Freeloaders guide to the Thames

normskib

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there are certainly 12 now !!! I even raised the subject with an E A official Who was on his way to investigate the sudden influx of Narrowboats to the point where they’ve even started rafting together .
 

normskib

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No they are all along the stretch from the end of the Lock approach up to the Eaton Dorney rowing club pavilion and not one single boat has a name displayed
 

Outinthedinghy

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That's interesting as I was down there last week and there were a few but not that many.

It is pretty obvious that enforcement taking place on the canals and also areas lower down the Thames will tend to push boats up.

With the jubilee river that particular area is quite tame these days with little flooding so it makes sense as a place to stay long term. Also all the EA provided services below the lock there although I don't think there is pedestrian access to the water point.

Annoying for the new lady lock keeper but she seems pretty organised so probably not going to be an issue but that is quite a lot of boats.

Interesting it happens as soon as Phil decamps to Bell Weir.

It's interesting to consider who the land owner is. Most of that area is owned by Eton at least the bit below the lock but that particular part might well be unregistered and should in theory default to EA ownership. And EA currently have nobody to deal with their moorings.
 
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Jegs

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Maybe I'm over-simplifying but why can't the authorities operate the similar process for boats as they do for cars?
1. apply a notice on the boat giving the owner a fixed amount of time to resolve the issue. Registration, licence or whatever.
2. Remove the boat to a secure location for a fixed amount of time
3. Dispose of the boat by selling or scrapping it
4. Deduct the outstanding fees from the proceeds and put the balance into a ringfenced account until the owner shows up or a fixed amount of time elapses.
I'm pretty certain that marinas do this so why not the EA?
I suspect the local council/s would not be happy about the numbers applying for subsidised housing.

ATB,
John G
 

Gibeltarik

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OITD said "Interesting it happens as soon as Phil decamps to Bell Weir.

It's interesting to consider who the land owner is. Most of that area is owned by Eton at least the bit below the lock but that particular part might well be unregistered and should in theory default to EA ownership. And EA currently have nobody to deal with their moorings."

Many of them were there before Phil left. However the house is awaiting refurbishment and the new resident hasn't moved in yet. EA listed the land from the lock to the boathouse/church as 'informal' mooring on a recent statement (now rescinded) so it probably is their land. Lockkeepers have not being ensuring mooring compliance for some years now - except on most lock landings (Hambledon pop-up excepted!).
 

Outinthedinghy

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OITD said "Interesting it happens as soon as Phil decamps to Bell Weir.

It's interesting to consider who the land owner is. Most of that area is owned by Eton at least the bit below the lock but that particular part might well be unregistered and should in theory default to EA ownership. And EA currently have nobody to deal with their moorings."

Many of them were there before Phil left.

Nothing like 12 narrow boats. I've been past there several times over the last few years. A few permanent boats upstream of the church and now and then and a few narrow boats between there and the lock but never more than 3 or 4 boats between church and lock.

12 narrow boats is definitely getting interesting unless this also includes the visitor moorings and the (one narrow boat and a wide beam) permanent boats.

Good observation about the EA claiming that bit then rescinding it.

I didn't know the new keeper had not moved in. She certainly seemed quite confident with her territory when I had a chat with her last week.
 

Outinthedinghy

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Well I can assure you there were 12 unnamed narrowboats on Tuesday, the 24th of August after I’d run out of fingers I took off my shoes and counted two toes !
The locals there do take quite a close interest in what happens on those moorings. It's a reasonably nice area albeit with some asbo problems (not from boats) so it will be interesting to see if an influx of boats will be tolerated.
 

Big John

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When you say Dorney do you mean Boveney?

I went down as far as Staines last week and didn't see anywhere with that many boats. There were a few narrow boats about Boveney but certainly not 12.

There are 12, if you add the one permantly moored on the EA 24hour mooring covered over with a tarp, three around the corner at PG Point and the rest moored up on the tow path side towards the lock. The plastic boat moored alongside the last narrow boat does have the curtesy to put his spot light on at night so vessels coming upstream from the lock do not run into him.
 

Big John

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It's interesting to consider who the land owner is. Most of that area is owned by Eton at least the bit below the lock but that particular part might well be unregistered and should in theory default to EA ownership. And EA currently have nobody to deal with their moorings.
Land on the tow pathside from the lock up to and past PG Point is owned by the EA.
 

Outinthedinghy

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Land on the tow pathside from the lock up to and past PG Point is owned by the EA.
That's interesting because one of the residents of the section between the church and the EA mooring bollards told me that bit was owned by Eton.

I did assume it was EA by default even if not actually registered but slightly interesting that there is a short section there, with several long term boats moored, which has some rather old and tired campshed bank protection. Then it stops, couple of wild moorings then shortly afterwards there is the properly made EA public moorings.

By "PG point" I assume you mean the sharp bend with the piled section just after it. DE signs were up on that bit earlier in the year now gone and of course DE now also gone at least from the EA.

Perhaps it was the EA who did the piling works and it could be related to flood protection I suppose.

I am intrigued by the bit between the little church and the EA 24h mooring bollards. Interesting area.
 

Big John

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The EA also own the towpath from the Lock as far down as the brook that exits by the foot path that goes across the fields to Eaton Wick.
 

Scapegoat

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The EA also own the towpath from the Lock as far down as the brook that exits by the foot path that goes across the fields to Eaton Wick.
Wonder why they don’t make this an official mooring spot? Bit of bank tidying, few posts and rings, assuming it’s deep enough.
 

Fjord John

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I noticed one of the long termers there has decided to paint over the boat name. Think it was something like Mr Bright Side before. Hopefully he/she does still pay a river licence.
 

Outinthedinghy

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I noticed one of the long termers there has decided to paint over the boat name. Think it was something like Mr Bright Side before. Hopefully he/she does still pay a river licence.
Technically it's not a license it is a registration but I know what you mean.

Also technically it is between the navigation authority and the boat owner as to whether they have paid for craft registration.

If we go down the road of involving third parties such as other boat owners in the subject of whether someone has paid for their craft registrations then it gets too complicated and causes problems which are best avoided.

It is up to the EA to deal with this, and they should deal with it.
Obviously in this day and age they have a tendency not to deal with it but that does not mean that other boaters should allow themselves to become unrelaxed while boating.

As long as the thing is not impeding navigation or causing a blatant nuisance it seems prudent to "let it go".

For general wellbeing.


They are right buggers though.
 

Gibeltarik

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[QUOTE="Outinthedinghy, post: 7784621, te

Technically it is between the navigation authority and the boat owner as to whether they have paid for craft registration.

If we go down the road of involving third parties such as other boat owners in the subject of whether someone has paid for their craft registrations then it gets too complicated and causes problems which are best avoided.

[/QUOTE]


It was hoped that the use of volunteers would help improve compliance checking - volunteer boatmen were specifically recruited to assist warranted boatmen check on registrations ( revenue protection ) while ensuring two persons in a boat. Volunteer lock-keepers did release some lock-keeper time to check compliance but both of these initiatives have been allowed to die away.
 

STILL AFLOAT

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Maybe I'm over-simplifying but why can't the authorities operate the similar process for boats as they do for cars?
1. apply a notice on the boat giving the owner a fixed amount of time to resolve the issue. Registration, licence or whatever.
2. Remove the boat to a secure location for a fixed amount of time
3. Dispose of the boat by selling or scrapping it
4. Deduct the outstanding fees from the proceeds and put the balance into a ringfenced account until the owner shows up or a fixed amount of time elapses.
I'm pretty certain that marinas do this so why not the EA?
Ha, not just that ! The marinas are obligated to snitch to the councils, so you get hammered w council tax too ! Unless.....you have a quiet " Non Residential " mooring.
 
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