Yank on the Cut

I sold the boat in Oct 2009. The problem was delisting the boat from the council tax register as the new owner did not want it to continue. And yes you could sell boats on the moorings due to a historical anomaly but that is a different story.

Many years ago when living on my boat moored on Blomfield Road, Little Venice BW/CRT leisure moorings I approached Westminster Council and paid council tax in order to secure resident's parking and the needed proof of residential address for another matter (not benefits related). The council were happy to register the address and for me to pay council tax. BW/CRT seemed nonplussed. Neighbouring moorers were less happy in case the council insisted they also pay council tax, but it didn't happen. If you are living aboard on a permanent leisure mooring you can pay council tax.

I suspect unlikely that people will fall in trying to recover their keys. Lanyards are not popular. Whistles should be delivered today to attach to keyring. Practice makes perfect - the more times you fall in the more likely you will get yourself out all other things being equal.

Typically, people fall in off pontoons/jetties or when they are stepping on or off their boats from the very same pontoons/jetties. In a typical marina, that means they will be able to grab hold of a pontoon/jetty or a fender/tiller/what have you on the boat. If the water is shallow and they feel up to it, they can stand and walk out assuming the bank is soft or use any ladders that are closeby and long enough to get a foot onto the bottom rung. But most people simply focus on hanging on. What resources do they have to raise help? Their voice. A fist to bang on the side of a nearby boat. What about a slim aluminium whistle on a boat key ring?

In a marina no one hears you scream - well, perhaps they don't if you are in the water and no one else is close by. It needs to be simple, inexpensive and very portable. Ideally a small portable alarm to obtain help.

People are very disoriented when they fall in due to the almost inevitably cold water, the bewilderment, the initial desire to simply hang on to whatever is at hand (if anything), the panicked shouting which may or may not reach someone's ears. An alarm triggered by immersion (or indeed a fall alarm that is waterproof) with light and sounder would be a great asset.

Yes, living aboard in a marina or indeed on an online mooring, you become complacent as you say. Wearing a lifejacket is a good idea but not practical nor is carrying around a big metal torch or an air horn. Carrying something like this in your jacket pocket/handbag/what have may do the trick of alerting others: https://amzn.eu/d/0iG3qb4h but I suspect it would not make much noise underwater!

Yes plenty of people around to help but how do you ensure they hear you when they are inside a nearby boat probably listening to the TV or asleep? Shouting is good but sometimes not loud enough.

Sorry - this is not so much when cruising but just living aboard in a marina and doing normal day to day tasks getting on and off the boat seeing others, etc, returning to the boat along jetties and pontoons at night and perhaps unsteady on their feet.

Does anyone know of a small personal alarm that could be worn around the neck with a lanyard or on the wrist that would alert other people to assist by emitting a loud sound as well as a flashing light when the wearer falls in? Liveaboards in marinas are often surrounded by people but it is hard for the person in the water to alert them. Like a bedwetting sensor but one that emits a loud sound and flashing light to attract attention. Rape alarms and similar personal alarms are great but can stop working in the water. thanks

I wasn't defending the practice at all, simply as a newbie trying to do my job. The vendor made it very clear he was not going to pay and was upset we had learnt about, by accident, when the buyer told us he had just bought it and wanted to take it away.

Not at all, Mike. The clause was unequivocable.

But.... Pipers are excellent boats in my experience. I've had two - one under the father and one the son. The interior fitout is first class. I'm unsure who manufactured the hulls or if made in house, but both boats behaved very well in the water and the systems installations were really good. A repaint of this boat would cost at least £10,000 I suspect. But the level of neglect means more problems could be found with the engine, etc. I think you would need to make a very low offer.

In the dim and distant past, though it still sticks in my mind, as a newbie BWML marina manager I tried to enforce the mooring contract clause stipulating commission to be paid to the marina if the boat is sold on marina premises even if the marina had no involvement. The vendor was a policeman who promptly threatened all manner of things if I interfered further in the boat being taken away (it was a cruiser on a trailer). The clause was present in the contract but practically unenforceable and far too many easy ways to avoid it anyway.

Not all marinas subject to NAA enforce the licence requirement. Do CRT threaten the marina with action under the NAA? Not in my experience and of course many question the foundations of the NAA and CRT struggle to justify it, but that is another discussion. Again, I don't know the numbers of unlicenced boats in NAA marinas.