Last summer my boat spent a couple of weeks at the pontoon just inside the river mouth (in the middle of the river) diagonally opposite the harbour masters office..gets a bit bouncy but I felt very secure that they looked after her in our absences ..they have cctv ..and also do a check now and again. Regular water taxi's. And was relatively inexpensive per week cost. The whole experience was better than I would ever have imagined as I initially tried to avoid the area thinking it too costly.
Marina berths are not cheap but there are other options. Although there is a long waiting list for private mid-river moorings there are commercially-let moorings which cost far less than marinas. There cannot be any marine service that is not available on the river. The harbourmasters police the river which helps to moderate speeds. The down-sides are related to the level of activity; the main channel can resemble the M25 at peak periods, the laws of supply and demand apply to marina berths and parking can be difficult.
