Short term London moorings

[DBA Forum (WGBAI) - Stephen Marsh]

Hi David,

Until last year I was living on a 42m Dutch barge at West India Dock but those moorings are currently landlocked until approx 2018 whilst they build a Cross Rail station next door. They aren't visitor moorings there anyway. Regarding Blackwall & Poplar I believe they are all long term residential/leisure moorings. They opened up the docklands to visitors for the Olympics, but only on a temporary basis. Limehouse has expanded it's residential moorings and does have visitor moorings, but they may only be short stay.

I am also a dog owner and can confirm you can take your dog anywhere on the Tube, DLR, trains, buses in London for no charge. All the DLR stations have ground to platform lifts and stairs so your dog doesn't need to go on any escalators. Canary Wharf Tube also has a lift to platform and you can see which stations have lift access from the Tube maps at the station or online. Most big stations do now.

I was told that Hermitage Community Moorings do not allow dogs, but that may be only applicable for residents not visitors? but it's always deterred me from investigating their (otherwise wonderful) moorings further. Charles Mclaren is a resident, so may be able to confirm or deny that rule?

Personally I'd go for Gallions Point based on cost, St Kath's to be closer to the centre of the action or Limehouse if it was only a couple of days.

cheers

Stephen

[DBA Forum (WGBAI) - David Oare]

Hi,

Calling Limehouse this morning we learned that it is not a mooring option for anything other than a very short stay during the summer. That leaves us with St. Kats, Gallions Point, Hermitage, and South Dock as the only possible options.

A couple of questions:

• Is a dog allowed at HCM? Our dog Gigi barks at Dave Myers every time he walks by at T&K, if that helps!
• Are dogs allowed on the river bus? The river bus might be the most convenient transit option from South Dock.

I’ve updated my previous list with the more recent information in case someone else comes along later looking for a mooring in London.*


St. Katherine’s Dock:

http://www.skdocks.co.uk/introduction/

£1380/month (20 m)

About 0.5 miles to the nearest Tube station, nice area, walking distance to attractions, very difficult to reserve a berth.

Limehouse Basin:

http://www.bwml.co.uk/marinas/limehouse_marina/berths

£400/week (20 m; daily rate is cheaper and not sure about a monthly rate)

Over the phone we learned that no reservations can be made before 4 weeks in advance, you must call to reserve, and summer berths are limited to a couple of days stay (long term stays are possible during winter). We also found that there is only one berth available for 65' boat in summer.

About 0.3 miles to the Limehouse DLR station. By foot a somewhat less convenient location than St. Kats.

West India, Blackwall & Poplar

None of these currently offer visitor moorings.

Gallions Point Marina:

http://www.gallionspointmarina.co.uk/

£83 GBP/week (20 m)

About 0.4 miles from DLR station, approximately 20 minutes to Tower Gateway. Car parking is available.

Chris Green reports:

“… There aren't any shops etc. really close but I should think the big Gallions Reach complex (with Tesco and lots of other shops) is only about a mile. It's about the same distance as the marina is from the DLR station but in the opposite direction.

“… Across the dock to the North is nearly all residential, quite posh flats. To the South, either side of the approach road is rather mixed, there's a parking area for Corbyn lorries, a moto-cross track and a bar/functions etc. boat.

“Water is free, electricity metered, security pretty good IMHO.

“It is quite noisy during the day of course being right under the end of
the City Airport runway, first flights are just on 07:00 and last
flights before 22:00.”

South Dock Marina:

http://www.southwark.gov.uk/downloads/200065/south_dock_marina

£833/month (residential), £700/month (“leisure”), £189/week (visitor)—not sure which tariff applies.

About 0.7 miles to Surrey Quays tube station, much closer to the river bus. Don’t know much about the area. Car parking is possible.

Hermitage Community Moorings:

http://www.hcmoorings.org/

Price unknown. Two weeks maximum.

HCM is a tidal mooring not far from St. Katherines Dock, approximately 0.6 miles to nearest Tube station, and within walking distance to “attractions”. Expect some waves from passing boats.

*Prices as of January 2014 inc VAT

[DBA Forum (WGBAI) - Charles Mclaren]

Call james at hermitage. He will give you all the info you need. We are limited to two weeks out of four for any one visitor boat by our agreement with the pla. We have a generally anti pets policy, but there is one resident dog, and while I've not met yours if it is reasonably civilised should be no problem.
Hermitage is a cooperative run by and for the 18 boats resident there. We got the permissions to build it, designed it, funded it and then actually constructed it. We are justly proud of what we have created and do actively welcome visitors to our community. Choppy it is at times, but we all live with it and hardly notice it now.
Charlie

Sent from my iPad

uk/

[DBA Forum (WGBAI) - David Oare]

Another update on our search:

At this point we’ve contacted all of the possible central London moorings from our list. We cannot find an available month-long mooring for our 20 m barge though we have not been told “no” by St. Kats yet. At the bottom is a summary of what we found.

It seems to us that there are surprisingly few dedicated visitor moorings available in London at all. Most of the short-term moorings just appear to be fill-ins between longer-term moorings and are not reliably available. Is dedicating a few berths to short term visitors not economically viable or is just easier for the marina managers to deal only with full time residents?

It’s likely too late for us, but it might be good for the DBA membership if London marinas were encouraged to make more provisions for short-term visitor moorings for typically sized barges.

Thanks again for everyone’s help in our search. Hopefully something else will come up!

Dave

========

St. Katherine’s Dock: Our request has been noted but they will not know if there is a space until sometime in March. We had a reservation for a mooring last summer but it was revoked by St. Kats three weeks before our arrival date.

Limehouse Basin: There’s only one berth for a 20 m barge, it is only available for a couple of days at a time during the summer and can only be booked 4 weeks in advance.

Gallions Point Marina: No available moorings available for a 20 m barge as of February 13 2014.

South Dock Marina: No berth large enough to accommodate our boat is available. We were told, “All of our berths for larger boats are occupied at present. The only time we have these available is when one the boats goes out of the marina, which is rare.”

West India, Blackwall & Poplar: None of these currently offer visitor moorings.

Hermitage Community Moorings: Limited to two weeks. We’re “penciled in” for a two-week spot. Thanks to Charles for mentioning this option.

[DBA Forum (WGBAI) - Stephen Marsh]

Hi David

yes dogs are allowed for free on Thames clippers (river buses) and all London transport.

From South Dock it's easy (and cheaper) to take the Jubilee line from Canada Water station or the overland from Surrey Quays station. Thames Clippers aren't cheap, but if it's a nice summers day they are worth the extra money. I'd check with South Dock re availability though as their long term moorings have a huge waiting list, but I have no knowledge of the visitors moorings there. I sail dinghys round there and it's a nice community with big Tesco etc next door

You can't beat Hermitage for location and as a concept; since they will prob allow your dog you should give them a call as their set up is stunning. I've walked past many times to look enviously at the barges, but never been in.

[DBA Forum (WGBAI) - Charles Mclaren]

Stephen. Next time call me and come in...will show u round. C

Sent from my iPad

Post by DBA Forum (WGBAI) - Stephen Marsh
Hi David
yes dogs are allowed for free on Thames clippers (river buses) and all London transport.
From South Dock it's easy (and cheaper) to take the Jubilee line from Canada Water station or the overland from Surrey Quays station. Thames Clippers aren't cheap, but if it's a nice summers day they are worth the extra money. I'd check with South Dock re availability though as their long term moorings have a huge waiting list, but I have no knowledge of the visitors moorings there. I sail dinghys round there and it's a nice community with big Tesco etc next door
You can't beat Hermitage for location and as a concept; since they will prob allow your dog you should give them a call as their set up is stunning. I've walked past many times to look enviously at the barges, but never been in.

[DBA Forum (WGBAI) - Stephen Marsh]

Thanks Charles I might call in next week if you are around?

best wishes

Stephen

07547 235 258

[DBA Forum (WGBAI) - Charles Mclaren]

Stephen hi. Next week is difficult for me except Friday as I am up in Suffolk working on my new barge....c

Sent from my iPad

Post by DBA Forum (WGBAI) - Stephen Marsh
Thanks Charles I might call in next week if you are around?
best wishes
Stephen
07547 235 258

[DBA Forum (WGBAI) - Stephen Marsh]

Thanks Charles,

No problem re next week, I'm relatively local so can come anytime.

If you need any free labour next week I'm more than happy to help with lifting, scraping, painting etc. I've only rented not owned or converted a barge so far, so any experience I can get is really great as I want to own my own too one day. What I lack in experience I almost make up for in enthusiasm! ha ha..

[DBA Forum (WGBAI) - Paul Thomson]

I've been watching this thread with interest as once my barge is complete I would like to head around to the Thames.

I've been contacted by someone who has some moorings available in Battersea on a six month lease. Sadly, it is probably three months too soon for me.

If anyone would like more details I'm happy to pass on the info. The only aspect I didn't like was that they were after all six months in advance. I wonder how common that kind of thing is?

Cheers,

Paul