Anyone with a Motor Cruiser?

[mickey house]

Originally Posted by JessBlu

Hi yes we have a birchwood 25 which we keep on the river Trent in a little Marina.

we love it, my kids have grown up spending most weekends in the boat.

They are bit big now to be living in such close quarters but and I can’t wait to visit just the two of us.

It’s in a beautiful little village and we use it as a second home.

We mainly go to the pub in it.

If you need any advice let me know.

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I just googled your Birchwood 25 as I'm still getting to know the different makes/models of boats, and looks a nice boat and mine is a similar size and only me and the wife will stay over on it. Good to know you've had some good weekends on it and we hope to do the same.

I've seen videos of the river Trent and it looks nice and I hope your mooring isn't too expensive as the Thames marinas aren't cheap, but they have good facilites and well kept marinas as well as mains power and fast wifi etc. I've already left a deposit for the mooring because marinas are at their busiest ever and one marina said there was up to 2 years year wait for a mooring!

One question, how often to you have your boat antifouled?

Edit: just seen the pictures and it looks very comfy

[JessBlu]

We antifoul every 2 years and when it’s out give it a paint work touch up.

“Oop north” our Marina is very reasonable, £90 a month, WiFi, electric, toilet / showers a pub and campsite it has a mix of residential and leisure boats.

We pay £290 for the antifoul, which includes the lift and paint and Labour, then when it’s out I normally pop down and touch up the wood work etc.

The only other costs will be your canal and river trust license, insurance, safety certificate (I forgot what it’s cAlled, it’s due every 3 years) and river rescue a bit like AA for boats 😂 (not mandatory but highly recommended, speaking from experience.

[mickey house]

Originally Posted by JessBlu

We antifoul every 2 years and when it’s out give it a paint work touch up.

“Oop north” our Marina is very reasonable, £90 a month, WiFi, electric, toilet / showers a pub and campsite it has a mix of residential and leisure boats.

We pay £290 for the antifoul, which includes the lift and paint and Labour, then when it’s out I normally pop down and touch up the wood work etc.

The only other costs will be your canal and river trust license, insurance, safety certificate (I forgot what it’s cAlled, it’s due every 3 years) and river rescue a bit like AA for boats 😂 (not mandatory but highly recommended, speaking from experience.

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£290 for the antifoul the crane with out parts and labour is very cheap (probably double that on the Thames).

The boat MOT (BSS) is every 4 years so not so bad a car MOT.

Wow £90 a month with the facilities is very cheap indeed. Thames marina mooring for an 8 metre boat with facilities is around tripple that price (seriously around 3 times the cost).

The Thames River licence is around £500 a year for an 8 metre boat (it's based on the Square metre size).

What are property prices like where you live because I'm tempted to move house and boat there

[PoohBears#1fan]

Ah enjoy, we have a canal boat and it's just a dream, total escape for us at the weekends, we've also had (pre covid of course) girly weekend, DH uses it as a base when him and his mates do cycling weekends.

Ours is on the GU, DH often talks about taking it onto the Thames, but he won't do it single handed.

I wish mooring for canal boats was £90 a month

[mickey house]

Originally Posted by PoohBears#1fan

Ah enjoy, we have a canal boat and it's just a dream, total escape for us at the weekends, we've also had (pre covid of course) girly weekend, DH uses it as a base when him and his mates do cycling weekends.

Ours is on the GU, DH often talks about taking it onto the Thames, but he won't do it single handed.

I wish mooring for canal boats was £90 a month

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I regularly watch canal vloggers including foxes afloat who were on the Thames in the summer on their 59' canal boat. I wouldn't fancy doing the Thames locks singlehanded on a canal boat.

Sounds like you get a lot of enjoyment from your canal boat, and as you know marinas charge by the metre length for moorings and I recall one vlogger saying a particular marina wanted around £9,000 a year to moor their canal boat, which if you live on it permanently is doable for some people, but just as weekend boat it is rather expensive.

[PoohBears#1fan]

Originally Posted by mickey house

I regularly watch canal vloggers including foxes afloat who were on the Thames in the summer on their 59' canal boat. I wouldn't fancy doing the Thames locks singlehanded on a canal boat.

Sounds like you get a lot of enjoyment from your canal boat, and as you know marinas charge by the metre length for moorings and I recall one vlogger saying a particular marina wanted around £9,000 a year to moor their canal boat, which if you live on it permanently is doable for some people, but just as weekend boat it is rather expensive.

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That's insane money. Ours is just under £3k a year for 57', there's a shiny new marina in Milton Keynes that charges nearer £4k which I thought was bad enough and by far the most expensive one around here. What we're paying is pretty standard pricing around this area and worked out per foot.

DH has done the Thames locks years ago (not by himself), I've never done it so would rather he had someone stronger with him when he takes that particular challenge on!

You'll love having a boat, it's the perfect escape from life and just great having it at your disposal.

[JessBlu]

Yes houses are cheap up here as well and 1.5 hours on the train to kingscross !

Just a note on the Licence, will you be out on the river all year round ? We visit our boat all year round but we tend not to go out on the river in winter, the Trent can flow fast after heavy rain etc, so we just get a license for 9 months.

Also get a log book, it’s fab reading back on out journeys, destination, Hours, also lots of pubs mentioned!

We have really missed not being able to go this year, when we pop on to do a check I just want to put the kettle on and get the bacon on the go.

[mickey house]

Originally Posted by PoohBears#1fan

That's insane money. Ours is just under £3k a year for 57', there's a shiny new marina in Milton Keynes that charges nearer £4k which I thought was bad enough and by far the most expensive one around here. What we're paying is pretty standard pricing around this area and worked out per foot.

DH has done the Thames locks years ago (not by himself), I've never done it so would rather he had someone stronger with him when he takes that particular challenge on!

You'll love having a boat, it's the perfect escape from life and just great having it at your disposal.

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Maybe I misheard as £9k would be Thames marina cost but it does seem a lot for a canal mooring outside of London (I don't remember where the marina was).

You should come on the Thames next year with hubby and we can have a Thames River Dibb meet up

Because I'm now retired I hope to spend a lot of time pottering around on the boat next year while my wife is working

[Sandraoh40]

Wow, what an amazing thing to be buying and looking forward to. We holidayed a lot (I’ve been 13 times) on The Broads as a family and just loved it. It’s so perfect for relaxing and detaching.
Happy times

[mickey house]

Originally Posted by JessBlu

Yes houses are cheap up here as well and 1.5 hours on the train to kingscross !

Just a note on the Licence, will you be out on the river all year round ? We visit our boat all year round but we tend not to go out on the river in winter, the Trent can flow fast after heavy rain etc, so we just get a license for 9 months.

Also get a log book, it’s fab reading back on out journeys, destination, Hours, also lots of pubs mentioned!

We have really missed not being able to go this year, when we pop on to do a check I just want to put the kettle on and get the bacon on the go.

See more...

With regards the licence I was told even if the boat is in a marina on the water it needs a licence?

The non tidal Thames can also be closed during the winter due to flooding.

I am too lazy to do a log book so that won't happen

Fingers crossed no more lockdowns next year and we can all enjoy our boats.