IanD

How do you not pay up, when at license renewal time you declare that you're a CCer with no home mooring -- and will get charged a higher license fee?

But it looks likely that they will when the license fee changes are announced...

I don't think anyone's denying that a trad stern is best in horrible weather. But if you're not a solo/pair boater and want to be sociable in better weather with more people, a trad stern is the worst choice. All things to do with boats are a compromise... 😉

Indeed, since widebeams and CCers are outnumbered about 4:1 by narrowboats and HMers. Boaters in the consultation predictably voted for what they preferred and thought was "fair", even if a minority disagree. At least the mandate for change thus presented to CART had a much bigger margin than 52:48... 😉

Pretty high, going by what I found when looking for a mooring earlier this year. The most common response -- the majority -- was "Sorry, we're full"... So there doesn't seem much incentive for marina operators to push CRT to make CCing more difficult -- the likely reasons for this have been explained at length in this thread.

Unless it's coming straight towards you, with so much crap piled on the roof or plants that the steerer can't see you, and is sitting over a noisy engine and/or playing loud music so they can't hear your horn. Even worse if they're a wideboat on a narrow canal... 😞

I think a battery-powered angle-grinder might be more appropriate. Or a big mains one, got plenty of power... 😉 P.S. Already well equipped in the axe department, thanks... 🙂

For... ?

A wet nose won't bother me, the bow is pretty much watertight and self-draining (see photo) -- one of the reasons for choosing the layout I did, last time I came through Salterhebble there was a veritable fountain from under the top gates which tried to fill up the (57') hire boat well deck, so I knew a 60' would be worse still... 😞 I'll watch out for Elland in particular, I knew one of the locks was especially bad for that problem but wasn't sure which one -- thanks for the warning 🙂

I certainly hope so, since I'll be going up it -- short stern button and all... 😉

Uplands at Middlewich Anderton ;-)...

Where's yours? 🙂

Great idea, I've got to go to Screwfix anyway -- and a pickaxe handle is a lot stronger than a bit of softwood... 🙂 -- except Screwfix don't seem to sell axe/pickaxe handles any more... 😞 -- but plenty of other places do... 🙂

Does anyone know actual dimensions required for a C&H handspike? I can knock one up at home, but don't have a workshop on the boat if it doesn't fit... Rochdale it is then, lets hope for not too many razor-wire/mattress-type incidents... 😉 Oh look, CWDF search is your friend... 🙂

Need to get a handspike too...

Not how maths works. 15% numerical cost increase when inflation is 5% is 9.5% increase per year in real terms, which is 57.6% over 5 years if you want to be exact... 😉

Buggers up our plans too -- not the boating itself, sons GF was coming up by train to meet us in Leeds... 😞

Oh poo... 😞

Of course if inflation also averages 5% the real cost rise is 10% per year, which is a 60% increase... 😉

Very few, when you consider what the typical total yearly cost of boating is. It's like when there's a government change or a tax increase (especially for the rich), people warn that they'll leave the country in droves but it's an empty threat that never really happens. Even a £1000 increase is probably typically around 20% of total annual boating cost going by various estimates on here, and lots of research into price increases has shown that this kind of increase causes grumbling but not wholesale exit from a market -- you need something like a 50% increase to get many people to seriously consider leaving and changing their lifestyle. Various people have already expressed the view that the license fee is cheap for what you get and should be increased, so I'm not going to invite a shower of sh*t by saying this... 😉

That sounds more likely than a lot of what has been suggested. CART are desperate to raise more money, and the consultation results showed that most boaters are in favour of increased fees for widebeams and CCers -- and yes that's because they're both a minority (about 20%?) of boaters, so the majority (about 80% in each case?) get to decide who pays what. Like democratic elections or a certain referendum, but with a *far* bigger majority...

Gaslighting at it's finest. DFTT.