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I'm so tired of all this. I love boating, I love old boats, old engines, I love banters, locks, rain, snow, wind, moorings, everything. I love festivals, boat tug of war etc etc. But now...it's turned into politics. Look, C&RT can do what they want regardless of what we want. I did join the local boaters group for a while but I posted a video of my engine, lovely 1973 Lister HRW2, with original heads, rebuilt in 2009 and just fresh from another service, and someone wrote "Relevance?", that's when I knew that this was not about boating any more, it's about politics. I Left the group needless to say. Whatever rules C&RT choose to have, whatever mooring structure, visitor moorings and timing, people will break those rules, C&RT can't keep up with the current situation, if they introduce more licenses and rules, how will they keep up with that? A good effort, but I'm just really tired of it all. Most of the boaters I've spoken to on the moorings here are staying out of it. Look, C&RT promised me a mooring ring in August last year. So far all they've managed to produce is a big X painted in white 2 days ago. The signs on my mooring are covered in graffiti, a few weeks ago I went away for a few days to have a fire fitted at the local boatyard, when I returned, there was a boat on my mooring space, I have a 70ft boat so it's not as easy to just moor somewhere else. I met the people who were using it a week later, they didn't realise they could not moor there. I pay just below £2000 a year for my mooring, I'm frankly afraid to go boating because. a. I don't know if there will be 70ft of space when I get there. b. I don't know if, when I return the space I moor in will be free, and if it's not how long before it will be. I was told by C&RT that I could put up signs to show my mooring (at my expense), but I don't think they own the fence. I think it belongs to the developers who built the flats over the canal. I did try and trace the owner but it turned out he was abroad, C&RT tried phoning him but that was it. I think, to be honest if the people had not returned it could have been there months. I'd love to move to Willow Wren Wharf but I simply can't risk £600.00 if I don't get approved and they keep it. If they create the new license that's great, but will it change anything? No, I don't think so. Frankly, I'd rather talk about engines, working boats, narrow boats and anything else the have my time consumed trying to influence something. Whilst the consultation is interesting, C&RT can, in the end pretty much do what they like. I had a friend who used to call BW their Lords and Masters, that is the title I give them. They can institute whatever they like, we have to go along with it. Giving us a consultation is great but in the end, they can, and will do what they want. I get on very well with my local C&RT staff, I pay my bills, I make sure I have insurance, boat safety and everything else. If they change a few visitor moorings around, that's nothing new, I used to be moored at the park in Cowley where people regularly moored, in fact one guy moored next to me for 3 months and really made jokes about how I was an idiot for paying for what he was getting free. Then it became 7 day moorings which I think it is now, but I can tell you for sure that people more there for way more than 7 days. Anyway, that's my rant over, I'm going to go back to watching videos of Royalty class working boats at work. It's a consultation, everyone, tell C&RT what you think, then leave it, they will decide the outcome. If you want to protest, then sure, do it, but until they actually make a decision, you're protesting against nothing.

I just don't see what you are seeing I guess I am not that paranoid. I imagine the APPG wish to show independence from the CRT so do not wish to use their facilities. Sharing some space on the IWA website is not a big deal. IWA will be among the organisations spoken to there will be many others covering a wide subject matter and view point. It is not all about who represents you specifically.

Can you remember when you bought your first boat There`s so much going on all you want to do is get out there and cruise When we bought ours , there were various control buttons on the kitchen worktop and I thought I had put them all in a cupboard together out the way so we could concentrate on the most important, with the thought that as and when we get round to reading the folder of manuals that came with it , everything then would fit into place. Have you ever - Oh! that`s what thats for can`t find the damn thing anywhere had the boat nearly inside out What I am talking about is a remote for the webasto, funny little thing but could come in useful as ours is reverse layout, bedroom at front and heating control at rear. These remotes I`m to believe are to switch the heating off, as ours is only basic control with little flame button or timer to switch on but it doesn`t timer to switch off. Now I distinctly remember seeing one on board when we looked around but don`t remember anything else. Can you buy these, if so where

I do think personalities are getting in the way here.

I totally agree with this. I have removed about 8 or 10 of these from pumps in my life... Each time...the 'lady of the house'...has no knowledge she lost one. Because of the curve in them, they seem attracted to the pipes that enter the pump itself...and then can't escape, instead, flicking against the spinning impeller like a kid with cardboard rattling his bike spokes. Coooo......kin 'ell !!! Don't like the look of those uninsulated heater connections ! Apart from obviously making sure its unplugged....they look easy for making contact with anything nearby ? Have you..removed a cover ? I would have thought that if you loosen the top hose clip and remove the hose , it would be enough to delve about inside and a long thin thing like bra wire, may be easy to find .

That's what we like to see; a bit of the old "I'm alright Jack, sod the rest of you" It's a long time since I used a one of these visitor moorings, it doesn't stop me thinking through the consequences.

So if I write to the APPG suggesting they invite evidence from the conveners of the recent unaffiliated boaters meetings is anyone going to complain?

Best to ask this question last, after you have got a few pints in him!

Unfortunately, CaRT is not following governments code of practice (the seven criteria) regarding this consultation despite a commitment to do so for consultations of national importance. Whilst CaRT may argue that this is local consultation (and thus not subject to the code)this is not the case. All boaters wishing to visit S.E. region are effected. Furthermore, the outcome of this consultation is of national importance as it will be 'rolled out' to other regions.

I'm in the pay out and buy once camp. We are 50% live aboard just 2 of us but we want land based comfort in our leccy things. So this is what I did. 1180A/h 2v x 6 Traction batteries 12/3000/120-50 Vicrton Inverter 2 x 115A/h alternators parrelled 1 x 6.5Kw Genny 500w of Solar through a MPPT. Even with this lot we are still learning how to manage the batteries which will be an artical in my blog before long. I think a lot of our probelmes with battery managment would be much improved when we are full time live aboard as the batteries will be getting much more excersise. I think IMO its a case of getting the right kit I'm affraid and having to stump up the cash.

On the whole I feel people should live within the law. That applies whether they are a Duke, an MP, a home owner, a "compliant CC-er", a non-compliant CC-er, a "gypsy", or someone trying to survive on the streets with nothing. If they ought to be paying income tax, then they should. If they ought to be paying National Insurance, then they should. If they ought to be paying council tax, then they should. If they ought to be paying for a CRT boat licence then they should. If the current "rules" of the country say they are entitled to some service or benefit, then they should equally be able to get it without a fight. If you don't like the way Law or "rules" are structured, then by all means campaign to get them changed. If you think certain sectors should be eligible for taxes not currently levied, write to your MP. If you think the NHS or Education is funded in an unfair way, and some pay to much, and some pay to little, again write to your MP. But, if someone has paid all that the law currently requires them to pay, but you are unhappy with that, don't attack the person, campaign to try and get the law changed to more accurately reflect your views. If a boater or someone in a gypsy encampment has broken the law, (or indeed my mythical Duke or MP), then the enforcement of the laws as they currently stand should take their normal course, accepting that those unhappy with the laws may also campaign for change. At the moment most live-aboard boaters not only do not pay council tax, they simply can not. They are not evading anything - they are living by the current "rules" of the country.

Poo One question which is often asked is "What do you do about the poo?" There are several legal, and one illegal, solutions. The illegal solution is just to dump the stuff through a hole, preferably off deck and below water level. In this case it is essential to have some sort of valve arrangement, otherwise there is a risk of what is technically known as "re-entry" followed by loss of buoyancy. It is also a good idea not to do it when anybody is in the vicinity. The penalty for dumping poo in the water is so horrible that it cannot be described here except to note that the liquid they give what is left of you to drink at bedtime in the dungeon looks like, but is not, chocolate. The three legal solutions are: 1.Store the stuff in a big tank under the loo, then pump it out periodically. In deluxe versions, the tank is under the bed and the sludge is pumped there. This creates real fun when the pump, or the tank, needs cleaning out. 2.Use a Porta-Potti, AKA Elsan. Stinky. 3.Go on shore. There is in fact a fourth solution which is clean, odourless and easy to operate (since many Americans use it in their hunting lodges, it must be). It allegedly produces only fine crumbly material suitable for putting on rhubarb (although in a recent survey, 100% of narrowboaters said they used custard). But this solution is expensive, requires extensive engineering ability to implement, and therefore hardly anybody in this country knows about it except life members of the Thomas Crapper Society. Which you aren't, so don't bother asking. Tests of manhood There are two narrowboat-poo-related tests of manhood that must be undergone by those who wish to become fully qualified marine engineers. The basic test is to empty out and flush a full poo tank using only British Waterways equipment, without ending up with brown boots. The advanced test is to walk half a mile with a full Porta-Potti while keeping boots pristine, and then to empty the contents into a "suitable" British Waterways facility. The examinee gains bonus marks for knowing the three main indicators that a poo-emptying site is "maintained" by BW : a) It is no longer located as shown in the most recent version of any waterway guide (except where such location is immediately adjacent to a pub terrace - see "Shroppie Fly: Why not to eat outside" and "Canalside dining at Audlem: What exactly IS in those buckets that people keep carrying past my table?") ; The door is locked by some means other than the BW key supplied to boaters, or has a spring so strong that it is impossible after unlocking the door to keep it open while turning to pick up the poo container ; c) The light is either too dim to guarantee the correct alignment of poo-spout with poo-receiver-rim, or is on a timer set to exactly one half of the shortest interval necessary to empty the smallest commercially-available poo container. Note on heading: MANhood is technically correct because any woman achieving even the simpler of these tasks would instantly be made an honorary man under the Marine Engineering Code, Chapter LXVII Sect. 198.23., to avoid the seven years' bad luck that would attend upon having a woman on board who could change a fuel injector or would volunteer to steer a narrowboat into a lock while "there are people watching".