We all know the rules laid out for us when we get into boating. We all know the guidelines and limitations that we have to work within.
We must pay a licence; have a BSS; have insurance; not overstay on public moorings; not hog the water point; not pollute the cut; and either have a mooring or be able to comply with the CC guidelines.
If there are no moorings in the area in which we wish to moor/ live, and if we cannot genuinely CC in that area and keep our work/ family life intact, then it is wrong to say that we are entitled to flout the rules due to lack of service provision.
Unless you have a designated mooring that is taken from you suddenly, I don't see that anyone can claim it's unfair that they want to be in one place that might already be saturated with boats and ergo because you cannot find a place, it's ok to just pitch up and ignore the CC rules and add to the problem because if there happened to be a mooring to be had, you'd take it.
The resources as they are are finite, and just as with everything else in life, not everyone can have what they want all of the time, or they may have to wait some time to be able to get all of their ducks in a row.
I don't agree with all of the CART/BW rules and their philosophies by any means; I think that there is a lot of scope for updating the current rules to become more up to date and inclusive of boaters with real-life issues, the year on year increase in liveaboards and the general progression of the lifestyles that people lead today that is very different to how it was historically. The change year on year in the usage of the waterways is real and should not be ignored by the people in power; and I think the rules in place need to reflect this. But ignoring the current rules is not the way to get this done.
I believe that we all have a right to lobby for change, if we feel it is relevant and that we want it, and to speak out if we feel that the rules currently in place don't genuinely reflect the reality of owning a boat for the majority of owners, living on the water, or the usage of the canals. If many voices agree, and speak in unison, change will have to come.
But the point is, the rules as they stand are clear, and something that we all, as boaters from all walks of life and using the canals in many different ways, knew about beforehand and signed up for.
Bending or flouting the rules to suit our own circumstances or saying that things are unfair if our own situations change or that the rules don't suit us, is counter-productive and does the majority of other boaters a disservice. Flouting the CC rules will ultimately cause harm to all of the many CC'ers who are totally compliant with the letter and spirit or the rules, and this can only be a bad thing.
If the rules suddenly changed and deviated greatly from the guidelines and protocols that I signed up for when I got my boat, so causing the life that I chose on the basis of those rules to suddenly became significantly harder or genuinely un-viable, I'd be the first to stand up and yell about it, and I think everyone else should do the same.
But the rules have not changed significantly within the last x amount of time that most of us have been boaters. Our own situations might have changed, often through no fault of our own, but that doesn't mean that it's right or fair to expect the rules to bend to suit our own circumstances.
If we show that we as a group cannot play nicely with the toys we have, and live within the rules set for us, those toys will be taken away, those rules will change, and those choices will be lost. For everyone.
I wish that everyone would look at things objectively and with the view that if they cannot comply with the set rules, then they go another route. Even if that means making hard choices, and then stepping back and lobbying for change in the right ways.