I am beginning to be concerned

[DeanS]

Dear Mr....

 

You’ve probably noticed that some parts of the waterways are getting very busy. (not at the top of the Pennines???) To make sure everyone has a fair chance of mooring (there is plenty of moorings at the top of the Pennines) on our canals and rivers it’s important that boaters respect the movement requirements and cruise to a new place at least once a fortnight.

 

(I moored 2 weeks in Smithy Bridge...2 weeks in Littleborough....1 week on the Summit....2 weeks in Walsden....turned around...just reached Littleborough again...and saw the same boats moored here that were here when I left a few weeks back)

 

We’ve been looking at our sighting records and they suggest that your boat ***** has been moored in the same general area for more than 14 days.

 

If this is not the case, or you have any questions please give your local enforcement officer a ring so you can have a chat to them about your circumstances. (My circumstances are that there are only 2 working water points ....Littleborough and Walsden, and the 2 others between here and Manchester are broken )

 

If you have been moored up for longer than 14 day, please continue your journey to avoid action for overstaying.

 

 

I AM NOW AT A POINT OF DESPAIR. I SIMPLY GIVE UP WITH ALL THIS RED TAPE.

Edited August 11, 2015 by DeanS

[DHutch]

Rather than despair, quick call or return letter of explanation?

All change comes with pain but I guess change is fairly inevitable in life.

 

 

Daniel

[haggis]

Worry not, Dean. You could always take the view that your boat is so attractive that it is noticed more than other ordinary boats and take it as a compliment

 

haggis

[RLWP]

Littleborough and Walsden are only 4 miles apart!

 

Richard

[gaggle]

Update your blog with your pics ,you can enjoy them and send CRT the link , bit of a pain but maybe worth the trouble.

[Guest]

Littleborough and Walsden are only 4 miles apart!

 

Richard

That depends which route you take

[DeanS]

Rather than despair, quick call or return letter of explanation?

All change comes with pain but I guess change is fairly inevitable in life.

 

 

Daniel

 

I emailed this response immediately. (side note...the boat will have a boat sitter while we're away for a week) I still despair......seriously. My fears are coming true..there is no where to go boating outside of my marina without being chased by enforcement. The feeling of "boating enjoyment" is fading through no fault of my own.

 

I'm afraid your records are incorrect as I recently moored in Walsden

for 14 days, and turned around to travel back towards my marina in

Manchester. I reached Littleborough 2 days ago, having navigated 15

locks from where I was previously moored, and will be moored up here

for 14 days before setting off again as I'm away in France for a short

holiday. I'll be moving the boat along back to my home mooring in

Manchester as soon as I'm back from France. I can only imagine your

data logger saw my boat going up the Rochdale canal (ascending over

the summit of the Pennines) and has perhaps logged me going in the

opposite direction as I start descending again. It's also important to

note that there is only a water point at Walsden and Littleborough,

with no other between Littleborough and Manchester (the 2 listed on

the CRT maps on this stretch are both out of order). This also impacts

on why I've been forced to remain in the "general area" . Could you

please provide more information on what the "general area" means, as

it's impossible not to pass through the same town if I'm now on a

return journey.

 

Please could you confirm/update your records, as I'm a little

concerned having received your email. Was I logged in Walsden at all?

I was moored near Lock 29. I am now near lock 47.

[DeanS]

Littleborough and Walsden are only 4 miles apart!

 

Richard

 

up a hill and down the other side. They have different railway stations. They have different water points. They are 20 locks apart. They are different places.

[Guest]

Of course all of this confirms that even if you have a home mooring you are still expected to move in exactly the same manner as a boater without a home mooring.

 

Something some of us on here have said in the past is not the case and as a result have been dismissive of people who have suggested it.

 

So if I were still boating and moving up and down the A&C but calling back to our mooring but were never logged by CRT on our mooring we would have been candidates for exactly the same type of communication.

Edited August 11, 2015 by MJG

[RLWP]

up a hill and down the other side. They have different railway stations. They have different water points. They are 20 locks apart. They are different places.

Twenty locks makes a big difference

 

Richard

[Theo]

I emailed this response immediately. (side note...the boat will have a boat sitter while we're away for a week) I still despair......seriously. My fears are coming true..there is no where to go boating outside of my marina without being chased by enforcement. The feeling of "boating enjoyment" is fading through no fault of my own.

 

I'm afraid your records are incorrect as I recently moored in Walsden[/size]

for 14 days, and turned around to travel back towards my marina in[/size]

Manchester. I reached Littleborough 2 days ago, having navigated 15[/size]

locks from where I was previously moored, and will be moored up here[/size]

for 14 days before setting off again as I'm away in France for a short[/size]

holiday. I'll be moving the boat along back to my home mooring in[/size]

Manchester as soon as I'm back from France. I can only imagine your[/size]

data logger saw my boat going up the Rochdale canal (ascending over[/size]

the summit of the Pennines) and has perhaps logged me going in the[/size]

opposite direction as I start descending again. It's also important to[/size]

note that there is only a water point at Walsden and Littleborough,[/size]

with no other between Littleborough and Manchester (the 2 listed on[/size]

the CRT maps on this stretch are both out of order). This also impacts[/size]

on why I've been forced to remain in the "general area" . Could you[/size]

please provide more information on what the "general area" means, as[/size]

it's impossible not to pass through the same town if I'm now on a[/size]

return journey.[/size]

 

Please could you confirm/update your records, as I'm a little[/size]

concerned having received your email. Was I logged in Walsden at all?[/size]

I was moored near Lock 29. I am now near lock 47.[/size]

That gives the facts of the case so it should result in your being removed from the norty list.

 

N

[Naughty Cal]

 

up a hill and down the other side. They have different railway stations. They have different water points. They are 20 locks apart. They are different places.

Perhaps you should ask CRT for clarification as to what they are calling a place.

 

Even if they are 20 locks and 4 miles apart spending 7 weeks in a 4 mile stretch clearly isn't satisfying CRT.

 

Perhaps you need to start cruising further across a broader area.

[matty40s]

The General Area is the North.

 

This just goes to show those people who say the new T&C will not affect them as they are marina dwellers are wrong.

 

Email Richard Parry stating how your summer holiday cruise is being ruined by pathetic letters which have no basis to be sent out.

[DeanS]

Perhaps you should ask CRT for clarification as to what they are calling a place.

 

Even if they are 20 locks and 4 miles apart spending 7 weeks in a 4 mile stretch clearly isn't satisfying CRT.

 

Perhaps you need to start cruising further across a broader area.

 

I am guilty of nothing. I have been travelling an hour to work each day. My wife has been catching trains home which become exceedingly more expensive the further from my marina we go...there are minimal winding points, and water points, and there have been water shortages on the other side of the hill...the reason I am despairing is that in all my attempts to find a place to cruise which impacts no-one, it seems impossible.

does anyone know what the next step after receiving such an email is.....?

[bassplayer]

You could try something like this. I know it will be shot down in flames but I'd be interested to know how it's flawed. I'm happy to live and learn.

 

Dear Sir,

 

You have placed a threatening note making demands which are not backed up in law. Furthermore, the information you have provided is incorrect, I have the evidence to show this.

 

Any further demands like this will be regarded as harassment and you will be invoiced for costs for the generation of any further correspondence with you at a rate of £50 per hour.

 

I will be lodging your note and this letter with my solicitor and may consider further action if the harassment continues.

[Wanted]

Dean, I think you have real valid reasons to respond to this, but worry you confuse the issue by bringing in the water points. The two are different and I wonder if that's a separate, if not equally valid concern.

[frangar]

I am guilty of nothing. I have been travelling an hour to work each day. My wife has been catching trains home which become exceedingly more expensive the further from my marina we go...there are minimal winding points, and water points, and there have been water shortages on the other side of the hill...the reason I am despairing is that in all my attempts to find a place to cruise which impacts no-one, it seems impossible. does anyone know what the next step after receiving such an email is.....?

Even tho you have a home moorIng surely you can see that what you have been travelling is tantamount to bridge hopping.....I'm afraid the arguments you have given are exactly the same as a CM'er....the case is the same...if you need to stay in a relatively small area then you aren't really cruising as per the regs.....and whilst you might have got away with this a few years ago I'm afraid you don't anymore. Perhaps the argument should be that your chosen home mooring isn't fit for purpose.

 

I would however agree that the enforcement officers don't seem to want to touch some boats....when the chap up here on the Lancaster told the boats that are stuck due to the breaches that they need to move and he was asked about other boats that seem to have been nailed to the bank since we first came over he went a bit quiet....annoying!

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

[cotswoldsman]

Dean how dare you leave your home mooring. I hope all boaters will take note of this nonsense

[Midnight]

Dean. I thought the 14 day rule only applies to those without a home mooring. It will be interesting to see CaRT's response but I think a polite apology from them is in order or even an invitation to discuss your cruising pattern. No point in starting a war.

[DeanS]

Dean, I think you have real valid reasons to respond to this, but worry you confuse the issue by bringing in the water points. The two are different and I wonder if that's a separate, if not equally valid concern.

 

If the CRT map shows 4 water points between my marina and the other side of the Pennines, and I find only 2 work....I'm obviously unable to cruise as wide a range as I might normally....

[cotswoldsman]

Even tho you have a home moorIng surely you can see that what you have been travelling is tantamount to bridge hopping.....I'm afraid the arguments you have given are exactly the same as a CM'er....the case is the same...if you need to stay in a relatively small area then you aren't really cruising as per the regs.....and whilst you might have got away with this a few years ago I'm afraid you don't anymore. Perhaps the argument should be that your chosen home mooring isn't fit for purpose.

 

I would however agree that the enforcement officers don't seem to want to touch some boats....when the chap up here on the Lancaster told the boats that are stuck due to the breaches that they need to move and he was asked about other boats that seem to have been nailed to the bank since we first came over he went a bit quiet....annoying!

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

Sorry but he has a home mooring and has moved every 14 days. What law has he broken. I am up for a good donation to funding this in court to test the legality

[Heffalump]

Even tho you have a home moorIng surely you can see that what you have been travelling is tantamount to bridge hopping.....I'm afraid the arguments you have given are exactly the same as a CM'er....the case is the same...if you need to stay in a relatively small area then you aren't really cruising as per the regs.....and whilst you might have got away with this a few years ago I'm afraid you don't anymore. Perhaps the argument should be that your chosen home mooring isn't fit for purpose.

 

I would however agree that the enforcement officers don't seem to want to touch some boats....when the chap up here on the Lancaster told the boats that are stuck due to the breaches that they need to move and he was asked about other boats that seem to have been nailed to the bank since we first came over he went a bit quiet....annoying!

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

 

But those regs apply to "continuous cruisers". A boat with a home mooring has no requirement to be used bona fide for navigation, or travel "a large portion of the network", provided they do not remain in one place for more than 14 days or an otherwise posted duration.

[DHutch]

Dean. I thought the 14 day rule only applies to those without a home mooring. It will be interesting to see CaRT's response but I think a polite apology from them is in order or even an invitation to discuss your cruising pattern. No point in starting a war.

Although its made more (?) clear that those without a home mooring must continuously cruse and make a suitable movement in between 14max day stops, and infact little is said about it at all that I can see, speaking with CRT they have informally confirmed the same applies if you have a home mooring. Why they are not more clear about it I do not know, however it is how I have always known it to be in the 20 years I have been.

 

 

So far I have had no issue 'weekending' the boat around under BW/CRT rules, moving around 20hours or 40-50 lockmiles every fortnight or occasionally three week spells, obviously I you live on the boat and have commitments with work etc it does become increasingly harder to make a longer trip or one of the many rings.

 

As always I am torn, and I dont want all out towns and city's waterways to be full of bridge hoping chancers, but I also do not want to see the canals closed to anyone whos not retired or a clonecraft owner that leave leaves its mooring.

 

 

 

Daniel

[DeanS]

Even tho you have a home moorIng surely you can see that what you have been travelling is tantamount to bridge hopping.....

 

You may see it like that. but...

 

A bridge hopper normally cruises into a city...to be near work...and hops around to stay as close as possible.

I on the other hand, have bought a car, and paid huge amounts in train fares, to be as far away as possible from work because I want to cruise .

Sorry but he has a home mooring and has moved every 14 days. What law has he broken. I am up for a good donation to funding this in court to test the legality

 

sorry John. I had already planned to return to my marina, which is why I've turned the boat around and beginning the descent

[system 4-50]

The key to this is talking face to face with CRT, not trying to do it by written communication.