Moorings

search for moorings

You can now book your mooring at the London Olympic Games 2012 online. Visit www.waterscape.com/londonboats2012 to search for moorings, find out the latest information and access the booking facility.

British Waterways advertises vacancies on its own directly managed long term mooring sites here on waterscape.com.

You can register on the site to receive email notifications when new vacancies are advertised which match the characteristics that you specify.

For moorings provided by other site operators, use our quick search, located in the top right hand corner of the page. Select ‘Moorings’ from the drop down list and then search via postcode, town, county or waterway. Please note, this search includes sites run by other operators and does not carry details of availability.

what sort of moorings are available?

There are hundreds of mooring sites across Britain – from fully serviced marinas to simple spots on the towpath. Finding one should be an immediate priority once you've decided to buy a boat, because until you have agreed a mooring, your new boat will have to remain on dry land.

Many moorings are provided by private companies, typically in marinas. The navigation authorities have bankside moorings on offer and you can also consider joining, and mooring with, a boat club. These offer a strong sense of community and can often provide cheaper moorings because club members share maintenance tasks between them.

Be prepared to look around. Moorings are usually priced according to boat length and market demand, and there are waiting lists in some popular locations - particularly London, the south of England and the southern Midlands. For secondhand boat buyers, existing mooring rights do not usually come with the boat.

continuously cruising

You will not usually be issued with a licence unless you have a permanent mooring. However, if you have no ties (such as jobs or children at school), you can opt to cruise canals continuously, never staying at the same place for more than a fortnight. British Waterways has a special set of guidelines for such boaters.

When you are on the move and looking for overnight stopping places, you may moor up on canal towpaths free of charge. There may be a small fee on some rivers, such as the Thames.

can I moor at the end of my own garden?

British Waterways will normally permit you to moor a single boat at the end of your canalside garden, subject to payment of a fee for the exclusive use of the water space. You will need to complete an application form. Contact us for further information.

how can I arrange a mooring just for the winter?

Most long term mooring agreements are issued on an annual basis, but many marinas and mooring operators will fit you in for just a few months if they have space. Because demand for space at visitor moorings typically falls in the winter, some space at British Waterways’ visitor moorings is available on a permit basis between November and March.

The 2011 Winter Mooring system launched on Monday 17 October (at approximately 3pm). Please see www.bwmooringvacancies.com for further details.

The last two winters have been presented many challenges to BW and BW’s mooring customers. In order to help our mooring customers understand what levels of service will be provided should the Winter 2011 be as extreme we have produced this guidance paper in association with the Residential Boat Owners Association (RBOA).

British Waterways canals and rivers

BW runs most canals, and the rivers Trent, Yorkshire Ouse, Witham, Weaver, Severn, Lee and Stort. Its ten local offices each have the latest information on mooring availability. You can find their contact details listed under 'Contact Info' for each waterway on Waterscape.com.

For general information on BW moorings, including a summary list of mooring prices, visit our Useful Downloads page.

Environment Agency rivers

The Environment Agency runs the rivers Thames, Nene, Great Ouse, Medway, Welland, Glen and Ancholme. You can find more details on the Environment Agency website, or for the River Thames, at Visit Thames.