Long-term mooring sites (sometimes called permanent moorings or home moorings) are plentiful, from fully serviced marinas to simple spots along the canal or riverbank.
What is the difference between a long-term and a waterside mooring?
Waterside moorings are permanent moorings sold and managed by the Canal & River Trust. Long-term moorings can include other private moorings beyond those that we offer.
Do I need a mooring?
You'll need a long-term or waterside mooring for your boat if you're not continuously cruising. Most are provided by private companies or boat clubs, either in off-line marinas or on-line, along the canal or river bank opposite the towpath. Contracts can vary in length from three months to three years, so there's plenty of choice.
How do I find a suitable mooring?
Be prepared to shop around for what suits you best. Moorings are usually priced according to boat length and popularity of the area – supply and demand means that you'll pay more in the south where land prices are highest, and sites with more sophisticated services command higher fees.
Most people prefer the security and convenience of a mooring within a marina or basin off the main line of the canal or river.
Waterways World and Canal Boat Magazine both publish annual mooring supplements which are full of helpful tips, listings and adverts – good if you prefer browsing paper.
Long-term moorings with the Canal & River Trust
Our Waterside Mooring website has an easy search facility to help you find your nearest long-term mooring site managed by our waterside moorings team.
If you see a location highlighted in green it means that there are currently moorings available.
Moorings on other waterways
You may have a home mooring that is on another waterway. In these circumstances, to visit Trust waterways, you will need to be licensed and meet our licence terms and conditions. We may ask for proof of the mooring.
Please make sure that you meet any licence requirements of the waterway where your mooring is located, if applicable.
Buying a boat which already has a mooring
Take great care. Mooring agreements are personal to the individual boat owner and they are very rarely assignable from one boat owner to another.
If someone offers you a boat with a mooring, be very sceptical and demand legal evidence that they have the right to pass on the mooring agreement when selling the boat.
End of garden moorings
Single long-term moorings against private residential land are often called end of garden moorings. Even if you own the land, because the Canal & River Trust is the owner of the canal bed, permission is needed for the exclusive right to create an end of garden mooring.
Moorings which are accessed from private property on the offside of the canal
These are moorings where a third party landowner has agreed for a number of boats to be moored alongside their land adjacent to our water. The Trust own the water space but not the land access to the mooring at these locations. You will most likely pay the landowner for access across their land and for any facilities they may provide.
As the Trust do not own the land access to the water, we offer a reduced mooring fee to individual mooring customers at these sites via a 12 month mooring agreement. Offside moorings are priced at 50% of the nearest the Trust Long Term Mooring site.
Customers who moor at these sites are required to have a mooring agreement with Waterside Mooring. Please contact us either by email at [email protected] or by telephoning our customer services on 0303 040 4040 and an application form and a copy of the terms and conditions will be sent to you.
