Canal boaters like me face an existential crisis

[Alan de Enfield]

16 minutes ago, Creaking Gate said:

Being a continuous cruiser and having a fixed location job is just laughable really imo.

 

C&RT do say that it is suggested that having to be in a fixed location for work / school/ doctors etc is not really possible whilst meeting CC requirements.

 

It depends on how much inconvenience you are prepared to suffer.

Edited March 25 by Alan de Enfield

[Mike Coombes]

5 hours ago, Creaking Gate said:

 

 

Being a continuous cruiser and having a fixed location job is just laughable really imo.

 

Exactly my view. Unless you are a World Class cyclist, able to knock a 30 mile commute standing on your head morning and evening, it does not stack up. Public transport is too fickle and motorised transport would always be in the wrong place.

 

School age kids and Doctors/hospitals is another spoke in the wheel.

 

Make boating a leisure activity again.

 

 

[ditchcrawler]

53 minutes ago, Mike Coombes said:

 

Exactly my view. Unless you are a World Class cyclist, able to knock a 30 mile commute standing on your head morning and evening, it does not stack up. Public transport is too fickle and motorised transport would always be in the wrong place.

 

School age kids and Doctors/hospitals is another spoke in the wheel.

 

Make boating a leisure activity again.

 

 

I think that depends a bit where you are boating and where you need to be. Take the N Oxford, Coventry and Ashby you can boat for miles and sill be close to a central point.
Or S Oxford and GU to Warwick 

[Steve Bassplayer]

50 minutes ago, Mike Coombes said:

 

Exactly my view. Unless you are a World Class cyclist, able to knock a 30 mile commute standing on your head morning and evening, it does not stack up. Public transport is too fickle and motorised transport would always be in the wrong place.

 

School age kids and Doctors/hospitals is another spoke in the wheel.

 

Make boating a leisure activity again.

 

 

If we go back to the idea that CC’ing IS a leisure activity, for those who want to explore the country without having to pay for a home mooring which would not get used. Does it really matter if you have a job in a fixed location, or kids, or hospital appointment? What’s that got to do with us anyway? It’s their business.
 

CC’ing doesn’t mean you have to be on the move every day. Some moor up for a number of days, then drive back to meet any commitments. Some CC’ers are liveaboards, some aren’t. Many live in a house but jump on their boat every few days to explore a bit further along the waterways. 
 

So long as everyone plays nicely by the rules, then we can all enjoy CC’ing in the future. If we don’t, we’ll all suffer. 
 

 

 

 

[matty40s]

When I was down south, I used to cycle, tube, train in to work and occasionally take the car in to the city and dump it in a street for a week or two...I paid my road licence so why not....it also occasionally got left in the catering depot at Euston platform 1 when I had no other choice.🙃

I did once jump on the Victoria line and get off at Stonebridge Lock where the boat was (Tottenham Hale)...only to remember the car was still in Harlesden and I was picking my daughter up in Leicester that evening!

[Arthur Marshall]

23 minutes ago, Steve Bassplayer said:

 

So long as everyone plays nicely by the rules, then we can all enjoy CC’ing in the future. If we don’t, we’ll all suffer

That's rather the point. Most non-home-moorers, it appears, don't, and never have, which is why CRT has decided to start taking action. And, as you say, we are all - home moorers, CCers, liveaboards and leisure users, suffering for it.

[Steve Bassplayer]

1 minute ago, matty40s said:

When I was down south, I used to cycle, tube, train in to work and occasionally take the car in to the city and dump it in a street for a week or two...I paid my road licence so why not....it also occasionally got left in the catering depot at Euston platform 1 when I had no other choice.🙃

I did once jump on the Victoria line and get off at Stonebridge Lock where the boat was (Tottenham Hale)...only to remember the car was still in Harlesden and I was picking my daughter up in Leicester that evening!

😆 Yep, it can be a bit of a logistical headache running a car with the boat. Like you, I’ve used all those modes of transport including buses and taxis. Most of the time I walk these days, the only problem is that I end up stopping to chat to people.  😉. It’s great when the railway runs close to the canal though.

 

I think the trickiest thing was when we were in Yorkshire and I had to get back to do gigs. After fuel costs I wasn’t left with much. 
 

I do think that the housing issue gets dragged into the CC’ing issue. It’s obvious that many people will struggle to find cheap accommodation inside the M25 and M4 corridor. I wish C&RT would treat that as completely separate issue rather than drag those who just want to explore the system (I.e CC’ers) into it.
 

 

[matty40s]

16 minutes ago, Steve Bassplayer said:

I do think that the housing issue gets dragged into the CC’ing issue. It’s obvious that many people will struggle to find cheap accommodation inside the M25 and M4 corridor. I wish C&RT would treat that as completely separate issue rather than drag those who just want to explore the system (I.e CC’ers) into it.

When they had the bright idea of creating a local area licence fee for London and surrounds.. the Baton Twirlers threatened court action...as BW and then CRT werent actually legally allowed to do it...even though it was a good idea.

So now, they have to struggle through enforcement in an area where enforcement is almost impossible due to the thousands of boats now moored. In 2010, I seem to remember a figure of 450 CC boats within the M25, and obviously up the Lea there was a big contingent doing the necessary "move past the next bridge" every month.

It snowballed. Now you have multi boat owning landlords, some of which dont let you move, but your contract stating 1% ownership leaves you liable for CRT action, so you move out to a boat somewhere else...CRT back to Sq1....There are still many boats heading down there from Whilton and the many other brokers seeking the rainbow of gold..cheap accommodation in a greedy capital.

 

[Mike Coombes]

1 hour ago, Steve Bassplayer said:

If we go back to the idea that CC’ing IS a leisure activity, for those who want to explore the country without having to pay for a home mooring which would not get used. Does it really matter if you have a job in a fixed location, or kids, or hospital appointment? What’s that got to do with us anyway? It’s their business.
 

CC’ing doesn’t mean you have to be on the move every day. Some moor up for a number of days, then drive back to meet any commitments. Some CC’ers are liveaboards, some aren’t. Many live in a house but jump on their boat every few days to explore a bit further along the waterways. 
 

So long as everyone plays nicely by the rules, then we can all enjoy CC’ing in the future. If we don’t, we’ll all suffer. 
 

 

 

 

 

Trouble is many DONT play by the rules, do they?

[waterworks]

On 11/01/2026 at 19:28, Lady M said:

Unfortunately people seem to have got used to ticking the T&C  box on a website without reading the rules.

The T&C's on the application form are not the rules, the form is a blatant lie,  the licence rules are statutory not a contract. 

[Mike Coombes]

1 hour ago, Steve Bassplayer said:

 Does it really matter if you have a job in a fixed location, or kids, or hospital appointment? What’s that got to do with us anyway? It’s their business.
 

 

 

 

 

 It does matter when those paying a CC licence-plus, of course, those who DONT pay for a licence-stay for weeks or months near convenient bridge holes with car parking and at desirable moorings, overstaying and denying other canal users use of those moorings.

 

Noted this in July on the K&A. 

[ditchcrawler]

And they are at it again, campaigning they are being priced out of their homes A 58ft narrowboat used to... - National Bargee Travellers Association | Facebook

 

A 58ft narrowboat used to be a standard, affordable home on the waterways.

Now, after years of relentless increases and the introduction of a surcharge, the licence costs have soared by 56.71% in just 5 years.

People are being pushed into debt, pushed off the water, pushed out of their lives

This isn’t just maintenance funding. This is displacement.

If you’re concerned, scared, angry, you’re not alone.

Stand with us at upcoming events — leaflet, protest, and make sure CRT hears us. Join us leafleting against the surcharge at St. Richard's Canal Fest, Worcestershire, 1st-4th May, and Canalway Cavalcade, London, 2nd-3rd. For more info, email: stopboatlicencediscrimination@gmail.com

[LadyG]

Im sure there is a warning about trying to CC with commitments eg school, but people sometimes have no choice but to liveaboard,  they have to work within the rules, and find this difficult. 

[Lady M]

They could always get a mooring, of course.

[Mike Todd]

17 hours ago, Creaking Gate said:

Yawn.  As usual a dull and predictable article.    I had to sell my boat and stop using the canals because i cannot afford it.  But that's life, things go up in cost and at some point you have to make a choice. Its always been that way, and it always will be.

 

I made mine, they made theirs. Deal with it. The sense of entitlement is nauseating.

 

YouTube made it look so cheap, so easy and so full of fun.  The grim reality somewhat removed from that. 

 

Being a continuous cruiser and having a fixed location job is just laughable really imo.

In slightly less inflammatory language, that is essentially what CaRT have always said ever since they were dragged into having to adjudicate on the sparsxe legal definitions.

[LadyG]

46 minutes ago, Lady M said:

They could always get a mooring, of course.

If they could afford a boat, and a mooring they could probably afford a foot on the housing ladder. Which is very likely to work out as a good investment.

Edited March 26 by LadyG

[Steve Bassplayer]

10 hours ago, matty40s said:

When they had the bright idea of creating a local area licence fee for London and surrounds.. the Baton Twirlers threatened court action...as BW and then CRT werent actually legally allowed to do it...even though it was a good idea.

So now, they have to struggle through enforcement in an area where enforcement is almost impossible due to the thousands of boats now moored. In 2010, I seem to remember a figure of 450 CC boats within the M25, and obviously up the Lea there was a big contingent doing the necessary "move past the next bridge" every month.

It snowballed. Now you have multi boat owning landlords, some of which dont let you move, but your contract stating 1% ownership leaves you liable for CRT action, so you move out to a boat somewhere else...CRT back to Sq1....There are still many boats heading down there from Whilton and the many other brokers seeking the rainbow of gold..cheap accommodation in a greedy capital.

 

I was going to suggest that C&RT create a special licence for those who want to live aboard in areas within the M25 or M4 corridor and don’t want to CC. I didn’t realise they had already tried to bring it in!

 

 

[LadyG]

3 minutes ago, Steve Bassplayer said:

I was going to suggest that C&RT create a special licence for those who want to live aboard in areas within the M25 or M4 corridor and don’t want to CC. I didn’t realise they had already tried to bring it in!

 

 

I would have thought that they dont need a special licence, just set up more moorings, im not sure if this would be economic, obviously there is a set up cost and they lose the cc surcharge, but there must be a sweet point.

Edited March 26 by LadyG

[Lady M]

8 minutes ago, LadyG said:

If they could afford a boat, and a mooring they could probably afford a foot on the housing ladder. Which is very likely to work out as a good investment.

Except that it is possible to claim benefits to cover mooring fees.

[Steve Bassplayer]

Just now, LadyG said:

I would have thought that they dont need a special licence, just set up more moorings, im not sure if this would be economical, obviously there is a cost and they lose the cc surcharge, but there must be a sweet point.

I’m not sure there is much space to set up more moorings in London, unless they just turn existing free mooring space into C&RT long term moorings (and charge through the mooring rather than the CC licence). That seems to be the case already for many towpath moorings around the country. The problem with that is that it affects all those who are cruising and hope to find a space.

 

19 minutes ago, Lady M said:

Except that it is possible to claim benefits to cover mooring fees.

This is true. Which makes you wonder why NBTA aren’t keen? 

[Tonka]

6 minutes ago, Steve Bassplayer said:

I’m not sure there is much space to set up more moorings in London, unless they just turn existing free mooring space into C&RT long term moorings (and charge through the mooring rather than the CC licence). That seems to be the case already for many towpath moorings around the country. The problem with that is that it affects all those who are cruising and hope to find a space.

 

This is true. Which makes you wonder why NBTA aren’t keen? 

Put all the parasitic scum into docklands. 

The NBTA are pushing for a free solution

Edited March 26 by Tonka
Extra info

[Steve Bassplayer]

6 minutes ago, Tonka said:

Put all the parasitic scum into docklands. 

The NBTA are pushing for a free solution

If they can claim benefits for the moorings then it wouldn’t cost them anything. 

[Arthur Marshall]

12 minutes ago, Steve Bassplayer said:

I’m not sure there is much space to set up more moorings in London, unless they just turn existing free mooring space into C&RT long term moorings (and charge through the mooring rather than the CC licence). That seems to be the case already for many towpath moorings around the country. The problem with that is that it affects all those who are cruising and hope to find a space.

 

This is true. Which makes you wonder why NBTA aren’t keen? 

That would be the logical solution from CRTs point of view. Even a mooring outside London costs ten times the CC surcharge.

[Lady M]

Perhaps they aren't 'poor enough' to qualify for benefits.

[Steve Bassplayer]

11 minutes ago, Lady M said:

Perhaps they aren't 'poor enough' to qualify for benefits.

Isn’t that the whole point of means testing? ‘They’?  Some probably are, some probably aren’t.