I made a mistake and I need some old seabears to help me out

[DangerousPirate]

I purchased and moved a boat to the medways and wanted to live afloat in Gillingham Marina, but even though I mentioned it I didnt make it obvious that I want to live on the boat, and the marina then only told me after arriving in the marina on the boat when I wanted to sign the papers for the mooring! Argh!

So I have been calling the marinas in the area, boatyards as well to try to find a different spot. The best option seems to be Medway Bridge Marine LTD. Its just they dont have space. Guess all taken up by guys like me . The others arent so open for liveaboards or look for boats 40ft and up. (I wish)

Cant go to far away either because I also planned on working ashore for temp agency or some and the medways offer a lot of work of that sorts, also I dont have a (working) outboard engine and the mast is currently down.

If you know any liveaboard friendly places that I can access with my 21ft please let me know! Im fine with pontoons, mooring, even on the dry as long as I have a place for now to make the boat fit. No plans to stay for years, only a few months in a place!

Someone I met in the marina told me to post here and I hope you do can help me. If you need any more information let me know.

 

[V1701]

Firstly stop telling them you want to live on the boat, just keep schtum! As long as you're quiet and respectful of the other berth holders and don't make it obvious by having your washing hanging out all over the place or similar and you're paying your bills you'll almost certainly be OK. There are some marinas who absolutely will not tolerate living aboard but most have a few and turn a blind eye. Others may be able to advise where else you might try but I repeat stop telling them you want to live on the boat & best of luck...

 

[DangerousPirate]

Damn. Im new to this live aboard thing and generally an honest soul. Maybe youre right.

I did call everyone now but I guess I can just call in a few days again or walk by and they wouldnt recognize me and then just sneakily sneak it.

Just dont know why its so frowned upon

 

[sailaboutvic]

Firstly stop telling them you want to live on the boat, just keep schtum! As long as you're quiet and respectful of the other berth holders and don't make it obvious by having your washing hanging out all over the place or similar and you're paying your bills you'll almost certainly be OK. There are some marinas who absolutely will not tolerate living aboard but most have a few and turn a blind eye. Others may be able to advise where else you might try but I repeat stop telling them you want to live on the boat & best of luck...

You hit the nail on the head .
Most U.K. Marina don't want live aboard .

 

[nortada]

You hit the nail on the head .
Most U.K. Marina don't want live aboard .

Problem in the UK is local councils are always worried about the social/financial implications of folk who set up home but do not contribute to the local economy (Council Tax etc.).

They come down heavily on any organisation that provides, as they see it, squatters accommodation (boats, non-residential caravan parks etc.).

As we know, from personal experience, folk with static caravans have a similar problem as they have to satisfy the site owners/local council that they have another address/residency so do not live permanently in their caravan and become a local liability.??

As always there are ways around this but easier for a camper than a boaty.

Fortunately, most marinas overseas take a more relaxed view but unfortunately this doesn’t help you.?

Best of luck with your quest and please keep us advised of your progress/success?

 

[oldgit]

Dont ask dont Tell.
Every single marina and boatyard on the Medway has livaboards lurking within, including the posh ones.
Its acceptable in the posh ones if you drive a Range Rover and live on something 20m long.
Suspect you will have more luck the further up or down river you go. Especially on the boatyards on the North Side of river.
You could try Conyer, Otterham quay or Hoo downstream or Halling or Cuxton upstream.
A word to the wise, in Strood bight, now abandoned, are the wrecks of a dozen or so boats many of which started out as livaboards.
Very recently a livaboard boat home to a man and his wife broke adrift , in the recent high winds, it is now lying abandoned on a local pier.
It will be moved and destroyed by PEEL Ports, they will then come looking for the owner to pay a few bills.
You will need to be very determind indeed to live on your boat. especially in bad weather.

 

[V1701]

Damn. Im new to this live aboard thing and generally an honest soul. Maybe youre right.

I did call everyone now but I guess I can just call in a few days again or walk by and they wouldnt recognize me and then just sneakily sneak it.

Just dont know why its so frowned upon

Definitely worth a try, the more different the approach the better so I'd go in person, act like it's a casual enquiry and let them do their thing & sell you a berth, good luck!

 

[DangerousPirate]

Fortunately, most marinas overseas take a more relaxed view but unfortunately this doesn’t help you.?
Actually it does. I only plan to live on board long enough to make my current boat ready to be sold, safe up a little money on the site and buy a bigger boat. So a couple of months max. And then sail over to the mediterrenean through Gibraltar. So yes, its good to hear that I can stop on the way there and rest a month of so in marinas on the way.
B

Its acceptable in the posh ones if you drive a Range Rover and live on something 20m long.
S

Its one of those things that sounds classy when youre rich but not so much when youre not. Just like getting money from the government or drinking wine in the morning.

 

[AndrewB]

Gillingham Marina have been anti-liveaboard for as long as I can remember. I tried there once : plainly no question of a blind eye being turned and the "keeping schtum" tactic will not work . I'm surprised you weren't aware earlier as they were completely upfront with me (and no, I didn't mention my intention).

However there are marinas not so far away that will not be a problem. I would recommend trying Hoo St Werbergh. I also spent time on a mooring off Queenborough and also at Conyer Creek Marina (NOT Jarmans Yard) , but do not know what their attitude is these days.

 

[Refueler]

I think you will find that many marinas are like the 'summer mobile home' parks where they don't have long stay licences and or Insurance clauses prohibit live-on site.

I know a number of Marina's / berthing areas along South Coast that are not legal to have liveaboards but do ......

There's also the matter of many marinas if they know your boat is going to be away so many days .. will let visitors 'rent' that berth earning them more money ...

Just mentioning ...

 

[Murv]

I assume it's a motorboat and therefore can get under Rochester bridge? if so:

Cuxton Marina Ltd
Elmhaven Marina
PORT MEDWAY MARINA

Good luck!

 

[DangerousPirate]

Hm. Lets just hope they dont catch me. I do have over 20 days per year to stay overnight though. I read that somewhere but dont have the required papers on me right now.

Regarding hoo. There is the one marina I keep hearing. Their websites called "wanttoliveafloat.com" but they only take 40ft and up. Greedy much. Cant be bothered with small boat owners. (Though I wouldnt consider a 35ft small for example. But I get it. You pay per metre. So more metres = more pounds).

I do will wait for the other marina to call me once a berth is free. Medway brdige marina ltd. I think they sound like a good one.

But why dont the marinas just get the licenses? People who live aboard take better care of their boats. So theyd spend more money on services and dry docks potentially.
And also would go to the chandlery often to buy stuff they need. Atleast more often than someone who only goes to sail 5 times in the summer and then waits the other 3 seasons out without enterin the marina again.

Or is it just that people think people who live aboard are stinkin hobos who bother people for change on the piers? (Little bit overdramatic)

Edit: No. Unfortunately not a motorboat. Its a sailer but the mast is down rn. And I also could lay it down easily. Its a 21ft boat.

 

[ryanroberts]

But why dont the marinas just get the licenses? People who live aboard take better care of their boats.

Planning system + NIMBYs inland, things get a lot more complicated than just saying people are on holiday / parking things. Where do you put the green bin? What if someone sticks a bunch of cargo containers on a lighter barge and rents them out? Lower Thames has a big problem with slum boat rentals and the council has a duty of care but there are no land based standards for housing that can be reasonably applied to boats. I don't think you could even let a 22x7' space with no flushing bog or electricity in London without the council getting mad. The last new residential marina I know of was in central Manchester - part of a gentrification project and now the place is a bit posh rather than a water feature next to the methadone dispensary the landlubbers want rid.

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/media/library/1544.pdf

 

[DangerousPirate]

Planning system + NIMBYs inland, things get a lot more complicated than just saying people are on holiday / parking things. Where do you put the green bin? What if someone sticks a bunch of cargo containers on a lighter barge and rents them out? Lower Thames has a big problem with slum boat rentals and the council has a duty of care but there are no land based standards for housing that can be reasonably applied to boats. I don't think you could even let a 22x7' space with no flushing bog or electricity in London without the council getting mad. The last new residential marina I know of was in central Manchester - part of a gentrification project and now the place is a bit posh rather than a water feature next to the methadone dispensary the landlubbers want rid.

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/media/library/1544.pdf

I dont feel like that is going to be a real problem. I mean you could just put a clausel in your berthing agreement that youre under no circumstances rent out your spot. Which then also prevents cargo liveaboards (which I also have never heard of before and I dont think they actually do exist.)

I would be fine with paying a little extra for living aboard. Atleast give me the option! I dont even take a dump on board and flush it. There are facilities, you know? Why wouldnt I use those?

Im not loud, I usually just sleep on the boatOR work on it. But I dont have huge parties.

Which, btw, seem to be ok when you own a 45ft vessel. I guess the more you pay the more youre allowed to do.

 

[ryanroberts]

Slumboats certainly exist My life in London's houseboat slums and there is a lot of subletting going on. I have lived on board as a continuous cruiser for 8 years inland and recently decided to make my life even more difficult by moving onto a yacht - currently waiting for the weather to get a tad nicer so I can bring her over from the Channel Islands. Just theorising about why we mostly need to live aboard on the sneak, not accusing you of pooping in the river.

 

[DangerousPirate]

Slumboats certainly exist My life in London's houseboat slums and there is a lot of subletting going on. I have lived on board as a continuous cruiser for 8 years inland and recently decided to make my life even more difficult by moving onto a yacht - currently waiting for the weather to get a tad nicer so I can bring her over from the Channel Islands. Just theorising about why we mostly need to live aboard on the sneak, not accusing you of pooping in the river.

That article will haunt me for years. Though I am used to very low living standarts myself due to backpacking for 2 years prior now, this is probably one of the toughest things I have read about. Remind me of my time when I squatted buildings in terra cinque with the other hippies. And I believe the italian standarts were betterbecause you didnt even pay rent..


And it is still a mystery to me why it is so frowned upon here in the area. In the north, essex area, it didnt seem to be a big problem. Some people didnt allow it due to bad, personal experiences with liveaboards, most others just didnt care about it at all as longas everything is paid.

 

[nortada]

That article will haunt me for years. Though I am used to very low living standarts myself due to backpacking for 2 years prior now, this is probably one of the toughest things I have read about. Remind me of my time when I squatted buildings in terra cinque with the other hippies. And I believe the italian standarts were betterbecause you didnt even pay rent..


And it is still a mystery to me why it is so frowned upon here in the area. In the north, essex area, it didnt seem to be a big problem. Some people didnt allow it due to bad, personal experiences with liveaboards, most others just didnt care about it at all as longas everything is paid.

Re-read my #5 and #10, that is why it is frowned upon - legal reasons, not low personal standards.

And that is why there are no problems overseas - no legal implications.

By the way , live aboard are not encouraged in Essex or Suffolk.

 

[Quiddle]

And not just legal reasons. There are a number of instances, one in Milford Haven IIRC, where livaboards took the p1$$, essentially turning up in an work barge with a static caravan bolted to the deck and littering the pontoon with their detritus. Of course, most behave reasonably but I can see why marinas err on the side of caution because getting rid of problem berth holders is no easy, or cheap, task.

 

[scotty123]

Problem in the UK is local councils are always worried about the social/financial implications of folk who set up home but do not contribute to the local economy (Council Tax etc.).

They come down heavily on any organisation that provides, as they see it, squatters accommodation (boats, non-residential caravan parks etc.).

As we know, from personal experience, folk with static caravans have a similar problem as they have to satisfy the site owners/local council that they have another address/residency so do not live permanently in their caravan and become a local liability.??

As always there are ways around this but easier for a camper than a boaty.

Fortunately, most marinas overseas take a more relaxed view but unfortunately this doesn’t help you.?

Haslar used to have a few.

 

[ryanroberts]

And not just legal reasons. There are a number of instances, one in Milford Haven IIRC, where livaboards took the p1$$, essentially turning up in an work barge with a static caravan bolted to the deck and littering the pontoon with their detritus. Of course, most behave reasonably but I can see why marinas err on the side of caution because getting rid of problem berth holders is no easy, or cheap, task.

The Bath end of the K&A is in a similar situation, CRT want to make a bunch of online residential moorings to make the continuous moorers official but the relations between the local boaters and landlubbers have totally broken down due to years of a minority taking the piss so any planning applications are scuppered.