Liveaboard in Yorkshire

[Chloeanna]

Hello,

I'm looking for a bit of advice.

I'm in the initial stages at looking at living permanently aboard, but before I go any further I need to know if its possible to live in either York or Leeds city centre. York is preferable, as close to the city as possible although happy to go to the west of York. Leeds would need to be central.

I would love any advice you can give me, been trying to do some research online however struggling with a lack of links on google... is this because it's just not possible (I really hope not!!)

Thanks in advance

Chloe 

[mrsmelly]

6 minutes ago, Chloeanna said:

Hello,

I'm looking for a bit of advice.

I'm in the initial stages at looking at living permanently aboard, but before I go any further I need to know if its possible to live in either York or Leeds city centre. York is preferable, as close to the city as possible although happy to go to the west of York. Leeds would need to be central.

I would love any advice you can give me, been trying to do some research online however struggling with a lack of links on google... is this because it's just not possible (I really hope not!!)

Thanks in advance

Chloe 

Hi Chloe

 

One question if you dont mind and that is do you want to above all else live on a boat rather than in a house because you prefer to live on a boat or do you think living on a boat will be cheaper?

[peterboat]

I would rule out York on the grounds of floods and severe up and down issues with the river. Leeds has moorings at the Armouries they are well placed but dont seem to get a lot of sun and some are in wind tunnels!! As Tim says though boat living is a way of life and generally isnt as cheap as people think

[Chloeanna]

3 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Hi Chloe

 

One question if you dont mind and that is do you want to above all else live on a boat rather than in a house because you prefer to live on a boat or do you think living on a boat will be cheaper?

Hi Tim,

Don't mind at all. Above all it's the idea of not being tied to bricks and mortar... I'm sure I have a lot of learning to do but like I said it's very early stages.

Cheers Chloe

[rusty69]

A bit dated, but may be of some use:-

 

[peterboat]

7 minutes ago, Chloeanna said:

Hi Tim,

Don't mind at all. Above all it's the idea of not being tied to bricks and mortar... I'm sure I have a lot of learning to do but like I said it's very early stages.

Cheers Chloe

We are all learning Chloe even after 12 years I am still learning, welcome aboard and hope you get your boat

[mrsmelly]

4 minutes ago, Chloeanna said:

Hi Tim,

Don't mind at all. Above all it's the idea of not being tied to bricks and mortar... I'm sure I have a lot of learning to do but like I said it's very early stages.

Cheers Chloe

Hi again

 

As Peter says York although fab has serious flooding issues and hard to get a mooring though not impossible. I would suggest you go to York and Leeds and walk and talk to people in the various boaty places, I have found directly meeting  and talking when it comes to boats is by far the best way to find out the lay of the land so to speak. Leeds as stated has moorings and if you dont need to be totaly central as a for instance there are some fab moorings at Woodlesford where I used to moor that are often available and an easy commute to leeds. DO NOT underestimate the costs involved 

[Chloeanna]

5 minutes ago, peterboat said:

I would rule out York on the grounds of floods and severe up and down issues with the river. Leeds has moorings at the Armouries they are well placed but dont seem to get a lot of sun and some are in wind tunnels!! As Tim says though boat living is a way of life and generally isnt as cheap as people think

Hi there,

Thanks for this from my limited research this is what I had read about York which is a shame as it is my preference. OK, I had spotted the Leeds docks, I shall do a bit more research - is this the only spot in Leeds city?

Cheers 

[peterboat]

5 minutes ago, Chloeanna said:

Hi there,

Thanks for this from my limited research this is what I had read about York which is a shame as it is my preference. OK, I had spotted the Leeds docks, I shall do a bit more research - is this the only spot in Leeds city?

Cheers 

No there are others close by and if you travel a couple of miles there are a lot of boatyards/marinas

[Chloeanna]

5 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Hi again

 

As Peter says York although fab has serious flooding issues and hard to get a mooring though not impossible. I would suggest you go to York and Leeds and walk and talk to people in the various boaty places, I have found directly meeting  and talking when it comes to boats is by far the best way to find out the lay of the land so to speak. Leeds as stated has moorings and if you dont need to be totaly central as a for instance there are some fab moorings at Woodlesford where I used to moor that are often available and an easy commute to leeds. DO NOT underestimate the costs involved 

Thank you! I may look a little harder into York... Unfortunately if I was in Leeds the station would have to be reasonably accessible (work reasons *yawn*)

Thanks for the tip, I will take a stroll...   

[Chloeanna]

7 minutes ago, peterboat said:

No there are others close by and if you travel a couple of miles there are a lot of boatyards/marinas

Perfect, thanks. So far I have found Naburn Marina, which unfortunately on its website says it doesn't offer residential moorings, and Linton locks. Do you mind me asking if you know of any others?

21 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

A bit dated, but may be of some use:-

 

Thanks!

[mrsmelly]

Just now, Chloeanna said:

Perfect, thanks. So far I have found Naburn Marina, which unfortunately on its website says it doesn't offer residential moorings, and Linton locks. Do you mind me asking if you know of any others?

Chloe

 

You dont need a residential mooring......you need to meet like minded people on the ground as it were to discuss the realities of living on a boat, you will just here scaremongers on forums such a this, a personal approach re these matters is whats needed 

[Chloeanna]

14 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Chloe

 

You dont need a residential mooring......you need to meet like minded people on the ground as it were to discuss the realities of living on a boat, you will just here scaremongers on forums such a this, a personal approach re these matters is whats needed 

When you say 'You don't need a residential mooring' I understand there are various way to liveaboard but I need (for the time being) to be based in one area. How does this work if i don't need a residential mooring? 

[Robbo]

50 minutes ago, Chloeanna said:

Hello,

I'm looking for a bit of advice.

I'm in the initial stages at looking at living permanently aboard, but before I go any further I need to know if its possible to live in either York or Leeds city centre. York is preferable, as close to the city as possible although happy to go to the west of York. Leeds would need to be central.

I would love any advice you can give me, been trying to do some research online however struggling with a lack of links on google... is this because it's just not possible (I really hope not!!)

Thanks in advance

Chloe 

Leeds centre only has the permanent moorings at Clarence Dock (now called Leeds Dock), there is residential and liesure here, both CRT,  expect to pay around £1800-£2500pa.  Call CRT too see if any spaces available.  About 10min walk to train station, but there is regular buses and a free water taxi as well.   I was here for approx 4 years and the moorings are not bad, fairly quiet for a city centre.  however the residential moorings are in the crap area of the dock and behind a bridge that you have to give notice to open.  (Most on the leisure moorings here seem to like staying on the boat for long periods of time  )

Out of Leeds, Woodlesford is nice and has a train station about 5-10min walk away, with about 8min train journey to Leeds .  Other side of Leeds on the L&L there is a few marinas near stations that are about 10min train journey into Leeds.  I can list these if interested as well.

[mrsmelly]

1 minute ago, Chloeanna said:

When you say 'You don't need a residential mooring' I understand there are various way to liveaboard but I need (for the time being) to be based in one area. How does this work if i don't need a residential mooring? 

Like I said go and talk to people you will not get the right info on an open forum. The boating community works much better face to face.

[Robbo]

4 minutes ago, Chloeanna said:

When you say 'You don't need a residential mooring' I understand there are various way to liveaboard but I need (for the time being) to be based in one area. How does this work if i don't need a residential mooring? 

You don't use the leisure mooring as you main residential place, you don't get an address basically but you can stay on the boat 365 days a year if you wish.   Most use an address of parents/ friends or even services like boatmail.co.uk for a address.  Some marinas won't allow this, some turn a blind eye.  CRT leisure moorings tend to be more blind eye.

Edited April 22, 2017 by Robbo

[Chloeanna]

8 minutes ago, Robbo said:

Leeds centre only has the permanent moorings at Clarence Dock (now called Leeds Dock), there is residential and liesure here, both CRT,  expect to pay around £1800-£2500pa.  Call CRT too see if any spaces available.  About 10min walk to train station, but there is regular buses and a free water taxi as well.   I was here for approx 4 years and the moorings are not bad, fairly quiet for a city centre.  however the residential moorings are in the crap area of the dock and behind a bridge that you have to give notice to open.  (Most on the leisure moorings here seem to like staying on the boat for long periods of time  )

Out of Leeds, Woodlesford is nice and has a train station about 5-10min walk away, with about 8min train journey to Leeds .  Other side of Leeds on the L&L there is a few marinas near stations that are about 10min train journey into Leeds.  I can list these if interested as well.

Thank you. I think Leeds dock is looking like the most obvious option at the moment. Your advice is extremely helpful!

So technically you can liveaboard a leisure mooring as long as you don't require an address and the marina will turn a blind eye?

Thanks  

[Robbo]

5 minutes ago, Chloeanna said:

Thank you. I think Leeds dock is looking like the most obvious option at the moment. Your advice is extremely helpful!

So technically you can liveaboard a leisure mooring as long as you don't require an address and the marina will turn a blind eye?

Thanks  

 No technically you can't, in practise you can.    Some Marina's turn a blind eye (don't ask if they do residential at marinas, ask if there is a policy for how long one can stay on the boat). Leeds dock is a CRT mooring so you already know so you don't need to ask (it would be a useless answer as CRT will say no living aboard on liesure moorings but in practise they don't care).  BWML marinas like Lemonroyd will be quite strict on liveaboards that are not residential.

leeds dock does have full residential moorings if required, you get an address n pay council tax, etc.

Edited April 22, 2017 by Robbo

[Chloeanna]

2 minutes ago, Robbo said:

 No technically you can't, in practise you can.    Some Marina's turn a blind eye (don't ask if they do residential at marinas, ask if there is a policy for how long one can stay on the boat). Leeds dock is a CRT mooring so you already know so you don't need to ask.  BWML marinas like Lemonroyd will be quite strict on liveaboards that are not residential.

Perfect, comprendo. Many thanks!   

[magictime]

Can I ask why you need to be in Leeds centre specifically if you'd only be commuting from Leeds to somewhere else (presumably York) anyway? If you're just looking for somewhere offering a short, direct commute, I wonder if it's worth considering Selby? You'd be looking at the same sort of train journey, but be a much shorter cruise from York, giving you the option of taking the boat there for a week or three at a time as often as you liked when river conditions were suitable. And if you did have to leave your mooring fairly often to stay clearly within the operator's definition of 'leisure' use, that would be an easy and pleasant task - you could just chug a short distance down the quiet, attractive and lock-free Selby canal and moor up for the weekend (say).

Oh, and wherever you end up mooring, don't forget to do some cruising when you get the chance!

Edited April 23, 2017 by magictime

[Sea Dog]

It sounds to me like you wish to live on a boat in a specific place for work reasons and are not averse to having a residential mooring for that purpose. There are ways to do so without a residential mooring, but these involve bending the rules to a greater or lesser extent. Whilst potentially cheaper, this also brings disadvantages and may bring you into legal conflict with CRT.  Living on a boat already presents many challenges so, if you can afford to, I'd go the residential route so you can be free of the additional issues of 'under the radar' mooring. 

[Pete of Ebor]

There is a marina at Naburn, about 3 or 4 miles south of York. I don't know if it is residential. One interesting option with this is that you could actually commute into York by boat, river conditions permitting. Toi my knowlege (and I live in York) there are no residential moorings in the city. Just be aware, as other posters have said, The Ouse can rise very quickly after heavy rain in The Dales. You might moor it in the morning and have to move it to safety by lunchtime. A safer option might be mooring on The Foss. There is one lock up to The Foss, but The Foss flood barrier prevents (usually prevents - it was it's failure that caused the severe flooding in York last Year..) The Foss flooding to the same extent as The Ouse, but to my knowlege, there are no 'official' moorings on The Foss, which is a real shame.

[Chloeanna]

13 hours ago, magictime said:

Can I ask why you need to be in Leeds centre specifically if you'd only be commuting from Leeds to somewhere else (presumably York) anyway? If you're just looking for somewhere offering a short, direct commute, I wonder if it's worth considering Selby? You'd be looking at the same sort of train journey, but be a much shorter cruise from York, giving you the option of taking the boat there for a week or three at a time as often as you liked when river conditions were suitable. And if you did have to leave your mooring fairly often to stay clearly within the operator's definition of 'leisure' use, that would be an easy and pleasant task - you could just chug a short distance down the quiet, attractive and lock-free Selby canal and moor up for the weekend (say).

Oh, and wherever you end up mooring, don't forget to do some cruising when you get the chance!

Thank you for the suggestion! However I don't actually work in York or Leeds although from a social aspect I would like to live in one of these two places  

Edited April 23, 2017 by Chloeanna

[Chloeanna]

12 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

It sounds to me like you wish to live on a boat in a specific place for work reasons and are not averse to having a residential mooring for that purpose. There are ways to do so without a residential mooring, but these involve bending the rules to a greater or lesser extent. Whilst potentially cheaper, this also brings disadvantages and may bring you into legal conflict with CRT.  Living on a boat already presents many challenges so, if you can afford to, I'd go the residential route so you can be free of the additional issues of 'under the radar' mooring. 

Thank you. Yes, I agree. I think I will definitely go down the residential route - especially while I'm still learning the ropes.  

[Chloeanna]

11 hours ago, Pete of Ebor said:

There is a marina at Naburn, about 3 or 4 miles south of York. I don't know if it is residential. One interesting option with this is that you could actually commute into York by boat, river conditions permitting. Toi my knowlege (and I live in York) there are no residential moorings in the city. Just be aware, as other posters have said, The Ouse can rise very quickly after heavy rain in The Dales. You might moor it in the morning and have to move it to safety by lunchtime. A safer option might be mooring on The Foss. There is one lock up to The Foss, but The Foss flood barrier prevents (usually prevents - it was it's failure that caused the severe flooding in York last Year..) The Foss flooding to the same extent as The Ouse, but to my knowlege, there are no 'official' moorings on The Foss, which is a real shame.

Unfortunately to my knowledge Naburn doesn't accept residential moorings. I think from my limited research it looks like York City may be out of bounds.