Towpath Mooring Management

[Higgs]

Surely most boaters have permanent moorings (either online or in a marina) and yet are often away from them cruising the system?

 

No, I don't think that can be assumed.

[Paul C]

 

No, I don't think that can be assumed.

 

Agree - you can't assume that its "most", ie 51% or more of them. Obviously there is a spectrum of boaters from ones who are almost never at their mooring (always out) to almost never not there. But it would be a wide spread of usage, not just one or another. Boating, means vastly different things to different people, there is a lot of diversity in how boaters use canals.

[nicknorman]

That's a pretty sweeping statement, isn't it?

Yes.

 

(No smilies on the iPad!)

[nomad - tuttle hill]

yes mooring is near spring haven , access via jukin quarry . facing the old length mans house next to the bridge .

 

this mooring was for the old working boats waiting for the quarry work in the area.

 

the marine spring haven is lovely small marine and family run by kate and wag, the hire boats are now in the Coventry basin .

[b0atman]

what do people think is a long line of moored boats I think it is dependent on width of canal so narrow canals I would say max 5 boats then 5 boat spaces for passing oncoming boats .wide canals then maybe 10 boats ? space ?

Edited February 2, 2014 by b0atman

[Higgs]

 

Agree - you can't assume that its "most", ie 51% or more of them. Obviously there is a spectrum of boaters from ones who are almost never at their mooring (always out) to almost never not there. But it would be a wide spread of usage, not just one or another. Boating, means vastly different things to different people, there is a lot of diversity in how boaters use canals.

 

 

If there are a few vacant moorings in a line, because the boater is out, the effect is still the same. It's very difficult to slow for a line of moorers while using the short spaces to speed up. From one end to the other, it's slow-down boating.

[nomad - tuttle hill]

we are not a live aboard just nice mooring with no services at all , just nice place to relax and watch the world go by,

 

just watching the boats go by ,

[Mike Todd]

 

I'm glad somebody else "agrees" with me. Few of the LTMs that I cruise by have any facilities (except water) and CaRT should be obliged to provide the others.

 

Not all moorers care for their local environment.

Bit of a contradiction: some want the LTM kept short so as not to disrupt boating but others want facilties that will only be economic if there is a very long line of boats . . .

[jenlyn]

So now some want the canal to be a motorway..............

wonderful......

[Higgs]

So now some want the canal to be a motorway..............

wonderful......

 

 

No, that's not actually what's being said.

 

I still think the considerate thing to do when approaching a line of moorers is to slow down. If the situation was to change and online moorings expanded and were more frequent, requiring much slowing down, my consideration would go out the window.

 

On second thoughts, I probably would still slow down, you never know if it will cause an accident inside a boat by speeding past. But, I might hiss a bit.

Edited February 2, 2014 by Higgs

[nicknorman]

So now some want the canal to be a motorway..............

wonderful......

The canals were the motorway of their day. But at some point someone decided they should be a housing estate instead. I am just a traditionalist wanting to revert to the good old fashioned ways.

[carlt]

So now some want the canal to be a motorway..............

wonderful......

Greenie!

I would quite like to be able to park my car on the high street whenever and wherever I like, but I have to take into consideration other road users (and the parking regulations as well).

Hence the need to restrict online moorings in the canal equivalent of city high streets.

 

Once out of the honey spots the mooring restrictions should be more relaxed, just as parking restrictions become more relaxed when you get out of the busy town and city centres.

[nicknorman]

...just as parking restrictions become more relaxed when you get out of the busy town and city centres.

But they don't. Try parking on a motorway! And even parking on an A road, whilst perhaps not illegal (unless it's a clear way), is ill-advised due to obstructing 2 way traffic.

[b0atman]

Speed to my mind is only the issue for people who are trying to do too many lock miles in a timeframe .I have had many a passing conversation with people moored up in a long line of boats .

BUT then we have all passed the boat with mooring lines dipping into the water for whom any boat passing is too fast .

With regards to services these would be available to all boaters not just those moored long term .

Edited February 2, 2014 by b0atman

[carlt]

But they don't. Try parking on a motorway! And even parking on an A road, whilst perhaps not illegal (unless it's a clear way), is ill-advised due to obstructing 2 way traffic.

The canals may have been the motorways of the past but, with the exception of a very few commercial waterways, they are now the equivalent of 'B' roads.

 

As you rightly say, apart from clearways, there are no parking restrictions on the vast majority of out of town 'B' roads and those restrictions that are in place are there on the grounds of safety and preventing obstruction, not because another road user resents having to slow down a bit.

[Jerra]

Greenie!

Hence the need to restrict online moorings in the canal equivalent of city high streets.

 

Once out of the honey spots the mooring restrictions should be more relaxed, just as parking restrictions become more relaxed when you get out of the busy town and city centres.

Basically I would agree but there have been times when out away from honey pot areas we have had to cruise past getting on for a mile of farm on line moorings, IMO there are beginning to be too many places with too long a line. If they could be broken up into 400 yard moorings a mile or so apart would be pleasanter.

[carlt]

In fact, in areas where "ribbon development" has taken place there are speed restrictions placed on vehicles so, using your analogy, why shouldn't that happen on the canals?

[magictime]

 

No, I don't think that can be assumed.

 

 

 

Agree - you can't assume that its "most", ie 51% or more of them. Obviously there is a spectrum of boaters from ones who are almost never at their mooring (always out) to almost never not there. But it would be a wide spread of usage, not just one or another. Boating, means vastly different things to different people, there is a lot of diversity in how boaters use canals.

 

Really?

 

I can't find exact figures for numbers of boats with and without home moorings, but I believe those without are in a fairly small minority - no more than 10% or so. So maybe 90%-ish of boats have a home mooring. No doubt many of those boats, whether on officially 'residential' moorings or not, are being used as static residences rather than for cruising; but not, surely, anything like a majority. So unless there are large numbers of boaters paying large sums of money for moorings, but neither living on their boats nor cruising very much, it would seem reasonable to assume that most boats are owned by people who have a home mooring, don't live aboard, but do a fair bit of cruising. Or am I missing something? Can anyone help with the figures?

[Stilllearning]

Slowing down past moored boats is generally a good idea. However it would be nice if online moorers appreciated that when it's very windy slowing down isn't a practical option. Tamworth on Christmas Eve was a case in point...the mouthful I got was unnecessary !

[nicknorman]

In fact, in areas where "ribbon development" has taken place there are speed restrictions placed on vehicles so, using your analogy, why shouldn't that happen on the canals?

But "ribbon development" is generally seen as a bad thing. Why repeat the mistake?

[carlt]

Slowing down past moored boats is generally a good idea. However it would be nice if online moorers appreciated that when it's very windy slowing down isn't a practical option. Tamworth on Christmas Eve was a case in point...the mouthful I got was unnecessary !

There should, perhaps in rural situations, be a shift in responsibility from the moving boat to slow down to the moored boat to be securely tied up.

 

I had no problem with folk passing me at 4 mph when moored in remote locations but, then again, I was capable of mooring my boat securely.

But "ribbon development" is generally seen as a bad thing. Why repeat the mistake?

Because the disadvantages that blighted ribbon development do not exist with linear moorings.

[nicknorman]

Because the disadvantages that blighted ribbon development do not exist with linear moorings.

I love it when you express your opinion as if it were fact!

[jenlyn]

The canals were the motorway of their day. But at some point someone decided they should be a housing estate instead. I am just a traditionalist wanting to revert to the good old fashioned ways.

people were living on the canals long before you were even born, let alone before you bought a boat. Learn to share, the same as the majority of us. If you like speed boating, bear in mind we are an island, surrounded by waters you can buy a speedboat for.

[carlt]

I love it when you express your opinion as if it were fact!

If you would like me to add the tag-line "just my opinion of course" to all of my posts could I ask that you do the same?

[nicknorman]

people were living on the canals long before you were even born, let alone before you bought a boat. Learn to share, the same as the majority of us. If you like speed boating, bear in mind we are an island, surrounded by waters you can buy a speedboat for.

They were, but only as a result of the decline of the canals, they moved onto the canals a bit like vultures pecking at a dying animal. When the canals were thriving, people did of course live on their boats, but not statically.

 

Sharing is good. But someone who lays claim to a bit of bank, so no-one else can use it, and then makes demands on everyone else (to slow down), is not sharing.