Description

Alice and Mona is a beautiful 3-bedroom family home, situated one of the best moorings on the Thames. Full survey undertaken in 2021.

She is a spacious Humber barge with a large open-plan living space, modern kitchen, full size bathroom, 2x double bedrooms and lovely nursery room. Perfect for a young family.

Rare opportunity to get a residential mooring on the Thames with communal gardens and a friendly community. This is one of the most idillic moorings on a quiet stretch of the river, with easy access to many good riverside pubs by boat. The nearest parking is a short walk across Molesey lock , and as it’s a residential mooring you can get parking permits for the lock , as well as the ability to get your kids into the local schools. The Mooring is located close to great transport links and is situated in zone 6. With walking distance to Hampton Court Palace and Bushy Park. This stretch of the river is particularly peaceful because it is the opposite side of the island to the lock, meaning there is no through traffic. It’s a great location for wild swimming in summer, and has an abundance of wildlife such as herons, swans, barbel, pike, chub , foxes and even the occasional otter and seal!

There is also a large 20ft x 10ft shed next to the mooring that is the perfect place for a small business or artist. This shed is not included in the price, but the buyer will get first refusal to buy this shed for an additional £5k.

Note - the wheelhouse pictured in the photos is in the process of being replaced. The work has already begun, and should be complete by end of May.

Specifications

Accommodation

The first thing you enter when you go through the door is the wheelhouse which has been newly refurbished. This space is a great for storing coats and shoes.
Going down the stairs takes you into the kitchens and living room areas . This is a large open plan space. The kitchen has new, solid wood worktops and ample storage smart shaker style cupboards with loads of storage. There is a double Belfast sink with a 3/4size dishwasher and fridge under the counter. The floor is solid wood in herringbone style. There is a large double oven with 8-burner hob.
In the corner under the stairs is a utility corner with freezer, washing machine, and vented tumble dryer.
The next area is the living room, this has a large comfy L-shaped sofa and ample space for extra furniture.
Going forwards there is a large bathroom with full-sized bath and a good hot shower. The instant hot water comes from a modern gas boiler. There is a full-size flushing toilet with sea toilet and black tank changeover valve.
There are then 2 double bedrooms with plenty of space for clothes storage. Then at the very front of the boat is a smaller bedroom that is perfect as a child’s bedroom or nursery.

steps down into kitchen area

kitchen area as seen from living room

living room area with comfy sofa

kitchen area as seen from cooker

living room area

double doors looking down into living space

living room area with fire place

kitchen area

master bedroom

master bedroom

nursery room

nursery room portholde

nursery room with fire-escape ladder

macerator toiler

bathroom ares

bath

Construction

Alice and Mona is a 1925 riveted steel Humber barge with solid construction throughout. She has spent her whole life on freshwater , except for the brief journey to the Thames. She was originally commissioned as a leather hauling barge , meaning she had an easy life compared to a lot of coal barges, and thus is relatively unscathed for a 100-year old barge .
She is still the original length, unlike a lot of barges which have been cut down to fit a London mooring, meaning she still has all her original curves.

The superstructure was added in the 70s, giving an incredibly high-ceilinged kitchen , which really adds to the feeling of openness inside.

There is extensive decking on top which provides a huge amount of outdoor space for entertaining. There are handrails all around the boat for safety. There is a swim platform on the back of the boat with an additional retractable ladder that allows easy access to the tender moored on the back, and can even be lowered into the water to help you climb out when swimming.

In 2021 she had extensive welding done underneath , with 6mm added to all the horizontal and curved surfaces. With enough care and regular painting there is no reason she won’t last another 100 years!

bow section of boat with winch and front hatch

bow section of boat with winch and front hatch

swim deck with ladder in 'up' position

swim deck with ladder in 'out' position

bow section of boat with winch and front hatch

steps to upper deck

bow section of boat with winch and front hatch

upper deck with boat hook

swim deck and tender, with ladder as access

Equipment

Beside the stairs is the utility corner, which comes with white goods included. This comprises a modern washing machine, venter tumble dryer, and a freezer. There is also a built-in pantry area in this corner which is perfect size for Kilner jars and tinned food.

All of the main electrics and plumbing are run underneath the floor. There is a large crawl space which can be accessed from
2 points, with ample storage and festoon lighting throughout. The grey water tank is large and drains easily. There is an extractor fan under the floor to keep it nice and dry.

Heating - the boat is heated with a 6kw multifuel burner with additional oven box that’s great for baking bread!
There’s a 800w inverter heater (air-source heat pump) that provides 3.2kw of heat. This is usually sufficient to heat the whole living room for autumn and spring. We only tend to use the fire for the coldest 3 months of the year, and it only use about 10-15 bags of coal per year.

There are additional electric bar radiators in the bedrooms which help to top up the heat. We use on average £80 per month on electric, and all our hot water is provided by approx 2x 47kg gas bottles per year.

There is a 12v black tank macerator , 12v eater pump and 12v grey water pump out. The black tank can also be pumped out where elsan facilities exist.

There is a 100ft of heavy chain for anchorage and a 2-man winch for lifting it.
The back deck features an electric crane winch for lifting the swim ladder, and for lifting up to 500kg, and is suitable placed for lifting gas bottles from the tender or objects from the engine room.

This boat comes with a 14ft tender with 2x batteries and a 24v outboard. This is sufficient to get to Kingston and back, and all the good local pubs! It also has an automatic bilge pump so no need to bail it out!

multi fuel stove with oven box

double cooker with 8-burner hob

twin belfast sink and gas boiler

inverter heater and air conditioning unit

pantry area

utility corner

washer, dryer, freezer and microwave area

Navigation Equipment

The boat has navigation lights, a front spot light and a mast light .

Engine(s)

Engine is a 1970s 3-cylinder Gardner. It is raw water cooled and has twin diesel filters. There is a large 800 litre tank for the engine and another for the generator, which is now inoperative.
There are 2x newly welded-in weed hatches.

The engine is started with 4x leisure batteries, 2 of which can be isolated from the starter circuit to avoid draining the batteries when moored up without charging facilities.

This engine is a reliable workhorse - we bought the boat in Goole, Yorkshire and steamed her all the way to the Thames which was 40 hours continuous cruising, and she didn’t skip a beat.

Engine room is Gardner engine

Safety Equipment

There are fire extinguishers throughout and a fire blanket. There are smoke alarms and CO2 alarms throughout. There is a gas alarm and bubble tester for the gas system.
Each pump has its own separate tray and bilge alarm. There are additional bilge alarms in fore bulkhead, midship and engine room.
The shore power has a galvanic isolator fitted.

Location Map