Liveaboard Base- Help, please!! What am I doing wrong?

[kesh]

Very interesting thread I agree - someone mentioned the canals, I can confirm that there are a staggering number of folk living on the inland waterways if my experience is anything to go by.

i have lived aboard in a narrow boat, both in a marina, my own little mooring/garden and just on the tow path. the attitude of inland marinas seems to be the same as people have reported on the coast. put your boat in one that seems relaxed, get to know the staff/management, spend more and more time there being friendly and helpful, then they will probably be more than happy to say yes when you bring up the subject of making it official.

 

[gemballa]

I was planning on liveaboard, 6 months uk, 6 months greece, never though there was this anti liveaboard attitude with mariners.
My question is, can you anchor/tie up anywhere along a river stretch if you see a quiet, suitable spot. And as long as your not told to move on by the river police guys, how long can you hold the spot ?
Also can you moor up on a private river mooring during the winter, or is it best to put into a mariner due to flooding ect ?

 

[highandry]

Hello Gemballa, The answer to the first part of your question I'm afraid is generally ..no, at least not officially. I think I'm probably correct to say all rivers in this small island of ours are governed by local byelaws, River Authorities or private owners. Sure you could get away with a short period, a few days or even weeks tied to the bank somewhere but it would be not long before the land owner, Water Bailiff or someone moved you on. There are rivers, the River Fal for instance,in Cornwall where you can anchor for free and live aboard, and no doubt a few other places such as esturies etc: but it would would have to be at anchor. The moment you tie up somewhere there is usually someone with their hand out for money.. but certainly the more inland rivers would be restricted to you.


If you can find someone with a private river mooring and come to an arrangement with them, then you might be lucky and be able to live aboard. As for marinas, well it's all been said before in previous posts, so you know what the score is there anyway.

 

[gemballa]

Its pretty quiet where i live, river Avon ,evesham.
I have freehold mooring rights at moment ,100ft, alongside my cabin.
Im looking at selling up next year, i know the owner of the next few fields along from mine, so could get permission there.
If the river level starts rising, is it best to head for a mariner, or is it safe to leave the boat tied up securely ?

 

[highandry]

Hi, There are people far more qualified to answer your flooding questions than me, all my sailing/living aboard is done in deeper coastal and ocean waters. I'm inclined to say though, if I was moored in a river that started to flood, I would either make for an area of high bank or proper mooring jetty, or as a last resort get away from the river bank and anchor out in the deeper stream. At least that way if the bank collapsed and your mooring posts came adrift you would be safely anchored in deep water.
I saw a news report quite a while ago now where some people on a barge got washed over the flooded river bank and ended up in a field!!

If you own a freehold river mooring have you thought of a mutual swap or temporary exchange with someone on the coast with marina berth or safe mooring?

 

[V1701]

Can't think of anything to add to what's already been said really other than to emphasise that the key is getting them to realise you're OK and have a half way decent boat, but best of luck, don't give up, I'm sure you'll find somewhere. And if you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask..

 

[iamnowhere]

great thread, thanks to so many

hi,

I had recently started a thread looking for assistance as I plan to live aboard in the southampton area starting in May 2011 for at least two years while keeping a full time job. I wanted to be able to do more sailing and use every moment to get out on the water.

One of the issues I have had is trying to understand what attitudes are like and how to go about finding a suitable berth. Many of the contributees here have visited the thread I started and given advice but its really useful reading this entire thread so thank you to all.

If there are any further ideas of Marinas on the Hamble and I suppose I should consider Itchen too where people have firsthand experience or information, I would really appreciate a heads up.

Thanks again.

 

[Conachair]

Dear All,

I'm desperately hoping some of the compassionate among you will give me the practical know-how (that I clearly must be lacking) on how to find a viable liveaboard berth/mooring.

Something I learned quite early on living aboard and with boats in general was to have a bit of faith in the future sorting itself out. I'm back in London again after cruising and a couple of days before coming up the Thames I didn't have a berth. B*gger!!! Southdock said "we're full" but few days should be OK. I'm now number 275 on the long term berth list. Few days went to a week to a month quickly and looks like I've got 6 months in another rather posh one up the river sorted out now. Usually I just turn up, smile, never lie but maybe not offer too much info either. But it always sorts itself out in the end, something always turns up, why worry.

I follow the other posts advice about not making waves and keeping the boat not looking too pikey. Though you ain't fooling anyone, that bike leaning against the mast is a dead giveaway

Incidently, southdock now have a £600 excess per year for "true" never ever leave liveaboards. Think this is to keep the council quiet as there are so many in here who never move.

 

[Talbot]

The answer of course is to make sure that you move the boat to an alternative marina on a number of occassions through the year. Some of the marinas allow significant reductions for berth holders from other marinas under the same management.

 

[Bobobolinsky]

For mail you can use the poste restante system, picking up your mail from the local post office. There are freehold moorings at Shoreham (If you have £150K) and there are river moorings up the Arun. If the river moorings are run by EA, you must have insurance, boat safety certificate and licence. BW is the same. You may have two weeks in the same location, to be a constant cruiser. After that you have to move to the next parish, with no return for a month. So you need three riverbank spots (preferably at the side of three pubs) I know people who do the bridge shuffle all the time. Since the river polizia don't patrol the whole river that often, you can often stay in the same spot and just tell them you moved. Eventually they catch on after which you have to be a good boy, or move to an area covered by another waterways officer. It was suggested to me that you could get a pond and put said boat on the pond and stuff the planning people.

 

[nathanlee]

Buy a 20' 9" boat.

You can freely admit to anybody you like that you're a liveaboard, and they just won't believe you

 

[Mino]

Buy a 20' 9" boat.

You can freely admit to anybody you like that you're a liveaboard, and they just won't believe you

How's the liveaboard life going at the mo? Followed your adventures with interest on youtube.

 

[Mino]

Dear All,

Am I making a mistake in being upfront with my intentions to liveaboard?

Advice please.

I've come across landlubbers who build 'stealth' motorhomes: vans/Landrovers, etc that look like normal, everyday vehicles. They park wherever they want, just arrive late and leave early. Shame it's not possible (for too many obvious reasons!) to build a 'stealth' yacht. Maybe three hundred years from now they'll be selling cloaking devices in your friendly local chandlery. :

 

[LittleSister]

A friend was living quite happily as a discreet liveaboard, known and accepted by the boatyard. That is, until someone posted a suggestion on a public forum such as this one that they accepted liveaboards. The yard started to receive a number of calls and visits from prospective liveaboards, and worrried about their reputation and the situation getting out of hand. My friend was then asked to leave.

I suggest that as well as being discreet about the way you live when you've found somewhere, you need to be discreet about how you pass information around.

Also, do not assume that because there are liveaboards tolerated somewhere, that an increase in numbers will necessarily be acceptable.

 

[kingfisher]

Can understand your frustration. To my way of thinking it is nothing less than discrimination.
Local Councils have to provide parks for land lubber pikeys by law so why not having to provide berthing for the likes of us ?? Just because we choose to live on the sea why are we discriminated against ?

So you basically want the different lifestyle, but still insist to be treated as regular people? the terms 'cake', 'can't have' and 'eat it' come to mind.

 

[SimonJ]

Liveaboard

Have a look at Penryn, up the river from Falmouth.
Looked like there were about 15 boats there laid up (& not ready to move!) around a muddy drying creek with legs/bilge keels or twin hulls.
Whether it is a good situation & liveaboarding is welcome or affordable, I have no idea.

 

[Tamsyn28]

welcome

This is an interesting thread, your circumstances are similar to mine I initially moved onto the boat as a stop gap til all the funds were divided up and I could go look for a flat or something (hate renting) found that living on the boat suited just fine.

What Sugar Cane says on here is pretty accurate if you want to live on a swinging mooring its idylic in the summer and bloody harsh in the winter its bad enough with the crappy summers we have had.

The marinas mostly turn a blind eye to the live aboards there are a few smaller yards that will accept them but the likes of premier or MDL wont and for good cause the boats never go out they end up covered in **** and upset the other marina users who pay top dollar to "live the dream" .

Ive divide my time between a swinging mooring during the summer and a marina for the winter, there are plenty to choose from wait for the winter months and a lot of them have empty berths as the boats on them are lifted for the winter.

Im in Poole been here 3 years on board I know at least a twenty others here that are living on board a mixture of boats scattered around the harbour, its a good community spirit we all help each other .

Ive fixed engines when people have had problems and picked up groceries when its been to rough for the smaller tenders to travel in return ive had hatches repaired and the loan of a car when mine died.

PM me if you want to come here i can probably help you .

Ian

Hi Ian, I have been researching owning a boat that I can hopefully use as my residence and through research came across this forum and your particularly helpful post. brief outline of my situation is that I'm in the middle of a divorce and I'm looking at alternative ways of living without being saddled to a mortgage bricks band mortar. i used to live in bath and always wanted a narrow boat obviously that's not possible in Dorset.

I'm a professional dog walker and have two dogs of my own before i invest my money i want to see how feasible living on a boat is . i was wondering if my partner and i could come and meet you and pick your brains at some point and see who is possible and what's not given you have vast amount of knowledge. kindest wishes Tamsyn

 

[Mistroma]

Hi Ian, I have been researching owning a boat that I can hopefully use as my residence and through research came across this forum and your particularly helpful post. brief outline of my situation is that I'm in the middle of a divorce and I'm looking at alternative ways of living without being saddled to a mortgage bricks band mortar. i used to live in bath and always wanted a narrow boat obviously that's not possible in Dorset.

I'm a professional dog walker and have two dogs of my own before i invest my money i want to see how feasible living on a boat is . i was wondering if my partner and i could come and meet you and pick your brains at some point and see who is possible and what's not given you have vast amount of knowledge. kindest wishes Tamsyn

I doubt you will get a response from ribrage as the thread is about 11 years old and I don't think ribrage has been on the forum for a couple of years and was probably sailing in Italy when last spotted.

 

[Rappey]

It is interesting that 11 yrs on the situation with living on board in marinas has not really changed.
A lot of marinas are happy to receive their customers mail and deliveries .
None live a board berth holders have sails, outboards, engines and correspondence delivered and collect it when they pass the office.
As long as no one mentions liveaboards in the office all is usually fine.

 

[PlanB]

As said above, the original thread is v. old. Why not ask your questions here - someone will answer.