Two new slum boats

Lower Limit 1909 said:
People will be familiar with the bright orange lifeboats that have become popular liveaboards and airbnb rentals up and down the Thames.

As I write a very slow moning 'flotilla' comprising 2 of the orange lifeboats connected by a floating pontoon - total length 70 - 80 foot or so - is approaching Teddington Lock travelling upstream.

I realise this is not a first as Trotman has long been deploying modular pontoons to connect his floating doss houses to the bank

Now it's got to the point where these permanent liveaboards are adding large pontoons to their infrastructure to group boats together it realy is a new phase of taking the p*ss. The many 'boats' with no means of propulsion is one thing. Illegally moored pontoons is a whole new territory (literally).

If you are Teddington to Moseley right now it should be easy to spot.
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I shall go and take a look tomorrow, will I see them from my sprawling Teddington Country Club? Which is for sale by the way...
 
No idea I'm afraid. The flotilla was last seen travelling about 1MPH 200 metres below Teddington Lock with an incoming tide to help. It takes rather more HP than was apparently available to push a couple of round / oval fully enclosed lifeboats and a 30 foot pontoon along.

Not very far I suspect - probably joined the floating shanty town in Kingston or Hampton. The 'excellent public transport' links these locations provide are normally a prominent feature in the 'room to rent on a boat' listings.

Bringing your own pontoon with you is a novel solution to the fact all the official ones are already occupied by illegaly moored boats.

I wonder what kind of licence you need to bring two boats and a pontoon connected together through Teddington Lock onto EA territory? I appreciate the answer in practice is 'none at all' as such rules only apply to rule abiding river users, but just asking out of academic interest.
 
Academically speaking, the two lifeboat pods will need a launch licence and the pontoons will need either an accommodation licence or possibly an unpowered craft licence if there is no outboard strapped to a scaffold pole bracket on the blunt end.
 
"Accomodations."
Charging the miscreants for mooring pontoons could be a legitimate method of exercising some control over the problem, previous efforts involving boats seem to have have floundered.
In order to show a bit of fairness you could then ask MDL and all the other Thames marinas to pay for their "accomodations" , realise that they would immediately pass this on their berth holders but fairs fair. ? :)
 
Old Crusty said:
So, is this one boat, possibly narrow, or two boats and a pontoon?

https://t.co/7NuKuV2Ybo
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A question that defies a reasonable conclusion.
If 'one' is attempting to take the proverbial, for me two lifeboats strapped together add more 'colour' to the bankside environment that last year's photos of the Trotman fleet.

The problem is that the Thames regulations were drafted in more gentlemanly times when folks made some effort to conform. Nowadays it's 'Devil take the hindmost' - let's see what we can get away with.
Any powers that EA and the LA's have are so costly to enforce and are not final (set no precedent) that I can understand why they are slow to act / take no action at all - there are better use of limited funds.

It's all very depressing.
Perhaps if more folks got off their keyboards, joined an organization (TMBA, ATC etc) and made their feeling known - perhaps something might happen. Individuals count for naught - in concert is more efficient.
 
TrueBlue said:
The problem is that the Thames regulations were drafted in more gentlemanly times when folks made some effort to conform.
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"The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there."

Doubt people did conform more readily in the past. :)
If the Thames was anything like the Medway after last war, anything and everything that floated and could provide shelter was pressed into service as cheap accomodation.The prefab helped to solve the problem ashore.
Old MTBs landing craft etc etc.Some of the craft are still serving the same purpose half century later. "Moored" anywhere that rope could secure it to the bank and a community sprung up.
Nobody said a word about aesthetics then,probably due to an appreciation that a lack of affordable housing meant as needs must.
What goes around comes around. ?
 
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Two becomes one, looks like they've lost the larger one. Last seen about lunchtime today chugging up river past Raven's Ait at 1mph. 1703-2019-0635246242204241873490.jpg
 
ProDave said:
So could it be a genuine continuous cruising live aboard with an unusual choice of craft(s) rather than another Trotman style Slum Boat that never moves anywhere?
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I think it is. It's a bit unorthodox but I expect the owner would be mortified to be associated with the slum boats.
 
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