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Please take part in an important liveaboard survey!


Dave_P

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Out of interest what size sample did you gather and what percentage of the total do you believe this to be?

 

I was advised that my ideal sample size would be between 60 and 100. Less than sixty and it's pretty difficult to derive statistical significance from the data. More than 100 and the complexity of analysing the data would increase to a point where it would become difficult to do it justice in the time-frame I have available. In the end my sample size was 91. Even with that, I'm struggling somewhat to fully analyse the data and keep my write up to the 15,000 word limit I am allowed. I'm not sure what you mean by percentage of the total? Do you mean the total number of residential boaters in the uk? The RBOA suggest a figure of 15,000 but this includes coastal waters. CRT are reluctant to make a guess. The reality is that nobody really knows. The figure is likely to be between 5,000 and 15,000 but defining a residential boater is not clear-cut. Many people keep a land address where they spend varying amounts of time, are they residential or not? To my mind, the problem is that the laws regarding housing and residential status were not written with boaters in mind so we, as a group, are an imperfect fit.

 

Could it be that boaters who are officially residential are also more likely to be better off and generally authority-abiding (e.g. Keeping doctors appointments, going for checks etc) than those who are keeping a low profile. They are also more likely to have an address to get appointments etc sent to, and to receive them in good time.

 

 

I suspect you're right on that Chertsey but it doesn't mean that they aren't vulnerable people who need support and help from the authorities. The difference is that if they were living in a house, it's much more likely that vulnerable people would be flagged up somewhere and get the help they need. Similar boaters can more easily 'fall off the grid'. I'm sure that in many cases, that's exactly what people want. But, what people want and what they need are often two different things. For example, my survey has shown pretty high rates of depression amongst single occupancy continuous cruisers. These people may feel they just want to be left alone, due to their depression, but, perhaps with some more help, they could tackle their depression... Perhaps it's a vicious circle? It's really hard to separate cause and effect - are they depressed because they're isolated, or are they isolated because they're depressed?

 

Again, I suppose I'm playing devil's advocate here... and I'm starting to ramble... must get back to data-crunching...

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Yes defining a residential boater and identifying those that meet your definition (for the survey) must be a real challenge. With such a small sample it must be difficult to validate the conclusions but it should identify some interesting trends. Good Luck.

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Aren't BW/CRT the largest owner of moorings in the UK?

I would have thought that a large proportion of people living aboard unofficially are in marinas. I confess I don't have any figures, but nearly every unofficial liveaboard I hear about is in a marina. Most marinas are privately owned.

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I would have thought that a large proportion of people living aboard unofficially are in marinas. I confess I don't have any figures, but nearly every unofficial liveaboard I hear about is in a marina. Most marinas are privately owned.

 

that's not my experience but maybe it varies from place to place. there's quite a few good marinas on the shroppy so maybe that has an influence.

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  • 2 months later...

Yes I know it's two and a half months later but I made a promise so I'm going to keep to it.

 

My thesis has now been marked and moderated and all that stuff so I feel it's ok to share my findings on here.

 

With that in mind, I'm happy to send a copy of my thesis to anyone who p.m.'s me with a request to do so.

 

I don't really want to post my findings on the forum as I think they are much better read in the context of the whole report, and in the light of previous posts on this thread, I have realised that small bits of information in isolation are often misinterpreted and likely to cause arguments.

 

Having said that, I will say this: Some of my results were somewhat predictable, whilst some were quite surprising to me. Comparisons between the health outcomes of liveaboards with moorings and those without showed some important differences. Equally, comparisons were made with liveaboards of different ages, gender and living arrangements and these also produced some statistically significant trends.

 

On a different note: I contacted BW and RBOA for their input, and was contacted by BSS offering theirs.

 

BW responded with a very standardised set of replies, some of which were clearly untrue (e.g. claiming to not know how many B.W. moorings there are), and I gave up pursuing their input - very sad but, if I'm honest, not that surprising in the light of other's experiences.

 

RBOA initially failed to respond at all (apart from to say that my email would be forwarded to the relevant people) and it was only after bumping into one of their senior people on the cut that they showed any interest and indicated that they were aware of previous research which had been done. It then took a fair amount of time and prodding to get anything from them. Ultimately, there turned out to be no actual previous research on offer but Ivor Caplan did send me a nice letter stating the position of the RBOA on various issues and some of his own thoughts. Thanks Ivor, I know you were very busy at the time.

 

The BSS actually came to me, wanting to share data and information. To cut a long story short, I agreed to send some of my raw data as a gesture of good-will and to show my intentions. BSS did not then reciprocate and eventually stopped replying to my emails despite earlier assurances. In the end I had a hell of a lot of data to work through so it didn't affect my thesis too much.

 

I suppose my experiences with the 'authorities' and their lack of help mirrored the findings in my thesis, namely that liveaboards aren't as well supported as house-dwellers. Interestingly, I found that many liveaboards quite like it that way, thanks very much! However, vulnerable people are at increased risk of suffering in a wide range of ways because they are 'falling through the net'. I suppose it could be said that this is a no-brainer, but without valid quantitaive data backing it up, it's far to easy for authorities to turn a blind eye to it. For this reason I will be sharing my findings with CRT etc.

 

Thanks again to all those who gave up their time to contribute to this.

 

Finally, none of the questionnairers came to claim their free pint. I'm in Huddersfield now, but the offer still stands!

 

Dave

Edited by Dave_P
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Thanks for coming back to us at all. I would be very interested to read the ins and outs to be honest...is it too late to be one of those who may read a full copy?

How sad, but typical, the responses from our 'authorities'....it says a lot!

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Do you mean the total number of residential boaters in the uk? The RBOA suggest a figure of 15,000 but this includes coastal waters. CRT are reluctant to make a guess. The reality is that nobody really knows. The figure is likely to be between 5,000 and 15,000 but defining a residential boater is not clear-cut.

 

As most liveaboards are off the radar I'd say there are probably plenty more than that, but you'll never prove this "officially" because officially they don't exist. That's not necessarily the boater's natural choice, just the way that works best. Tacit mutual denial seems to have quite a few benefits. If you are seeking to highlight the disbenefits of liveaboard boating for health etc. then you also need to consider the benefits e.g. relatively low stress environment, personal independence, access to nature, flexibility, low overheads (at least in the short term), fresh air, exercise, community spirit...

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I thought I'd share a small quote from my thesis since it amused me somewhat and i found it necessary to include it!:

 

"There is, however, plenty of evidence that the canal boating community was viewed with some suspicion and concern by the general population. A good example can be found in a report in the Lancet in 1877, “It appears that the condition of morals as well as of hygiene among the canal population is very unsatisfactory. A case was brought before Runcorn magistrates some days ago, when the evidence adduced showed that the marriage law was often ignored, and that the buying and selling of wives occasionally occurred. We have frequently pointed out that, on sanitary and moral grounds, the inhabitants of the floating dens ought to be the subjects of some special legislation.”"

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"There is, however, plenty of evidence that the canal boating community was viewed with some suspicion and concern by the general population. A good example can be found in a report in the Lancet in 1877, “It appears that the condition of morals as well as of hygiene among the canal population is very unsatisfactory. A case was brought before Runcorn magistrates some days ago, when the evidence adduced showed that the marriage law was often ignored, and that the buying and selling of wives occasionally occurred. We have frequently pointed out that, on sanitary and moral grounds, the inhabitants of the floating dens ought to be the subjects of some special legislation.”"

 

Nowt's changed then.

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