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Thanks for pointing out this thread @Tumshie! I would certainly never recommend "CCing London", because I would not (and most boaters would not) consider this to be bona fide, genuine continuous cruising, in the spirit of the license. In fact there is a perjorative term for this that I've seen bandied about on this forum, "Continuous Mooring" or CM, which is a common complaint about boaters in London and on the Kennet and Avon, especially near Bath, despite the fact that genuine CCers also visit these places. Our situation is different to the OP as my wife works remotely and I work remotely 80% of the time. I have an office in Shoreditch which I go to as and when I like (for the electricity and plumbing, mainly). I generally work from a home office that I have set up (rather... am in the process of setting up) on the boat in our second berth. We bought our boat in London (Kensal Green) 9 months ago and slowly cruised to Bishops Stortford, and then turned around at the end of the navigation and cruised back through London - we are now in Uxbridge. From here we plan to head up the Grand Union and then to Peterborough. My experience of the varying commute when CCing is that it is expensive and time consuming. But for me, being that I only do it once or twice a week, I'd be happy doing it from Manchester. My experience of boating in London has generally been very good. People are very friendly and if you don't really mind where you go, there are moorings around. Double mooring is a given though, and from what I hear (second hand, thankfully) there is a problem with break ins on the boats and muggings on the towpath. You do need to be mindful of security. It's certainly true that some people do CM London, but it's my impression that they don't last long. The CaRT licenses you for 12 months, so in theory I suppose someone could moor up a boat right next to their place of work and get away with not moving for a year. At this point CaRT would not renew their license and they would have their boat removed, if they didn't get rid of it first. I think it's plain to see though that that would be kind of a selfish move. The folks we bought our boat from CMed London, and along with the documentation they supplied with the boat were letters from CaRT warning them that their cruising pattern was insufficient. So they definitely do monitor it strictly. In their case, they got a 6 month extension within which to improve their cruising pattern, which apparently they did. CaRT's intentionally vague rules simply state that you must move to a new "place" at least once a fortnight, place being defined as the next town, or about a mile. I've also heard that they expect at least a 20 mile overall cruising range over the year, and that this range should be fairly evenly distributed throughout the year. They don't really specify what happens if you turn around and visit the same place more than once, but they do say shuffling between two spots is not on. If you are clearly trying to stay as close as possible to a place for as long as possible, essentially having a mooring without paying for one, expect not to have your license renewed the following year. This is all total nonsense, @Alan de Enfield might mean this tongue-in-cheek but I'm not sure. I've never heard of nor seen any coordinated move. Perhaps this is something that used to happen, but I believe the enforcement of the rules has become much stricter in recent years. If there is such a thing as a rotation wating list I've never heard of it. Evidently it's not possible that there are 3x more boats in London than spaces, otherwise two thirds of the boats would be moving at any one time. That's not the case. I only see 5 or 6 boats pass on any given day. That said it is crowded and you'll be lucky to ever get a visitor's mooring in the most popular places like King's Cross and Little Venice. And there are definitely people who are gaming the system but I don;t think they last long. --- Is it possible to CC while working in central London? Yes - if you are prepared to commute in from up to 30 miles away (i.e. spend up to 3 hours and up to 30 quid a day, on average about half that), then I think you will be able to meet CaRT's requirements. Would I personally be prepared to do this every day? No. More importantly, would this be in the spirit of continuous cruising? I doubt it - we've drawn plenty of ire from boaters simply from being in London, who feel that anyone CCing in London gives CCers a bad name. As far as I'm concerned it's just about sharing. All you need to realise is that every time you occupy a visitors mooring there are other, genuine visitors who are going to be unable to use that mooring. It's up to you whether you feel OK about your impact on those people, and whether this harder lifestyle including longer and erratic commutes is something you could handle.

Taah Raaah..... Thank you for your help, a great improvement don't you think? The middle pic is the result of painting some paste of Bar Keepers, leaving overnight, and washing/brushing off the next day. The final pic is a bit shiny, that's cos the satin varnish was still wet when the pic was taken. I'm really pleased

I'm not sure how you can possibly get the impression of how often or how far they were going from seeing them once. This is a clear example of the bias against anyone boating in London, whether CCing or not. For all @Tony Brooks knows, these boaters in these "convoys" may have never met each other, and may be heading back to their home mooring. Besides, so what? As long as they weren't overstaying their 14 day mooring (again, whether this is the case you have absolutely no idea) and as long as they were ranging far enough over the course of the year, why do you have a problem with their changing places? Can you please explain what nuisance continuous cruisers are causing you? You have paid mooring fees (of your own free will, I presume) and had the benefit of a shore hookup, etc. You also had the option to CC available to you, but I imagine you wanted the comfort of a marina or to not have to cruise throughout every month of the year or wanted to be close to a place of residence, work or home, apart from cruising holidays. Why you are resenting people for making the choice you did not? Personally I have absolutely no interest in a home mooring. I bought a boat precisely because I don't want to live in the same place all the time. As much as I love the waterways, a large part of the joy of continous cruising is being able to stop in a new area and explore it for a week or two. I'd not want to cruise every day even if I had all the time and money in the world (which I certainly don't). I'd also not want a home mooring regardless of how cheap it was, because I have no use for one. However, if CaRT were to take away CC licenses, I'd rent the cheapest mooring in the country and never, ever go there. I'd still cruise weekly(ish) for a couple of hours at a time, staying in visitors moorings for less than the 7 or 14 day maximum that is specified. Would this still cause you the nuisance? Which is the more disingenuous option for my cruising pattern - a CC license or a mooring I never visit? Or am I not welcome on the cut at all with my cruising pattern, no matter what or how I pay for it? Is there a problem with abandoned old boats? I have seen one or two sunken (and some floating) wrecks but it isn't my impression that removal of these boats is a significant cost to CaRT. The CC license has been around for many, many years, and if boats ended up abandoned we'd surely see a lot of this around already. Do CaRT publicise what they end up spending our license/mooring fees on? My impression is that the primary problem with Continuous Moorers is that they occupy visitor mooring spots that then cannot be used by those genuinely visiting an area. What other issues are there? I am not aware of other issues like abandoned boats. I'm confused by this - showing that you have a "proper mooring" (presumably, a rented permanent mooring) is already a license option, so you are actually just suggesting doing away with the CC license entirely, or am I misunderstanding you? Or, are you suggesting a month-to-month license until you have built up a years' worth of acceptable continuous cruising before you're allowed an annual CC license? If so, I'm not sure how much this will help unless the requirements are also changed, as most CCers have no problem getting their annual licenses renewed. I'm also confused by this. Let's say I am exploring the country, going from Bristol to York (around 400 miles). I do 15 miles every two weeks over the course of 12 months, but for 13 days of the fortnight I'm moored up and seeing the local sights. This doesn't constitute "cruising" in your view? Someone on a voyage like this would have clearly no use for a home mooring. Would renting a home mooring in Bristol, say, make this journey more acceptable to you? Or is this cruising pattern unacceptable no matter how much the person pays nor what they pay it for? People who rent a mooring still go cruising and still have to abide by the 14/7/2 day (or whatever) mooring limitations. People who are continuously cruising are exactly the same, except they do this year round and don't ever return to a "home mooring". Those that pay for a home mooring resent those who don't, based on the fact that a small proportion of continuous cruisers don't abide by the requirements OR because they feel that the requirements are not strict enough. It seems to me to really come down to the haves looking down on the have nots.

I've not re-watched an episode in a while, but I disagree about the program making frequent reference to Pru's dementia. Anybody who has had to live with the consequences of somebody getting dementia, will be well aware just how difficult is is to get the subject openly discussed, and to understand it better. In fact there often seems to be some kind of taboo that it should not be discussed. I think the Wests and their family have taken an incredibly brave decision to openly discuss exactly what it mauns in practice, and the fact that Pru is clearly a very intelligent and erudite person but no more exempt from the diagnosis than anybody else to me sends a powerful message. As we bet better at keeping the physical body alive for more and more years it is inevitable that this is an issue that will face more and more families. In fact, when you have been involved i it, and get talking to people, itis staggering how many people have had experience of it. It's just many make a point of not talking about it. I heartily applaud what Tim and Pru have done, and other TV canal programs are available for those who would rather not have this kind of content.

I'll be happy if I'm still around at that age.

Only 2 is evading the law and/or CRT enforcement. 1 and 3 are perfectly legitimate. The implication that the only reason people don't have a home mooring is to avoid costs is complete nonsense.

Being a cynic - I think it's all been carefully choreographed - perhaps to indicate that the canals are not only for the fit and healthy but also for those to whom life has many challenges. Certainly Pru's first 'accident' with the centre line in the lock has happened to many of 'us' and her response was staged. It spoils the series for me, which are far superior to the other series attempt which pales into insignificance .

I've posted about this before, just got this through today, the emergency services are now using it to find you...Summer’s a great time to be out and about, going to festivals and exploring the countryside. Unfortunately, these places can be difficult to describe in emergencies, which means that 999 call handlers have to deal with directions like “I can see a farm in the distance…” or “I’m near the white tent”. When every second counts, being able to describe where help is needed is crucial.This week, emergency services across the UK are joining forces to raise awareness of what3words in their local communities. The message is simple: this summer, help emergency services find you by downloading the free what3words app and be prepared to give your 3 word address if needed.This simple action could save lives this summer, and we’d love for you to be involved in sharing this message. This is how you can help:Share a post on your social media to reach friends, family and your wider community using the hashtag #Help999FindYou and tag @what3words.If sharing by email, Facebook etc., use this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHS3tKpeUYw&feature=youtu.be

Thanks to everyone for your input. I now know that I wasn't dreaming!

Not all of them - some are doing a cruise, they just can't get away much. But I suspect they're in a minority. It's only annoying, as I said, if they pick the best or only spots to leave the boat. Otherwise, no, it isn't that prevalent and, like most of the stuff that people get hot under the collar about, it really isn't very important. I don't understand how anyone could abandon the tub and only check it fortnightly either. I'd at last leave a number in the window where I could be contacted if someone spotted a problem - unless of course one wouldn't want to be contacted by someone, such as CRT. And the only reason I now live in a house rather than the boat still is because I play (and have earned money for most of my life from) thirteen different instruments and own twenty thousand books, and I can't fit them all on a forty foot tub. And my wife won;t live on it because she can't work out how to play the double bass on it either.

Couldnt agree more with this. Best response here so far...from the predictable mix of anti-london/anti-liveaboard/continuous cruising posts. Where does the concept that those boaters doing the most lock/miles a day are 'better' come from?? Shouldnt they pay more for causing more wear and tear?? Mooring in a village for 2 weeks I contribute far more to the local economy using shops etc and it's simply a better way to see the country and canals system. It's an odd paradox that we are running out of water and the canals falling apart from poor maintenance and age yet those boaters using as little of this water and causing as little wear and tear are amongst the most criticised? With regard to the complaints about continuous moorers....Every boat is moored somewhere each night. So what if some were there 1 night or 14? Each boat is still occupying a spot on the canal each night, preventing a 'proper' boater from mooring there is just as likely if the cc'ing boat moves each night or not surely? And most '14 day' moorings arent the desirable ones holiday boats want anyway. These tend to be 48h spots by pubs etc. I also dispute the idea the canals are over crowded anyway. London waterways would be dead and empty without young liveaboards. Holiday boaters will never use London waterways in large numbers as most want the countryside anyway. Spent 2 years cc'ing London/home counties and never had a problem finding a spot to moor. It's the friendliest part of the system (bar the really quiet spots like the Basingstoke and East Anglian waterways).

Well she’s finally back in the water, proper moulding and all

No Eta to add some meat I'm saying that they are complying with CRT rules and CRT have no issues with them. I do find though that other, but not all, boaters seem to like to judge them though. My view is that if CRT are happy and they are not causing anyone any problems then good luck to them it's not my place to judge how they choose to comply.

As usual these days more assuming everyone has a smart phone and access to the internet. My PAYG mobile phone certainly won't run the W3W app.

i got the diesel bug really bad one time I used a mix of jet kero and waste oil..............everytime I went to start the boat,the DPA pump would have a frozen metering spindle,its only opened by a flimsy spring,but closed by a rigid link.........apparently this is why jet kero must be changed every month........anyway,the biocide additive did cure the issue....but I must have cleaned the little strainer in the pump inlet 20 times.......Its almost impossible to keep water out of a boat tank.

Ah, but in his day the were presenters not "celebrities."

Ah yes. An ex-GF of mine had a magic poo tank that never needed emptying. The automatic bilge pump used to operate strangely frequently though. The one day the bog pan went all wobbly and it was assumed the fixing bolts had rusted through but no, on inspection she found the top of the poo tank was thinner and holier than lace. This why I like a cassette....

I always use bitumen. I have paid huge amounts out on previous boats to be grit blasted and eopoxied. This hull iis now 11 years old and has had bitumen use since day one. I have done it twice in my ownership, last time was a year ago it cost me the grand sum of 540 pounds all in for 68 feet. I will have it done again next year. The hull is virtualy as new so it does an admirable job. So less than 300 squids per year and anything else can be looked at and checked every two years whilst its out. I havnt used tar products on any of my boats so cannot advise. This also means apart from doing a good job I havnt paid lots out on a boat I may decide to sell.

Ahhhh, so you fancied her also did you!!

They obviously didn’t know who you were MtB, because it sounds like they treated you like a normal person?

I think you'll find it was Multi-Coloured Swap Shop you are all thinking of, hosted by Noel Edmonds with Keith Chegwin, John Craven and, from 1978, the object of your adolescent (or later) attentions Maggie Philbin!

We often accompanied the William to IWA Rallies. In 1971 on the last day of the Northampton rally we received a message that the river was in flood, and we needed to make a swift escape. Here are a couple of photos of the William being coaxed under a sluice lock gate after we had helped them remove roof top equipment (including the water tank!!)

That will make a right old mess if it ever bursts I assume you have a widebeam as that's over a ton of S*** when its full. And what sort of bowel cleaner do you use? I find cheaper beers work well ................Dave

This may be true, but believe me, he really is that bad. Last time we came across them on their narrowboat we were gaining on them on a straight stretch of the Oxford and I looked in my binos and could see it was them as we expected. I never intimidate so for ages we hung back and I kept knocking he boat out of gear on and off for several minutes until eventualy pru looked behind and smiled and waved us by. Tim moved over a little, dead slow to let us past and immediately went straight up the bank bless him.

I find myself wondering how many boats are on brokerage because the poo-tank only lasts a week between pump-outs ???

Mega well done that man! Hope you told him to do a proper job of putting his name in the hat ?.

I tend to find that, more and more lately, it's "bollocks".

Replaced the prv, and that seems to have fixed the problem. Many thanks for all your great help again... I'll reposition the water pump with flexible hose another day, might add one of those water gauges at the same time...:)

KISS! We have a Gulper with a waterproof rocker switch in the shower compartment. This means that the pump can be switched on and off as you shower – you can delay switching on to get a bit of water build up to soak your feet, for example. If turning a switch on is too much effort, words fail me.