Drying out moorings anywhere uk

[Trevor1471]

Hi all I'm Trev

I'm looking for a real cheap mooring to renovate a yacht 30ft+ bilinge keel.

I'm going through a divorce so any location in the UK is possible.

My budget will be tight, so I believe drying out moorings to be the cheapest.

Also I'll be a frequent visitor as I'll have alot of work to do in a 12month period.

I believe council marinas are the cheapest but would I need to be a local resident to obtain one.

Again I'm willing to go anywhere in the UK.

Budget would be £1200 max but hopefully cheaper (or is that wishful thinking).

Thank you

 

[The Q]

Horning Sailing club, Norfolk, with membership your bill will be less than half the £1200, the mooring will be the other side of the river, (200ft wide) but there are 3 rowing boats provided.
You also get the use of club facilities, water, and car parking.
Horning Sailing Club
You also get the choice of joining in club events, both sailing and social.

When racing / the sailing school aren't on, you can tie up on the front of the club house quay and walk to the car park less than 50 yards.
In the village there's a restaurant, a Chinese, 3 pubs, a couple of cafes, and a newsagents/ post office with some food stuffs, there's a full supermarket just 4 miles away.

We don't have launching facilities for a boat that size at the club, but many boat yards can crane you in, if you come by sea you'll have lower your mast to get under a bridge or two...

Oh you'll need to pay broads tax, assuming you have an inboard as well that's going to be around £400.
Annual toll

 

[Refueler]

Renovating - so that means alongside a drying pontoon ...

Forget the South I reckon ... for a 25ft boat on drying pontoon in Solent area I was paying nigh on 2000 quid and that was 2006 year.

You could get cheaper drying mooring via a Club - but it wont be pontoon based.... and many clubs have a clause about non local applicants ...

 

[Trevor1471]

Horning Sailing club, Norfolk, with membership your bill will be less than half the £1200, the mooring will be the other side of the river, (200ft wide) but there are 3 rowing boats provided.
You also get the use of club facilities, water, and car parking.
Horning Sailing Club
You also get the choice of joining in club events, both sailing and social.

When racing / the sailing school aren't on, you can tie up on the front of the club house quay and walk to the car park less than 50 yards.
In the village there's a restaurant, a Chinese, 3 pubs, a couple of cafes, and a newsagents/ post office with some food stuffs, there's a full supermarket just 4 miles away.

We don't have launching facilities for a boat that size at the club, but many boat yards can crane you in, if you come by sea you'll have lower your mast to get under a bridge or two...

Oh you'll need to pay broads tax, assuming you have an inboard as well that's going to be around £400.
Annual toll

This looks very interesting thank you.

I'll have a look into the bridge heights as I'll be arriving by sea.

Thanks again

 

[Daydream believer]

Have you got the boat yet (if not what do you intend to buy) & have you got somewhere to live?

 

[scozzy]

Find a friendly farmer/person with land and with room/outbuildings big shed etc...hire a flatbed hiab to get on it site and work at your leisure after agreeing a deal to have it sit there,reverse above in 12 mths when you're sorted and hopefully settled and know where it(and you!) Are going to be without worrying about probably hefty mooring costs and or inevitable travelling costs to a "cheaper" site

 

[Trevor1471]

Have you got the boat yet (if not what do you intend to buy) & have you got somewhere to live?

No not until the settlement money comes in, I've got a good list of boats to view (hopefully April).

Kind of, I'll be between car, tent, hammock and the boat, I've been into wild camping for almost 20yrs now and have plenty of gear for all weathers.

 

[Trevor1471]

Find a friendly farmer/person with land and with room/outbuildings big shed etc...hire a flatbed hiab to get on it site and work at your leisure after agreeing a deal to have it sit there,reverse above in 12 mths when you're sorted and hopefully settled and know where it(and you!) Are going to be without worrying about probably hefty mooring costs and or inevitable travelling costs to a "cheaper"

That's a brilliant idea thank you.

 

[Daydream believer]

I know where there is a cheap hustler 25.5 on a road trailer. Has a working engine, serviced when last used. New VHF & autopilot ready to install. Was sailing until the owner bought a newer boat. Tow it to a cheap site- Farm etc & in 3 months it could be an excellent boat ready to go.

 

[S04]

Fareham Sailing Club (FSMBC) have drying pontoon moorings at the top of Portsmouth harbour. With club membership you might get a mooring on the Salterns pontoon within your budget BUT you'd need to check of course if they have any vacancies and whether a boat >= 30ft would be accommodated. Probably not on one of the inner (=cheaper) pontoons. There was a Nic 32 there until a couple of weeks ago but she was sold. The club is close to town, parking is OK at Salterns with a dedicated locked car park.

 

[Mister E]

If you get the right boat you could live on it at Pwhelli for the next six months.
Then if you can not get a summer berth on the pontoons then a pile or trot mooring some that don't dry out.

 

[Trevor1471]

I know where there is a cheap hustler 25.5 on a road trailer. Has a working engine, serviced when last used. New VHF & autopilot ready to install. Was sailing until the owner bought a newer boat. Tow it to a cheap site- Farm etc & in 3 months it could be an excellent boat ready to go.

Thanks but I'm aiming at 30ft minimum and 36ft maximum.
But thank you

 

[B27]

Hi all I'm Trev

I'm looking for a real cheap mooring to renovate a yacht 30ft+ bilinge keel.

I'm going through a divorce so any location in the UK is possible.

My budget will be tight, so I believe drying out moorings to be the cheapest.

Also I'll be a frequent visitor as I'll have alot of work to do in a 12month period.

I believe council marinas are the cheapest but would I need to be a local resident to obtain one.

Again I'm willing to go anywhere in the UK.

Budget would be £1200 max but hopefully cheaper (or is that wishful thinking).

Thank you

It's not easy to do any actual renovation while living aboard.
I think you'd be better off focussing on getting a job.

Unfortunately, many areas are already saturated with people living aboard, more so where there is much prospect of employment.
I do know someone who is handy with general boat work and lives in a marina where he also works. I'm not naming names.

 

[Trevor1471]

It's not easy to do any actual renovation while living aboard.
I think you'd be better off focussing on getting a job.

Unfortunately, many areas are already saturated with people living aboard, more so where there is much prospect of employment.
I do know someone who is handy with general boat work and lives in a marina where he also works. I'm not naming names.

I appreciate the advice but I've lived in and out of building sites while renovating the 4 houses we've lived in.

Doing everything from electrics, plumbing, carpentry, bricklaying, plastering ect.

I'm a welder/fabricator by trade but am willing to clean toilets if needs be.

The budget is set so I can comfortably live for 4-5yrs or frugal for 10.

But I do appreciate the advice thanks

 

[Refueler]

Fareham Sailing Club (FSMBC) have drying pontoon moorings at the top of Portsmouth harbour. With club membership you might get a mooring on the Salterns pontoon within your budget BUT you'd need to check of course if they have any vacancies and whether a boat >= 30ft would be accommodated. Probably not on one of the inner (=cheaper) pontoons. There was a Nic 32 there until a couple of weeks ago but she was sold. The club is close to town, parking is OK at Salterns with a dedicated locked car park.

I'm ex FS&MBC (my Father maintained family Membership) and ex resident of Fareham ..... later when I moved to Cowplain and wanted to join FS&MBC - it was refused as I was not Fareham resident and their 'Distant Member Quota' was full.

 

[Boathook]

I appreciate the advice but I've lived in and out of building sites while renovating the 4 houses we've lived in.

Doing everything from electrics, plumbing, carpentry, bricklaying, plastering ect.

I'm a welder/fabricator by trade but am willing to clean toilets if needs be.

The budget is set so I can comfortably live for 4-5yrs or frugal for 10.

But I do appreciate the advice thanks

Houses have more room - normally. When working on a boat most cabins get involved and get mucky. If 'machining' fibreglass you really need a mains powered vacuum cleaner and I suspect that a lot of the cheaper moorings won't have mains power.

 

[Stemar]

Quay Lane in Gosport will do you a drying mooring for a bit over £600 a year, or a drying pontoon berth for £1.60 per foot per week. However, I'd want to keep an eye on the state of the mooring, as a few boats have gone walkabout in storms due to poor maintenance.

 

[Bobc]

Quay Lane is probably not a bad shout, as you can put the boat on the pontoon for short periods when you have stuff to do that needs it.

 

[Trevor1471]

Houses have more room - normally. When working on a boat most cabins get involved and get mucky. If 'machining' fibreglass you really need a mains powered vacuum cleaner and I suspect that a lot of the cheaper moorings won't have mains power.

Fully agree,
so my thinking here is when at a point I know I'll need to use all cabins at the same time (when ones won't be used I'll seal of with plastic sheeting and tape, to have a clean room), I'll set a ground base away from the marina to sleep and eat, with an outdoor shower (yes even in the colder months, when I end up with two belly buttons).

Power I'm planning on getting a decent diesel generator to eventually be used on the boat to surport the solar in winter weather. The size and weight I'm still looking into.

Also on the subject of generators, I'm thinking when I need to add heavy items to the boat, up anker and get a visitors day or 2 mooring on a decent pontoon else where to load up, fuel up ect.

 

[Refueler]

All good ideas ... but >>>>>

Generators are so often hated and can lead to upset 'neighbours' ... I've known 'marina' ask an owner not to run generator .... eventually asking owner to leave and find another berth.

It would be so much better for you to find a friendly old yard to get the boat stood in out of water ... one yard I knew years ago that was just the ticket for this : Paynes Yard on Thorney Island ... but I think they shut down years ago ,,,,
If you find such - you will often be with like minded owners and the wealth of info, help from them.

My 25ft motor sailer has just had one keel repaired - in main cabin grinding and GRP work ... believe me when I say - that boat is now unlivable .. in fact going inside now is not when wind is blowing into cabin !! During the work vacuum cleaners were running to collect as much of the dust as possible ... I am still months later trying to clean up ... its EVERYWHERE .....