Where could someone live aboard in Southampton?

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I have a mate who for the sake of his sanity (and mine, listening to him moan about it :) ) needs to get away from his current living arrangements. For one reason or another he either cannot, or does not want to, do any of the normal things like simply renting a small flat, and has instead decided he wants to live on a boat.

He's got a couple of possible boats in mind, has viewed one of them, but wants to be sure he has a place to put it before going any further. This has turned out to be harder than he expected, partly because he's not local or in touch with any other boaty people to hear by word of mouth, and partly (I suspect) because a couple of rejections from places we thought would be good have demoralised and discouraged from making more phone calls. Part of the problem is that he's wary of the "nod and a wink" type arrangement where places have rules against liveaboards but don't enforce them unless people cause trouble - he's not going to be causing trouble, but he doesn't want to risk being turfed out on a whim with no comeback. Dyer's, for instance, told him no liveaboards allowed, despite some quite blatant ones visible on their pontoons.

Having been to Kemp's many times to visit my boat, he'd be happy to join the other residents there, except that their prices are a bit more than he wants to pay.

He had always said he wanted a walk-ashore berth, but is beginning to consider the idea of a mid-river mooring. Feasibility of that would depend on the boat he ended up with, in terms of power self-sufficiency, tankage, and easy access into a decent tender. The one we viewed wouldn't really be suitable.

So, does anybody have any suggestions of places on the Itchen (I assume the Test is not feasible if you want to land on the city side) that are known liveaboard-friendly, and cost a bit less than Kemp's? This would be a motorboat, so could be upriver of Northam Bridge, and would be nominally mobile rather than a static houseboat.

Cheers,

Pete
 
Think your mate has unrealistic expectations. Almost all marinas have a no liveaboard rule and almost all break their own rules! Think he will just have to accept that there is no security in a mooring as marinas are parking lots for boats, not residential locations.

Having said that many people live on boats in marinas, often for long periods of time by keeping a low profile and always paying their bills on time. Would council against a river mooring if he has to keep up a shore based life such as going to work in the mornings on time. It is OK for short periods but regular going ashore by tender is a PITA. Might be better looking for a walk ashore drying pontoon berth rather than a deep water marina as lower cost but still with good shore access and services such as showers, toilets etc.
 
Tranona said:
Think your mate has unrealistic expectations. Almost all marinas have a no liveaboard rule and almost all break their own rules! Think he will just have to accept that there is no security in a mooring as marinas are parking lots for boats, not residential locations.
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I'm inclined to agree, but it's not me that needs to be convinced. He's not looking for security of tenure, per se, just a habitually law-abiding person who has difficulty with the idea of basing the whole arrangement around deliberately breaching a written rule.

Also be aware that we're not just talking marinas. There are lots of old boats on the Itchen in various arrangements I wouldn't describe as a marina. Marinas tend to be more expensive, so are not preferred compared to, say, a yard with some space alongside an old jetty.

Tranona said:
Would council against a river mooring if he has to keep up a shore based life such as going to work in the mornings on time. It is OK for short periods but regular going ashore by tender is a PITA.
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He has work ashore, but not a standard 9 - 5 job, and often going away for a week or two rather than daily commuting. And there's a difference between the average yacht inflatable and, say, a small RIB or dory.

Tranona said:
Might be better looking for a walk ashore drying pontoon berth rather than a deep water marina as lower cost
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Errm, yes, that's exactly what he is looking for. No mention of marinas in my original post, and we're assuming a drying berth as most of the east side of the river is.

Pete
 
A mid river mooring for a live aboard is a non starter. No matter what sort of tender you have for trips ashore it's always going to be more hassle than it's worth in the long run.

Anyway, not quite southampton but has he considered the Bucklers Hard area up the Beaulieau?
 
If Gosport isn't too far away, Quay Lane must be worth a phone call. It'll be a hellava lot cheaper than Haslar, but I don't know if they do electricity on the pontoons. There's a couple of places in Fareham, too. All drying, but nice soft mud a mobo could sink into without risk of damage.

Liveaboard to me would mean for a year or more. If it's a temporary arrangement, I doubt anywhere would mind for a couple of months. Of course, a couple of months could then extend. IIRC Haslar has a limit on the number of liveaboards - possibly to do with planning restrictions, and they expect all boats to go out at least a couple of times a year. I don't know how strict they are on that, though.
 
I had similar fears when I first started living aboard 3 years ago, now I'd just pick a marina, go there, be quiet & pay on time. If you do that I think you'd be very unlikely to be turfed out, marinas are businesses & want your money. I'm not convinced anything other than a marina with half decent showers, shore power, etc. would be doable if living & working ashore in UK...
 
Stemar said:
Liveaboard to me would mean for a year or more. If it's a temporary arrangement, I doubt anywhere would mind for a couple of months. Of course, a couple of months could then extend. IIRC Haslar has a limit on the number of liveaboards - possibly to do with planning restrictions, and they expect all boats to go out at least a couple of times a year. I don't know how strict they are on that, though.
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Can't predict the future, but this certainly isn't intended as a temporary arrangement. Multiple years anyway. He does want to use the boat as a boat occasionally, but cost of fuel and the likely hassle of packing away a home to make it secure for sea means it would be a couple of times a year thing. Relocate the house down the coast a bit for a week's summer holiday :)

Pete
 
V1701 said:
I'm not convinced anything other than a marina with half decent showers, shore power, etc. would be doable if living & working ashore in UK...
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Shore power is definitely wanted. It's lack of power that he considers the biggest inhibitor to a mid-river mooring, more so than tender transport. But he operates silenced generating sets routinely as part of his job, and putting one of those on board a boat that had space for it is his plan B. Hence my comment in the original post about the boat having to be suitable - it would need either an engine room or some deck space where a genset could be bolted down and boxed in, plus space for an IBC full of red - and minimal electrical systems so that a couple of hours' running morning and evening would keep things topped up. Very much a plan B, though, walk-ashore is absolutely preferred.

I believe a usable shower on board is one of his prerequisites for the boat. The one we viewed was an American boat, with an American-sized head and shower stall. I'd have been happy to use it rather than a shoreside shower. All-electric, though, including an electric loo system, so definitely not an option for mid-river.

Pete
 
Hi Pete,
I don't know if you've seen it but a liveaboard narrowboat is berthed on the Hamble just above the Bursledon Bridge (possibly from the Chandlery Barge ) and they seem to have been there for a long time; its in a mud berth but i would guess they have some power from shore, but I don't know about the toilet arrangments etc; Also perhaps there's a pontoon walk-ashore option up there as well, might be worth a phone call to the Chandlery and /or the Harbourmaster's office to see if it is possible, no good though if your friend has a mast on their boat!
However the two mid-river deepwater moorings I mentioned a week or so ago are still available, but I don't know the ins and outs of the permissions that may be necessary,t hey are close in to the Hamble foreshore so easy access to the boat(about 100yards) or beach.

ianat182

ianat182
 
Try Itchen Marina and there is a place almost directly opposite them on the other side of the river that used to have several liveaboards when I was looking a few years back.

W.
 
Pete,

tell him to look around Gosport around Hardway; I can't remember the name or exact location of the place as I was a passenger but there is or at least was a few years ago a boatyard gathering ( wouldn't exactly call it a marina, more a gangplank network ! ) of liveaboards, walk ashore though.

Tell your chum to beware of condensation and Gosport traffic in equal measures...

Then again I know someone who is always immaculately turned out with a great sense of style, very professional, and due to a change in marriage circumstances lives happily aboard a 24' boat; that's in a good marina a little distance away with a laundrette though, the cheaper one goes the harder work it becomes.
 
V1701 said:
Shower definitely not needed if in a marina
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Not needed, but certainly adds a fair bit to civilisation. Seems odd to me that people are saying it's impossibly inconvenient to step into a dory and drive up the river to a shore pontoon as the first stage of your journey to work, but ok to have to get dressed, traipse up the pontoons, undress in a little box in a cold portacabin, shower, squeeze clammily back into clothes, and trudge back home - rather than rolling out of bed and into your own shower in the morning, drying off in a dressing gown while you have breakfast, and being fully dressed before facing the outside world. The boats he's looking at are substantial enough to do that.

Pete
 
Seajet said:
that's because the dinghy trip in all weathers day and night is quite likely to kill one
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He's not going to be in a typical yottie's fart-bag or cockleshell though. When it's your daily link to shore it makes sense to have something a bit more substantial. At the moment he has an 18' open motorboat with a petrol inboard, which would probably be pressed into service initially, and then replaced with something a bit more workboat-like as soon as one became available.

Walk ashore is still the preferred option though.

Pete
 
Those dories don't come cheap, reliable outboard on the back highly attractive to ahem others. Then he has to park it somewhere nontidal and lug water for that shower , in a suit mebbe and deal with frozen quayside tap or filling in the rain...
Your friend is going to have to box clever. Not saying g it can't be done but best to go into these things eyes open eh?

I write as one who has in the past rowed to work. With the right mindset it can be a wonderful thing too. I used to up anchor every Friday evening too and go for a sail, halcyon days, but the climate was better..

Walk ashore and close proximity to security, water and leccy and mud free commuting I reckon for him
 
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