Residential Moorings UK

[noboatyet]

Hi there, complete novice here (hence the username), so go gentle!

Basically I'm looking to live on the boat yacht (once I've bought one) and I'm wondering if it's possible to find coastal moorings for a yacht, that you can live as a resident on, but operate as a normal mariana - ie, take the yacht out sailing whenever you wish?

I'm looking to buy between a 37 to 41ft sailing boat. I've had a brief look but it's riddled with adverts and is pretty hard to navigate (pun intended).

Any help much appreciated!

 

[noboatyet]

Hi there, complete novice here (hence the username), so go gentle!

Basically I'm looking to live on the boat yacht (once I've bought one) and I'm wondering if it's possible to find coastal moorings for a yacht, that you can live as a resident on, but operate as a normal mariana - ie, take the yacht out sailing whenever you wish?

I'm looking to buy between a 37 to 41ft sailing boat. I've had a brief look but it's riddled with adverts and is pretty hard to navigate (pun intended).

Any help much appreciated!

Sorry I should have said, my preferred location is South of England.

 

[Dellquay13]

yes, but not at every marina. It's not in your area, but Milford Haven marina openly advertise it, others don't allow it.
another consideration is how sheltered the marina is in winter. Is it just pontoons in a normally sheltered bay, up a river or in a harbour behind tidal lock gates. If i was intending to live aboard, I'd prefer the latter. They tend to be more central too for transport, local shops and pubs etc.

 

[pvb]

Welcome to the forums!

There seem to be lots of liveaboards in Brighton Marina.

 

[Concerto]

I believe Ramsgate allow liveaboards but you have to pay rates (Council run harbour).

 

[noboatyet]

Hi there, complete novice here (hence the username), so go gentle!

Basically I'm looking to live on the boat yacht (once I've bought one) and I'm wondering if it's possible to find coastal moorings for a yacht, that you can live as a resident on, but operate as a normal mariana - ie, take the yacht out sailing whenever you wish?

I'm looking to buy between a 37 to 41ft sailing boat. I've had a brief look but it's riddled with adverts and is pretty hard to navigate (pun intended).

Any help much appreciated!

Many many thanks for your help here everyone. I’ll have a look at all of the suggestions. Many thanks!

 

[Tranona]

Worth scrolling down the Liveaboard Forum as you will find your question has been asked many times.

In essence almost no marinas are classed as residential except some that are owned by the Canal and River Trust - mostly inland and in high demand. Many marinas have positive policies of no liveaboard allowed. Despite this quite a lot of people do live on their boats in marinas, often full time without problems. The approach is usually to take up a berth stay on the boat and gradually keep staying, or take a short term winter berth then move to another marina for the summer, or even go cruising. living on a boat is not a n overt solution to the housing problem and you have no rights other than those in your marina contract which will almost certainly have limitations on how many nights you can spend on the boat.

There are all sorts of other issues you need to consider before making the move, and essentially you need to recognise that you will be living at the edge of society with few rights and difficulty in accessing many services. Also it is not cheap. For the size of boat you are considering you will be looking at around £8-10k per annum for mooring, insurance and basic maintenance. You don't say what boating and boat owning experience you have but owning and running a 40' yacht is a big undertaking.

 

[noboatyet]

Worth scrolling down the Liveaboard Forum as you will find your question has been asked many times.

Thanks for this, I should have looked before I posted - I didn't realise how well visited the forum was.

In essence almost no marinas are classed as residential except some that are owned by the Canal and River Trust - mostly inland and in high demand. Many marinas have positive policies of no liveaboard allowed. Despite this quite a lot of people do live on their boats in marinas, often full time without problems. The approach is usually to take up a berth stay on the boat and gradually keep staying, or take a short term winter berth then move to another marina for the summer, or even go cruising. living on a boat is not a n overt solution to the housing problem and you have no rights other than those in your marina contract which will almost certainly have limitations on how many nights you can spend on the boat.

Realise this sounds privileged but I do still own a small flat, so it wouldn't be the end of the world if I couldn't live full time - I guess I was going extreme case for what I'd eventually want Thanks for this advice, it's very helpful.

There are all sorts of other issues you need to consider before making the move, and essentially you need to recognise that you will be living at the edge of society with few rights and difficulty in accessing many services. Also it is not cheap. For the size of boat you are considering you will be looking at around £8-10k per annum for mooring, insurance and basic maintenance. You don't say what boating and boat owning experience you have but owning and running a 40' yacht is a big undertaking.

Living on the edge of society really is the attraction for me but you're right, I've conveniently subtracted the learning curve from my utopian vision. I have several friends with sailing experience so my plan was to secure the mooring (in tandem with buying the boat) and ask my friend to sail it to the mooring for me, spending a few days learning how to sail. Until I'm confident I'd only take her out in fine weather, running from the motor - then sail once fully away from traffic.

 

[ashtead]

While the account relates to a motorboat namely a Trader there is an account of someone who bought this type of vessel in West Country and moved it with friends to Norfolk to liveabords. If you use search facility you might find the video of his trip . If you are looking for a cheap south coast location you might find a marina on Isle of Wight is useful option. Live aboard for 6 months for summer and then have winter in your flat with boat lifted out . It can be miserable on board in winter even in Uk but there are various articles around on modifications to keep warm, stop condensation etc. The other point is that sailing boats say a jeanneau legends 41 give a lot less space than would be found on motorboat of same length. If looking to do this by way of trial you could rent via beds on board. When buying a boat you might find one where the berth can be taken on is an advantage to remove at least short term location for the mooring. Good luck with research. One of the large chains of marina is MDL so search for this name to give some ideas.

 

[ianat182]

Your obvious bet to find both berth /home in the South are Port Solent Marina ,Portsmouth East - or Island HarbourMarina just above the Folly Inn towards Newport on the Medina . Port Solent is a locked Marina; Island Harbour has a cill to access at high water.
There is an Estate agent in the Port Solent Marina who deals with letting or purchase of such property( and others nearby.
( missed the bit about liveaboard but there may be some exception at Port Solent or the Island Harbour marinas)-possibly not officially done

ianat182

 

[V1701]

Most marinas are at least tolerant of a few quiet liveaboards, a relatively small number absolutely forbid it. Above all else when approaching any marina, never, ever, mention the "L" word. You need to find out whether you like spending time on board boats/sailing them before you buy one...

 

[Tranona]

Thanks for this, I should have looked before I posted - I didn't realise how well visited the forum was.

Realise this sounds privileged but I do still own a small flat, so it wouldn't be the end of the world if I couldn't live full time - I guess I was going extreme case for what I'd eventually want Thanks for this advice, it's very helpful.

Living on the edge of society really is the attraction for me but you're right, I've conveniently subtracted the learning curve from my utopian vision. I have several friends with sailing experience so my plan was to secure the mooring (in tandem with buying the boat) and ask my friend to sail it to the mooring for me, spending a few days learning how to sail. Until I'm confident I'd only take her out in fine weather, running from the motor - then sail once fully away from traffic.

As I said, buying and running a boat of that size is a major undertaking, particularly with no experience. The "safe" route is to take a course with a mixture of sailing and theory under the RYA scheme. This will give you the basics and more importantly you should find out whether you like sailing or not - typically schools use the type and size of boat you will be looking at. You may soon find out that boats, particularly sailing boats are not good house substitutes, although once you recognise this you can make adjustments to the way you live to "fit" the boat.

Buying a boat with little experience is very risky, not only deciding what might suit you but getting one that is not going to empty your wallet. The fixed running costs vary very little according to purchase price - in fact the cheaper and older the boat the higher the running costs as repairs, maintenance and upgrades take up a bigger proportion of total costs. So better to buy a boat that needs little work even though it is likely to cost more. You are in a better position than most in having a permanent land base. Many people start like you - get some experience, buy a boat, not necessarily THE boat, cruise around a year or two then make the transition to more boat living and less land. Regrettably yards are full of big old boats where folks have jumped in with both feet and then realised what a massive job it is. The bills are still there but no chance of actually using the boat. Better to buy a working boat, use it and then sell to move up. Your next choice will be eased by the experience you have gained.

 

[jaydee1976]

best advice is look for moorings first, even swing moorings can be cheap way of staying in one place for a while. living on a boat in the summer is very diffrent to the winter when its freezing cold and howling a gale and u need to get ashore.. or no sleep due to being rocked about... I stay on my swing mooring for a few days a week then go home

 

[JumbleDuck]

As I said, buying and running a boat of that size is a major undertaking, particularly with no experience. The "safe" route is to take a course with a mixture of sailing and theory under the RYA scheme.

While I agree completely as far as sailing the boat is concerned, it might not help much as far as maintaining and running the boat goes. A bit like the difference between driving lessons and car maintenance evening classes (if they still exist). I've owned and run small boats for 30+ years and I still regularly run into things which need me to improve my skillset. I'd hate to go into owning a 40+ footer with no previous knowledge.

Maybe that's a gap in the market? Something like the RYA diesel course but with weekly modules on sanitation, fresh water, basic electrics, rigging, marinas, hull repairs, insurance ...

 

[stranded]

While I agree completely as far as sailing the boat is concerned, it might not help much as far as maintaining and running the boat goes. A bit like the difference between driving lessons and car maintenance evening classes (if they still exist). I've owned and run small boats for 30+ years and I still regularly run into things which need me to improve my skillset. I'd hate to go into owning a 40+ footer with no previous knowledge.

Maybe that's a gap in the market? Something like the RYA diesel course but with weekly modules on sanitation, fresh water, basic electrics, rigging, marinas, hull repairs, insurance ...

Is there really that much difference between a 30fter and a 40fter in terms of the maintenance learning curve? Some stuff will be rather more expensive of course, but a Diesel engine is a Diesel engine, a head a head, a Webasto a Webasto etc. And on the positive side you have a bit more space to wriggle around in.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Is there really that much difference between a 30fter and a 40fter in terms of the maintenance learning curve? Some stuff will be rather more expensive of course, but a Diesel engine is a Diesel engine, a head a head, a Webasto a Webasto etc. And on the positive side you have a bit more space to wriggle around in.

You're quite right that there is not much difference, but I'd suggest that the consequences of getting it wrong scale with size.

 

[Tranona]

Big difference with size, more and bigger things to deal with, particularly domestic items. OP does not talk about budget, but the combination of size, age and living aboard just adds to the potential work. On the Bavaria forum where a significant number of members are liveaboards would guess the majority of threads are on domestic gear; fridges, electrics, loos, holding tanks, calorifiers, heating, water systems, shower pumps etc which are really not designed for constant use.

 

[stranded]

Big difference with size, more and bigger things to deal with, particularly domestic items. OP does not talk about budget, but the combination of size, age and living aboard just adds to the potential work. On the Bavaria forum where a significant number of members are liveaboards would guess the majority of threads are on domestic gear; fridges, electrics, loos, holding tanks, calorifiers, heating, water systems, shower pumps etc which are really not designed for constant use.

But all those things you list are not really size dependent - any liveaboard is going to need them - not questioning that bigger is more expensive, just that the learning curve is just as steep, and as endless, whatever the size (up to a point, obvs) - the OP’s got enough to consider - but maintenance learning curve will be a bugger whatever the size.

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

Is there really that much difference between a 30fter and a 40fter in terms of the maintenance learning curve? Some stuff will be rather more expensive of course, but a Diesel engine is a Diesel engine, a head a head, a Webasto a Webasto etc. And on the positive side you have a bit more space to wriggle around in.

Preparing and antifouling a 30' is a big enough job singlehanded, but I'd hate to have to do 40' without help. The OP also needs to know about the maintenance of seacocks, electrical systems, etc. Then there are the heads and their continuing maintenance. If he has no holding tank he will have to use the marina facilities for every call of nature. If he does have one and the marina has no pump-out facility he will need to go to sea whenever it fills up, Summer or Winter.

 

[stranded]

Preparing and antifouling a 30' is a big enough job singlehanded, but I'd hate to have to do 40' without help. The OP also needs to know about the maintenance of seacocks, electrical systems, etc. Then there are the heads and their continuing maintenance. If he has no holding tank he will have to use the marina facilities for every call of nature. If he does have one and the marina has no pump-out facility he will need to go to sea whenever it fills up, Summer or Winter.

Yes. But not sure why you have quoted my post in making those entirely unrelated points. I was referring solely to the suggestion that a bigger boat involves a bigger learning curve on maintenance - I don’t think that is necessarily true unless it has systems that are perhaps more common on bigger boats - generator, water maker, aircon etc. But that’s about equipment levels, not boat size as such. There are disadvantages to bigger boats, just as there are advantages, but inventing spurious disadvantages does not help the OP.