sassan

Never tried this with shopping (don't really have enough power to run the fridge to keep stuff cool!), but it works fine with takeaways.

I think the chain of replies has been lost a little. We were saying that there are no penalties other than being asked to move, if the spot you are in is deemed unacceptable. The reply was then "then what is the point of owning a mooring permit at all".

Given that you can fit GPS trackers from a couple of hundred per unit, compared to the cost of employing several extra staff to manage the fleet, in addition to wasting driver's time by requiring them to keep their own records, this is nothing. It is perfectly possible to save money on fuel and wasted staff time due to unnecessary travel (eg: if two vans are dispatched to deal with 2 issues only a couple of miles apart) using such methods, they have proved beneficial overall to private business and I see no reason why they could not save the trust money. The trust is not just a fund which buys things periodically, of which some are useful to us and some are not, it is primarily charged with performing administrative and maintainance tasks. I am sure the vast majority of its costs are operational costs (particularly staff salary and fuel). Reducing these costs is MUCH more effective in making the budget go further than simply "not buying things" is.

I usually have some homemade ale to share. I'm off to live in Bristol Harbour like a coward this winter, though, so you may have to wait till spring (and visit the K&A).

I'm not sure I understand. Without the permit you would receive a patrol notice, which is A: official, B: against your license rather than your mooring permit.

What an appalling idea, I sorely hope it was only posted in the hope of fostering a discussion, rather than because you actually feel it would be a good idea. Also, you can blow up RFID tags and readers without contact, using a small handheld device. Guess what I'd be spending the following months doing. Actually, it would make me want to cruise further, to destroy more of the infrastructure and de-tag boats.

Actually, if you read the page, they explicitly say that you will just be asked to move. Obviously people who are idiots and refuse to move or move to another forbidden area will probably lose their permits, yes.

Do not worry, fights like this doesn't exist in the real world. They're exclusively the product of internet mentality.

I am forming a theory. It goes like this: Boat living was too relaxing, resulting in heavily reduced heart rates, eventually in some cases culminating in death. This forum was devised as a solution, we all wind eachother up and thereby protect eachother from death.

While I'm fine with people living on "leisure moorings", what actually annoys me (I just like to be difficult) is actual genuine towpath leisure moorings. Why take up space on the towpath that could be used for residential moorings or CCers if you only visit your boat twice a year. Is driving in and out of a marina really difficult? To those who have leisure moorings and use their boats regularly, this is not directed towards you, I am not suggesting that all leisure mooring users never use their boats, but it's obvious from passing them that some don't. Edit: I apologise for allowing this to drift further and further off topic, but I suppose on the other hand, the on-topic of this thread has been done to death anyway.

It should be noted, regarding the proximity to marinas and long term moorings issue, that the page specifies that they will only act if they receive specific evidence (code for, if someone complains). So basically, you may well find that asking a local marina nicely if you can stay near their entrance is sufficient to increase the options available to you. Also, if you're mooring within 1km of CRT long term moorings, you'll probably be fine, unless there's some neighbourhood busybody who's upset you're getting something cheaper than they are and decides to be spiteful. Worst case scenario is you're asked to move on.

I believe the RBOA would be the place to go for non-CC liveaboards. (disclaimer: I don't know anything about this organisation, they could be wonderful or could be worthless). It is annoying that as soon as someone tries to solve the problem that existing organisations are too broad and don't represent the interests of a particular group, all the other groups are outraged that they can't be a part of the new club. There are relevant organisations you can join, or if you don't feel that they represent you well enough, then do the months and months of work that John and others have done and form your own.

There's been one up around Limpley Stoke for at least 6 months after CRT felled a tree and part of the trunk fell into the cut. They just stuck a couple of markers around it (which are slowly becoming less visible) and left it. It's quite a hazard!

Hmmm, Halal being Arabic for "that which is permitted", I think that means I can moor here...

I have 2 recommendations. Ideally follow both: Get another battery so that you can store more power from alternator generated while cruising. Unfortunately this is a little difficult as adding a battery to an existing bank isn't ideal. Get some solar power. I have about 140W of solar power and I find that during the summer I very rarely have to run the engine except when moving. Maybe on the non-moving weekend.

We have an accumulator and this still happens to us once a day in the evening as the pipes cool down. It is normal.

I don't believe it does, but we can still buy a winter mooring permit seperate from this arrangement.

Unfortunately I can't make it that far east this year, but if you make it to Hilperton this week, or Avoncliff from next week then I might be able to help you the rest of the way. I know this probably isn't much help to you, but if there's someone else who's only willing to do the other section then maybe it'll work out. Mobile is 07930107321.

Agreed. Thank you to all involved. My focus on CRT was more because I did not expect this from them.

I think many of the proposals apply equally to boats with a home mooring.

I've just received my copy of this document and I must say I am extremely impressed with it. CRT have clearly recognised that on the western K&A, things are done slightly differently to on much of the canal network (or at least, so I gather from speaking to people on here from other areas). Clarification of what constitutes a "place" is welcome in my eyes. The definitions are roughly what I and most others I know have been using previously and in a couple of cases add places that I wouldn't have previously considered (I used to wonder whether staying at Dundas straight after Claverton was ok, now I know that it is). 20km per year seems like a pretty reasonable (even slightly generous) guidline for yearly cruising range. The sort of Pay and Display system at visitor moorings does at first glance seem a little out of place, but it is important to note that it doesn't actually change the current usage, only provides an extra option. It also implies that the charge may be reduced from the £25/£50 currently signposted. Making debt collection for visitor mooring overstaying seperate from license fee renewal is going to reduce the number of horror stories in the press about unfair enforcement and save money on lifting out boats. Allowing us easy access to our own CRT cruising records is nice. I'm not sure what form "anonymised cruising records" made available to the public will take. I'm fine with publishing of statistis, but not ok with publishing of my individual records with just the name removed. The clarification of the process for dealing with exceptional circumstances preventing movement is welcome. The overall tone is polite and friendly, rather than the rude and confrontational communication that previously seemed the norm. So overall, I would like to say a big thank you to CRT!

All these northern canals sound quite confusing. I'm used to the approach that "if you haven't already been there, then you're going the right way to get there"!

I disagree with those who say a BSS is necessary. I'm pretty sure that CaRT's license conditions say that one isn't required for boats with none of the following: Inboard engine, electrics, gas, heating. This sounds like what you want.

Noone's mentioned the simplest solution, which is to connect the charger directly to the domestic battery bank! How much do your starter and bow-thruster batteries need charging when you aren't using them? Probably not for a good long time!

I was planning on building myself a little stirling engine fan for the winter. Wonder how I'll manage to build it for less than £1500 though!