Am I wrong?

byron

byron

RIP
Joined
16 May 2001
Messages
9,584
Location
UK -Berks
Visit site
Every week I get enquiries about a mooring here at Ashmount. Many of these are clearly from 'liveaboards' which I politely refuse. A goodly number are Dutch Barges looking for berths longer than the two I am offering (they can't be joined). The balance of enquiries are from Narrowboats which I automatically reject.

Am I wrong in turning away Narrowboats? I am no longer prejudiced against them but feel they would add nothing to the general ambience of the mooring.
 
I'm glad you've found that - in the main - narrowboaters are Jolly Good Chaps, keeping the system used when everyone else is tucked up in their marina.

The modal size of such boats using the Thames is in the region of 57 - 60ft and so wouldn't fit your moorings anyway, so from that point of view you wouldn't be able to accommodate them.

The difficulty is that NBs are becoming evermore popular as liveaboards and folks are getting wise to the fact that it's best not to declare themselves as living aboard until challenged. CaRT is now chasing them off the canal system and folks are taking refuge on the River because they know EA is ineffective in chasing them off. There are so many NBs WBs DBs around that it's getting impossible to find a pleasant overnight mooring out in the sticks for people genuinely cruising. Perhaps the above will not increase your distaste for NBs, but instead focus on their likely use on your property?
 
I'm afraid it is wrong byron, by all means exclude liveaboards or wrecks, restoration projects or dodgy owners, but surely the choice of boat is a personal thing. After all a lot of peeps would consider the seagoing stuff that has been moored there is not suitable for the Thames anyway.
 
byron said:
Am I wrong in turning away Narrowboats? I am no longer prejudiced against them but feel they would add nothing to the general ambience of the mooring.
Click to expand...

It's your decision and I'd do the same as I feel they add nothing to the river, if anything they take it away. The Thames is not a canal.
 
Actionmat said:
It's your decision and I'd do the same as I feel they add nothing to the river, if anything they take it away. The Thames is not a canal.
Click to expand...

True, it's not a canal, but nor is it a tideway and many question whether boats like mine should really be on the upper Thames. Narrow boats have a place on the river, as does everything else. The beauty of the Thames has always ben the diversity of the craft on it. What's given NBs a bad press in recent years is the explosion of numbers. It seems they must be related to rabbits in some way :).

But to get back on topic, I think TrueBlue is quite correct in that the vast majority of NBs simply wouldn't fit on Byron's moorings so are automatically excluded.

If the income from the moorings isn't an issue then perhaps applicants should submit a photo of the boat in question; then a choice can be made on the basis of the most visually pleasing.
 
No. Your mooring, your choice. You don't need to justify it to anyone either!!

You can decide that you don't want blue hulled boats. Or flybridge boats. Or pink boats. Or narrowboats. No one else's business :)
 
Actionmat said:
It's your decision and I'd do the same as I feel they add nothing to the river, if anything they take it away. The Thames is not a canal.
Click to expand...

Times change, perhaps you should be reminded that the locks on the Thames were built for commercial vessels barges and the like (who later spawned private narrow and broad beamed boats - that's why they are long and broad. It's only in the latter half of the 20th. century that private powered craft became commonplace.

I don't understand your thinking behind the above comment. What does your boat 'add to the river' that others don't? Should everyone take to the water in a Chentleman's Launch, preferably steam powered? Part of the charm of Our Glorious River is it's diversity, rowing boats, skiffs, punts, day boats with or without cabins, dutch barges and smaller steel hulled vessels. It's a Broad Church and long may it remain so.

There are lots of boats and their owners that I don't care for, but I don't make a public expression of that fact.
 
We all have our tastes, and it while wouldn't be proper to shout it out in an ungentlemanly manner, you have a perfect right to choose who uses your personal moorings for whatever reason.

There are a few reasons you wouldn't want Narrow Boats or barges mooring, and I'm sure we all know a few pertinent points, but they certainly take up a lot of length whatever your personal views, which in itself is probably enough grounds for refusal.

With regard to the 'Liveaboard' issue, I haven't seen or heard much in the way of positive information about them, despite the fact there are a few really nice proper people living on boats. One has to be realistic of course...

Is that fair and balanced enough!?
 
TrueBlue said:
I don't understand your thinking behind the above comment. What does your boat 'add to the river' that others don't? .
Click to expand...

If everyone was selfish enough to have a NB on the Thames, we'd need two or three times the mooring spaces to accommodate their disproportionate length. It grates even more with me when I see 80ft occupied by a crew of one.
What does mine offer? It's a boat and it was built on the Thames. It takes up a mere 31ft and there is never less than 3 people and 1 dog on board. It has a silenced eberspacher for heating, not a filthy wood burner. When moored all power comes from the leisure batteries and I wouldn't dream of owning a generator. It also welcomes those wishing to more alongside, as long as they're not smoke belching, generator operating 80ft NBs.
 
Last edited:
I'm no expert on NB's but I've seen some absolute whoppers that are still no more than 5ft wide. Including one last year around Wallingford with a separate garage unit on the front adding 10ft to it's LOA. And the occasional trailing dinghy, just to add insult to injury. Time to start charging the licence fee based on length alone, I think.
 
So twice the length and just over half the width of a normal boat. Also a magnet for liveaboards. Hence the mooring problems over the past few years.
Without wishing to sound too confrontational(as I am painfully aware that NB's have their fans), I rest my case your honour.:)
 
Actionmat said:
So twice the length and just over half the width of a normal boat. Also a magnet for liveaboards. Hence the mooring problems over the past few years.
Without wishing to sound too confrontational(as I am painfully aware that NB's have their fans), I rest my case your honour.:)
Click to expand...
Impossible for you to make a statement like that without sounding confrontational.
What do you mean by a " normal" boat? Is 31 feet of white fibreglass your idea of normal?
What are your feelings about Dutch Barges? Quite a few of those on the river.
 
I'd have as big a boat as I could afford (if SWMBO would allow it). It comes down to width verses length. Too much length and not enough width equals a minimal donation to the licence fund while hogging the maximum amount of public mooring space.

As far as Dutch barges go, I like them. And based on volume they pay their way.
 
The difficulty is that NBs are becoming evermore popular as liveaboards and folks are getting wise to the fact that it's best not to declare themselves as living aboard until challenged
 
Ahhh,Dutch barges...
If the DBA have their way they won't be 'paying their way' as you say,they want a license cap and be treated as yet another 'special case'.it was in the region of £800? a year
Ask B1 he will know more:)
 
Actionmat said:
I'd have as big a boat as I could afford (if SWMBO would allow it). It comes down to width verses length. Too much length and not enough width equals a minimal donation to the licence fund while hogging the maximum amount of public mooring space.

As far as Dutch barges go, I like them. And based on volume they pay their way.
Click to expand...

Yet another detail you've got wrong -
Registration fees are based on the area of a boat. See here:-
https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...ication-for-registration-of-a-launch-non-hire

So a short fat boat could pay the same as a long thin one.
It's only short term registrations that pay only on length.
 
Flynnbarr said:
Ahhh,Dutch barges...
If the DBA have their way they won't be 'paying their way' as you say,they want a license cap and be treated as yet another 'special case'.it was in the region of £800? a year
Ask B1 he will know more:)
Click to expand...
DBA did achieve a cap a couple of years ago with a reduced rate above 80 sq.metres
Rates for 2015 are:
£18.55 per complete square metre (minimum chargeable area of 5 square metres*)
£10 per complete square metre for every additional one over 80 square metres

Chapter and verse re charges here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/379687/LIT_10050.pdf
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top