An open letter from CaRT’s CEO Campbell Robb.

[IanD]

22 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

But most people don't live on their boats. Most people are leisure boaters, so you have to compare the annual cost of the boat with what it would cost you to hire one for the same period that you spend on it. The advantage of owning is that it's easier to choose when you go, the great advantage of hiring is that you get more choice of where you go.

I use a guideline of a grand a week to hire, which means for my small boat I only need to go out for about four weeks a year to make it worthwhile financially. Most working people don't even get that, and judging by the number of boats on my mooring that never move at all, and the one or two that occasionally nip out for a day, it's already uneconomic to own a boat for most people. It's only laziness that stops them getting rid. Whack the cost even higher and fine, liveaboards have no option but to pay, but the rest of us do. I've largely written this year off for boating for health reasons, but if next year is like this...

And it's worth taking a thumping great loss on the boat selling price to be rid of the annual albatross of rising costs and falling enjoyment. There are better things to do in the summer than watch your boat sit on the mud and read closure notices.

Which ignores the fact that leisure boaters have home moorings to pay for so on average their annual costs are higher than CCers, which means a higher license fee would increase their annual costs by a smaller percentage...

[EventualBoater]

36 minutes ago, Jonah said:

Agree, but "trapped" was the word used by the op that I picked up on.

Unfortunately there are idiots that willingly enter locks with swans without a care.

 

I get that. But they'll have been trapped due to the boater paying no attention. 

Regardless of the why. It's still a shit situation that shouldn't happen.

[LadyG]

I always look ahead to see if there are any boats about to use the lock, so you would

always see birds in the lock  

[EventualBoater]

22 minutes ago, LadyG said:

I always look ahead to see if there are any boats about to use the lock, so you would

always see birds in the lock  

But then you do get those that don't pay attention and/or care

[MtB]

1 hour ago, EventualBoater said:

I get that. But they'll have been trapped due to the boater paying no attention. 

Regardless of the why. It's still a shit situation that shouldn't happen.

 

Must have been a really odd-shaped boat for there not to have been corners of free water up by the bow for them to go in to avoid being crushed.

 

 

[ditchcrawler]

CRT and BW have not removed this one in the past 35 years. I wonder how long the one just above the lock in Ellesmere Port basin has been there ?

 

[Jonah]

Some numbnut playing with their bow thruster left and right I expect, so the swans had little idea where to go for safety.

[Tonka]

19 hours ago, Rob-M said:

At whose expense...?

Crt to start but the number of unidentified boats would quickly reduce

[Rob-M]

1 minute ago, Tonka said:

Crt to start but the number of unidentified boats would quickly reduce

I would rather CRT spent what money they have on keeping the network running rather than using it to remove abandoned boats.

[Tonka]

Just now, Rob-M said:

I would rather CRT spent what money they have on keeping the network running rather than using it to remove abandoned boats.

But it is also raising money.

If your boat which you are living in was going to be crushed because it isn't licensed wouldn't you buy a licence

[BoatingLifeUpNorth2]

4 hours ago, Tonka said:

But it is also raising money.

If your boat which you are living in was going to be crushed because it isn't licensed wouldn't you buy a licence

Would it be that easy to stop CaRT repossessing your boat, if you haven’t paid a license for say 3 years?

 Would CaRT let you buy a licence at £1500, after it’s cost them £1000’s in legal action to get to the repossession final stage and the wheels set in motion to remove your boat from their water?
 

Edited August 7 by BoatingLifeUpNorth2

[Mike Todd]

22 hours ago, IanM said:

 

😠

That is the term used for lock gates on certain navigations, mainly EA river ones, I believe.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

20 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

CRT and BW have not removed this one in the past 35 years. I wonder how long the one just above the lock in Ellesmere Port basin has been there ?

 

If where it has sunk has become it's official home mooring. If it is still being insured by the owner. If it is getting a BSS certificate every four years, it might still be licensed! 

 

There is nothing in the boat safety scheme about the boat actually needing to afloat. All the checks give a caveat about the item being accessible, so if, for example, the fuel filler is underwater, the check for a proper Diesel label doesn't apply! 

[Bristolfashion]

On 06/08/2026 at 15:15, LadyG said:

The Govt already tax the population. It all ends up in the Treasury, then they decide how to spend it, thats how the economy works.

And the chances of the government slinging extra cash at canals, with all the other areas requiring money and no further tax rises. Hmm, about zero I'd say.

[Stroudwater1]

21 hours ago, LadyG said:

I always look ahead to see if there are any boats about to use the lock, so you would

always see birds in the lock  

Actually it’s not easy to spot female mallards when entering into a lock that’s empty. We did this, only realised as the level was nearly up. They are well camouflaged and was we think hidden in the outside at the top end of the lock, it’s quite dark often in deep,  shaded narrow locks. 
 

With swans they sometimes get to display angry postures which can frighten people.
 

The only way we could get them out of a lock at Stourbridge was waving a long shaft and shooing them out. Gravel would have got them more angry and protective of their young  cygnets. Having got them out as I cast off the perishers swam back in. So back again with pole and  a bystander waved their arms till I got in the lock. Waving arms at them in the lock also made them much more angry, and immobile other than to rear up hissing loudly. It’s meant to be scary to enemies of course .
 

I can imagine an inexperienced crew just didn’t know what to do and wrongly assumed all would be OK. 

[Jon57]

6 hours ago, Stroudwater1 said:

Actually it’s not easy to spot female mallards when entering into a lock that’s empty. We did this, only realised as the level was nearly up. They are well camouflaged and was we think hidden in the outside at the top end of the lock, it’s quite dark often in deep,  shaded narrow locks. 
 

With swans they sometimes get to display angry postures which can frighten people.
 

The only way we could get them out of a lock at Stourbridge was waving a long shaft and shooing them out. Gravel would have got them more angry and protective of their young  cygnets. Having got them out as I cast off the perishers swam back in. So back again with pole and  a bystander waved their arms till I got in the lock. Waving arms at them in the lock also made them much more angry, and immobile other than to rear up hissing loudly. It’s meant to be scary to enemies of course .
 

I can imagine an inexperienced crew just didn’t know what to do and wrongly assumed all would be OK. 

Opening and shutting an umbrella works well I find. Also works for Bulls in a field as long as it's not red 😁👍 

[gatekrash]

We had a couple of swans at Kingswood junction that insisted on coming into the lock, regardless of what we tried to shoo them out. The only way we could get them out was to throw duck/swan food out behind them, which they then went out to eat, then quickly close up. 

 

Chatting to one of the vlockies there he said it was learned behaviour, they did it all the time as they knew it was a way to get fed.

[Ian Mac]

On 06/08/2026 at 17:14, Hudds Lad said:

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgp24d31rxo

 

I'll just leave that there  

Some of the locks on the River Lea are really good at killing swans.
If a swan is in the lock and you fill the lock they go and hide behind the rubbing plates and then can not get out, as they can not/will not reverse out. The only way of rescuing them is to get the swan rescue people out, who go in with a canoe and drag them out. C&RT are supposed to be modifying the bumber plates so they can not swim into the gap.