Leonie

withoutapaddle I tend to travel between moorings somewhere between Friday evening and Sunday afternoon depending on whether or not I'm having a social life that week I aim to be moored up by dinner time as I hate to starve. Seriously though, I do have to be fairly organised but try not to rigid so don't have too many 'tips' beyond, 'do whatever makes you happy and doesn't hiss your neighbours off'. Good luck

Wow, that's actually quite scary. I try and make a point of mooring up as close to shady trees as possible in summer... I may rethink this approach Glad noone was hurt and hopefully there's not too much damage a tree can do to a steel hull. With all this rain, I wonder how many more trees are going to come down? Hopefully none.

Les, Just wanted to give you an update on how 'Norman' aka 'Lola' is settling in. She basically owns the boat and runs my life. She's due her shots this weekend and a catflap will follow so she can traumatise the tow path. It was ace meeting you both and thanks again for the opportunity to adopt

I was referring to the assumptions (laden with dripping sarcasm) he was making about my life - ie. the part of his post I quoted. I agree though, his comments about the Winter Moorings weren't arsey.

You can take whatever you like and make assumptions with it, but you are wrong. I don't have weekends free, nor do I have another home. I understand that 'some' - less than half of the available moorings have been 'let' by BW for winter moorings. It happens every year you know Why so sarcastic by the way (eg 'I take it you have weekends free, but don't perhaps spend them on the boat?' What an arsey attitude)?

I'm not at odds with myself. I'm highlighting the point that if a spot is full - as Camden often and always is because it's a short mooring stretch - you can simply move on to another. I've never had the luxury of moving in the middle of the day, as I mention 'work long hours in the City'. I'd also like to point out that the GU in and around London is empty during the winter so if the moorings are full it's because of seasonal craft. I don't begrudge them coming of course and am happy to moor up alongside anyone

Hi. It absolutely is possible. I work fairly long hours in 'the City' and CC around Central London. I've never been on the Thames though, so can't say I do the ring. You don't actually have to. The rule of 'one calendar year' in actuality boils down to 'about two months'. Have a chat to the BW chaps at Paddington or give them a call if you want to confirm or deny this. For the last few years I've happily lived in and around London, and when I say 'around', yes my commute is sometimes almost two hours. I have moored as far out of London as Milton Keynes - working my way back down via the mainline trains to Uxbridge - and to Bishops Stortford - also served very well by trains. Yes, sometimes my commute is almost two hours each way but sometimes I can walk to work. Sometimes I have to slog about 20 minutes to the towpath from the train station but sometimes I'm moored practically on top of the station. Camden, Paddington and Islington are now listed as 7 day moorings and all Central London moorings have Wardens. I've always stayed 14 days at Islington with no hassle and have never stayed at Camden because it's always full. The bottom line is that just about anything is possible if you are up to the graft and if I'd have read these forums before taking my challenging lifestyle on, I'd have thought it impossible. I'm very grateful that I began living the life before reading about it here... Take the 'the canals are getting full' protests with a grain of salt as for ever new CC in and around London, there is someone moving to dry land/out of the area or taking up a permanent mooring. Also, if the worst case scenario does happen and the mooring you come to is full... and this is stupendously rare as most moorings in London allow double breasting and accommodate quite a few boats... then simply move on to the next one. I'll probably regret posting this as the 'you arent' doing it properly' hellfire posters come out of the woodwork but I just want to redress the balance with actual facts from someone who does indeed CC in London. Hope this helps xxx