want a certain river way hoarded with boats but this must be written in law
3. You can anchor in a designated harbour area if that harbour has been designated on , with no bylaws , but you will have to agree to there rules and they can charge you for the privilege as long as they provide facilities, (facilities can come in many shapes and forms i.e bouys , markers , dinghy pontoon, showers toilets etc)
4. private land owners who own the sea bed i.e The National trust can not charge you for anchoring or stop you , again only if there is a bylaw from the courts not the private land owner and it is not a recognised harbour

So to the OP if there is no ByLaws (check with the local council) and your not in any natural harbour which has been charging people then why not.
Some trumpet up officials always like to tell you you cant without even knowing the law, they just think you cant , but when challenged in a legal sense they back down.
Happens all the time in Scotland with non Scottish land owners and people who buy private islands and especially the RSPB and the National trust , who think as private landowners they have the powers of the land and the sea , they do not and should always be challenged to allow those who enjoy the open spaces of our country to do so freely, and do so respectfully.

 

[alant]

https://www.rya.org.uk/sitecollecti...Moorings/ANCHORING AND VISITORS' MOORINGS.pdf
As posted before this lays out the law out quite well
to summarise
1. you have a right to anchor anywhere you like under the the rights of navigation
2.this can only be surpassed by any bylaws that are in place (i.e near a naval base or nuclear power plant or a really anal council who might not want a certain river way hoarded with boats but this must be written in law
3. You can anchor in a designated harbour area if that harbour has been designated on , with no bylaws , but you will have to agree to there rules and they can charge you for the privilege as long as they provide facilities, (facilities can come in many shapes and forms i.e bouys , markers , dinghy pontoon, showers toilets etc)
4. private land owners who own the sea bed i.e The National trust can not charge you for anchoring or stop you , again only if there is a bylaw from the courts not the private land owner and it is not a recognised harbour

So to the OP if there is no ByLaws (check with the local council) and your not in any natural harbour which has been charging people then why not.
Some trumpet up officials always like to tell you you cant without even knowing the law, they just think you cant , but when challenged in a legal sense they back down.
Happens all the time in Scotland with non Scottish land owners and people who buy private islands and especially the RSPB and the National trust , who think as private landowners they have the powers of the land and the sea , they do not and should always be challenged to allow those who enjoy the open spaces of our country to do so freely, and do so respectfully.

How about Keyhaven, do you have to pay for anchoring there. It is administered by NFDC, but owned by a Bournemouth based Estate.

 

[MAURICE]

I think that it is interesting that when parking a car the law is clear that payment for any charges have to be clearly shown. Ive never seen any notice on any river bay etc. showing this or on any chart. The only notice ive seen is anchoring prohibited. It would make an interesting case. How would these notices be displayed thats not my problem. I have thought on many occasions to challenge this.

 

[solent clown]

what if someone just puts down a mooring or ten in a river, then starts charging someone else to use it?

 

[fredrussell]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I’ll fill you all in with more info regarding my situation after I’ve spoken to the harbour master at Associated British Ports, who oversee moorings on River Orwell.

 

[moomba]

what if someone just puts down a mooring or ten in a river, then starts charging someone else to use it?

In relation to the bed and soil, the starting point is that where the river forms the boundary between two pieces of land, the landowners on each side of the river are presumed to own the bed and soil up to the middle line of it (the ‘ad medium filum’ presumption). The landowners on either side are known as the ‘riparian’ owners, from the Latin ‘ripa’ for ‘(river)bank’
therefore you would be illegal to put moorings on a river bed
This would also include estuaries as someone some were owns the rights to the minerals below, mainly it is the crown estate , but you will find many ducheys and Baron rights to the sea bed which have been handed down through the ages when kings and queens handed out land to those more noble than us mere mortals , but this does not stop the right to anchor on a navigable waterway i.e large estuary and around the coast were there is a tidal flow , again there is bylaws in place like the river Thames and no doubt dotted around the country so it is important to check with your local authority.
but remember that Navigation on Tidal Rivers
The right of navigation exists as a right of way in all tidal waters including rivers
and at common law the public have the right of passage in boats. There is also
an ancillary right to tow, and to anchor, ground or moor in the course of ordinary
navigation Thus the public right of navigation is any operation which could
reasonably be described as navigation by any vessel that could
reasonably be described as a boat, on any flowing water which has the
natural and visible capacity for use, unless Parliament has said
otherwise. This is the Law

I think that it is interesting that when parking a car the law is clear that payment for any charges have to be clearly shown. I've never seen any notice on any river bay etc.

exactly in Scotland we have a right to roam and wild camp respectfully any were we like its part of our access rights , but Loch Lomond National Park have a bylaw in place restricting camping on the East side of the Loch but they have had to signpost this and make people aware with information , as how can you break the law if you don't even know if one exists , again challenge their authority and ask to see there bylaws , but remember some one some were owns what you walking across , fishing in , sailing on so be respectful but do not give in to them.

 

[oldharry]

what if someone just puts down a mooring or ten in a river, then starts charging someone else to use it?

Not as easy as that: If its within the jurisdiction of a duly constituted Harbour authority, then they have absolute control over the laying of moorings. If not the laying of a mooring requires the permission of whoever owns the seabed. By default that is Crown Estates, but various bits of seabed are in private ownership, usually a local Estate like at Beaulieu.

For a great many years Crown Estates were not particularly worried about private moorings, and turned something of a blind eye, but with the Marine Coastal and Access act 2009, they had to pull their act together somewhat, and with Conservos like NGM making a fuss in places like Studland thewhole issue came to the fore. Since the 2009 legislation, you not only have to have landowners permission, but a licence from the Marine Management Organisation, which involves obtaining an Environmental Impact survey. RYA negotiated a streamlined version of this process, after BORG pointed out to MMO that the legislation required the same environmental survey as an Oil Rig ata cost of many £k's.

Eventually, all Private moorings in uncontrolled waters will be pulled in under this legisaltion, but when I last spoke to MMO about it, they commented they had more important things to do for the time being. But the days of just turning up and chucking an old engine block over the side with a chain round it are long gone, and new moorings wherever they are on England's Coast must either be authorised by MMO or a Harbour Master. The situation in Scotland and Wles is similar, but the National assemblies have their own arrangements.

Doesnt answer the question about long term anchoring Im afraid, but I would ask whoever lifted the OPs moorings and left his boat 'homeless' what to do about it until new moorings are available.

 

[Tranona]

How about Keyhaven, do you have to pay for anchoring there. It is administered by NFDC, but owned by a Bournemouth based Estate.

Yes there is a charge for anchoring in Keyhaven. Just like many other harbours where Bye Laws allow the harbour authority to charge for anchoring.

Nothing new or unusual in that.

 

[solent clown]

moomba and old harry, thanks for that. I had a good reason to ask, and an axe to grind about something going on here that came to a head earlier this week on the Itchen. A "yacht" sans rudder and mast, was cut free off an improvised mooring and left to drift. I was going upriver to pick Karen up from work in our sailing dinghy when I came across this, and a spied guy in a small rib making off with a tender in tow. It turns out, after some frantic improvised anchoring that the unfortunate couple living on this hulk had bought it from a chap the other side of the bridge who lives on a houseboat there. He has been charging them mooring fees on his improvised moorings, all hulks. When they didn't cough up the ten pound note demanded he cut their line and took the tender they were using. I had to ferry them across to the shore (yes in a 40kt wind, using my lifejacket as a boat, my tee shirt as a sail, and my ardour as a mast, claiming salvage as I went) Crown estates stretch of water. If the hulk had drifted firther it would have potentially hit boats at quayside marina or Kemps quay. As it is "anchored" now it isnt safe, and about 75 yards from quayside moorings. Bad show all round