Report Unlicensed Boats!

[Jason Wilson and Family]

I will deffo be partaking in this.

I can't believe some of the reactions from members on this forum. Do you all have something to hide?

 

I'm not even in the same country... guess again.

 

 

˙sǝɯıʇ ǝןdıʇןnɯ sǝʌןǝsɹno pǝuıɐןdxǝ ןןɐ ǝʌ,ǝʍ :ʇuıɥ

Edited October 18, 2008 by Jason Wilson and Family

[carlt]

Do you all have something to hide?

Yes we do sam...

 

OUR PRIVACY!

 

 

Just canals just lost a member!

[Chertsey]

Yes we do sam...

 

OUR PRIVACY!

 

 

Just canals just lost a member!

Yes, if that's the friendly forum I'll stick to the unfriendly one.

 

And I've just remembered I do have something to hide - the contents of my boat. I don't want BW tacitly approving every passing busybody peering through the portholes - 'Oh, I was just looking for your licence....'

[nigel fryer]

Well thats done it ?

 

We have just renewed our licence online.

 

We missed out on the early payment discount because we are late !!

 

The paperwork was filed under pile of other bills and junk mail.

 

Moral of this rambling message is ( if you can ) pay early and get the discount and dont forget it !!!!!

 

WOT A MUPPET legin .

[John Orentas]

We missed out on the early payment discount because we are late !!

WOT A MUPPET legin .

 

You may not get the chance again.. The word is that the discount is being scrapped.

[bottle]

And if you do not pay before the renewal date there will be an extra charge (£180)

[sueb]

And if you do not pay before the renewal date there will be an extra charge (£180)

I'm not sure what happens if we go off BW waters for a month or two

Sue

[Lady Muck]

Well thats done it ?

 

We have just renewed our licence online.

 

We missed out on the early payment discount because we are late !!

 

The paperwork was filed under pile of other bills and junk mail.

 

Moral of this rambling message is ( if you can ) pay early and get the discount and dont forget it !!!!!

 

WOT A MUPPET legin .

 

I missed the prompt payment discount by one day. At least I managed to get the mooring payment in before the date this year.

[boatbot]

British Waterways is urging boaters to report boats that are not licensed.

 

One of the problems that has been found in the past is that some boats not displaying a licence or displaying an out-of-date licence are in fact licensed, which wastes time for enforcement officers.

 

To help get around this, a new online report page has been introduced where you can check whether a boat is licensed and report it if it is not.

 

If you see a boat that you think may not be licensed, go to BW's online checker and enter the boat's registration number. The database will then tell you whether the boat is licensed. If it is not, you will be invited to enter details about the boat's location so that a licence inspector can investigate.

 

If the boat is not showing a registration number, you can enter the location and details such as the boat's colour, etc. so that it can be investigated.

 

It has been infuriating for boaters who pay their licences promptly to see other trying to get something for nothing. If a boat in unlicensed it may also lack insurance and a boat safety certificate. BW has been having a purge on boats that are unlicensed or which overstay at moorings, with the enforcement team having been strengthened.

 

On the north west's waterways15 boats have been seized and impounded in four months and £180,000 collected in unpaid licence and mooring fees.

 

BW's Jane Thomson says: "We are acting in the interests of our canals and customers by reducing the number of unlicensed and derelict craft blighting our waterways. Every penny is being ploughed back into maintaining and improving the network for everyone."

 

To find out more about buying a licence, licence conditions, etc. see www.britishwaterways.co.uk/license-it

 

Link to BW's online checker.

r u bored or something? This is what puts me off the canals and its VERY British-I think I will go to Holland!!

 

I'm not here to defend BW - only to pass this on to you, but I find this response puzzling. Are you happy to pay your licence and then see other people trying to get away with paying nothing? It's theft and they are stealing from BW and from other boaters.

 

I seem to recall hearing lots of people over the last few years complaining that BW was doing nothing about all the unlicensed boats and continuous moorers. Now people are complaining that BW is doing something about it!

 

If someone sees a boat that seems to be unlicensed they can find out if it is or not. If it bothers them that the boat is unlicensed they can get something done about it. If it doesn't bother them, then they don't have to.

who really cares! What about BW putting up continual cruising license-worried about that?Get a life gee........

[Sam]

Edited out.

Don't think I should reply really.

 

I just want to put my appologies across to Carl. I did not mean to offend anyone by expressing the opinion.

Edited October 19, 2008 by Sam

[boatbot]

Hmm, I can understand the arguments about the "free" wardens and people looking in through windows.

I think, when i posted, I was more thinking of those boats that are glaringly out of date.. such as one I passed last week which had an 06 license in (and it was moored in a 24hr space)..

I am not sad enough to go around with a notebook jotting down all the numbers of moroed up boats just because i suspect they might not be licensed. I have better things to do with my time.

 

So basically I will be using it as a tool to report the obvious ones.

That is my opinion and the way I see it.. hopefully people can respect that instead of flouncing about.

 

Also, I'd like to add, that after somethign really crappy happening to our family.. I guess you get a new eprspective on things.. and for people to get so stressy about this.. just amazes me. So many bigger things in the world to worry about..

 

I'm sure this post will get some lovely replies.. so I'll refrain from continueing it further. Any disucssions can be had by PM though!

 

Happy cruising everyone.

Edited October 19, 2008 by boatbot

[Lady Muck]

But Sam, there's no point in reporting boats which have numbers on- BW know already - it's what Alan Fincher, and I and others have said all along.

 

If you want to develop an internet database like the report a boat one - you simply can't build it without having all the data and knowing which boats are licensed or unlicensed already!

 

The only way I could see it would be useful to BW is to report boats without numbers or licenses that they haven't yet identified that have suddenly appeared.

 

In a way, I now think it's a good thing. I've had other boaters look down their nose (and tut under their breath) at the boat when we first got her and didn't have a valid license showing (although we had paid for one). This website should surely give people a break, shutting up the curtain twitchers who (often wrongly) assume that a boat without a license showing automatically means the boat is unlicensed.

Edited October 19, 2008 by Lady Muck

[boatbot]

But Sam, there's no point in reporting boats which have numbers on- BW know already - it's what Alan Fincher, and I and others have said all along.

 

If you want to develop an internet database like the report a boat one - you simply can't build it without having all the data and knowing which boats are licensed or unlicensed already!

 

The only way I could see it would be useful is to report boats without numbers or licenses that have suddenly appeared.

 

I dunno about anywhere else, but nothing gets missed around here. The patrol boat can be seen all year round.

zig hail!

[Lady Muck]

zig hail!

 

erm no, not at all.

[nigel fryer]

zig hail!

 

So when are you going to HOLLAND ???

 

YOU WILL BE MISSED

[greywolf]

I guess all this discussion shows how divisive it is set to up a report line.

Edited October 19, 2008 by greywolf

[Hobbler]

I guess all this discussion shows how divisive it is set to up a report line.

 

Perhaps that is the point of the excercise .

[homer2911]

Yes, if that's the friendly forum I'll stick to the unfriendly one.

 

And I've just remembered I do have something to hide - the contents of my boat. I don't want BW tacitly approving every passing busybody peering through the portholes - 'Oh, I was just looking for your licence....'

 

 

And if your licence isn't visible in one of your windows, why would anyone 'peer' through your 'portholes' in the hope of spotting it amongst the clutter?

[boatbot]

So when are you going to HOLLAND ???

 

YOU WILL BE MISSED

The thing is England doesn't make it easy-I mean in Holland , so I have been told easn't like this-OK how long will all u people be on the canals if the cost keeps going up-humm? In Australia u can more a boat on the Brisbane river for 60 bucks a year-no snoopy snoopy-just normal (and better weather!!) I mean I love it here its unique but why make it so hard-and Yes I know already the funding but why not charge EVERYONE who uses the canal a fee(walkers, cyclists, anglers, tesco, pubs) demand more lotto money etc-what about more private involvement from businesses who enjoy are patronage?

[greywolf]

The thing is England doesn't make it easy-I mean in Holland , so I have been told easn't like this-OK how long will all u people be on the canals if the cost keeps going up-humm? In Australia u can more a boat on the Brisbane river for 60 bucks a year-no snoopy snoopy-just normal (and better weather!!) I mean I love it here its unique but why make it so hard-and Yes I know already the funding but why not charge EVERYONE who uses the canal a fee(walkers, cyclists, anglers, tesco, pubs) demand more lotto money etc-what about more private involvement from businesses who enjoy are patronage?

 

See other threads

We are a small overcrowded over regulated island, 60 million people 50 million acres roughly(including swamps rivers mountains etc)Australia is a wide open sparsely populated continent, and the rivers probably by and large look after themselves where as canals would soon become muddy ponds if left to there own devises.i would that it was otherwise.

[boatbot]

See other threads

We are a small overcrowded over regulated island, 60 million people 50 million acres roughly(including swamps rivers mountains etc)Australia is a wide open sparsely populated continent, and the rivers probably by and large look after themselves where as canals would soon become muddy ponds if left to there own devises.i would that it was otherwise.

No excuses really OK why is the US better then-250,000,000 there!!So is Europe but the conditions for boating is MUCH better there-certainly couldn't be worse!!-No I am sorry its just England-always will be-Oliver twist mentality-its plain just TOO hard here-all they(BW) want is Your money-how much can u take?

[magnetman]

As said BW surely know what boats are and aren't on the system but there is a weak point where access by unlicensed boats is very easy.

 

I think BW should be looking more closely at the crane-in operations around the system where boats are lifted off low loaders and dropped in the water, unlicensed.

 

Would it not make sense to ensure that boats are licensed before they get wet?

[greywolf]

i suppose other countries are more committed to frate being carried on their waterways and gain some benefits from it income wise where as the narrow canals of the uk are more difficult to use commercially,hence the lack of investment.

[boatbot]

i suppose other countries are more committed to frate being carried on their waterways and gain some benefits from it income wise where as the narrow canals of the uk are more difficult to use commercially,hence the lack of investment.

Thats a good idea-why not reintroduce freight then-Tesco I think is thinking of it?

[mayalld]

But Sam, there's no point in reporting boats which have numbers on- BW know already - it's what Alan Fincher, and I and others have said all along.

 

If you want to develop an internet database like the report a boat one - you simply can't build it without having all the data and knowing which boats are licensed or unlicensed already!

 

The only way I could see it would be useful to BW is to report boats without numbers or licenses that they haven't yet identified that have suddenly appeared.

 

Yes, they know which boats do and do not have licences, but do they know whether the boats without licences are on their waters?