Boat family told to cruise further... or else!

Boat cats

This guest post is from a local boat-mum that I know and was written during the recent Canal and River Trust mooring consultation. I am pleased to say that since this was written the boating community have had constructive meetings with the Canal and River Trust discussing affordable moorings and various other solutions. We are continuing to meet with them and the original mooring proposals for Berkhamsted have been amended.

I sometimes get questions from my readers about the reality of family life on board, and also questions about the perceived 'problem' of continuous cruisers. 

I hope this gives readers an insight into the lives of the ordinary families that live on board. 

Living on a narrowboat in Berkhamsted

We live on our 70ft narrow boat with our two children and two cats. The Canal and River Trust CRT (formerly British Waterways) are saying if we don't move further than we are every 14 days they will take our licence (which we pay a £1000 a year for) and make us homeless by refusing us a licence and eventually taking our home as it would become an unlicensed craft.  

We move at present between Berkhamsted and Cow Roast because the children go to nursery and school here and I help to run a playgroup in Berkhamsted.  

We own and live in our 25 year old Coal craft boat that we have been restoring for the last 5 years. 

I have an Art & Craft degree, am a qualified teacher and have spent the last 15 years as a specialist children's worker,  with special needs children, damaged children, children from travelling back grounds and homeless families mainly through education and awareness, I know ironic isn't it? 

I have taken a career break to care for our youngest children until they are both in full time education, my eldest child is a Police officer, my partner was a Professional Boxer for 9 years and now works as a self employed waterproof specialist to support his family and pay Tax.                        

I just cannot comprehend the mentality of these narrow minded bureaucrats, they seem to have no compassion or thought for the families they harass or the stress they cause or the wider social implications on the rest of society their actions will have. 

At the moment we live in our own home, we have never had the Police called or caused trouble, we are clean and tidy we abide by the law our children go to school, we are well educated people and very much active members of our local society and are keen conservationist, which is why we have chosen boating as a lifestyle and why  we have only one car which my partner uses for work (when alternative transport is not an option) and the children and me cycle or walk everywhere we go.

The Canal and River Trust are proposing to evict us at great cost to the tax payer and other licence paying boaters, they are willing to up root us and cause immense distress to our young children (who would lose their home and have to move nursery and school) us and our wider family and cause us to lose most of our possessions. 

The CRT are threatening to make a family with two young children age 3 and 5 homeless for the sake of us not moving a bit further every 14 days. If this happens the local Council will then have to re home us, firstly in a hostel then in a flat or house,  a home that we don't want or need, that another family in genuine need of a home could have thus displacing or moving genuinely needy people further back on the list of the already desperately inadequate Social housing situation, all of this because we can't move an extra few miles every two weeks.

There are many unlicensed and abandoned boats throughout the inland waterways that are literally rotting away in the water causing environmental damage as they go, the CRT don't bother to remove these boats as that would cost them money and not make any so the reasons quoted by the CRT for moving on genuine live a board licence payers is pure hypocrisy,  just nothing more than thoughtless corporate bullying that needs to be challenged and stopped.  The CRT are not offering any solutions to the mooring problem, just creating more problems with proposals such as the ones in Berkhamsted which, if they come in to effect will see less 14 day moorings than before and take away the boats that the Canal was specifically built for in the 1700s and has ever since then been a place of work and homes for many families and individuals and allow the CRT to fine boaters for overstay so forcing people to move further.   Live aboards are not generally as "pretty" as summer or holiday boats, what they are peoples homes, peoples lives, not a glossy plastic theme park or a row of identical terraced houses.We can understand the need for some boats to move every 14 days in the summer in busy boating areas but why move boats on in the middle of Northchurch, Dudswell or Cowroast even when there are no other boats for weeks at a time, or in the winter when the summer boats don't run?  Why not make places like these in to Tow path moorings? 

We would love a mooring, it would make our lives so much easier but the reality is there simply aren't enough moorings available. There are no fulltime moorings in Berkhamsted at all and very few affordable moorings generally, only winter moorings.  The only alternatives we have are to register as travellers with the local education authority so that we can place our children with two or more different schools and not be prosecuted when we are forced to take them out of school while we travel further, (we also then as travellers will be classed as an ethnic minority) or we could remove our children from their present school education and home educate which would mean them loosing their friends and local connections and making us a lot less connected to the rest of Society than we presently are and effectively more isolated and outcast. There are many more articulate, hard working boat families like ours that are being made to feel like criminals when all we have done is chosen to live an alternative life style.   We didn't choose to be victims of prejudice, discrimination and exclusion, we don't want to be forced under threat of homelessness or fines to undertake much longer journeys, the effect of which will make it extremely difficult or impossible for us as a boat family  to maintain contact with our local communities for work, education, socialisation  and health-care. 

Like I said we would gladly take a mooring if there actually were any.  If anyone on here is a land owner or knows of any Canal side land owners between Berkhamstead and Cow roast willing to rent land to us so we can have a home mooring then please get in touch.

This article first appeared on Berkhamsted People and is reprinted here with kind permission from the author. 

You may also like this article: The long road 

Boaters Respond to Moorings Consultation

Following on from last week's rant, here’s a link to the article I wrote for Towpath Talk. 

Boaters Respond to CRT Moorings Consultation

On 24^th January the Canal and River Trust invited canal users in the south to comment on some proposed changes to the maximum stay times at popular visitor mooring sites. The consultation ended on 1^st March and the Trust hope to begin implementing changes in April. The new board of Trustees and the Trust Council are seeking to improve the chance of boaters being able to find a visitor mooring space.

The proposal refers to 22 specific locations on the Oxford Canal and the Grand Union Canal. Online canal discussion forums and Facebook groups have been busy with debate, particularly from those living aboard without a home mooring. They raise a variety of concerns, such as how much trade might be lost to popular canal side pubs in Berkhamsted. Read the full story on page 2 of the March issue of Towpath Talk

The code is more what you'd call "guidelines."

Elizabeth Swann contemplates the guidelines
for boats without a home mooring.

Unless you are a regular boater on the southern Grand Union canal you may know nothing about a recent consultation affecting the local boating community in the South East of England.

The recent Canal and River Trust Mooring Consultation proposed reducing the permitted stay times at 22 different visitor mooring locations.

The idea was to “to improve compliance with visitor mooring rules,” and “to improve the chances of boaters finding space to tie up when they arrive.” In practice it meant changing many popular mooring sites from the 14 days usually permitted stay, to only two days.

I returned my feedback form commenting on four sites in my local area. I think the current time limits are reasonable for these four locations. Various boaters’ discussions on Facebook have expressed concern that people who live on their boats without a home mooring may be forced to move greater distances, more often, making it much more difficult to reach jobs, schools, healthcare and other commitments.

I do not think that altering time limits at visitor moorings will stop people overstaying if they are the ‘type’ to overstay. I think the law that stipulates 14 days is a fair one for all canal users.

I have lived and travelled on a boat for 12 years, usually travelling in summer and stopping on a paid temporary winter mooring each winter. I now have a permanent mooring. I have never been unable to moor up in my chosen location upon arrival. I have travelled the Lea, Stort, London canals and Grand Union up to Cheddington.

If a popular visitor mooring is occupied upon arrival I simply choose a nearby towpath mooring instead. I believe this is the ‘luck of the draw’, as when searching for your ideal parking space with a car. These proposals seem to favour hire boats and holiday makers over people who live aboard.

This is my personal opinion. But I also wrote an article in this month’s Towpath Talk summarising the varied responses from different boaters in the area, including a canal artist, a boat broker, The National Association of Boat Owners and live-aboard boaters with and without moorings.

Allan Richards made a Freedom of Information Request to the Canal and River Trust asking how many complaints had been received about difficulties finding mooring space at these 22 locations.

The reply was that throughout the whole of 2011 and 2012 no complaints were received about failure to find space at any of the locations CRT wish to change.

Speculations and theories are now widely debated in online discussion forums as to the ‘real’ reasons for the proposals.  If no one has complained about the difficulty finding mooring space then who or what is driving the need for change? There is an on-going assumption by some people that boats without a home mooring are a problem. While some of them certainly overstay beyond their 14 days the vast majority keep to the guidelines and move on to the next place.

It reminds me of when the Trust tried to introduce mooring “zones” or neighbourhoods in London. When Freedom is Outlawed only Outlaws will be free!

Read more about the continuous cruising controversy.

“The code is more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules. Welcome aboard the Black Pearl, Miss Turner.”

Captain Barbossa, Pirate of the Caribbean

The long road

Once upon a time there was a beautiful winding road, more than two thousand miles long. Although some people used the road to go on very long journeys most people just liked to stay close to their local area. The road was so beautiful that people used to visit it just to enjoy a short walk or take photographs. Some people used the road for cycle journeys. 

But the road was built for cars and there were over 35,000 cars using the road. Some of the cars had permanent parking spaces and some of them travelled continuously, parking only temporarily. Some travelled long distances and some travelled short distances, in the same area. The cars that had no permanent parking space were allowed to park on the road-side for fourteen days at a time before continuing their journey.

Parking spaces near pubs and facilities were popular but in 12 years travelling on this road I had never been unable to find a parking space (except in Camden). So I really don’t know why The Trust, (the people trusted to look after the road) want to change many of my local parking spaces from a 14 day permitted stay to a two day stay. It reminds me of when The Trust tried to introduce neighbourhood parking zones in London. Those proposals would have forced travellers to travel further in a shorter space of time. People with cars on the road in London did some research which indicated that the road was not overcrowded. (1)

Parking on the Wendover arm may be reduced to two days at any one time: Perfect for a weekend visit but impractical for someone who lives in their vehicle. The Trust have proposed to make some parts of the Wendover arm into “no parking” zones; whilst at the same time admitting its popularity. Big changes to parking rules in Berkhamstead will result in locals being forced to leave the area. This will have an impact on local businesses serving pints of ale to the weary traveller!

The thing is, if parking is restricted to shorter time periods then travellers will have to move more often and further. But moving X number of cars without a permanent parking space to different temporary parking spaces, more often, does not free up more parking spaces.

If I arrive at a popular visitor mooring and find it full I tend to just moor on a nearby towpath mooring instead. If some people overstay longer than 14 days then by all means deal with those people, but don’t penalise a whole community and way of life because a few people break the current rules.

We only have until the 1^st March to make our views heard. If you disagree with the proposed changes please sign this petition, and send your own response to The Trust.

Petition: Canal and River Trust: Stop in the whole, the south east visitor mooring proposals

You may also like to join your local boating community on Facebook.
Dacorum Boating Community
Cowley and Uxbridge Boaters

Thanks.

Peggy

PS. I do now have a permanent parking space, but still feel part of the lovely friendly travelling community! 

(1)    London Boaters BW Consultation Response. Appendix D Congestion Survey Maps.

Water Gypsy Gets an Address

My five year old had only been in school for a few weeks when we decided we needed to move schools. When we applied for a school place last spring we were continuously cruising and so we picked a school roughly in the area where we cruise. But then we got a residential mooring and I don’t drive, so I ended up  cycling with the children in a bicycle trailer for half an hour each way to get to school and nursery: That’s two hours cycling a day, and it was going to get cold for the kids doing that in winter. Plus, they are growing too big for the trailer and it was starting to be really hard work!

So we applied to change schools to the little village school near our mooring, and you know how important an address is to a school application. The school is so small, there are only five children in reception class. One of the children in that class also lives on a boat, so I asked her mum,

“How did you do the paperwork, I mean without an address and everything?”

“Well, I just use the boater’s post-box.”

“The what?”

“You know. There’s a little post-box nailed to a wooden pole on the towpath. All of the boater’s post goes there. I can cut you a key if you like.”

Wow! I am going to have an address that is actually near to where I live! I was so excited. I have been travelling for ten years and explaining to doctors and other authorities that I do live within a certain area code, but that my post goes to a mailbox service in a different place. I actually have a post-box, and get to receive letters addressed to my boat name, in our little village. How cute!

A few weeks later I bumped into another boater at the bus stop.

“There’s post for you in the post-box you know.”

“Really?” I was surprised. I have hardly even told anyone my new address yet. It must be some admin thing from the school. My youngest and I walked down the muddy towpath and opened the little box with our key. There was a little letter addressed to our boat. Inside the letter was a home-made card from the five year old daughter of my friend who lives in a house in the nearby town. The card has a hand-drawn picture of our boat on the front and inside it says, “Hope you’ll be very happy at your mooring and at your new school/pre-school.”

What a lovely welcome to our new life in the village, and what a brilliant thing to get for our first bit of post.

Neighbours

About two years ago we were travelling the waterways with two very young children. My love of the gypsy life-style and exploring the beauty of rural England was arguing passionately against my cravings for adult company and a good night’s sleep. I had a critical inner monologue that berated me for being unhappy and I wrote a wish list to try to figure out what exactly was lacking in my life: Friends, neighbours, a community, a washing machine, more storage space… it goes on. 

But I notice that my first three wishes were for other people; human contact.

Now here we are, settling in on our residential mooring and enjoying the full benefit of neighbours. The couple on the boat next door introduced themselves on our first day, shared their homemade elderflower wine and offered to babysit sometime. Next-door-but-one is a lovely lady who grew up on a boat. She’s brought up two kids on a boat and took me and the girls on a countryside ramble; a short cut across the fields to show us the way to the farm shop. When our alternator belt snapped we couldn’t run the engine to charge the batteries. I was working at home and knew that before the end of the day I would run out of electric; no lap top, no fridge, no fun. Our boating neighbours recommended a handy boater moored just opposite who agreed to come and fit a new belt as soon as he’d finished his cup of tea. At the church playgroup the lady who delivers the parish newsletter assured me it would be no trouble for her to make a detour down the towpath on her deliveries, so that I can be kept updated with community events.

I did moan on this blog about the price of our new mooring, but did you know that neighbours, other people, human contact, are sometimes worth their weight in gold?

(The story of why and how we got a mooring: The Continuous CruisingControversy.)

The Continuous Cruising Controversy

“The code is more what you'd call "guidelines"than actual rules. Welcome aboard the Black Pearl, Miss Turner.”

Captain Barbossa,Pirate of the Caribbean

Like a pirate I have always roamed the water in summer time, and like a good BW customer I pay for a winter mooring in winter time. A winter mooring allows us to settle down conveniently, somewhere near childcare.Cruising in summer allows us to explore, see new places and use the boat for what it was meant for. But when you’re off on a summer cruise you may find yourself up at 6 am to catch two buses and a long walk to the town where nursery is.Then you do the same journey backwards and manage to get home to start work by 10am. I’m tired and it’s not fun anymore.

A residential mooring became available near our nursery; my eldest is starting school in September, it would be so nice to settle down in a community. But the mooring is too expensive for us, we struggle to make ends meet as it is. And we do love the variety of travelling. Would we really want to settle down?

But then we got a stern letter from British Waterways saying that this year we have not covered enough distance and would we like to either get a mooring or continue our journey? We do move every 14 days but according to the Guidelines for Continuous Cruisers we do not move far enough. We always used to move far enough, going off on great voyages over the summer. But my big girl is starting school in September and I feel myself gravitating towards a community.

We could continue travelling. When I pass my driving test I could commute back to nursery and school from wherever we are. After all, The Doctor commutes quite a distance into London every day for work. Some boating families home educate. Some register their children as travellers and attend different schools along the way.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place we decided we’d haveto bid whatever it takes to get that mooring. The bidding went pretty high; almost double what some marina moorings cost. Probably because all the continuous cruisers in our area have received a similar letter and 70ft residential moorings are pretty rare. I console myself with the fact that it is cheaper than a London mooring.

The guidelines are not law. The law is the 1995 Waterways Act, but complying with the guidelines is a requirement of the continuous cruising licence. The Act requires you to move to a different place every two weeks but ‘place’ isn't defined by law. I’m not the sort to go for civil disobedience and I don’t want to be an inconsiderate boater, but all over the country there are communities (like the London Boaters) who travel within a short stretch of waterway.

My question is this: If "continuous moorers" moved on and covered the distances described in the guidelines then would the towpath in my local area simply be occupied by different boats that had been forced to move here from their preferred ‘home’ area? There are not enough residential moorings available out there to accommodate all the people that currently live on their boats. The towpath is not over-crowded*; there is plenty of space to moor for all. In 12 years of cruising the River Lee, Stort and southern Grand Union the only place I've been unable to find a mooring space was Camden. What happened to the idea of a ‘roving permit’?

There are three kinds of residential boater; those with moorings, those who are continuously cruising the network and those who travel short distances to be near a place of work or study.

We won the bidding, and will be joining those residential boaters with moorings.


*London Boaters BW Consultation Response 2011, Appendix D. contested claims of 'congested' London canals when their survey concluded 1`boat  every 137 metres in London. 

Boats Without a Home Mooring

Boat 'parked' on double yellow lines.

Following my previous blog post outlining some basic information about living aboard and continuous cruising, British Waterways has since updated their guidelines for boats without a home mooring. The previous guidance was first published in 2004. However, Bristol County Court recently decided that in the case of British Waterways v Davies, moving up and down within a 10 mile stretch of the Kennet & Avon Canal without a home mooring could not be described as 'bona fide navigation' (a phrase from the 1995 BW Act, meaning in good faith.)

The new guidelines were created after consultation with waterways user groups such as the National Association of Boat Owners. They were published on 12th October 2011 and define more clearly what is meant by bona fide navigation and seek to ensure that enough temporary moorings are readily available for all cruising boats.

The new guidance states that,

“Subject to stops of permitted duration, those using a boat licensed for continuous cruising must genuinely be moving, in passage or in transit throughout the period of the licence...

Importantly, short trips within the same neighbourhood, and shuttling backwards and forwards along a small part of the network do NOT meet the legal requirement for navigation throughout the period of the licence.”

Complying with these guidelines is one of the terms and conditions of purchasing a licence to continuously cruise.

BW has also clarified that “Place in this context means a neighbourhood or locality, NOT simply a particular mooring site or position.” Circumstances where it is reasonable to stay in one neighbourhood for longer than 14 days are where further movement is prevented by events such as temporary mechanical breakdown, emergency navigation stoppage, impassable ice or serious illness.

Critics of the new guidelines have voiced concerns about whether the regulations will be adequately policed and enforced by BW officers. While some boaters believe that the same boats appear to repeatedly occupy the same visitor moorings, some live-aboard boaters feel that their way of life is being persecuted and that there are not enough visitor moorings available in some areas, even when one is genuinely cruising (moving every fourteen days). Some boaters do wish to find a permanent residential mooring but BW admits that these are currently in short supply. BW has welcomed the announcement in August by the Housing Minister Grant Shapps which provided an incentive to local authorities to grant more consents for residential moorings.

If you're looking for a second-hand narrowboat or barge to buy in London, Hertfordshire or the surrounding areas Boatshed Grand Union has plenty of boats for sale that are ideally suited to continuous cruising.

If you do require a mooring BW moorings can be found at http://www.bwmooringvacancies.com/

There is further information on mooring and continuous cruising at http://www.waterscape.com/things-to-do/boating/moorings


Disclosure: I wrote this post for the Boatshed Grand Union blog.

For business blogging services contact me at http://peggymelmoth.wordpress.com/

Living Aboard Part 3: Continuous Cruising

My last article on living aboard explored the mooring options that you have when deciding to live aboard. When you are looking for canal boats for sale you may be also be looking for a residential mooring. However, if you intend to become a continuous cruiser you could have some questions about the practicalities of being constantly on the move.

First, you will need to purchase a boat license for your boat or narrowboat. This is often a ‘continuous cruising’ license from British Waterways. This allows the boat to travel widely around British waterways without staying in any one place for more than fourteen days (or less where local BW signs indicate a shorter period). The Mooring Guidance for Continuous Cruisers state that you must be engaged in a genuine, progressive journey around the network or a significant part of it. In submitting your license application, you agree to comply with the guidelines. If you want to live on a navigable river you will need to purchase a license from the appropriate local navigation authority.

For healthcare on the move you can keep your existing GP and visit a local surgery as a temporary resident as and when needed. For administrative purposes the NHS often require a local address, whether you are visiting the GP as a permanent or a temporary resident. If you cannot use the address of a local friend you may be able to offer the name of your boat, accompanied by the postcode of a local business or canal side pub.

It is sometimes difficult to determine whether a boater is eligible to pay council tax. However the British Waterways license fee covers the cost of a number of utilities a continuous cruiser may use, such as water supply and waste disposal. Boats on fixed residential moorings are liable to pay council tax and this may or may not be included in the mooring fee. Council Tax is charged on a domestic property or ‘dwelling’. Whilst a boat can be a dwelling, it cannot in law be a property.

British Waterways pays the Government a composite levy in respect of Council Tax and Business Rates. So, anyone who pays a boat license fee to BW contributes to this composite levy. BW also pays the local suppliers of sewage disposal and water and pays private contractors for rubbish disposal provided for boaters. In this way, continuous cruisers indirectly contribute to council costs.

To use a local library you will need to prove your home address or have a mailing address of some sort but it does not have to be in the area where you currently live and you do not have to register to pay Council Tax locally.

You can register to vote if you make a declaration of local connection. Contact the electoral registration officer at the council where you wish to declare a local connection, and they will supply a form for you to complete.

If you're looking for a boat to buy in London, Hertfordshire or the surrounding areas there are a number of boats for sale at Boatshed Grand Union that are ideally suited to living aboard and continuous cruising.

Disclosure: I was commissioned to write this post for the Boatshed Grand Union website. It was my choice to re-publish it here where I hope it is of interest to some of my readers.

Visit http://peggymelmoth.wordpress.com/ for remote secretarial services, copywriting, or freelance writing commissions.

Visit Become a Mumpreneur for free eCourses and more.

Living Aboard a Narrowboat – Part 1

My little Boat-Wife brain is full of fascinating things that I learned at the parent blogging conference Cybermummy11. I was reminded that a blog is not just a publishing platform. It is an interactive community. The writer is approachable and available. When I’m on my boat people passing by on the towpath sometimes ask me questions. Think of yourself on a stroll on the towpath now; I’m hanging my washing out on a clothes horse on the front deck. You think to yourself,

Hey, it’s that Boat-Wife off the internet! I wonder if it’s cold in winter on a narrowboat?

Ask Narrowboat Wife

You may be thinking of living aboard a narrowboat, buying a narrowboat or just going on a narrowboat holiday. You may just be curious about narrowboat family life.  Leave your question as a comment below and I will add the answers to the blog.

Is it cold in winter living on a narrowboat?

The short answer is no. It’s kind of a running joke among boaters that this is the question most people will always ask. The longer answer is that it depends on your heating. Most narrowboats are heated with a solid fuel stove. It burns coal or wood and a narrow steel boat can get very hot when the home fire is burning – enough to need opening the windows in mid-winter! The downside is that the fire can die down to an ember overnight making the mornings a little chilly. My friend Barge-Mum found that her solid fuel stove was inadequate to heat her large Dutch Barge. When I was pregnant with our first child we invested in a diesel stove. It runs off diesel from the engine tank and maintains a constant heat 24/7. The downside is it’s not as cosy and romantic as a real burning fire and it’s a real pain to clean (says The Doctor!). Narrowboats can also have a variety of radiators which either run off the diesel stove or from propane gas bottles.

Aren’t you worried that your children will fall into the canal?

Yes, but probably not as much as non-boating parents. They were born on board and have the risks drummed into them every day. If you lived near a busy road you would not leave the door unlocked. We keep the doors bolted shut and there are playpen barriers around the front deck. Accidents happen to children every day, on roads, in houses and very, very rarely on canals. The memory of the tragic loss of my friends’ child is never far from my mind.

How often do you have to move your narrowboat?

We move the boat every two weeks. We have a British Waterways Continuous Cruising Licence which requires us to continue our journey every fourteen days. In practice we have to move about once a week to fill the water tank at a water point. After fourteen days we are required to move to the next ‘place’ or ‘neighbourhood’ – not just to the next bridge.

Is living on a narrowboat cheaper than living in a house?

It is possibly a little cheaper but it depends on the particular house and narrowboat that you are comparing. I bought my first boat in the year 2000 when I was renting a room in a shared flat in London. Taking into consideration the BW licence fee, insurance, mooring fee, boat loan repayments to the bank, cost of gas and coal etcetera I found that the lifestyle was similar in monthly costs to my lifestyle ‘on the bank’. However, a big motivating factor for me was to be able to own my home. For a couple sharing a boat it would definitely be cheaper than renting a flat. Your costs will depend on the size of your marine mortgage or boat loan repayments, and your mooring fees which can vary depending on location and facilities. The bigger the boat the more expensive your insurance and BW licence will be.

Narrowboat Hire

When you hire a narrowboat the hire company will give you a brief lesson in how to steer the boat. They will also provide life jackets for the children. You can use Google to find a hire boat company in your chosen area. They are also advertised in the waterways press. Many companies offer day boat hire.

Living Aboard a Narrowboat

The Residential Boat Owners Association website has a lot of useful information about living aboard. There are also several books on the topic.

How Much Does a Narrowboat Cost?

A new narrowboat will cost about £1000 per foot. Second hand narrowboats can start at under £10,000 for a ‘project boat’ – something tired and weary. A 40 foot boat for one could be as little as £15,000; a good condition 70 foot boat to suit a family may cost around £45,000. The price depends on the age and condition of the boat. The important thing to check is the condition of the hull, by paying for a professional survey before purchase. Browse narrowboats for sale at http://grandunion.boatshed.com/

Have you got a TV/shower/toilet etcetera?

Most boats have all of the above and depending on your budget you can have all mod-cons including a microwave, dishwasher and washing machine! The complicated part is do you have a big enough water tank and an electric system that can cope with the demands of modern life? Running these modern luxuries is easier if you are on a mooring with 240 volt electric supply and your own water tap. If you are continuously cruising you will need to find out about generators and invertors and make sure that you have a good sized water tank. Chemical toilets can either be the pump-out type, which is emptied at a pump out point (pumped out by a machine), or an Elsan (sometimes called a ‘porta potty’) which can be emptied by hand into a sewage disposal point.

And there you have it. It’s never long before a boater’s conversation degenerates into toilet talk. Why not share this wealth of information with all your canal-curious friends on Facebook and Twitter? Click the buttons below to share.

Boat-Wife

Double Yellow Lines

Just took this picture of our boat yesterday which perfectly complements Simon's excellent post about the proposed new parking restrictions in the village where I live.

"Welcome to the parish of Smoke on the Water

Simon Satan spokesman for the Smoke on the Water Parish Council in the county of Glossitover was interviewed on local radio in the last week about the Parish Councillors' radical new approach to parking management.

"We have decided we don't like the look of some of the people who park in our village and so we have resolved to make the whole village out with yellow lines."

Please visit Liveaboards blog for the full story.

The Real Life of a Narrowboat Wife

About a year ago, when I was visiting The Mellow Mum, I found a tiny magazine cutting on her bedside table. It was a quote from Mark Twain, “In twenty years from now, you’ll be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did.  So throw off the bowline.  Sail away from the safe harbour. Explore. Dream. Discover.” 

Right now, we’re not travelling the waterways we’ve never seen, but it is about eight years since we travelled this part of the Grand Union, so things have changed and there’s a lot to rediscover. We never did go down the Kennett and Avon canal, but our mission is still to live the dream, to be boaters, travellers, writers and parents. Can we have it all? The Doctor has recently had a chapter published in a distinguished science book. The contributors to the book include leading philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists . His work at The Multiversity involves writing research articles, and he continues to work on his novel at home.

As for me, I’m taking Mark Twain’s advice, “Write without pay until somebody offers pay.”

When Freedom is Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Be Free!

A Boat-Wife’s Response to the BW Consultation
http://www.britishwaterways.co.uk/listening-to-you/consultations-and-reviews/current-consultations

Re: The Proposals for the Management of Moorings on the Rivers Lea and Stort, Hertford Union and Regent’s Canals.

What are your views on current levels of boating and mooring in the plan area?

I am happy with the current levels of boating and mooring in the area. Residential boaters are growing in number and are an important part of this consultation process. The increase of boats used as homes throughout London make the towpath a safer place to enjoy for all. A few years ago I would not have moored in East London, but in recent years I was pleased to see a welcoming community of boats there with several ‘safe’ moorings. I believe these moored boats make the place a safer and more attractive place for walkers, cyclists, anglers and other towpath users.

What effect (e.g. good, bad, none) does the current level of boating and mooring have on your enjoyment of the waterways and park?

I cruised down these rivers and canals (from the River Stort to Islington) last Autumn and found plenty of places to moor. The moorings that I chose were near other boats because of the ‘safety in numbers’ factor. While I agree that moorings in London in general are popular, the only place I have ever actually been unable to secure a visitor mooring is Camden. This is since double mooring was prohibited there. (I wrote to BW at the time to complain that this most popular visitor mooring has had it’s availability halved, apparently at the request of the local trip boats.) I would say the current level of boating in the plan area has a good effect on my enjoyment of the waterways.

In general, what are your views on the proposals for managing moorings?

I do find the legal side of this very complicated. I am not sure if the 1995 British Waterways Act allows BW to redefine 'neighbourhoods' and dictate how far a continuous cruiser must move after 14 days. I’ve had a look at Section 17 (3) and understand that a boater must satisfy the board that the vessel will be used bona fide for navigation.

However, the proposed new mooring charges seem to be more like ‘parking fines’. The definition of "bona fide for navigation" in the BW Mooring Guidance for Continuous Cruisers is misleading. If a boat continues its journey after mooring in one place for 14 days then I believe that is cruising ‘in good faith’. But it seems that the phrase in the law; “bona fide for navigation” is open to different interpretations.

My view is that the new guidelines would require residential boaters and pleasure boaters to travel much larger distances, making leisurely cruising and visiting attractive sites much more difficult. They seem particularly biased towards making living aboard without a mooring very difficult.

I have lived on a boat for eleven years. In recent years I have married and had two children. Our family continuously cruises in the summer and pays for a mooring during the winter. I was offended to read statements in the media recently that suggest choosing a continuously cruising lifestyle is inappropriate for a family.

Clive Henderson, chairman of the Inland Waterways Association (IWA), was quoted in The Guardian on Wednesday 27 April 2011 as saying,

"If a family chooses to take up boating and make it their place of residence, then it's clear what the obligations are. I can't believe continuous cruising is suitable for anyone with a job or with children at school."

It is likely that the British Waterways Guidelines for Continuous Cruisers have encouraged this kind of viewpoint.

"We're refining our mooring guidance," a BW spokesman said in The Guardian article. "Boaters will still be required to engage in a genuine and ongoing cruise or journey of some length.

"Some [people] who knowingly signed up for a continuous cruiser lifestyle may have to accept this is not a suitable option for them. Where this is the case … we will welcome the help of other agencies … to provide housing."

A house is not my preferred option, or an affordable option and BW should respect my wish to choose my own home and lifestyle.

The guidelines suggest that a boat should move a significant distance around the system but this is the BW interpretation of the 1995 British Waterways Act.  I do not advocate “bridge hopping” or staying longer than 14 days but I have not seen any evidence to suggest that the length of the journeys that I currently undertake, inconvenience other waterways users. The upper Lea and Stort are definitely not congested, there are long stretches without any moored boats at all. There is no difficulty in finding a mooring. While levels of boating have increased on the lower Lea I would still not describe it as congested.

“A "cruise" is a journey or series of journeys "making for no particular place or calling at a series of places". (Shorter Oxford Dictionary.)

“Such journey or cruise must take place "throughout the period of [the licence]" and therefore requires progression around the network, or at least a significant part of it.” (BW Guidelines.)

Why does a series of journeys require significant progression around the network? During the summers that I have cruised on my boat I believe I have made journeys of significant length, (for example Islington to Bishops Stortford and back). I don’t know if this would satisfy the board that I was using my boat bona fide for navigation, but if I move every 14 days I do not think I contribute to congestion.

Living aboard is already a very challenging but rewarding lifestyle. Commuting to childcare and work is sometimes difficult but currently possible. I am concerned how the proposal will affect residential boaters currently cruising in the planned area. I am very concerned that if these proposals are accepted on the Lea and Stort then they may eventually become the rules for the whole canal system, making life for my family very difficult.

The proposals will also adversely affect leisure boaters, holiday boaters and hire boaters on the Lea and Stort. Decreasing the use of these rivers will simply increase usage on other parts of the system. The apparently increasing number of people choosing boats as their homes, particularly in London, surely means that there is an increasing number of licence fees to spend on sanitary, rubbish disposal and water facilities in popular areas?

I am not aware of any evidence to back up the problems described on these waterways, that the proposal plans to address. Continuous cruisers are not the main culprits in overstaying on visitor moorings. I feel as if the proposed ‘charges’ or fines are a discriminatory way of increasing revenue by targeting one particular type of boater.

Possessions spilling on to the towpath are not something I have encountered as a common problem and I have travelled Hertfordshire, Essex and London extensively over the last eleven years. (Is that a significant progression around the network?) This should be dealt with by approaching the individuals concerned and not legislating against a particular group of people.

Historically, I believe parliament has not allowed BW to introduce restrictions like those described in this proposal, (e.g. the 1990 Private Bill that eventually became the 1995 British Waterways Act.)

In general, my view is that the proposals are discriminatory and unnecessary. 

How will you be affected by the proposals?

My family have spent two summers cruising the rivers Lea and Stort, (2008 and 2010) and commuting to childcare and work in London. There are plenty of towpath moorings and visitor moorings on these rivers and many beautiful places to visit. If the mooring guidance for these areas is changed I cannot see that it would be practical for my family to ever visit this area again. A family on board (whether on holiday or residential) has a limited amount of time per day that they can actually spend cruising and working locks, because there are meals to prepare and children to care for.

Do you have any practical suggestions to make implementation easier / improve it?

1. Enforce the existing 14 day rule, remaining flexible about circumstances where it is reasonable to stay in one neighbourhood for longer. Residential boaters can be given cheap moorings at popular sites in exchange for acting as local wardens. (This is something BW already do.) A permanent residential boater at each popular site can act as a ‘Welcome Boat’ supplying BW information and providing security in inner city areas. They could also report local maintenance problems.
2. Welcome the fact that residential boating is growing. Create more residential moorings as a way of increasing revenue.
3. Research ways to increase revenue without targeting one particular group of boaters.
4. Stop portraying liveaboard boaters without a mooring as a problem. We should not all be portrayed as “bridge hoppers” when so many of us are engaged in a genuine progressive journey.
5. Stop mis-interpreting the 1995 British Waterways Act. I think the current guidelines should be rewritten. As BW promotes the waterways as a leisure resource, let us enjoy them at a leisurely pace. Individuals have the right to choose the length, speed and direction of their own personal journey. A nice metaphor for life, don’t you think?!  

Send your own response by email to Damian Kemp (Project Officer) at Damian.kemp@britishwaterways.co.uk

You don’t have to waffle on like I did. Just a brief note with your thoughts will do.

You have until Tuesday 31^st May!

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