grounding/anchoring my boat on the beach

[jacob1029]

Hi all,

I'm currently a non boat owner but am toying with the idea of living on a boat over the summer while working in a coastal city in wales. (please forgive any lack of boating knowledge and/or if this is a stupid question)
Basically the marinas are far too expensive for me to afford with my part time job so my plan was to buy a cheap sailboat and anchor in the bay and commute to shore on a little dinghy/kayak. Would this be illegal? (I dont think there are any shipping lanes in the area so that shouldnt be a problem) From what I can tell the seabed and foreshore belong to the crown, so if it was illegal, is it likely that they would actually enforce this and if so would it just be a "move along" job?

Failing the permanent anchor idea, I know a beach a bit out of the way that I could possibly ground the boat on and walk/bike to work from, would this still count as tresspassing?

Again sorry if these are stupid questions, Im just very keen to find a solution ahah

cheers

 

[RichardS]

Forget grounding on the beach as there are many reasons why this is not possible.

Anchoring might be possible but there are many issues with anything other than short term, not least exposure to bad weather, power generation and water usage.

Richard

 

[sailaboutvic]

I has to smile when I read this posting , it's not that simple , we very experience liveaboard and live on our anchor nine months a year , just putting a side all the complication if you going to be aloud to stay in one place for any length of time .
You will find there going to be more days then not when your not going to be able to leave the boat because of weather .
Sorry to say this but I think your dream will very soon come to an end . Even if you found a mooring buoy going a shore in a dinghy in rain cold blows and then going to work it's not going to be fun .
Your best bet is find a reasonable price Marina and berth the boat there then keep your head down as a lot of marinas don't like liveaboard.
I think you got more change buying a cheap motor home and parking it somewhere . For sure it be easier to arrive at work in some sort of order .

 

[Kelpie]

In general, if you find a bit of sea and there aren't already moorings or pontoons there, it's probably not suitable as a long term anchorage where you could safely keep a boat. Nothing to do with laws or regulations, more about weather and sea conditions.
This starts to become untrue when you get to more remote parts of the country, but anywhere within commuting distance of available work is likely to be too populated.

 

[Tranona]

It is quite possible to live on a boat on a mooring or at anchor, but not practical off the coast. More likely to work in a river and better on a mooring, perhaps rented from a yard that has shoreside facilities. Indeed I did this for 2 periods in my younger days, spending weekdays/nights on the boat close to work and home at weekends. However as Vic says there are major drawbacks, particularly if you have regular timed work requirements. First thing is that living on a cheap old boat is a miserable existence for any extended period. Think of it as camping on a constantly moving hobbit type pod. You need a fair size boat to get standing headroom, space to have separate sleeping facilities and good gear for domestic activities such as cooking eating and entertaining yourself. Getting ready for work in a restricted damp space then rowing ashore, probably in a tidal river where half the time there is a muddy walk to shore soon stops being fun. Don't forget British summers can be cold and wet and once into September when temperatures fall it gets worse!

Many who do live aboard in this way are not connected to a structured shoreside life - probably not working, retired, self employed etc, but you probably won't know if it is for you unless you try it.

 

[nortada]

Re: grounding/anchoring my boat on the beach - SUITABLE BOAT

A 26ft twin keeled Snap Dragon would set you back less than £5,000 and would prove a good boat to live on, with plenty of headroom. It could accommodate 2 adults in comfort.

A tough boat it would take the bottom well so could be located up a river or in a muddy half tide creek - well away from waves and weather.

Anybody got any other thoughts

 

[Mr Cassandra]

Re: grounding/anchoring my boat on the beach - SUITABLE BOAT

Camper van, as Vic

 

[Trident]

Re: grounding/anchoring my boat on the beach - SUITABLE BOAT

Wise words from everyone. Maybe read a bit about anchoring specifically first to get an idea of how boats work - firstly we choose a place to anchor that is protected from the wind and waves but normally only in one direction; so whatever way the wind is blowing that night or the prevailing winds for longer term - but if the direction changes or the wind ramps up the anchorage can become unsafe or just plain too uncomfortable and you would have to be checking weather daily and possibly during the day whilst at work if unexpected winds come along as they often do. Could you then rush out of work to get back to the boat and move it somewhere safe if that happened ; if not you may get "home" at night to find the boat wrecked on the shore or gone out to sea. A river mooring is the only really viable option and that will cost. You then need to think about making power (ideally solar or wind but on a budget probably just running the engine so you'll need to haul diesel aboard) and about getting water aboard - water is heavy and bulky and if you want to wash and drink you need a lot of it. Then there is going to the loo - ignoring any environmental rules if you're on any sort of mooring that dries out at low tide it means you have no water to flush your toilet.. How long can you hold on?

Then if all that is solved you have to get a dinghy ashore - even mild chop (wind causing small waves) can mean water comes in to the dinghy meaning you get wet. I lived aboard at anchor in Europe for 4 years and I count myself quite experienced at all this and still occasionally soaked a load of just bought groceries from mis-timing the breakers ashore or just because of the wake of a selfish speeding motorboat nearby.

Really, unless you own boat already and have experience and no other choice a motorhome or even a cheaply converted van would be safer, more pleasant and cheaper and much much much easier to live in until you can move on to something better. I think I would probably say even a tent on a campsite with showers or even in the woods and a fancy gym membership to go wash and so on each day would be a better bet. Good luck which ever way you go

 

[sailaboutvic]

Re: grounding/anchoring my boat on the beach - SUITABLE BOAT

Wise words from everyone. Maybe read a bit about anchoring specifically first to get an idea of how boats work - firstly we choose a place to anchor that is protected from the wind and waves but normally only in one direction; so whatever way the wind is blowing that night or the prevailing winds for longer term - but if the direction changes or the wind ramps up the anchorage can become unsafe or just plain too uncomfortable and you would have to be checking weather daily and possibly during the day whilst at work if unexpected winds come along as they often do. Could you then rush out of work to get back to the boat and move it somewhere safe if that happened ; if not you may get "home" at night to find the boat wrecked on the shore or gone out to sea. A river mooring is the only really viable option and that will cost. You then need to think about making power (ideally solar or wind but on a budget probably just running the engine so you'll need to haul diesel aboard) and about getting water aboard - water is heavy and bulky and if you want to wash and drink you need a lot of it. Then there is going to the loo - ignoring any environmental rules if you're on any sort of mooring that dries out at low tide it means you have no water to flush your toilet.. How long can you hold on?

Then if all that is solved you have to get a dinghy ashore - even mild chop (wind causing small waves) can mean water comes in to the dinghy meaning you get wet. I lived aboard at anchor in Europe for 4 years and I count myself quite experienced at all this and still occasionally soaked a load of just bought groceries from mis-timing the breakers ashore or just because of the wake of a selfish speeding motorboat nearby.

Really, unless you own boat already and have experience and no other choice a motorhome or even a cheaply converted van would be safer, more pleasant and cheaper and much much much easier to live in until you can move on to something better. I think I would probably say even a tent on a campsite with showers or even in the woods and a fancy gym membership to go wash and so on each day would be a better bet. Good luck which ever way you go

A lot of the stuff you mention is why I started my posting " I had to smile " no disrespect to the OP but lots of people wake up one morning and decided a cheap way of accommodation is buy a cheap boat and anchor it some where , and it's just not that easily . No matter where you anchor it , and I can tell the OP for nothing on the coast is a no go, because of lots of reason, unless you want to return back from work and find it gone.
What your plain when you wake up at 02.00 wind blowing 30kts waves crashing over the top boat wildly rolling and all the sudden your home start to drag. And if you think I going over the top with my example , that's exactly what you can expect , sooner or later , more likely sooner .
Save your money and buy something else to live on cheaply,as already said by some caravan, tent, mobile van, better still if the reason you tho of a boat because you can't afford a flat then flat share, you be a lot happier in the long run.

 

[vyv_cox]

Re: grounding/anchoring my boat on the beach - SUITABLE BOAT

One of the problems with sailing in Wales is that the number of totally protected anchorages is just about zero. The whole of the west coast takes the prevailing winds with only a few estuaries to give some shelter but even these can be difficult. The Bristol Channel has big tidal ranges and lots of swell, good for surfing but not anchoring. Upper Milford Haven could just about qualify but access is not easy. Menai Strait looks nicely sheltered but it too has quite big ranges and plenty of weather. The reality is that there can be very few places in all of UK where it would be safe and comfortable to live on the hook all year round.

 

[elton]

Re: grounding/anchoring my boat on the beach - SUITABLE BOAT

Anchoring close to a beach and allowing it to dry out is not a good idea. Unless it's flat calm with a flat sea, the boat will crash down onto it's keels with every wave, until the falling tide allows it to settle, and the rising tide allows it to float free. I've been through all that, and the idea makes me shudder

 

[oldmanofthehills]

Re: grounding/anchoring my boat on the beach - SUITABLE BOAT

The tidal range on the welsh coast means that you have to moor way out to sea to stay afloat or if near mud for the boat to settle in have a steep climb up muddy banks to get ashore much of the time.
Rowing ashore in bad weather is frightening and dangerous even with an expensive lifejacket and only suited to experienced masochists and then you have to leave dinghy and oars somewhere where it wont be stolen. Moving a boat in bad weather to better anchorages is not for the novice either particularly with cheap engines etc.

A river mooring might just do the job if far enough above the mouth to be non tidal but unlikely to be surepticious or cheap.

Living in a small boat is like living in an estate car only damper. Sheltered creeks in E England have old boats dried up and lived on but not small boats and not in Wales. A cheap van however is a great idea. You can park lots of places, move if harassed, drive to work, drive to get fuel and there is a whole community of van dwellers to join in with.

 

[AndrewB]

Re: grounding/anchoring my boat on the beach - SUITABLE BOAT

Times change. When I was in my 20's I bought a 22' sailing yacht, ran it up the top-end of a mud-creek in North Kent and almost into a field, afloat only on spring tides. I lived there for free for nearly a year.

That's hardly possible now. There is now a marina full of half-tide moorings where I parked, but it is still reasonably cheap and would be the obvious sort of place for Jacob to look. Usually a good self-help community of liveaboards in such places. It does mean a small boat, I tend to think sailing yachts are better set up for this than small motor cruisers, but that's a matter of opinion. That would mean a small bilge keeler capable of taking the mud, like the Snapdragon previously mentioned (are there really any still around??).

But be sure to find a suitable place FIRST before committing yourself to buying a boat. Being able to plug in is a huge asset, specially in winter, or like me you'll waste all your savings keeping warm in the local pub every evening.

 

[nortada]

Re: grounding/anchoring my boat on the beach - SUITABLE BOAT

One of the problems with sailing in Wales is that the number of totally protected anchorages is just about zero. The whole of the west coast takes the prevailing winds with only a few estuaries to give some shelter but even these can be difficult. The Bristol Channel has big tidal ranges and lots of swell, good for surfing but not anchoring. Upper Milford Haven could just about qualify but access is not easy. Menai Strait looks nicely sheltered but it too has quite big ranges and plenty of weather. The reality is that there can be very few places in all of UK where it would be safe and comfortable to live on the hook all year round.

Not relevant in this case but the East Coast - Thames to the Wash offers numerous safe anchorages but if I was staying a while rather than anchor, I would invest in or make some cheap but substantial ground tackle.

Boats sit for years in the Black Water, Coln, Walton Backwaters, Stoar, Orwell and Deban on this arrangement.

 

[sailaboutvic]

Re: grounding/anchoring my boat on the beach - SUITABLE BOAT

Not relevant in this case but the East Coast - Thames to the Wash offers numerous safe anchorages but if I was staying a while rather than anchor, I would invest in or make some cheap but substantial ground tackle.

Boats sit for years in the Black Water, Coln, Walton Backwaters, Stoar, Orwell and Deban on this arrangement.

This was my home ground once and your right some years back but now it very different , black water is almost full of mooring buoys , and so is Walton and even if you could , where are you going to get off?, on the sand bank .
You would have to use the Marina or go into Walton.
Orwell you could get away with it for a time by pin mill and opp SYH even by the bridge not so now, for sure you won't be able to lay a mooring .
the Deb isn't any better , can you imagine all suited up and walking across pin mill mud because at some point in each week you would have to .

 

[oldmanofthehills]

Re: grounding/anchoring my boat on the beach - SUITABLE BOAT

There are still boats grounded and lived on in the Colne and its fringing marshes and if I was an east coast bloke I would be tempted myself. Most look fairly run down except for those on the paid moorings in village centres . However that's no help to someone trying to find accommodation near Cardiff or Swansea.;