Does you boatyard let you sleep aboard when ashore?

[dylanwinter]

Does your boatyard let you sleep aboard when ashore?

during my journey I have been amazed at the way the attitude towards sleeping aboard varies from place to place

in some it is perfectly accepted

in others the given reason for it not being allowed is insurance and H and S

I wonder if sleeping aboard and boiling the odd kettle in a yard is any more of a fire risk than using power tools, volatile paints, varnishes or heat guns

many of the yards had at least one old bloke living in a boat right through the winter - which I assume was good for security


At wells they let me sleep in the boat while I was fixing it but I understand that now they prefer you not to do it


I like sleeping aboard ashore - I feel ubersafe and secure and sleep extremely well

 

[Seajet]

I suspect it's like being a liveaboard; a lot of places tolerate it ( as well they should, for both income and security ), but if one actually asks, especially unless it's the right person, the answer will usually be no.

 

[mocruising]

We have done so in France, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Croatia, Montenegro and never had a problem. We use all the facilities on the boat except the loos. Showers and sinks pipe in to a drain or the bushes. Max stay on the boat was about a week.

 

[Lakesailor]

Insurance an H&S is the great get-out-clause for those who don't fancy justifying a policy.

We had a rather obnoxious new director at the museum opposite who suddenly decided that people who had landings for their tenders would no longer be able to park their vehicles in the museum car park. The museum was closed (and still is) for renovations.
His excuse was the insurance one. However he rented out space to the local car dealership to park cars there.
So the answer was money. He claimed the insurance would cost more. I hardly think the extra cost spread between 20 landing permit holders would amount to a lot. They were already charging us £170 a year to be on their beach.

It's the resort of the mealy-mouthed.

 

[Zagato]

The location of the yard will have a bearing, our yard for instance is basically half of the council car park overlooked by neighbouring housing so sleeping on board is not allowed.

However if you go into stealth mode, dodge the CCTV camera, climb up into your boat at just the right time, block the windows up so no light shines out and only use a candle you can getaway with the odd night You do have to be REALLY quiet though. My neighbour did the same but argued with his wife half the night and set the generator off at 8.30 am for a cup of tea. He got caught of course and was asked not to sleep aboard...

It's 110 mile round trip to the boat so it saves time and petrol being able to get 2 full straight days work on the boat - the little village is also a nice scenic place to be by the water, it's like my own little holiday home...

 

[Jamesuk]

Corfu, yes. Gouvia Marina

 

[prv]

No reason I'd want to sleep in the yard given it's five minutes from my house, but I have seen other people do it when they're lifting-in and the tide means the lift has to be early. Spend one day getting the boat ready, night on board, then lift in the following morning. No suggestion of the yard having a problem with it; there are a number of liveaboards on the pontoons too. I consider this a benefit to security.

Pete

 

[prv]

our yard for instance is basically half of the council car park overlooked by neighbouring housing so sleeping on board is not allowed.

I don't understand why one thing follows from the other. Unless people are planning to sleep in the nude on deck

Pete

 

[KINGFISHER 9]

Last time I left the boat ashore in Gosport to have a few jobs done (safe as houses - there's a resident security guy) some b&stard pinched my genoa sheets!

 

[macd]

Preveza yards and elsewhere in Greece, no problem. Typically relaxed attitude to Υγεία & ασφάλεια.

Andalucia: no, atv least in some yards. My understanding is it's a regional law...more honoured in the breach in the past, until an occupied boat fell over in a yard.

 

[VicS]

Yes regularly slept on board in the yard.

Sleeping in motor caravans is not allowed though!

 

[vyv_cox]

Preveza yards and elsewhere in Greece, no problem. Typically relaxed attitude to Υγεία & ασφάλεια.

Except for Pandeli on Leros. A dissatisfied customer complained to H&S after an owner was spraying some obnoxious paint outside. Surprisingly perhaps, Greek H&S is powerful and have forced many changes on the yard, one of which is no sleeping on board. I understand that a blind eye may be turned in some cases but it is in the yard rules. In their case it is a yard only, therefore industrial, whereas yards attached to a marina come under different legislation.

 

[capnsensible]

Isla Verde, Algeceiras. No problem staying on board. Also in customs area of port, so not tax on lift and hardstanding. Hoorah. Also nearby truckers cafe, 3 course meals for abot 6 quid.

 

[Blueboatman]

Oh dear, please don't take this unkindly mr D but journalism and discrete quasi-tolerated yard practises will always be uneasy bedfellows. But you know that coz you is a real journo.
So. Am I going to plonk the spotlight anywhere? Nope. Your update on Wells, well well well...

Bit like some of the really outstanding places I have been lucky enough to visit by boat. Never ever tell the world, cos the next, timorous generation rock up, but want 'facilities'.. The next lot want better facilities. Cue yet another marina just like another marina, by the numbers park n play sailors..pointless

 

[Searush]

No problem sleeping aboard on the quayside. Why should there be? How is it different from sleeping on the boat in the harbour with the tide out?

Clearly you can't use the sea toilet, but there are public loos (7am-8pm) nearby. I can't see the problem with living on the boat or in a motorhome, but lots of places have "No Camping" & "No Overnight Parking" signs, just silly really as most of them have no legal authority. Some Councils are driven by the demands of B&B or campsite owners who think they are losing out on revenues when the people concerned simply wouldn't want to use either of those anyway.

 

[shaunksb]

With a 400 mile round trip to the boat I have relied on being able to get my head down while at the yard otherwise it wouldn't be cost effective to keep it there.

It's not strictly allowed but one or two do it.

Having said that, I don't really like it on land. I prefer sleeping on a boat on the water and like the movement (in moderation!) and being able to use the heads for a pee.



_________________________

 

[maby]

Our marina says no, but doesn't enforce it provided you keep your head down.

I guess they need to have the ban in the rules so that they can enforce it if necessary. A marina boatyard in the early spring can be very full and if a large proportion of the owners all took up residence at the same time, it could become a pretty rank place with sinks and showers being discharged onto the ground and rubbish bins getting grossly overloaded with perishable waste.

 

[Birdseye]

Used to do it at Suffolk Yacht Harbour but in winter the east wind blows directly onto suffolk having started like in the russian tundra. Its even colder than Penistone railway station. Never again.

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

When someone says "you cannot do that for health and safety reasons" I always ask them to show me the regulation. No one ever has. If they did I would ask them to prove to me why it was applicable in that particular situation.

It's a very British jobsworth thing to stop others doing what they want to do if someone hasn't been told specifically that its ok to do it. My experience is that people like that are best ignored with a Gallic shrug.

 

[maby]

When someone says "you cannot do that for health and safety reasons" I always ask them to show me the regulation. No one ever has. If they did I would ask them to prove to me why it was applicable in that particular situation.

It's a very British jobsworth thing to stop others doing what they want to do if someone hasn't been told specifically that its ok to do it. My experience is that people like that are best ignored with a Gallic shrug.

I don't think they need to justify restrictions on living on a boat in the yard - as I said above, the place would become pretty unsavoury quite quickly if lots of people did it. Let them have the rule on the book in case they need it, but exercise some common sense in its application.