Liveaboards to rent in Essex

[field]

I am considering moving to Chelmsford. I will need to rent a place but have always wanted to liveaboard a boat. My questions to the forum are:

1 - Are boats available to rent in Essex
2 - Is this done privately or through commercial organisations
3 - What are the things to be aware of - drying berth, council tax etc

Thanks for any replies - only practical answers please.




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[Trevethan]

There are occassional liveaboards for rent in London.

Not sure about Essex.

If you are looking to live abooard, I'd suggest find a boat in a marina -- living aboard on a mooring (as opposed to cruising liveaboard) is pretty tough -- power is a major concern -- you'll either need a generator, or a huge batter banks and a means to charge it -- usually boils down to running the engine, which is less than desirable if its just to charge batteries.


Getting to an from a swinging mooring becomes a chore in teh winter.. and drying mooring is even worse -- slopping through mud is never a good way to start a day.

Problem is that very few marinas allow liveabords.. a larger number however tolerate it aslong as you are discrete -- no laundry hanging off the rails, make sure you disappear from time to time etc etc etc.

Re: council tax - if a fully authroised permanent liveaboard mooring, then yes you'll pay, along with TV licence etc etc.

If clandestine, then probably not.

However you will need a permanent address somewhere else in order to conduct your life -- If you have no fixed abode for a period of time getting credit can be tough -- even living abroad for a while puts a hole in your credit ratijng that can be tough to repair -- spent about 10 years in Norway and rge States nad had problems even getting a bank account in the UK whgen I came back.

I think you will have a problem finding something. I wouldn't consider letting someone rent my boat to livce aboard -- too easy to do lots of damage to boat -- flooding, etc etc.

Having seen what a renter will do to a house, can't imagine what would haooen to a boat!

You will probably have most luck finding a barge on the canals

cheers,

Nick




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[Talbot]

There is a canal at Chelmsford that goes to Maldon, so a barge on the canal is not out of the question!

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[fluffc]

er... except that the blackwater&chelmer canal is unnavigable...

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[pragmatist]

No idea about renting - suspect they're very hard to find. But if you wanted to buy your own boat I can recommend West Wick Marina at North Fambridge. It dries but tied up to a pontoon that doesn't matter, except when you want to go sailing.

West Wick is about 20-30 minutes drive from Chelmsford I believe.

<hr width=100% size=1>a pragmatist is an optimist with a boat in the UK

 

[field]

Why do you recommend it?

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[AJW]

Is that the case? I thought it was still navigable albeit parts of it seem to be pretty overgrown with weed. Couple of years ago friends of mine got married at a church by the canal and had a trip barge take them and wedding party from church to reception.

To get back to the original question.....

I know there are folks living on boats in Maldon & also I think at Heybridge basin which is the seaward end of Chelmer & Blackwater. I also noted on Sun at West Mersea that one of the houseboats their was up for sale with a local estate agent. I've never heard anybody renting out a boat to liveaboard though.

AJ in Maldon.

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[pragmatist]

Lots of reasons ! Spent 5 months there while working in London. Beautiful place - real E Coast creek but with the luxury of pontoons, elec, water etc. - owl, wild flowers, peace and quiet (except some Sat nights when local mobos visit). Family run - charming and helpful. Also possible to walk to station for direct access to London.

Disadvantages - dries seriously - we settled in mud nicely but it is restrictive for sailing. Long way up Crouch (upper reaches shallow but pretty, remainder as I expect you know is dead boring). We draw 6ft so it was interesting at times.

I could go on - if you're interested in more then PM me or post.

<hr width=100% size=1>a pragmatist is an optimist with a boat in the UK

 

[Talbot]

showing my age, used to be when I lived there! shame as it was a nice trip up from Maldon.

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[field]

Many thanks to all those who replied.

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