Thinking of moving the boat to the Thames

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Elza_Skip

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Hi all,

I currently keep my flybridge cruiser in Plymouth, but as I now work near Heathrow and live in a hotel during the week I am contemplating moving to the Thames (maybe Staines way) as a weekday live aboard.

The idea sounds romantic and potentially economic but was after the collective wisdom of the forum. Concerns include air draft (we are over 4M), need to get a BSS, the effect of slow river cruising on big old green lumps etc.

Does anyone have similar experiences?
 
Your main concern as a livaboard will be finding somewhere to moor. It could become increasingly difficult to moor close to work,all public moorings are 24 hours only and private (semi or permanent) moorings are rarer than rocking horse poo.
Virtually all marinas discourage permanent residents. Having to move your boat every day may seem fun at first but soon becomes a chore.
Your boat will need a holding tank of some description else finding somewhere to empty your porta pottie each day will be interesting.
Not over the side please :).
If your boat is fairly old,do not be surprised at the amount of stuff that may need replacing for BSS such as gas pipes fuel lines/filters etc.
Good luck.
 
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Liveaboard to marinas means 365 days a year (at worst).

Some marinas will suffer 'weekday' liveaboards - but I don't know which ones.
 
Not on the Thames, but I, and several others, use our boats as our crashpads in our Marina. Some up to 4 nights a week, mine is 1 or 2 nights. Nobody worries about this at all. Even over the winter, this has worked really well for me.
 
Permanent residential liveaboard with your post delivered to the boat ain't going to happen in any Thames marina I know (unless you have a narrow boat at the T and K) but a few nights a week is perfectly acceptable in any marina I've been near.

Don't make it too obvious (ie don't go out of your way to tell the marina what you're up to..) but otherwise you'll be absolutely fine. I'm very lucky to have a pukka residential mooring now (like hens teeth with long waiting lists) but I did the five nights a week thing for years with no problems previously.

Go for it! :)
 
As rosssavage said. Several boaters I know do much the same thing. If you have a home post code away from the marina I don't expect you will have too much hassle in a marina. Your main problem will be finding a marina to take your size of boat and the cost, factoring in the fuel/transport cost to get the boat here from Plymouth, plus the associated BSS costs, weighed up against how long your job lasts! You do not want to be on the river in floods. Much much better on a pontoon in a marina. Let us know if you go for it.
 
Thanks all,
My intention would be a marina berth for the on site services. I might get a BSS surveyor to give an initial view on what work needs doing and will talk to a couple of marinas about price and availability
 
We had two great seasons on the Thames but the lure of the coast called us back. If you are planning to stay below Maidenhead then I would recommend that Thames with a flybridge. We just squeezed under Cookham Bridge but then found it difficult to moor due to our draft (1.1m) so the ideal of just pulling up along the riverbank was an issue. Depth and air height is less of an issue downstream and there are lots of places to go. Don't forget that you will have to pay a considerable amount for the river licence as well as getting your boat up to BSS standard. Marina prices vary enormously so shop around!

What we loved about the river was the friendly nature of everyone. True, you don't get far because of locks and speed limits but that gives lots of opportunities to chat with other boaters, lock keepers etc! It is a very different proposition and I would recommend that you give it a whirl!
 
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