Mike Todd

It will likely contribute to the bottom coming ever closer to the top.

But the usage is permanent/long term.

Probably the crucial point is saying that they have "lawfully moored without any penalty for many years". It us clear that they believe, or would like to believe, this to be true but more likely they fell into this as a result of BW and then CaRT not being resourced to take sufficient action. It is a good example of what can arise with unenforced or unenforceable rules - people come to believe that they do not matter. It may be a matter of scale. What is best ignored when small scale becomes an issue when taken to a large scale. It is also the case that some people are now facing not being allowed to do what they have been doing for some while, although perhaps not as long as sometimes suggested. This is always a recipe for problems, even conflict. The only real resolution is to restore a situation in which the demand is very limited.

In all newish marinas, and some older ones, that is because the agreement between CaRT and the Marina requires them to require it.

In general I think you are incorrect as they try to keep to saying what will not satisfy them. Sadly too many people (especially those interested in boundary conditions) don't understand the difference. But I also realise that CaRT and BW before them, have not found it easy to produce any statements that give people any certainty and most of their attempts have been undermined by those on an agenda. I am aware of certain situations where, under the radar, CaRT are trying really hard to work with those who have specific needs (especially those who come within the disability legislation) and still being reasonably fair to everyone else.

In the case of a canal boat, in most cases the engine is also the generator for electricity which is used via the batteries. If you have a battery monitor system and like to ensure that your batteries are fully charged regularly (which is generally thought the help avoid premature shortening of their life) then you may also run in to the need for uninterrupted charging. In the case of our installation, the hysteresis in the charge-discharge cycle is 'corrected' by a reset to 100% after four hours after certain conditions are met. Any interruption to the charging restarts the four hours! Of course, this is only important to battery-obsessives!

Our motivation as well. Started in 2007 when Blogger was pretty new to Google and mobile internet pretty primitive. We mainly had to visit a Wetherspoons for a cup of coffee to upload! (NB Warning - my typing and sub editing has not improved in the meantime!)

And because I wanted to make a serious point, not just to score one I tried to adapt the original to nearer today figures as so often used in media pieces. Try getting your boat fixed on UC in order to comply with cc expectations. Thankfully I dont have to but I know folk who do try, sadly too often failing.

Thanks for the point. I intended to add (adapted) but forgot!

That is certainly the case. But also I meet others for whom the lifestyle is the reason. We are not liveaboards but do spend large parts of the year cruising most of the network at some time or other. For me, much of the attraction is in being much more aware of the resources we consume - you cannot just expect the tap to run water unless you do something about it most days - same with all the basics. I'd like to see most politicians 'educated' in this way!

'feeling the pinch' is not confined to those on the very lowest income. As Micawber said, "weekly income two hundred pounds, weekly expenditure one hundred and ninety nine pounds, result happiness. Weekly income two hundred pounds, weekly expenditure two hundred and one pounds, result misery.” I have seen people living on 'executive estates', as they were once called, feeling very troubled when the cost of a mortgage they took out when affordable went through the roof. Watch for many more of these as folk have grown accustomed to very low rates. Many other circumstances can also lead to the pinch, most not the result of being feckless.

That is what I would have expected but it was definitely not like that when we came through! I have found the same phenomenon elsewhere in spaced out flights. Seems that predicting human behaviour is a little more complex . . .

Is there not a restored lock on the detached section that is used by a trip boat?

And also that surveys can be useful even if they approximate to a desired criterion. If used consistently over time, and if carefully designed, they can indicate that change has happened even if we cannot be precise about the quantity either absolute or relative. An important part of statistics is non parametric testing that can help in such contexts. Just because we cannot be sure of the absolute number of users is no reason to ridicule the methodology. It needs greater knowledge than some seem to display.

Given that both sets of regulations have been going for a while, it is a Catch-22 you posit. If they are working and preventing accidents etc then there will be no stats to count them. The longer they exist the harder it is to use stats to 'prove' their worth. This is where something between common sense and professional judgement come in - do we really think that a return to a wholly unregulated free for all would be a good thing?