Where can i moor my boat for free

This means mooring up along the towpath during the course of a journey. It may be at a visitor mooring subject to time limits displayed at the site or anywhere else along the towpath where, if unsigned, the maximum stay time is 14 days.

Many riverbanks and the non-towpath side of canals are private property. Unless signed the maximum stay time is 14 days for all boats, those with a home mooring and those without a home mooring.

Please be mindful of smoke from stoves and exhaust fumes and noise from engines and generators, particularly in built up areas. You're not allowed to run your engine or generator while moored up before 8. Please also don't moor too close to bridges, locks and winding holes turning points and do please leave five metre gaps between boats to facilitiate angling, unless you are on a short-stay signed visitor mooring. Of course.

You can find this information in our Equality Policy. You can also find more information for disabled boaters here , including our equality adjustment questionaire for boaters requesting a reasonable adjustment to the boat licence conditions. You can find any live consultations currently being undertaken by us on our national consultations page and the results of any completed consulations are available online or in our document library.

You can use our form. Noise and air pollution are dealt with by the Environment Team belonging to the local council. It also helps to let us know which boats are causing a problem so we can speak to the boat licence holders. If the craft is in no immediate danger please either use our form or call us on We'll need the boat index number and the location waterway name and closest landmark. If the boat is trapped on a weir or in a lock please call 47 You'll find this information on our website, but if there is something you can't find please contact us.

Here are some useful links:. Your obligations - read our mooring booklet. Making life better by water. Specialist teams Find out how our expert teams work together to make life better by water. Work for us We have vacancies across all of our waterways and in the offices, museums and attractions that support them. Contact us If you're thinking of getting in touch then please take a moment to look through these pages as we probably have the answer on our website.

How we make a difference. Our publications Annual report Document library. Work for us Find out about working for us. Summer safety by the water As the weather is warming up we want everyone to be able to enjoy our canals and rivers in the safest possible way. Boating Licensing your boat Mooring Plan your trip Notices and stoppages Boater's handbook Getting afloat - new to boating A guide to boating Trips and holidays Boat services Boat based businesses.

Stoppages and notices We're continually carrying out work to improve our canals and rivers. Canoeing and kayaking Getting started Licensing your canoe Keep yourself safe Kayak fishing Canoeing and the environment The canoeing and kayaking quiz Paddle boarding.

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Move forward slowly and point the front of the boat towards the bank, using the reverse to stop the boat before it hits the bank. The crew should then hop ashore, carrying the canal boat mooring ropes with them to begin the tying up process. Tie up your boat to the bank with a rope from both the front and the back.

Often, mooring sites will have bollards or rings to tie up to. Run your ropes at about 45 degrees from your boat, and then loop them back onto the boat to tie securely. Residential canal boat moorings are offered all over the country by either private operators or navigation authorities.

This is dependent on each particular mooring place — but you will be able to tell how long you are allowed to stay for by checking the signs. Most short stay moorings allow stays between 48 hours and 7 days. Usually, no - you are permitted to moor almost anywhere alongisde the canal for no fee. You can live on a boat on a canal or river mooring, and thousands of 'liveaboards' do. However you must keep moving or be on a 'residential mooring'.

If you want to stay in one area but don't have an official residential mooring it can be a very insecure way of life. You can be told to move regularly. If you don't move far enough or frequently enough you could be refused a licence, fined and eventually have your boat seized. Boats are allowed to moor almost anywhere alongside canal towpaths.

But nearly all these mooring places are short term , which means that no boat can stay there for more than a few days, two weeks at most. Long term moorings , where most boaters pay to keep their boats, may be 'offline' on marinas or 'online' along the canal but they usually don't allow you to live on your boat for more than a few days or weeks. And mooring regulations do not allow you 'shuffle' between nearby short term moorings.

So to live on a boat you need to be either 'continuously cruising' or to have a 'residential mooring' see down the page. For many years BW publically discouraged 'liveaboards', but did little about it. Living on a boat was seen, rightly or wrongly, as a way of avoiding paying rent and rates or of getting to the top of the council house waiting lists. The freedom of living afloat with low overheads was thought to appeal to many people who wanted to 'turn their backs on consumer society'.

Equally though, some of the most desirable London properties float on the Thames or Regents Canal, and many people retired, sold the house and moved onto a canal boat to explore their own country. Recently, possibly partly because of a shortage of economic accommodation, large increases in liveaboard boats have been reported, especially in a few locations.

Leisure boaters complain that they can't find convenient moorings because short term visitor moorings are being filled by long stay liveaboards. A boat on a mooring can sit safely for weeks without harm, but an anchored boat should be checked almost daily.

Some risks include:. Marina and public rental moorings can be an affordable solution for boat storage in areas where private mooring permits are unavailable and a slip is too expensive.

A good marina will inspect its moorings annually and watch boats in the field for problems. Many marinas will have a launch service to get you and your guests to and from your boat, as well as restrooms, picnic areas, grills, restaurants, and other facilities onshore customers can use.

Waterfront towns often have seasonally available rental moorings. Town moorings rarely have the same facilities or security as marinas, but they will have a beach or dinghy rack to stow your tender. The moorings should be regularly inspected and safe. Annual rentals of town moorings are usually reasonably priced and are in very high demand and may have a waiting list measured in years, making a commercial mooring available right now an appealing option while you wait.

In spite of all the regulations and rules, there are still many places to anchor. Vastly more anchoring spots are available than restricted - it's the prime, high demand spots that have the most restrictions. Nantucket Harbor or Martha's Vineyard - high profile, high traffic boating destinations - have much tighter regulation than a backwater cove on the Chesapeake. You should still take time to check out your destination and its rules before you get there, since local ordinances may not clear from the water.

Most charts show designated anchorages and prohibited for highly regulated harbors or coves - look for a little anchor symbol, usually circled or an anchor with a slash through it.

Unless specifically designated as a "No Anchoring" zone, in almost any protected spot in coastal waters it is legal to drop the hook.

Can you dock a boat anywhere? Most docks are privately owned, whether by an individual or a commercial marina. You should never secure to a dock without permission unless in an emergency. Public docks generally have time limits, but on many you can pay to stay overnight. How long can you anchor? If you are staying with the boat, you can anchor as long as any local regulations allow. If there are no regulations limiting it, you can stay as long as it is safe.