Last week, whilst moored up in Little Venice, I returned to my boat to find a sealed message from CRT (The Canals & Rivers Trust) tied onto my back door. Ever the optimist, my open heart told me it must be a Xmas greeting or a note to commend me on the quality of my bowline. It turned out, however, to be my first Patrol Notice (boatspeak for parking ticket).
This is my first winter on the cut.
Before I get into the meat of this blog, for curious land based readers, ‘The Cut’ broadly refers to the open, public sections of the waterways (rather than a private marina). If you walk your dog along the towpath and see boats moored up alongside the bank of the canal, the owners, unless it’s an abandoned wreck or a pleasure trip, are probably living on the cut. I am one of those.
Some boaters choose to live on the cut for financial reasons; some enjoy the pleasures and challenges of a nomadic lifestyle; others wish to avoid the sense of restriction and institutionalization that often comes with being in a marina.
You need a license to keep a boat on the water and the cost of that license depends on the length of your vessel. Mine comes in at just over £800 a year. In return for that, if I choose to live on the cut, The British Waterways Act of 1995 requires that I move every 14 days and CRT are the body responsible for enforcing that requirement.
I have previously lived in marinas - initially on a full time basis whilst I figured out what I was doing - and then - out of fear for my wellbeing - during the winter months only. However, having just completed an 8 month jolly through Leicestershire, Oxford & The Mighty Thames, I felt ready to face a winter on the cut. So far, it’s been fine. I’ve had the privilege of living around London, made some lovely new boater friends and upped the level of my boating game.
The main challenges of the cut - especially in the winter - are (a) Filling up your fresh water tank (b) Emptying your toilet (c) Finding a new mooring spot when you comply with the requirement to move every 14 days.
When my water tank is full, I have enough water to last just over 2 weeks. Consequently, the 14 day rule works organically well for me. Every 2 weeks, when it’s time to move, I untie my ropes, fill up with water, find a new spot and the cycle of boating life continues.
So, back to this patrol notice.
I had been in Little Venice for 2 weeks and was heading east. There were a couple of problems though. The first was that the locks at Camden were being repaired. As a consequence of this, no boats were able to travel through Camden in either direction. The system was at something of a standstill.
When I was due to move, I drove to the Little Venice water point to fill up and then made my way to the next mooring location which was Paddington basin. There was just one spot available but, when I arrived, what I think was a wake boarding race was about to take place and the sole vacant pontoon was being used as the competitors’ point of entry to the water. I was told I could take that spot as soon as the race was over and was asked to wait at the rear end of the basin for the event to end. I tied myself temporarily to another boat, bought myself a coffee from the M & S cafe and, within an hour, I was moored at the only free pontoon in the basin.
I then spotted a laminated sign tied to one of the mooring rings. “WINTER MOORING” accompanied by the name of another boat for which, presumably, the space was being held.
Before I got too comfortable, I called CRT to ask about my new spot. The girl I spoke to had no record of it being a winter mooring and said I would be OK to stay there.
Ten minutes later, the boat whose name matched the one on the laminated sign, pulled up alongside mine. Contrary to the advice given to me by CRT, the boater on board had indeed paid them an additional premium for the right to stay there. He’d disappeared for a few hours to fill up with water.
There were no other spots in the basin. I vacated the spot and was effectively homeless .... and irritated.
I am fed up with boaters telling me, “You have to have a sense of humour to be a boater.” Everyone has a sense of humour. There is a time and a place for all senses and this was a time and a place for exasperation, not for pondering why the chicken crossed the road.
In heavy rain, I drove back to Little Venice - where there were a few open spaces - and grabbed myself a new spot there, double moored on the outside of another narrowboat.
I had complied with my requirement to move after 14 days. On this occasion, however, I had moved back to the origin of my journey.
2 days later I received the patrol notice, telling me to move within 24 hours or incur fines for overstaying.
The CRT enforcer had written her mobile number on the notice, something I think all traffic wardens should be legally required to do. I called her up and outlined everything I have described above, including the bit about why I thought my experience had not been an appropriate time for contemplating why the chicken had crossed the road. Against my expectations, she was sincere, sympathetic and understanding. It struck me that she had a - sometimes difficult - job to do and I had appreciated her unexpectedly humanistic communication. She did mention that there were currently 2 spots available in Camden. Later that day, predominantly because I had liked her and did not want to make her job more difficult, I untied my boat, drove the 45 minutes to Camden, found zero spots available, and drove back to Little Venice. As I drove back at full throttle, expressing the symptoms of advanced tourettes, I tried to calm myself through humour by recalling my favourite ‘Knock Knock’ jokes. However, the ever present families & couples on the towpath benches & bridges above had their smiles & waves routinely returned with scowls & grimaces. Never before has anyone so effectively combined the arts of boating and gurning.
The next morning, I walked over to Paddington basin and found one lonely spot available, underneath a bridge. I ran back, grabbed my boat, dumped it into the dark, noisy spot and - until a better one became available - lived there like the grumpy old troll, offering passing strangers 3 wishes in return for soup.
I’m aware that my tone has been measured so far. I’m repressing.
I understand that locks have to be mended and that CRT - in undertaking the repair of the locks - are putting my license money towards exactly the kind of expenses that I would like them to be making.
However, CRT have sold a large number of public moorings off for the winter and, consequently, there are very few public spaces available in Paddington basin for boaters such as myself who choose to live on the cut. Simply put, CRT - the same organization that stuck a notice onto my boat telling me I had to move on and continue with my journey - made it impossible for me to do so by selling off so many spaces at my next intended port of call. Ordinarily, it could perhaps be argued that I should have moved on further and moored up elsewhere. However, with the aforementioned closure at Camden, Paddington basin was - at that point in time - a dead end. There was nowhere else to go unless I went backwards and moored in Kensal Green (where I had only recently been and could therefore arguably be charged with ‘Bridge Hopping’ - another crime against the waterways which CRT can charge boaters with).
CRT have sold off a number of other prime London sites for the winter - not just Paddington basin. Large public sections of the waterways across Little Venice, Angel and Hackney are not currently available to normal boaters UNLESS they pay CRT an additional premium in order to use them. Combined with severe mooring restrictions implemented at Kings Cross and Angel (the former due to construction and the latter due to residents whose vitriolic desire to see boaters banished is being supported on account of them having lived there long before the canals were built), it comes at a time when the need for central moorings has never been greater. Only last month an investigation by the London Assembly concurred with this very point and urged CRT to create more central moorings and facilities. CRT’s response was that this would be "challenging":
Currently, there are several sections of the towpath in London where, out of sheer desperation to have somewhere to stay, boaters are wedging their mooring pins into the concrete. By doing so, they are risking electrocution from the live cables lying inches below. Is it really that great a challenge for CRT to install mooring rings along those sections? Why would this not be an absolute priority at this critical time when London moorings are disappearing faster than Waitrose yellow sticker pies 5 minutes before closing time?
On a related side note, I believe there are just 5 water points in central London. If you need to fill up with water and - as is often the case - a couple of boats are already waiting, the simple process of getting water can take the best part of a day (my average sized tank, for example, takes roughly an hour to fill). Currently, if I am heading west and the water point at Little Venice is busy, my next opportunity to fill up is in Greenford - roughly 4 cruising hours away. Is it really all that challenging to install a few extra taps along the system - in Kensal Green or Alperton perhaps? It’s water! We’re a developed country! It’s the 21st Century! Greenford! Really? Knock Knock.
My next point might be contentious but if boaters pay CRT to use a previously available section of the canal as a private winter mooring, that is one less spot that is available for everyone else to use. In others words, some boaters become compliant in the problem. I am not judging any boater who chooses to do this. In fact, I seriously considered taking such a mooring for myself, may well do so in the future and the fact that I have not yet done so has nothing to do with morality or ethics. Ultimately, everyone has to survive and will do what is best for their own circumstances. My point is that by profiting from the sale and consequent removal of what would otherwise be a precious London mooring spot, CRT’s status as a charity becomes very questionable. This exercise is a clear statement of capitalism.
This may seem like an anti-CRT rant but, fundamentally, I am not against them. I don’t agree with everything they do but it would ridiculous, unrealistic and untruthful for anyone to claim that they did. Life is just not like that. CRT are the body that must oversee the smooth running of the waterways and that is a task that will always be accompanied by challenges. With regards to winter moorings and facilities - in London especially - I raise these issues in order, simply, that they might be added to the melting pot when it comes to reviewing the next bunch of priorities and projects. I’m just a guy with a boat, a temper, lots of words and a desire to see continued improvements.
Joel
Dec 23rd, 2013
There are many different reasons why people might choose to live on our canal boat moorings or rivers, including it being seen as more affordable than trying to buy property in the capital.
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