Canal livaboards and " Continuous cruising"

[Bru]

The CRT could maybe put a temporary stop on issuing CC licences, and start enforcing their own rules properly? !

They cannot do the former without unfairly impacting the people who are genuinely continously cruising and abiding by the terms of the licence

They are trying to do the latter but it's a mammoth task that will take many years and cost a fortune they don't have

The London area is a bit of a nightmare that they're trying to sort out solutions to with local authorities etc.

 

[rotrax]

We often cycle the tow path on the river lea into London, and it is now an almost continuous line of narrow boats, many in dreadful condition which never move. So how do they pump out their holding tanks? In fact the smell in some locations would indicate the don't! It took years to clean up the rivers and canals of London and other urban areas and these people are destroying them again!

Many narrowboats and other canal boats use cassette type toilets.

Our narrowboat "Hailwood" which we owned in the seventies had an Elsan. Got a bit pongy in high summer!

At many locations on the canal system the BWB installed sanitary stations where elsans etc. could be emptied and cleaned-a pretty awful job. Pump outs are available in Marinas and Boatyards.

Many who are now falling foul of the CC rules used to stay put in a prime mooring position, only moving to use a sanitary station or fill with water or pump out. Seen it lots of times.

The CRT is a new broom. It has to make its fee payers happy-the boaters who buy the annual licences and use the canals for recreation, leisure and abide by the rules. It is doing what the previous administration rarely did, and doing it with some vigour by comparison.

Those who have enjoyed a low cost lifestyle are finding that their chickens are coming home to roost-and not before time in my view.

 

[Martin999]

Do you ever have a beer in the Anchor and Hope? If not, do!

I haven't but will now - thanks for the recommendation

 

[snowleopard]

The waterways are a finite resource; they aren't making them any more. Boats however are being built continuously and no-one disposes of the old ones so the density is ever-increasing. I have used the canals occasionally over the last 25 years and the difficulty of finding somewhere to moor for a short stop is steadily increasing. Last year I took a group of wheelchair-bound people on the Kennet & Avon and the biggest problem we encountered was finding mooring spaces where it was possible to load/unload wheelchairs. We're going again this month and expect the same problems. The public moorings have signs saying 48 hour limit but the state of many boats suggests this is widely ignored.