Advice for Living Aboard in UK

[AD 2]

Hello all

We're looking to move to the UK, probably southern England area, and are having trouble figuring out what marinas or yacht clubs might be willing to host live aboards. How open can we be?
Does anyone have experiences or suggestions to share?

Cheers

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by AD 2

Hello all

We're looking to move to the UK, probably southern England area, and are having trouble figuring out what marinas or yacht clubs might be willing to host live aboards. How open can we be?
Does anyone have experiences or suggestions to share?

Cheers

In my experience, UK South Coast marinas are all very relaxed about liveaboards. If you can pay the tariff!!

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[boatman61]

Only problem I had was the electric.. the trips were set ridiculously low.. a single bar fire would trip it..

[atoll]

rental for my boat in the local marina in Falmouth would be around £1000 a month plus power and council tax,about another £150,plus car parking~£150.

rental for an average 3 bedroom house in the same area about £800,with slightly higher heating,power and council tax costs.

however if you can find a private alongside mooring or mudberth savings are considerable, I pay about £350 a month alongside with power, water,internet including council tax and car parking for 120ft of wharf.

across the river I have a mud berth which I pay £15 a month.

in the harbour, in the center of town I have another council run trot mooring with dinghy access for a 26footer this I pay £360 a year plus 2 free use's of the slip way for careening.

I hope this gives you some perspective,though compared to further east on the south coast I would expect these rates to be quite a bit higher.

[FilBrown]

Like Dockhead mentions the South Coast can be very expensive.
Further around the channel up into the North Sea there's the Thames and the Medway.
Both areas have a number of Marina's who accept liveaboards.
In the Medway there's Gillingham and Chatham marinas both with web sites.
On the Thames there's Gravesend (High water access only) Gallions Point Marina, South Dock Marina (Council run) and Limehouse (these last three are the cheapest) Then you have Tower Bridge Marina which is reserved for lottery winners (Its not cheap!)
I had a swinging mooring on the tidal Thames at Thurrock which I had to dinghy out too and could sail away from at all states of the tide.
Club membership x 2, mooring, dinghy storage and lockers for a 31ft yacht was less than £600 a year.

[Martkimwat]

Solent is in general the most expensive area with some exceptions and then you have local 'hot spots' like Falmouth, Plymouth Dartmouth and Poole Harbour which are similarly priced sround £300~£500/metre/per annum. In the Solent it can go as high as £1000/metre down to around £250/metre in Island Harbour at the bottom of the Medina River on the IOW which generally has lower rates because of access (ferries to/from the Island are probably one of the most expensive in the world when you consider the distance travelled 2~5 miles) I cannot find the figures but I believe Newhaven further east is actually very reasonable because the rates were 'all-in' including elctric and water but that might not still be the case, also it is on a river, opposite the ferry terminal (noise) and on a fairly featurless length of coast apart from the chalk cliffs of Beachy Head about 5 miles further East. a British publication PBO (Practical Boat Owner ) periodically does a comparison of all the marinas and their charges and services for the whole of Britain. I think it comes out around April edition (which confusingly comes out in March) so one due soon. You can get copies at a reasonable price and you can subscribe to the Mag online.

[conachair]

Originally Posted by AD 2

. How open can we be?
Does anyone have experiences or suggestions to share?

Cheers

It's not too big a deal, you'll be fine. Are you looking at a long term berthing in one place?
Quite a few long terms in Brighton, nice town, marina is OK but a bit of a shopping mall, London is tricky during the summer but Limehouse do a winter deal which is pretty good. Might be best just to get over and get a feel for what suits, there will be somewhere.

[ausnp84]

Try Emsworth or Chichester Marina. We were always told by our marina in Chichester Hbr living aboard was ok, but to keep it on the down low. Parking was free in the marina itself and for a 43ft boat, our annual berthing (inc. water and elec) was £4000. Marina office was happy to have our post go there and in total there were 6 liveaboard couples & families.

Some parts of the Solent are ludicrously expensive, and Falmouth at £1k a month sounds about as bad... what are you looking for from a marina? Access for sailing regularly, is commuting to London a factor, etc, etc?

n

[George DuBose]

Come to The Netherlands, the slips are half the price and most marina welcome liveaboards as they tend to add to the level of security.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Martkimwat

Solent is in general the most expensive area with some exceptions and then you have local 'hot spots' like Falmouth, Plymouth Dartmouth and Poole Harbour which are similarly priced sround £300~£500/metre/per annum. In the Solent it can go as high as £1000/metre down to around £250/metre in Island Harbour at the bottom of the Medina River on the IOW which generally has lower rates because of access (ferries to/from the Island are probably one of the most expensive in the world when you consider the distance travelled 2~5 miles) I cannot find the figures but I believe Newhaven further east is actually very reasonable because the rates were 'all-in' including elctric and water but that might not still be the case, also it is on a river, opposite the ferry terminal (noise) and on a fairly featurless length of coast apart from the chalk cliffs of Beachy Head about 5 miles further East. a British publication PBO (Practical Boat Owner ) periodically does a comparison of all the marinas and their charges and services for the whole of Britain. I think it comes out around April edition (which confusingly comes out in March) so one due soon. You can get copies at a reasonable price and you can subscribe to the Mag online.

Indeed. But keep in mind that rates plummet in the winter time (November-March). So one viable way to go is to be in a marina with all the comforts from November-March, then go cruising the rest of the time. Or sublet a mid-river mooring somewhere. Or head to France or Holland.

Marinas which charge 1000 GBP a month in summer, might charge 1/4 that in the winter time. Even better, that sometimes includes unlimited electrical power.

So it is actually possible to live on board very cheaply, even in this expensive place.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by atoll

however if you can find a private alongside mooring or mudberth savings are considerable,

across the river I have a mud berth which I pay £15 a month.

Mud berth?

That when the tides are out and the keel is resting on the bottom?

-Chris

[ausnp84]

Originally Posted by ranger42c

Mud berth?

That when the tides are out and the keel is resting on the bottom?

-Chris

Spot on. Mud berths aren't so bad - it can be a bit annoying being restricted by tide times, but if you're on a budget, they're a good alternative to a full tide berth.

n

[Zven]

The OP didn't mention what sort of boat they have ... or if they have any at all ....?
FWIW, lots of people are living in narrowboats on the canals in the UK.

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[ausnp84]

Originally Posted by Zven

The OP didn't mention what sort of boat they have ... or if they have any at all ....?
FWIW, lots of people are living in narrowboats on the canals in the UK.

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According to their profile, the OP has a Morgan Out Island 33...

n

[Zven]

Okay ...but (also according to profile) they are in Toronto.
And the OP mentioned "move to the UK" kind of casually ...
But then of course, I'm more of a motor boater ... :-)


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