Jump to content

Mooring, how often can i be on my boat if in marina not liveaboard


wullie

Featured Posts

Things have changed with us, i am in a good job and now thinking of not retiring as early, we are thinking of buying a narrowboat in a matter of months, and to use as often as possible weekends and holidays, been looking for information but cant find much ,plenty on price etc but nothing on time allowed on boat, we would be looking at two weekends a month, and general holidays over 12 month period. Cant wait much longer, been a long time to get this far, and now so close can almost feel the boat rocking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Things have changed with us, i am in a good job and now thinking of not retiring as early, we are thinking of buying a narrowboat in a matter of months, and to use as often as possible weekends and holidays, been looking for information but cant find much ,plenty on price etc but nothing on time allowed on boat, we would be looking at two weekends a month, and general holidays over 12 month period. Cant wait much longer, been a long time to get this far, and now so close can almost feel the boat rocking.

There is not specific answer to your question Wullie, other than each Marina will have its own rules.

 

Generally speaking though, most marinas won't mind how much time you spend on your boat in the marina.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Discus this with your potential marinas before you pay them. some places will accept 365day residence others less, few will not allow single nights on board in the marina. However you may find a nice little cruising route that takes a couple of days and have some lovely weekends onboard but out of the marina. Boats usually do well for going boating. Cruising heats the engine and the water,and charges the batteries

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All marinas are different but I suspect that all the BWML marinas probably have a similar contract, although how strictly enforced is a different matter.

Specifically you asked "how often can i be on my boat if in marina not liveaboard" I have access 24/7 to the marina and although I'm not supposed to stay overnight for more than 2 nights in succession in the marina I can go there all day, every day and never go anywhere. Obviously you can't count on the rules being lax or unenforced but any marina that didn't offer you totally open access and a reasonable marina living onboard allowance would be one to avoid.

K

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Things have changed with us, i am in a good job and now thinking of not retiring as early, we are thinking of buying a narrowboat in a matter of months, and to use as often as possible weekends and holidays, been looking for information but cant find much ,plenty on price etc but nothing on time allowed on boat, we would be looking at two weekends a month, and general holidays over 12 month period. Cant wait much longer, been a long time to get this far, and now so close can almost feel the boat rocking.

We have moored in two different marina's over the years both of which had differing stipulations about this.

 

It is normally set out in the marina T&C's as others have said but be aware it can be simply described as 'You are not allowed to live aboard' through to specific stipulations about how many nights you are or not allowed to stay on board per month.

 

The BWML marina we moored in had differing 'grades' of mooring which allowed differing lengths of stay. Our mooring there had different stipulations between summer and winter just to make things even more complicated, in practice though it wasn't policed particularly strictly, and that seems to be the case with lots of marinas.

 

Ask your prospective marina for a copy of their T&C's and have a read and if possible have a chat with others that moor there, though bear in mind some may be a bit circumspect about how much time they spend there when discussing it with a stranger, for obvious reasons.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some small moorings are idiosyncratic and depend on the whim of the owner. The very first one I was on, many years ago, would only allow a boat to be alongside for a maximum of 10 months of the year and didn't care if you lived on it or not, just so long as you and the boat were absent for a total of 2 months a year.

As TDH says get your terms and conditions and/or talk to the owner/office

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bear also in mind most marinas managements will have no inherent objection to you living aboard but they have to be able to demonstrate they abide by the terms of the planning consent for the building of the marina in the first place or face enforcement proceedings from the local council. Hence the subject cropping up in the T&Cs.

 

When you ask a marina about the subject they have no idea if you are a council enforcement officer on a fishing expedition so have to put forward the official line. Some marina managements are keen to tow the PP line and be squeaky clean, other management teams have a more cavalier attitude and little respect for the PP dept at the local council so may turn a blind eye whatever their mooring T&Cs say.

 

Best way to find out the real policy is to ask some moorers in the marina, not the management. Even then some will be cagey...

 

MtB

 

 

P.S. Are you a planning dept enforcement officer in disguise yourself?!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Our marina (BWML) had a re-organisation / reclassification of mooring grades and now has only two grades of mooring

 

1) Liveaboard

2) Leisure

 

Liveaboard is self explanatory, the mooring has PP and you pay Council Tax (in your mooring fee)

 

Leisure is a wee-bit more complicated - you can stay onboard 365 days a year, if you can provide evidence that you pay (in your name) Council Tax on a property. If you cannot provide this, then you can stay onboard frequently.

I do not have the T&Cs in front of me, but that is the gist of it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mercia defines residential as living on board for six months or more so that winter moorers don't take up one of their residential berths. Your suggested pattern of use is pretty common, I would say, and most places wouldn't have a problem with it.

 

But as others have said, ask existing moorers – and be wary of any marina that discourages you from doing so.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bear also in mind most marinas managements will have no inherent objection to you living aboard but they have to be able to demonstrate they abide by the terms of the planning consent for the building of the marina in the first place or face enforcement proceedings from the local council. Hence the subject cropping up in the T&Cs.

 

When you ask a marina about the subject they have no idea if you are a council enforcement officer on a fishing expedition so have to put forward the official line. Some marina managements are keen to tow the PP line and be squeaky clean, other management teams have a more cavalier attitude and little respect for the PP dept at the local council so may turn a blind eye whatever their mooring T&Cs say.

 

Best way to find out the real policy is to ask some moorers in the marina, not the management. Even then some will be cagey...

 

MtB

 

 

P.S. Are you a planning dept enforcement officer in disguise yourself?!

No Mike OK i cant prove it, but living up here in Scotland i am a bit far away to enforce any thing south, i am just looking for some information, as has been said marinas not very forthcoming wanting to know what size boat etc. but when i say i am just forward planing they go quiet so thought i would try forum, and it has been very helpful thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No Mike OK i cant prove it, but living up here in Scotland i am a bit far away to enforce any thing south, i am just looking for some information, as has been said marinas not very forthcoming wanting to know what size boat etc. but when i say i am just forward planing they go quiet so thought i would try forum, and it has been very helpful thanks

With the usage you propose in the OP I can't see there being too many marinas that would have a problem with that. Perhaps rather than asking the open question of how long can I stay on the boat, you put your proposed usage pattern to them and ask if that is OK. The open question sounds like you are fishing for live aboard, and you are not going to get open answers to that on the phone.

 

The other thing is when you have a boat I don't see you wanting to spend every other weekend in a marina, you are going to want to go out, even if it is just to the same place a mile or to away cool.png.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mercia defines residential as living on board for six months or more so that winter moorers don't take up one of their residential berths. Your suggested pattern of use is pretty common, I would say, and most places wouldn't have a problem with it.

 

But as others have said, ask existing moorers – and be wary of any marina that discourages you from doing so.

 

 

There are now full residential moorers (180). The other longterm moorers are restricted to 6 months max, liveaboard. The 6 month rule does allow those wanting winter moorings to stay full-time on their boat throughout the winter months.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was told I couldn't live aboard, and asked what my intentions were, and I said that over the next year, I intended to spend two or three weekends a month on the boat, and go off cruising for a few weeks as and when,and that didn't cause any problems. Like John above though, I don't actually sleep in the marina but move the boat down to the nearest village and moor up there near the pub/chippy/co-op etc. If the weather was too bad to get out I don't imagine there would be a problem sleeping over in the marina for a few nights, it's just a case of not kicking the arse out of it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to the waterways. Big brother is watching you...

 

Well not quite. No matter what the marina's policy they won't be shining a torch around the inside of your boat in the night to check if anyone is sleeping on it.

 

One of the biggest indicators that tells the marina you are living on your boat is them receiving mail addressed to you. So don't it, and you are unlikely to be rumbled however many nights you stay aboard.

 

MtB

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I checked with my Marina before I moved in, didn't intend live aboard but maybe several nights as and when I returned up that way. It is small and there are 2 live a boards there, I know they do not like many. I visit my boat when I can and stay since house many miles away. I chug out and in...they know when I'm returning in with boat since I make hash of it. I've had no problem, I have been open with them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A big thanks to all, as usual this is the best place to get some information, having a week of and going south to check out a few sites and have a look around a few boats to get what would suit our needs, we are really getting excited at the prospect of making the dream a reality, waited over 20 years to do this so want to do it right first time round. detective.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Definitely worth phoning the marina and asking. We're full time liveaboards - when we were looking to live for a while in a marina we phoned several and asked the question "do you have residential berths?" One said "no, but we have a few people live on their boats"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.