Liveaboard Plymouth?

[lindalloydwest]

Hi,
Me and my partner are potentially looking at living aboard our sailboat for a while. Plymouth due to work. Would anyone have any advice on the current situation with Plymouth marinas ? Obviously we are aware that the best advice is not to declare it and just stay quiet, respectful and tidy. I am just wondering if anyone has an advice on which marina is the most suitable one ?
Thank you

 

[oldmanofthehills]

On the Plymouth side of the Tamar it will cost you an arm and both legs. Plymouth Yacht Haven in Mountbatten area is however the nicest and best open countryside pub restaurants and cafes. However long walk or ferry to get to Plymouth town centre

Difficult to stay under the radar in any marina as their insurance will probably prohibit live aboard other than a few days or weeks as on passage, and they must try and comply

You don’t say where you will actually be working as Plymouth is vast

 

[lindalloydwest]

On the Plymouth side of the Tamar it will cost you an arm and both legs. Plymouth Yacht Haven in Mountbatten area is however the nicest and best open countryside pub restaurants and cafes. However long walk or ferry to get to Plymouth town centre

Difficult to stay under the radar in any marina as their insurance will probably prohibit live aboard other than a few days or weeks as on passage, and they must try and comply

You don’t say where you will actually be working as Plymouth is vast

Yacht Haven is definitely one I was looking at. Thank you for your reply. We are both working in Plymouth city centre by the aquarium.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Yacht Haven is definitely one I was looking at. Thank you for your reply. We are both working in Plymouth city centre by the aquarium.

It's 17 years since I kept a boat in Plymouth Yacht Haven but then there were several liveaboards I knew a few of them. At that time the marina knew about them and tolerated them even a fairly scruffy one

 

[KompetentKrew]

It's 17 years since I kept a boat in Plymouth Yacht Haven but then there were several liveaboards I knew a few of them. At that time the marina knew about them and tolerated them even a fairly scruffy one

Was like that when I was there winter of 2019/2020. One of the night managers was a liveaboard and I think some of them were even on the electoral roll there because I saw campaign fliers addressed to some other other boaters in the mail pigeonholes (must've been the December 2019 election).

Others have said that it's a long way to town - the hills also make it wicked evil to try cycling out of there, but you can row your tender down to Haven Quay and walk to the big Asda. I wonder if you could make arrangements with the staff at King Point marina or Queen Anne's Battery if you wanted to commute across. I've also left my dinghy on the pontoons at the end of Faraday Road - that's obviously owner-operated, seemed like a helpful bloke.

But I left the Yacht Haven in early 2020, a week or two before the first lockdown, and I read here that councils clamped down on liveaboards over the course of the year.

 

[wonkywinch]

QAB is right next door to the aquarium and walkable to the centre too. MDL policy is no liveaboards but then they have a scheme where they help you with letting your boat as accomodation (for a fee!).

It seems a contradiction but they allow a week at a time per guest so maybe you could invent multiple aliases for the duration of your stay?

I hear MDL are losing customers in the Solent, don't know if Plymouth is the same but if so, they may be more flexible if you speak to them?

Host your boat in selected MDL marinas - MDL Marinas

 

[lustyd]

I hear MDL are losing customers in the Solent

QAB is entirely full right now, not even a gap. That may change in summer when the mooring dwellers leave, but the carpark is also full and the lift booked until June!

Sutton Harbour don’t allow live-aboards either, although we’ve been visitors since October as I refused the winter contract which was too restrictive. It’s one of the better marinas we’ve stayed at (and we’ve stayed at lots!). We are about to leave for summer cruising so although were told we won’t be asked to leave we won’t be testing that.

 

[doug748]

QAB is entirely full right now, not even a gap. That may change in summer when the mooring dwellers leave, but the carpark is also full and the lift booked until June!

Sutton Harbour don’t allow live-aboards either, although we’ve been visitors since October as I refused the winter contract which was too restrictive. It’s one of the better marinas we’ve stayed at (and we’ve stayed at lots!). We are about to leave for summer cruising so although were told we won’t be asked to leave we won’t be testing that.

As one considering it for the end of the coming season, it would be Interesting to know what you found restrictive about the winter contract?

For the OP - if he wishes to use Huggins Carbeile site in Torpoint he can use it residentially for an additional fee of c£60 per month. Dries to soft mud, short ferry ride to the Devonport end of Plymouth.

.

 

[Lucky Duck]

QAB is entirely full right now, not even a gap. That may change in summer when the mooring dwellers leave, but the carpark is also full and the lift booked until June!

Sutton Harbour don’t allow live-aboards either, although we’ve been visitors since October as I refused the winter contract which was too restrictive. It’s one of the better marinas we’ve stayed at (and we’ve stayed at lots!). We are about to leave for summer cruising so although were told we won’t be asked to leave we won’t be testing that.

Given how much QAB is subject to surge even in moderate conditions I’m surprised people think it suitable as a winter spot unless they are tucked right in behind the wave screen.

 

[lustyd]

As one considering it for the end of the coming season, it would be Interesting to know what you found restrictive about the winter contract?

The contract states that we can’t be on board for more than two weeks in every month. I said that’s too little and they were not able to be flexible.
We ended up paying as guests, which worked out slightly cheaper and without any restriction at all. We’ve probably been away for one week a month.

Their contract isn’t unreasonable and I’m certain they don’t enforce it unless they need to. I’m not the type to knowingly enter a contract I intend to break immediately though.

 

[lustyd]

Given how much QAB is subject to surge even in moderate conditions I’m surprised people think it suitable as a winter spot unless they are tucked right in behind the wave screen.

We have been very glad not to be there. Sutton has been relatively calm in all but the strongest winds. Just make sure the boat is pointing south. All of the damaged boats were north facing over winter.

 

[wonkywinch]

Given how much QAB is subject to surge even in moderate conditions I’m surprised people think it suitable as a winter spot unless they are tucked right in behind the wave screen.

The marina seems to collect a lot of rubbish around the visitors pontoon up to the breakwater. It cost me an expensive bow thruster repair after it sucked in some debris when I was parking. MDL not interested and were deaf to my suggestion that maybe they could just run along there with a net and pick up the crap once a week.

 

[seeSimon]

Was like that when I was there winter of 2019/2020. One of the night managers was a liveaboard and I think some of them were even on the electoral roll there because I saw campaign fliers addressed to some other other boaters in the mail pigeonholes (must've been the December 2019 election).

Others have said that it's a long way to town - the hills also make it wicked evil to try cycling out of there, but you can row your tender down to Haven Quay and walk to the big Asda. I wonder if you could make arrangements with the staff at King Point marina or Queen Anne's Battery if you wanted to commute across. I've also left my dinghy on the pontoons at the end of Faraday Road - that's obviously owner-operated, seemed like a helpful bloke.

But I left the Yacht Haven in early 2020, a week or two before the first lockdown, and I read here that councils clamped down on liveaboards over the course of the year.

Montbatten/Plymouth YH. Is the mount batten ferry still viable as a regular route into Plymouth?

And as I recall, there are visitor dinghy pontoons near the mayflower steps, operated by the council...where above mentioned pedestrian ferry lands?

 

[lustyd]

Montbatten/Plymouth YH. Is the mount batten ferry still viable as a regular route into Plymouth?

It is when it’s not stormy or spring tides. There are buses too, of course.

That dinghy pontoon has a fairly short time limit I believe

 

[oldmanofthehills]

Montbatten/Plymouth YH. Is the mount batten ferry still viable as a regular route into Plymouth?

And as I recall, there are visitor dinghy pontoons near the mayflower steps, operated by the council...where above mentioned pedestrian ferry lands?

The Mountbatten Ferry still runs, though I am not sure when it stops in the evening. Walking round the end of the Cattewater and then over Laira Bridge into QAB and Barbican area only 3.5 miles so possible on bike

 

[lustyd]

Stops at 6

 

[dunedin]

….. Sutton has been relatively calm in all but the strongest winds. …... All of the damaged boats were north facing over winter.

Wow - “all of the damaged boats” !! That’s not much of a recommendation.
There should be no damaged boats in a decent marina.
We have wintered through multiple F10 and more and our marina provided shelter.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

Wow - “all of the damaged boats” !! That’s not much of a recommendation.
There should be no damaged boats in a decent marina.
We have wintered through multiple F10 and more and our marina provided shelter.

Sutton Harbour though well inside the outer breakwater, faces south and thus waves can surge through the narrow entrance

Seeing as whole section of seawalls (including the nearby west Looe pier) and roadways have been destroyed by recent storm totalling million of pounds worth of damage ( and possible 165 million if they future proof the railway), some local damage is not unexpected or proof of neglect

 

[lustyd]

Wow - “all of the damaged boats” !! That’s not much of a recommendation.
There should be no damaged boats in a decent marina.
We have wintered through multiple F10 and more and our marina provided shelter.

All damage has been canvas, nothing to do with the marina.

 

[Lightwave395]

I spent the winter in PYH in 2024/25 and was on a finger berth shared with a old well worn Nic 35 live aboard, there were a couple of others I could see too. It's quite a nice location but for the price the marina pontoons seemed a bit tired and well worn.