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Canal & River Trust publishes winter moorings information


Ray T

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The Canal & River Trust is today publishing the list of sites it will be offering for winter moorings in 2017-18.   

The Trust is offering a range of winter mooring sites across the country so boaters can have as wide a choice as possible.  There is a selection of sites near facilities, as well as quieter spots for boaters who want a bit more peace and quiet. 

 Winter moorings will be available from 1 November 2017 to 16 March 2018, finishing ahead of the Easter holidays and the start of the summer cruising season.  A final list of the sites and prices can be found at www.canalrivertrust.org.uk/winter-mooringsAll winter mooring permits will be charged at a ‘per metre, per month’ rate, and boaters will be able to book the spots in increments of one month, or two weeks in March 2018.  

 Matthew Symonds, boating strategy and engagement manager at Canal & River Trust, said: “While many people enjoy winter cruising, every year hundreds of boaters decide they want to settle in one place as the weather turns harsher or because it’s harder to get around because of stoppages.  We offer winter moorings as an additional service to make things as easy as possible for boaters to make the choices that work best for them.  There are a wide range of options and we hope that every boater who wants a winter mooring will find something to suit them.  Your views are always helpful so do get in touch with any feedback.”

 Winter moorings are divided into four price bands reflecting each site’s relative attractiveness, for example location and facilities, and to ensure the Trust stays in line with the pricing of both private mooring operators and its own long-term mooring sites. 

 This year most mooring prices will be held at 2016/17 levels.  Some sites have changed price band in response to the high or low levels of demand last winter, with popular sites increasing in price and less popular sites seeing a price cut.  The highest price band has seen a small increase of 50p per metre per month to £15.50 (a 3.5% rise).  At a couple of sites facilities have been improved and this has been reflected in the pricing.

Both continuous cruisers and boaters with a home mooring will be able to take up a winter mooring.  However, as with last year, boaters who are not meeting their licence requirements may not be eligible.

 Bookings for the winter moorings will open at 6am on Monday 2 October and will be made through the Trust’s boat licensing site: https://licensing.canalrivertrust.org.uk/Account/Register.  Boaters will be able to look at sites on the system from Wednesday 13 September. 

 If you have any questions about winter moorings please call customer services on 0303 040 4040 or email wintermoorings@canalrivertrust.org.uk.

 ENDS

 

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34 minutes ago, Mac of Cygnet said:

I don't know where you get these press releases, Ray, but the winter mooring sites were released at least 2 weeks ago - I know because I was investigating them with a view to wintering on the Macc or Peak Forest. 

I have been away in the tin tent for a while and not had access to email., so I posted when I got home - alright?

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CRT 'boating strategy and engagement manager'. What the hell does that mean in English? 

I'd love to see the job description - and his extra large business card for that matter. 

Edited by starman
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£6.50 a metre to be moored in the middle of nowhere,no water,no waste facility,no toilet emptying. Madness.

Then again,£15.50 a metre a month for limited facilities. For Nightwatch £263.00 a month. No thank you. And this is just to take up a mooring that would normally be free! And not to get hassle from Enforcementand and his rangers. 

 

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Say two boats rock up at a designated winter mooring on Feb 1.  One has paid upwards of a couple  of hundred squids to stay the month;  the other has paid nothing to stay 2 weeks.  So in effect the first has paid their £200+ to stay an extra 2 weeks. Doesn't sound very good to me.

And what if the first boat turns up and the moorings are full with boats staying their 2 weeks?   Does he have to evict one?  I wouldn't much fancy that.

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The wm's round my neck of the woods are all in inconvenient places like Cosgrove, and three locks that are bus rides away from the shops if you haven't got a car, which most CC'ers don't have I would think. Why have they put them in remote places ?

I think a better system would be a permit to stay anywhere you like for the winter excluding visitor moorings, different people have different needs, some want car parking nearby, some just peace and quiet, some near towns or facility's. 

 

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3 hours ago, Muddy Ditch Rich said:

The wm's round my neck of the woods are all in inconvenient places like Cosgrove, and three locks that are bus rides away from the shops if you haven't got a car, which most CC'ers don't have I would think. Why have they put them in remote places ?

I think a better system would be a permit to stay anywhere you like for the winter excluding visitor moorings, different people have different needs, some want car parking nearby, some just peace and quiet, some near towns or facility's. 

 

They tried this with the roving winter permits a couple of years ago, it was a financial and boating success..

However, some very clever people from the Bargeenontravellingclub decided to challenge it's legality so they were dropped. 

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Always seem very expensive to me for a no benefit mooring. Might as well winter if you want to be tucked up in a marina with all the facilities at about 11 squid a metre. Otherwise just cc as much as possible with regard stoppages.

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22 hours ago, Muddy Ditch Rich said:

The wm's round my neck of the woods are all in inconvenient places like Cosgrove, and three locks that are bus rides away from the shops if you haven't got a car, which most CC'ers don't have I would think. Why have they put them in remote places ?

I think a better system would be a permit to stay anywhere you like for the winter excluding visitor moorings, different people have different needs, some want car parking nearby, some just peace and quiet, some near towns or facility's. 

 

There are a range of prices, so I think their idea is the out of the way ones with no facilities are cheap.  They do all sound expensive to me compared to a marina mooring where you would at least have electricity, which if I were to be living on the boat over winter would make a huge difference.

The roving permits approach was used about 4 years ago, you could moor anywhere in an area as long as it was no closer than 1Km to a mooring facility (marina or visitor mooring) I think.  I seem to remember the legality of CRT offering these was challenged so they were dropped after the first year.

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1 hour ago, Dave_P said:

Can anyone confirm that all VMs will revert to 14 days from Nov 1st, as previous years.  I haven't seen anything from CRT.

Yes, I read it in the FAQs about winter moorings.

Edited to say that it's not all winter moorings - a few will be signposted otherwise.

Edited by Mac of Cygnet
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20 hours ago, matty40s said:

They tried this with the roving winter permits a couple of years ago, it was a financial and boating success..

However, some very clever people from the Bargeenontravellingclub decided to challenge it's legality so they were dropped. 

An alternative view of that might be that CRT were aware that they were not lawful, rather than the comrade revolutionaries at the nbta screwed up a good idea just out of spite.

 

I posited the idea being fully aware that  WM's may be illegal but no one can do much about it, so we will have to live with it. Whether payment for any WM's is lawful or not is still not settled.

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I emailed C&RT to clarify that obviously vacant winter moorings can be used as 14 day moorings

  This is the reply I  just recieved

"On selected visitor moorings designated as winter moorings approximately 50% of the visitor
mooring site is allocated to winter moorings so that those boaters who prefer to cruise throughout the
winter are still able to use the mooring.

We will endeavour to sign where all the winter moorings start and end so that continuous cruisers can see the vacant spaces."

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6 minutes ago, johnnie1uk said:

I emailed C&RT to clarify that obviously vacant winter moorings can be used as 14 day moorings

  This is the reply I  just recieved

"On selected visitor moorings designated as winter moorings approximately 50% of the visitor
mooring site is allocated to winter moorings so that those boaters who prefer to cruise throughout the
winter are still able to use the mooring.

We will endeavour to sign where all the winter moorings start and end so that continuous cruisers can see the vacant spaces."

So, it looks as if they either didn't understand the question, or, the answer is 'no'.

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1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

So, it looks as if they either didn't understand the question, or, the answer is 'no'.

Again from the Winter Moorings FAQ: (My reaction to the last sentence is "Yeah, right".)

Quote

I don’t have a winter mooring. Will I be able to moor at a winter mooring site if there is space?

 If there is available space at a winter mooring site, visitors may use the mooring. While our winter mooring signage reads that sites are ‘permit holder priority’, we are taking a flexible approach and will allow visitors to moor there for the standard time period if there are spaces on the sites. If a permitholder arrives at the site, they will have priority, and those not in possession of a winter mooring permit must be prepared to move off the site right away.

Edited by Mac of Cygnet
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1 hour ago, johnnie1uk said:

I emailed C&RT to clarify that obviously vacant winter moorings can be used as 14 day moorings

  This is the reply I  just recieved

"On selected visitor moorings designated as winter moorings approximately 50% of the visitor
mooring site is allocated to winter moorings so that those boaters who prefer to cruise throughout the
winter are still able to use the mooring.

We will endeavour to sign where all the winter moorings start and end so that continuous cruisers can see the vacant spaces."

Ive replied "If the unallocated visitor mooring for winter mooring is full and the adjacent allocated winter moorings have obviously vacant space for mooring, is it possible to use these moorings as a 14 day mooring?"

awaiting a reply from C&RT

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The prices are crazy. I have a 60 footer and that equates to close on £300. C&RT need to open their eyes. Fortunately I am already in a marina and have all the facilities. I pay nearly half what C&RT want so where do they get their prices. We do have a few spaces if anyone is interested and I'm in the north west. We are nearly full so be quick. Live aboards are welcome.

Edited by bigstevecat
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On 9/24/2017 at 15:07, Muddy Ditch Rich said:

The wm's round my neck of the woods are all in inconvenient places like Cosgrove, and three locks that are bus rides away from the shops if you haven't got a car, which most CC'ers don't have I would think. Why have they put them in remote places ?

I think a better system would be a permit to stay anywhere you like for the winter excluding visitor moorings, different people have different needs, some want car parking nearby, some just peace and quiet, some near towns or facility's. 

 

 

It's not often you write sensible stuff like this that I agree with, but here you have excelled yourself. 

CCers need VMs more in winter than they do in summer, but around here virtually 100% of VMs are given over to five months of Winter Moorings, 50% of them occupied by empty boats. Boils my blood it does. 

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