NN247

Yeah, this is more in line with my recollection. Thanks.

It was also true 15 years ago. I think a lot of people here are very upset that they've been paying for something they absolutely didn't need to be, lol.

I never made any claim about what BW bylaws were in the 70s. I'm pretty sure caring about BW bylaws in the 70s is how you die of boredom.

I've acknowledged from the start that some regulation has existed for as long as I remember. My only contention was that for practical purposes, you didn't really need one. Nothing would happen if you didn't get one, or at least that was the prevailing attitude amongst everyone I knew, and half the boats I was around didn't have one. That's all I've ever said, and it's a hundred percent true. Some people's feelings have been *really* hurt by this objective truth, and they feel very threatened.

Yes, that's what I previously wrote. But the person I responded to said I said something different to that. They said I was thirty, didn't know about living on a canal boat, and never was in the know. I never said any of those things, and none of them are true. Great, man. Good for you. Enjoy that. A levels don't go "out of date", but yeah, the boat masters probably is. I think they last 10 years. Not sure about the first aid stuff. Again, who cares? You're trying to win a competition nobody else is participating in.

Well your "I've lived on the canals for less than 15 years" story is certainly compelling evidence that I'm wrong about the way things were over 15 years ago. I didn't say I was 30. I didn't say I was *never* in the know. And since you care, I was literally born on a canal boat, lived on them until my teens, have worked professionally on them, and still hold qualifications in that regard. I'm afraid you have no idea what you're talking about.

Well I guess this forum is way more popular than I realised. To the people wondering if I'm trolling or whatever. I'm kind of baffled. I assume you're new to the canals, because licenses and stuff, until I suppose pretty recently, were not really a thing anyone who lived on the canals properly thought about. It was more people who had a boat as a holiday home that bothered with them. There's a point with any rule where compliance is common enough that you're the bad guy if you don't comply, and there's a point where compliance is rare enough that you're an idiot if you do comply. I'm out of the know these days (in so far as I ever was in the know), and I'm just trying to find out where we're at with that. A few answers here (just a few) have actually been useful in explaining that, so that you to these (handful) of people. My practical purpose is that I'm considering buying a boat that needs an interior makeover, and I'm costing that out to see if the level of profit would be worth it. I'd need to move it from where I buy it to where I'd work on it, so I'm just trying to see if I really need to spend hundreds of pounds just for a couple of weeks only to put in drydock where the license would be wasted, or if I could feasibly skip that, and only buy a license at the end of the renovation/let the next owner buy the license. To the people wondering about my dad, and my age and all that, you're... weird, but fine: my dad started carrying coal in 1960 and then later passengers. He worked all over England, and then moved to Europe in the 70s. In the 90s he moved back to England, and became a trainer. He was in his 40s when I was born. I'm in my 30s. He died a few years ago, which is why I can't simply ask him this stuff anymore. I don't know why anyone needed to know that, but there you go. Again, thanks to those who actually addressed the question. dmr especially, thanks, that makes sense of the situation.

lol what? Did I offend your licence religion or some shit?

What are the chances of actually getting "caught" for not complying with this nonsense? Is it like not having a TV licence (ie, who cares), or not having an MOT (getting caught guaranteed)? Do they have people walking about and down or something? Also, what does acting look like?

My dad was an old boatman since the 60s, and I used to be on off the canals my self, but I haven't been near them for 15 years, and I was never the big expert in the first place. Back then, there were people that had these little number plate thing in their windows, but half the boats didn't have them, and members of my family who bought and sold narrowboats didn't bother with them, without ever having a problem. I'm looking to get a boat for various reasons, and reading online there's much more talk of safety certificates, insurance, and these licenses. I understand that this is a legal requirement, but for practical purposes, if I just buy a boat, and start doing it up, but without that paper work, am I likely to get some kind of fine or other consequences?