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Can I visit the boat to check it's OK?


PaulD

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Just seen this on the other side -

"An acceptable reason to travel

The government and other bodies now recognise the risk posed by restricting access to vessels, and state that checking on a boat’s safety is an acceptable reason to travel.  Owners who fail to visit or maintain their boats during lockdown, may have future insurance claims rejected if they cannot evidence they attempted to ensure the boat’s safety (even if it means paying a third-party or arranging for a marina to do so)."

 

No links given.

 

Is it true? I can't find anything on CRT or Gov.com. I do remember that CRT said it was OK in the first lockdown but nothing recent.

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17 minutes ago, PaulD said:

Just seen this on the other side -

"An acceptable reason to travel

The government and other bodies now recognise the risk posed by restricting access to vessels, and state that checking on a boat’s safety is an acceptable reason to travel.  Owners who fail to visit or maintain their boats during lockdown, may have future insurance claims rejected if they cannot evidence they attempted to ensure the boat’s safety (even if it means paying a third-party or arranging for a marina to do so)."

 

No links given.

 

Is it true? I can't find anything on CRT or Gov.com. I do remember that CRT said it was OK in the first lockdown but nothing recent.

 

Its one of the anomalies thrown up by the lockdowns.

 

In the last lockdown Ford made it clear to me that if my car wasnt serviced in accordance with the scedule it would potentially invalidate the warranty.

 

However travelling to get your car serviced wasnt specifically listed as 'essential travel' so technically wasnt allowed.

 

I defered the service and vowed to fight it out with them if I ever had a claim refused.

 

 

Edited by The Happy Nomad
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If it is causing you stress, I suggest you go, but don't enjoy the excursion, that is the main thing.

Take a bottle of very expensive, but good red wine, and a decent steak, herby baby potatoes with best frozen veggies or rocket salad.

Light the stove eat steak, drink wine, and tuck yourself under a brand new, hotel quality goose down duvet. 

Next day change the oil, clean the bilge and prep boat for an outing.

Edited by LadyG
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Just now, LadyG said:

If it is causing you stress, I suggest you go, but don't enjoy the excursion, that is the main thing.

Take bottle of good red wine, and a decent steak, herby baby potatoes with best frozen veg, light the stove eat steak, drink wine, and tuck yourself under a goose down duvet. 

 

And you had the brass neck to call me an idiot the other day.

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I can’t see anything in the current legislation that would make it legitimate to travel to check on a boat, it is quite clear on the reason you can be outside the house.  
 

We now know that if things go to plan you would be able to check on the boat on 29 March, hopefully we will not have any more bad wether before then.

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My boat is on the canal towpath side. I can walk past it as exercise but if I go on board can I be fined £200 ??

 

What are the marina's saying? Would the CRT guidance from the first lock down convince PC Plod?

 

I must share a bottle with Lady G one day! 

 

 

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15 minutes ago, PaulD said:

My boat is on the canal towpath side. I can walk past it as exercise

Can you? It depends how far away from your home it is.

if its in your local area then you can, if its not you cant.

Mine is 250 miles away so I can't.

My Marina is locked down only residents allowed from March 29 I can visit to check on it but not stay

After April 12 they will allow me to stay overnight.

Edited by Loddon
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9 minutes ago, PaulD said:

My boat is on the canal towpath side. I can walk past it as exercise but if I go on board can I be fined £200 ??

 

What are the marina's saying? Would the CRT guidance from the first lock down convince PC Plod?

 

I must share a bottle with Lady G one day! 

 

 

Technically I guess yes you could be fined for stepping on the boat, but if the boat is so close to home that you can walk to it as part of your exercise, then it is a bit different to getting in the car and driving 30 miles to a different county to visit it.  In the first lockdown you could not visit the boat until the first easing, so exactly the same this time round.

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Far too many different misguided interpretations on the very loose 'essential travel guidelines'

 

I have noticed much more traffic on the roads these past few weeks, surely not all are 'essential or work' but then again they maybe.

 

The real answer -

Up to you, I would travel with caution and if asked say it is to respond to a problem with the boat (make something up)

The main thing is to avoid any contact with others outside your self appointed 'bubble' just as if you were at the supermarket.

Any problems, just say Dominic Cummings told you it was ok.

 

Edited by MarkH2159
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46 minutes ago, LadyG said:

If it is causing you stress, I suggest you go, but don't enjoy the excursion, that is the main thing.

Take a bottle of very expensive, but good red wine, and a decent steak, herby baby potatoes with best frozen veggies or rocket salad.

Light the stove eat steak, drink wine, and tuck yourself under a brand new, hotel quality goose down duvet. 

Next day change the oil, clean the bilge and prep boat for an outing.

Don't know what planet you're on. We keep our boat in a marina and the instructions are, only visit if essential, with marina operators consent and  no overnight stays until told otherwise.

I don't want to risk getting ejected from the marina by not following their guidance, thank you.

 

 

Edited by Ray T
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5 minutes ago, MarkH2159 said:

Far too many different misguided interpretations on the very loose 'essential travel guidelines'

 

I have noticed much more traffic on the roads these past few weeks, surely not all are 'essential or work' but then again they maybe.

 

The real answer -

Up to you, I would travel with caution and if asked say it is to respond to a problem with the boat (make something up)

 

 

 

That's the real problem - it's convincing the police, if they pull you over, that it is essential.  If they decide it isn't then you are up shit creek.

Edited by StephenA
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Taking it for granted that you take reasonable care to isolate from others etc etc, there are then two scenarios -

1) you get caught by the police and get fined £200

2) you don't go and, worse case, your boat sinks

 

I know which one I'd go for (plus I'm sure the insurance excess and other uninsured losses  would be way more than £200)

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Although we are being asked to stay at home a lot of people are out and about doing lots of things. If you are fairly local to the boat I doubt the police would stop you. I'm out and about with work a fair bit and never been questioned. Not saying you should ,or won't get into trouble but if you did I go to check the boat and it's not miles away I  think it would be very unlikely that  anyone batted an eyelid.

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2 hours ago, StephenA said:

 

That's the real problem - it's convincing the police, if they pull you over, that it is essential.  If they decide it isn't then you are up shit creek.

Hence the 'problem with the boat' idea.

 

Having travelled the country for legitimate reasons on several occasions this past month I can safely say that, despite the apparent paranoia, there is little chance of the Police being involved.

Even knowing that they can and probably have tracked my vehicle with ANPR cameras, I still have no worries about being stopped and asked.

The most important thing is to follow the distancing rules and not engage with anyone unless absolutely necessary.

Travelling legitimately to check on a boat for a reasonable period of time is not going to raise any issues.

On the other hand if there is a real issue with the boat and something serious happens, it has to be considered worth it.

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Farmer where I moor made it clear that he wants the boats checked on. I'm only a few miles away, and I've been down twice so far this winter and I'm going again tomorrow. There are plenty of people driving about, if the police are really into stopping individual folk in cars they're daft. I can understand them stopping people going to beauty spots.

I do a fifty mile trip every week to support an ill friend, and have never been queried.

It really depends on the rules of your mooring.  There's been a few dumpers sunk this year, unsurprisingly, but I would think no marina wants a sunk boat spreading diesel & oil everywhere so will be keeping an eye on them if they have banned visits.

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We have to visit our boat twice a day - sometimes more often. The reason is that our neighbour and landlord asked us to look after his cat while he was on holiday in Morocco.

He flew out in November but for one reason or another, he has not been able to return. Smokey, the cat, moved onto our boat in December and has been living aboard ever since even though we are now living in our recently restored cottage. We did think about bringing Smokey to our cottage but it would be potentially dangerous because of the road outside - something that Smokey is not used to.

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I'm booked into dry dock for two weeks from 20th March. I'm 85 miles away and nervous about being fined. I could say it's essential maintenance but would need to stay aboard for the duration. Need to see the detail of today's announcement or cancel my booking. Any suggestions?

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4 hours ago, PaulD said:

My boat is on the canal towpath side. I can walk past it as exercise but if I go on board can I be fined £200 ??

 

Wherever your boat is, (in the local area), there is nothing to stop you making the location a part of your daily exercise, (as you suggest). I would hazard a guess that, if you popped on board for a while, the chances of anybody even noticing this, (police or otherwise), or, even if they did, being interested in fining you, would be between slim and nil.

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5 minutes ago, Richard10002 said:

 

Wherever your boat is, (in the local area), there is nothing to stop you making the location a part of your daily exercise, (as you suggest). I would hazard a guess that, if you popped on board for a while, the chances of anybody even noticing this, (police or otherwise), or, even if they did, being interested in fining you, would be between slim and nil.

Any non-boater would assume you were a liveaboard... whereas any watching liveaboard likely wouldn't give a rat's arse. 

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