Tam & Di

Article 3 of the Canal Byelaws "As to Vessels to be used on Canals" reads "Fitness of Vessels: No person shall bring use or leave in any canal any vessel which is not in every respect fit for navigation on the canal or part thereof where it is intended to be used." I can imagine the argument that a boat too wide to use a canal with 7' locks might reasonably have a contract, say, to carry goods on a lock-free pound, but I don't think "I need a boat more than 62' to live on and family might visit" is a particularly strong argument against the obligation to engage in bona fide navigation.

Hire boats were mostly fitted out on the basis that they would be in use through the summer, so insulation was minimal if at all. It is possible something was done about that in the 2008 refit, but I suspect not. If this is the case it would be a very cold boat to live on in the winter. It would also be hotter than a decently insulated craft in the summer.

Although it took a long time I believe they have been pretty heavy on the guy with several boats at Teddington used as AirBNBs

The weir stream at Chertsey is Environment Agency waters, but they are pretty hot too, to say the least.

In fact I believe the question was last asked just a few weeks ago. Even if you comply with all the safety and bureaucratic requirements it is still a risky thing to do if you hope to get your boat back in a similar condition to how it is now - or at all, come to that, either because the occupant refuses to leave or because he has already sold it secretly to someone else.

And how long do you think it would take to get such a vessel built and all its systems properly tested? Most of the options quoted are possible, but why would you have them? Boats cross the Channel without Cat B and C - it just takes careful choice of when. It's doubtlessly possible to design a boat with fully automatic controls that could run up and down the sytem with no-one on board if you really tried. People enjoy boats for any number of reasons - exploring canals, visiting pubs, widlife and bird watching - all perfectly reasonable. We had owners at our yard who visited their boat on the hard every weekend for years, and never had any realistic expectation of cruising. For some the dream of designing their perfect boat is their major hobby, and perhaps the OP gets more from this than ever he would if the project came to conclusion.

and with some owners having bits and pieces and their dog(s) etc on the bank it very much is effectively their back yard.

There is (was) Ian Burgoyne in Oxford: irburgoyne [AT] aol {dot} com. but he might have moved to France now.

Have you tried the DBA forum? You are maybe more likely to get recommendations there https://barges.org/discussion-forum

The boating families lived on their boat because the boat was a working tool; they moved because that was the whole point of the work, not just in order to do the minimum they could get away with. Their 'travelling' was the real thing, but I'm sure the NBTA people don't seriously pay much mind to that - it's just part of the fable they use to get public sympathy with their self indulgent way of life.

I did similarly, but then felt slightly guilty as the one I caught was the youngest and slowest and probably not one of those that threw stones. 🤭

I find the best deterent is to have a camera visibly directed at the yobos about to engage in such - good as you approach, but not so useful if they are on the side of the bridge where you exit.

Not a tanker, but we fitted our 74' x 14' Trent barge Clinton, running grain from Tilbury to Weybridge, with water ballast for running light. Suitable pipework and stop cocks enabled it to be filled or emptied using a powerful pump driven off the main Gardner 5LW.

It looks long enough to hit the wall if it swing right over in a lock 😟

Wow!!! Who'd have known that people have been living on canal boats since the Bronze Ages? 🤔

It did occur to me and Di 😃. We were petitioners against elements of the 1995 Act while it was at the discussion "Bill" stage. Arguments were made against a draft clause that made everyone have a home mooring, and the Lords committee accepted these. They told BW to come up with some alternative to the 'home mooring' clause. Duffy, the BW Solicitor, was so frightened that they might lose the whole Bill that he came up with the 'continuous cruising' idea more or less overnight. We pointed out to him that it didn't have anything to qualify or define 'continuous cruising', and Duffy said they would sort that out later - well, we know where that got him, don't we! 😧

I think that ditchcrawler is referring to Adrian Stoat who argues for pay-as-you-go by miles and locks used. Obviously this would be the perfect system for those who simply want to live on the towpath and move as little as possible. ☹️

Sadly Lotta's British courtesy flag is upside down. 😡

Doesn't have a lot of canals there though 😃

There are infinitely more cars than boats, but DVLC know if your car has tax, MOT and insurance. It is obviously possible for C&RT to create a similar system to give them the information they require rather than relying on the iffey word of the owner.

When you pay someone in business you can ask for a receipt, certainly, and if appropriate these could be used to substantiate payments you've made in the personal accounts you present to HMRC. A 'statement of affairs' should show all the relevant transactions, but the figures shown there cannot be technically regarded as 'receipts' and used in the same way - they won't show any of the same detail. I don't think you'll get very far trying to convince HMRC that this company is acting dishonestly.

I'd agree, though I do often talk of it 'making a level' which is effectively the same thing. That works in either direction, rather than having to use "empty" - on here it seems there are those who would query "empty" unless the lock had been physically pumped dry. 😁

That's what struck me too. I appreciate that it is aimed at the naive viewer, but they could at least have show some pictures of an actual working boat to give a better view of the life.

It's listed as about 1912.