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The use of the thread title worries me a little. It implies the OP is starting from a position of expecting to be a victim of some sort of coercion from an authority, rather than looking at the rules and practicalities and seeing how a life can be made from it. CRT doesn't have any agenda apart from trying to maintain a system for a variety of users, most of whom are somewhere on the anarchic spectrum (I include cyclists & fishermen as well as us) when it comes to the rules/traditions, with not enough money to do the job. The villagey nature of those who live on has changed a bit over the last thirty years as more people do it, but in general we all help each other out as far as possible, possibly due to a shared history of needing help. But do bear in mind the crucial, and expensive, need for occasional sudden large amounts of money - my boat needed 9 grand's worth of work overnight a year or so back, or all I would have owned would have been a pile of underwater rust. If that had been my only home... renting might not be secure, but at least houses don't often sink. The other thing you lose as a cruiser is all your local network, friends, acquaintances, regular and known habitats. That may be more important than you think as you're used to it so don't really notice it any more, but constantly moving mucks it up. PS those who post endlessly on various forums about hidden agendas or social cleansing by CRT are usually (though not always) those who have deliberately, for one reason or another, picked a fight with CRT and lost. Most of us just get on with our lives with no problems, putting up with the occasional glitch that is bound to occur in an inefficient management system.

Hi Ali, just to pick up on a few points you made: 1) There are a lot of CCers on the system. Thousands. I can’t really see them being “evicted” any time soon. Many CCers get on with their lives, and never come into conflict with CRT - because they abide by the rules they signed up to. Some, and they tend to be the noisy ones, signed up to the rules with no intention of obeying them and then moan loudly when CRT get uppity with them for non-compliance. I call them “piss-takers”! From your writings I think you would be in the former camp and thus not have a problem. 2) I don’t think one can say there is a “boating community”. Boaters come in all shapes, sizes and flavours just like in the real world! Some are lovely, some are selfish and obnoxious, just like in the real world! But it is perhaps a more friendly and helpful group of disparate people than one might find living in, say, suburban London. Not that that is saying much! But my point is that it is not all roses and chocolate box. 3) Although fully residential moorings may be hard to find, plenty of “leisure” moorings are in reality used as residential. Usually there is a caveat that you have to have a home address, but that could be a friend or relative. And some places specify a maximum number of days you can be there, but often it is nearly all the year except for, say, a couple of weeks. There is a wide variation in how this point is addressed. But anyway, a marina mooring is pretty much like having a caravan in a car park. Not that great a place to live, so you will want to get out from time to time! But an important point is that a mooring, even a residential one, has no security of tenure in law. It is not treated the same as a house. Not trying to put you off but you would be giving up a secure land based home for an insecure water based one. Although I suppose if you fall out / get evicted from a mooring, you can take your “house” with you and chug off into the sunset. A bit like being a snail! 4) And finally please don’t consider a boat to be a cheaper way to live than a house. Things go wrong with boats and can be expensive to rectify. Power, heating, water, sewerage etc are all more problematic than in a house. Especially in winter, I think you have to be more resilient than in a house. For example, when you find you are frozen in, miles from a shop/water/Elsan point, low on diesel and coal.... etc I wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide, but please don’t think that living on a boat all year round is an easy and cheap option!

Caveat Emptor . . . unless the builder/designer negligently failed to advise their client. In principle, one might expect the CaRT Licensing web site to pick up this matter but, of course, there are waterways where the vessel might be more than compliant and the licence quite clearly does not guarantee the ability to cruise the whole system. Applied strictly then we (at 60ft) could not be licensed for the C&H but we have done it several times. If the owner explicitly said to the builder that they wanted a design that they cruise this route (down to London?) who then said, "No Problem" (sorry Sue) then surely they would share the liability for any financial outcome. In any event, anyone building right to the limits, if they have any knowledge of the system, should know that this is foolhardy, not just to width but depth, length, tumblehome and air draft. Unless there is explicit evidence of negligence by others, surely a court would expect the buyer to exercise due diligence?

Working single-handed, I looked on Foulridge as an opportunity to go and make a cup of tea while the boat found its own way through.

Out of water on Saturday! What to do? Er, find a water point and fill up the tank? I've just read the topic title, so I assume that's what it is about. Jen ?

Having gone from the days that the arrival of the patrol officers leading to a mass engine start, even if you had only been moored for day or two, and patrol officers standing on your boat asking why your address is in nottingham , but your boat and its mooring are in herts, to the current where a case of claimed tunnel anxiety gives you ‘permission to stay’ ( by report), the pendulum can shift. it got quite stressful in the early days without moorings and this could come back. At one point we ended up renting for a while to appease the board which was very challenging as we still had no mooring. While I am not a conspiracy theorist, but the rise of the right and the intolerance of certain ( often wealthy and influencial groups) is likely to make things harder. ( if you look at the boat naming and shaming about putative overstaying at an organised event on the braunston rally thread) you can see how identifiable you can be) if you have a fixed rent secure tenure for gods sake keep it. Livung on a boat after say your mid 70s is very hard, and i cant see the tories taking you off and giving you your flat back. i dont want to be negative , im not but be careful. I now no longer live our boat, ive been lucky we both worked hard no children and nhs pensions so dont have to , but after 35 years experience I would not want to have the boat as my home in 10 years time.

Cos it's dark?

I'll just leave this here ...

I think they’re a myth put about by trad boat owners just to wind people up.

Or if you'd prefer a map : https://canalrivertrust.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapTools/index.html?appid=b46e3e0bda4a44a0be267df7674139a5

She indeed still around and still owned by the Balls at Industry Narrowboats (34 years they have had her). She is actually coming out for a survey on Tuesday as she has a potential new owner lined up

OP. The canal system and the people on it, are not really represented here on this forum, certainly not very well, in my opinion anyway. Forums always have a minority of consistent posters. Unfortunately in forums, these people tend to form allegiance to one another within that few posters. I'm talking posters that are usually very easy to spot. However there are lots of other posters, most less prolific than those mentioned and many of those seem to be very nice, easy going people, more like the cruisers I know and indeed love. There are some prolific posters on here that don't get tied up in that nonsense and are easy to read and reply too, but it's all very easy to see who falls in which catagory. Not that 'catagory' is the right word really. So please don't take all the forum as a guide to people on the canal or rivers. Boaters in general, face to face, are very warm and welcoming, there is snobbery, but those people can be treated pleasantly when met and avoided where possible. I think you'd love the way of life and I wouldn't worry too much about the licence situation. Most people are down to earth folk with a very nice common interest.. Boating. Giving people help & advice is important.. Those people that give you their opinion as fact, whether you want it or not, then wrap that up as help & advice.. They're to be avoided.

Noah and I spent many hours worrying about the construction of black water tanks for forty days and nights, In the end, we opted for traditional thunderboxes. ? I was just using the terms sump, and soakaway in a generic sense. No doubt some systems are designed to produce a clean discharge, but these are more sophisticated. In my days with the Min of Ag in England [1967-75], people without mains sewerage had the option of a septic tank, which would be emptied regularly, they must still exist. No scope for reed beds............................ Back on topic: the trolley arrived from Robert Dyas, wish me luck

The problem with tracking us around is not now, it is should a future, less benign govt get into power. Them having historic records showing exactly everywhere you have been, and when, since about 2010 would be jolly handy in suppressing anyone suspected of not toeing the party line.

Daft question tbh, I object to tracking devices in my personal life ( and working life as well but that ship has sailed) so the only option is to pay up. No obviously not but happy to help a police enquiry if needed, but again it's the you are a good boy so why object argument, where does it stop?

This bit is the bit that i find particularly disturbing it leads easily into, why object if you have done nothing wrong, I mean why not just tag us all at birth? I understand that but it does bother me

I think Ditchcrawler was being polite and making an excuse for lady G telling him he was mistaken about what he has in his garden. He not only has lived there for many years, he is a clever and observant guy so my money is on him knowing what he has. I am amazed at how many different jobs Lady G has had and now another one of inspecting soakaways has popped up. She must be a lot older than i thought ? I bet her CV is really interesting. haggis

When we cruised the MSC (in 2002) as part of an IWA trip, we had to breast up (MSC instructions). We breasted our 57 foot boat to Cheshire Cat (about 40 feet) and it didn't present a problem. We lined up the sterns and agreed at the outset that we would take turns at steering and deciding on speed (whoever was in charge would ask the person on the other boat to adjust their speed) . We had never met the folk on Cheshire Cat before (although they became friends after that trip) but it worked a treat and it gave us much amusement watching what was happening on other boats where the two skippers were doing different things and as a result the boats weren't progressing smoothly. One I recall was where the male skipper of one boat took exception to a female being on the helm of the other boat and the boats almost went round in a circle as the skippers disagreed. The two couples had been friends before the trip but I don't think the friendship survived. A wonderful example of male chauvenism. We were on a shared boat and Cheshire cat was hired at that time but neither sharers or hirers are now allowed on the MSC. haggis

Is it perhaps because the alternative on an inland waterway (moor on the towpath) is more acceptable than whatever the alternative for lumpy water would be. Meaning the marina has to keep the price down to attract enough custom. Just a thought.

Most septic tanks discharge into a soakaway. Not much point overflowing into a sump. The aim is not containment, but to allow the discharge to be aereated before slow release into the environment, by which time it's pretty harmless.

no more until its launched, mite do a walk through of it video, better than pics.

That's why we are sticking with a pump out. ...I'll get my coat.