Gwydion

They're animals. You'll never stop that sort of thing.

Somewhere between rights and responsibility, there has to be consideration for common sense as well as common decency. On the grand scale of both, your arsehole of a neighbour with his lorry is a million miles away from a CCer who moves his boat around regularly within a 20 or so mile stretch within reach of where he works, but still falls foul of CRT's moving goalposts.

It's hard to take this seriously. Boat sightings indeed.

I'll have some of that 'ecological' bog fluid for £4.99. Can't go wrong with that. That telly/DVD for £99 is better than what I've got, so I'm interested in that too. You gotta love Aldi!

I'd just have to moor a bit further away. No biggy. I've done it before and haven't grumbled. The times we're talking about here aren't what I think overstaying should be considered as.

Not my problem. The type of visit I cited as an example is perfectly reasonable. He or she should have came along earlier. It's not as if I'm hogging a spot for months on end.

Some people might not want to stop somewhere more than a couple of days. Some people might like a bit longer, and why not? I understand some places get congested, and that it's not fair to allow people to hog visitors moorings, but I think two days and then a penalty charge of £25 per day is completely bastardish at any time of year. I don't think mooring up on a Friday afternoon in say, August, and leaving on Monday morning is unreasonable in the slightest.

It's nice to get a break from my two hooligans! Didn't realise the Navigation lets dogs in, otherwise they'd probably be here now, and I'd be having a less quiet pint. Yeah, but two days? Come on. And you know it's the thin end of a wedge.

The Indian is smashing. Burd and I had a great curry there last night. Bit pricey though. The Marston's does look a better option for food than the Boat, but it's not really a boozer, and they annoyed me yesterday by refusing me cashback to make me use their extortionate cash machine.

It is intimidating people against stopping here. The fella behind the bar in the Boat Inn says it has hit their trade. I understand it's necessary in peak season, but the lack of signage explaining when the charges apply is hurting the place, no doubt about it.

Well, they don't. I've had a good walk up and down today, and nowhere does it say that the charges change according to season. I'm here until the locks open next week, and if CRT want to charge me, I've got a two worded reply for them.

My thoughts exactly!

Fantastic! Cheers, Alan!

What's all this rubbish? Does this apply all year round? The locks are shut for another week. Am I going to have to go back through the tunnel to avoid getting my arse charged off for the sake of a few days?

Exactly what I thought when I saw the title! I've 'dumped' my boat this week in order to take some plastering work in London. If it's annoying people where it is, I really don't care.

I wouldn't drink that piss if they paid me.

I think there's room for plenty more, so long as everyone plays the game. What is it, just over 30,000 boats on the network? I don't venture into London, so maybe I'd take a different view if I did. But the Midlands and further south on the GU don't seem excessively overcrowded to me.

Due to unforseen circumstances, I recently had to leave my boat for a fortnight just beyond the bridge after Hatton top lock. It was perfectly alright there. It's nice and quiet, but not lonely enough as to make your boat vulnerable, since there's usually boats coming and going and mooring, and you get a steady flow of dog walkers and commuters using the canal as a nice walk to the train station.

Thanks, Richard. Yes, it's the lack of flue (by design) that concerns me most of all. Before I purchase something like this, I'll definitely need to work something out in that regard. In the meantime I'll take a look at Chertsey's blog. Thanks again!

I'm just looking at this... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/231844737593 I really love the look of it, but paraffin/kerosene appliances seem to have gone right out of fashion since the eighties, and I'm wary about their overall safety. Fuelling them would seem to be nice and cheap, but that would be something of a false economy if it kills you. I think I'd rather be over-cautious than dead, so I'm wondering if anyone has any experience of these things and any advice to offer?

Robert Mugabe is reportedly delighted that his stolen boat has been found at last, and he's looking forward to a long holiday on the English cuts this year, taking in all the rural charm and agricultural wonders.

It's fibreglass, so if you like the character of the boat, I wouldn't let the age put you off. You WILL want to do your own thing to the interior though, so I'd give those cheaper boats which need work a once over if I were you. Thought about the fuel consumption: 35hp is way more than a 23ft GRP needs. I'd look at sticking an outboard on the back, which would burn nowhere the amount of fuel you mention. Not sure how easy that would be with the particular model, but I'd certainly look into it.

Me neither, but then again, I'm not a big European construction tycoon capable of giving politicians backhanders to make me a billionaire with money the country doesn't actually have. Not saying that's necessarily what's happened of course. Photos of politicians with rent boys etc can also be quite persuasive. I could suggest that some politicians might even believe that the 'benefits' of HS2 might eventually make it worthwhile, but that really would be stretching credibility, and I wouldn't want to take the piss with unlikely speculation like that.

Well, my cassette bog is too tiny for me to fully sit down on it, so I have to sort of half squat and hover about a foot above it, all the while keeping my aim. It's not easy at all.

I'm itching to do a bit of painting to my boat's exterior, but I'm wary that it could be waste of time and money doing it at the moment. It's probably safest to hold off for a few weeks. It'll be March next week. It shouldn't be too long before the weather is better for such work.