Report Unlicensed Boats!

[saltysplash]

Salty , forget the car insurance bits what I was trying to convey was at what point do you change your mind and report someone against the unwillingness to GRASS on another boater. When is enough, when do you stand up and say your piece or do you just say nothing. If you do decide to do nothing then please don't ever moan about the lack of mooring or cruising space or the lack of BW doing things. Fees allow things to be done , I'm not saying the right things (as in square bollards) but something can be done with the funds. As a licence holder you have the right to complain.

 

 

 

Now thats the first sensible post ive read for a while.....Not that I agree in submitting to a grass line....but at what point do we SUBMIT to the grass line........is it till it actually affects our own lives?

 

That boat on the the water point or windly windly hole has been there weeks and...ITS GOT NO BLOODY LICENCE....or one that i can see?

 

 

 

Good point tinca.......but me personaly still wouldnt bother....id moan to swimbo but then get on with my life and find the next watering hole.

 

But I like the cut of your gib

[carlt]

Salty , forget the car insurance bits what I was trying to convey was at what point do you change your mind and report someone against the unwillingness to GRASS on another boater. When is enough, when do you stand up and say your piece or do you just say nothing. If you do decide to do nothing then please don't ever moan about the lack of mooring or cruising space or the lack of BW doing things. Fees allow things to be done , I'm not saying the right things (as in square bollards) but something can be done with the funds. As a licence holder you have the right to complain.

As a licence holder you have the right to complain that the enforcing authority thinks relying on an army of curtain-twitchers is preferable to effective, efficient investigation and enforcement.

 

 

That boat on the the water point or windly windly hole has been there weeks and...ITS GOT NO BLOODY LICENCE....or one that i can see?

The point is that the boat has been sat on a water point for weeks, though, regardless of its licence status.

 

Having a bit of paper in the window doesn't make it any less of a hindrance.

[saltysplash]

As a licence holder you have the right to complain that the enforcing authority thinks relying on an army of curtain-twitchers is preferable to effective, efficient investigation and enforcement.

 

 

 

The point is that the boat has been sat on a water point for weeks, though, regardless of its licence status.

 

Having a bit of paper in the window doesn't make it any less of a hindrance.

 

 

Thats the point I was making....it only affects us when we come to use that water point......so....mumble away and move on......i still dont see it as a reason to report the boat...it should already've been noticed by the Waterways, thats their job! thats why we pay em....but i do see the ponit tinca is making....many people will stand firm till actions affect their status quo

[lydfordcastle]

Like many who responded to the original post, I've got mixed feelings about this so I'm not going to dwell on it. However, one thing that has been known to make my blood boil is overstaying at visitor moorings, and I don't mean by a day or two ; it's the four or five month overstayers that get my goat. A couple of weeks ago I took a long weekend trip up the Ashby and moored for lunch on the 48 hour moorings opposite by the Lime Kilns. On returning from the pub, I was geeted by a most irate boat owner (I'll refrain froim naming the boat) who informed me that I was moored in the spot he used for his winter mooring and would I mind hurrying up and moving on as he wanted to get home to watch a match on TV. Personally that bugs me more than the license non payers as I have often found 24 and 48 hour visitor moorings full of boats which have clearly not moved fro some time. At Short Heath bridge on the Wyrley and Essington, there are two marvellous pubs and a superb secure fenced mooring long enough for a boat and a half but the same boat has taken up most of this length for that past two years so you have to take the usual risks if mooring overnight. There's a liveaboard boat opposite my own offside mooring at Brinklow which is just coming up to it's first anniversary of mooring in the same spot but two visits from the BW license checkers this summer have produced no enforcement of the rules. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm doing the right thing by paying hundreds of pounds every year for the priviledge of mooring against a muddy field 10 minutes walk from my car, when clearly I could moor for free, 2 mins from a car parking spot, close to a water point and a solid, well drained towpath at my door. Perhaps an on line facility for reporting gross overstaying would me more accepatble and useful to the majority.

[carlt]

Are you sure that BW weren't renting out the Ashby visitor moorings, for the winter, which they have a tendency to do.

 

There is a thread and poll about that very subject.

[Troll]

You know what? This tells me Bw havent got the staff to check them selves.

 

Very usefull information to some this is

[lydfordcastle]

Are you sure that BW weren't renting out the Ashby visitor moorings, for the winter, which they have a tendency to do.

 

There is a thread and poll about that very subject.

That thought did cross my mind and I was tempted to check it but did not. However it did seem to me to be unlikely as the Coventry end of the Ashby is not very well served by good pubs and a weekend trip to the Lime Kilns is a popular thing to do for Rugby/Brinklow area boat owners. It seems foolish to me for BW to encroach on the already sparse visitor moorings along that stretch by renting them out as winter moorings and if they had, surely there would have been signage notifying visitors of the temporary change of use.

[Pretty Funked Up]

surely it is BW job to find these boats - not ours.

 

But more annoying than the 1 in 500 unlicensed boats i see are the numerous FAKE carrying and/or cruising companies. Theyre everywhere!

[Chris J W]

But more annoying than the 1 in 500 unlicensed boats i see are the numerous FAKE carrying and/or cruising companies. Theyre everywhere!

 

Well, that's one 'argument' against livery I've never seen before!

[carlt]

But more annoying than the 1 in 500 unlicensed boats i see are the numerous FAKE carrying and/or cruising companies. Theyre everywhere!

Should BW start a snitch site, to rid our waterways of this evil scourge?

[johnjo]

On the system with no licence, then a good bet no insurance or safety certificate. In my book, no right to be there. Mine is not licenced at the moment, but it is insured and it has a new safety certificate, but importantly it is in a private marina [Not a flash expensive one]. It's insured so that if I do something in the marina to someone elses boat or damage my own I can get compensation, it has a safety certificate so that I can be fairly confident that all is well with her and if I need to claim I'll get paid, and I will stay in the marina until I do have a licence. The point I'm making is that anyone taking there boat onto the system without the correct paperwork risks, in the event of a claim, of being refused payment of compensation to themselves and IF THEY DAMAGE YOUR BOAT, YOU WON'T GET PAID EITHER. So tell me what will all of you who seem to think it's OK to use the system without the required paperwork will do when an uninsured boat damages your boat and the owner shrugs his shoulder and b*ggers off. If it's not licenced then there is always the possibility it's not registered in the users name either so forget reporting it now, it's too late.

 

I ain't no goody goody I break the rules the same as anyone but not to the detrement of others, if someone damaged my boat and couldn't pay for it I'd be pretty p*ssed off, so don't give them an inch, if they can't afford to run a boat then they shouldn't have one.

Edited November 13, 2008 by johnjo

[sueb]

It makes no difference if the other boat has all the correct paperwork if they deny damaging your boat and there are no witnesses.

Sue

[Troll]

On the system with no licence, then a good bet no insurance or safety certificate. In my book, no right to be there. Mine is not licenced at the moment, but it is insured and it has a new safety certificate, but importantly it is in a private marina [Not a flash expensive one]. It's insured so that if I do something in the marina to someone elses boat or damage my own I can get compensation, it has a safety certificate so that I can be fairly confident that all is well with her and if I need to claim I'll get paid, and I will stay in the marina until I do have a licence. The point I'm making is that anyone taking there boat onto the system without the correct paperwork risks, in the event of a claim, of being refused payment of compensation to themselves and IF THEY DAMAGE YOUR BOAT, YOU WON'T GET PAID EITHER. So tell me what will all of you who seem to think it's OK to use the system without the required paperwork will do when an uninsured boat damages their boat and the owner shrugs his shoulder and b*ggers off. If it's not licenced then there is always the possibility it's not registered in the users name either so forget reporting it now, it's too late.

 

I ain't no goody goody I break the rules the same as anyone but not to the detrement of others, if someone damaged my boat and couldn't pay for it I'd be pretty p*ssed off, so don't give them an inch, if they can't afford to run a boat then they shouldn't have one.

 

You might find in the small print you are infact not insured if you are not licenced, not that it bothers me, just didnt want you under any delusions

[ditchcrawler]

That thought did cross my mind and I was tempted to check it but did not. However it did seem to me to be unlikely as the Coventry end of the Ashby is not very well served by good pubs and a weekend trip to the Lime Kilns is a popular thing to do for Rugby/Brinklow area boat owners. It seems foolish to me for BW to encroach on the already sparse visitor moorings along that stretch by renting them out as winter moorings and if they had, surely there would have been signage notifying visitors of the temporary change of use.

This is one of the problems, no clear signage that the mooring has been let as a winter mooring. The system use to be that at the end of September you found a nice 14 day mooring, stayed for 13 days and then contacted BW to rent it for the rest of the winter. I have stopped at a mooring only for a boater to come back from the water point and want to moor up. Mine was very pleasant about it and also though BW should issue him with Winter Mooring notices to put in the space.

[Natalie Graham]

it did seem to me to be unlikely [...] It seems foolish to me for BW to ...

 

I'm not following your logic here. This is BW you are talking about.

 

Personally I'm rather concerned about those unregistered sound waves someone mentioned on the late-running generator thread. Isn't there a website where I can report them?

 

Natalie.

[johnjo]

Hi Troll,

checked with insurers and they said so long as I didn't go onto the system they would cover me third party but not the fully comp I signed up and paid for [Not a lot of diff between 3rd & F/comp], but as soon as I licence her the cover will revert to fully comp, in other words I damage your boat you get paid but I don't for ANY damage to mine.

Hi Sue,

but if I do have witnesses, no problem, and anyway if you have insurance why deny the truth. I don't wish to sound 'holier than thou', but if I hit your boat and did some damage I would expect to put my hands up and pay up, or rather get my insurers to pay up. Like I said I'd be pretty p*ssed off if someone hit mine and then denied it. If I'm at fault, then I'm at fault, then I'm at fault, aren't I?????????????????????

There will always be times when boats collide and paint is the only victim and I'm sure many of us are not going to lose any sleep over it, but real damage has to be repaired and paid for even when it's pure a accident and not the result of a poorly maintained boat that has say a jammed rudder from lack of maintenance or care. Why should you pay for welding or new plating because some idiot couldn't be bothered to pay for insurance.

Edited November 13, 2008 by johnjo

[carlt]

You might find in the small print you are infact not insured if you are not licenced, not that it bothers me, just didnt want you under any delusions

If you are insured to be on any waterway how is the licence status relevant?

 

It isn't, on mine, btw, I am insured whether I am licensed, or not.

[johnjo]

Perhaps I shouldn't have enquired of my insurers, but I did and that's what I was told. Different insurers, different conditions. I'm not going to risk it though, I don't want to take the chance, and anyway I've too much work to do on her this winter so it's not a problem.

All comments welcome.

Regards

John

[Troll]

If you are insured to be on any waterway how is the licence status relevant?

 

It isn't, on mine, btw, I am insured whether I am licensed, or not.

 

 

You must have a good insurance co, I never heard of one paying out to anybody who shouldnt be on the water, ie not licensed, I thought it was a common trick to escape paying out that they used.

 

ie/ If you are not licensed then you should not be on the water and therefore accident should not have happend, unless of course you are where no licence is required.

 

I hope (for your sake) your right about your insurance, and you could well be

[tosher]

Mine is not licenced at the moment, but it is insured and it has a new safety certificate, but importantly it is in a private marina

 

 

Is that correct that boats moored in a private marina do not need a valid licence?? BW staff regularly visit the private marina my boat is moored in, checking on boat licences, they check every boat on every mooring.

[sueb]

You must have a good insurance co, I never heard of one paying out to anybody who shouldnt be on the water, ie not licensed, I thought it was a common trick to escape paying out that they used.

 

ie/ If you are not licensed then you should not be on the water and therefore accident should not have happend, unless of course you are where no licence is required.

 

I hope (for your sake) your right about your insurance, and you could well be

There are many places on the system where you don't need a licence.

Sue

[tidal]

I was curious about this too and just checked my still valid .....Just.....boat insurance for my last boat.

It covers all inland and coastal waters including all navigable canals and rivers. There is no mention of licensing even in the small print

Its one of GJWs yachty policies rather than a narrowboat one........

[mayalld]

Is that correct that boats moored in a private marina do not need a valid licence?? BW staff regularly visit the private marina my boat is moored in, checking on boat licences, they check every boat on every mooring.

 

There are some Marinas where you need no licence, but this is a grandfathers rights thing that only applies to long established marinas.

 

It is part of the connection agreement that applies to all more recent marinas that all the boats must be licenced.