Scandalous

This is something of a shocker. It’s not brand new information but, all the same, it’s surprising how few boaters seem to be aware of this.

I don’t plan to get into issues of good, bad, right and wrong. I am starting from the premise that - in the world of the waterways - a very small group of people have some very significant financial privileges. If I had these privileges myself, I would want to make the most of them and I would be inclined to manipulate circumstances in such a way as to allow me to do just that. Such is human nature. Life is a game and, within the rules, each of us is here to play it as best as we can. Sometimes we break the rules though. However, when we do, we should try not to get caught out. 

Some years ago, I heard that British Waterways owned BWML (British Waterways Marinas Ltd). At the time, I was staying in a marina - a BWML one, in fact - and I did not care too much.  It did not affect me.

Since BW morphed into CRT (Canals & Rivers Trust), CRT are applying ever increasing pressure upon continuous cruisers to find a home mooring in marinas. Consequently, as a continuous cruiser, I do care about this. It affects me. At this point in my life, I have no interest in being in a marina and I like moving about.

When I first heard about it, the idea that CRT could own BWML struck me as absurd and I thought it might be an unsubstantiated rumour.

So, this week, I checked. It only took a few seconds.

It is how things are.

BWML is a subsidiary company, wholly owned by CRT. 

If you need convincing, scroll through page 2 of the following link:

http://canalrivertrust.org.uk/media/library/1525.pdf

In other words, the Trust that governs our waterways and is doing all it can to push continuous cruisers into paying for a home mooring, stands to profit significantly whenever a boater does so. They will profit if a boater takes a towpath mooring or moves into any of the 20 BWML operated marinas (or any of the independent marinas affiliated with CRT, such as Engineer’s Wharf). The problem is that CRT is not open or public about this. The relationship between the charitable charity & trustworthy trust known as CRT and their profit-hungry chain of marinas is, whilst not exactly a secret, somewhat hidden. Neither company is bragging about its relationship with the other. It’s as if there something a bit shameful at the root of it - a bit like a one night stand with your cousin. 

Those boaters who do not take a home mooring are paying CRT a lot less than those boaters who do. In CRT’s eyes, therefore, continuous cruisers are the least profitable members of the boating community. Is there any wonder that many continuous cruisers feel that CRT treats them contemptuously?

So, given the above, is it possible that CRT’s motive for applying pressure to continuous cruisers to take up home moorings is financially driven?

BWML operates 20 marinas, 25 percent of which are in the proximity of London - Cowroast, Apsley, Packet Boat, Limehouse and Poplar Dock. If you have a 60 ft boat,  mooring at one of their central locations will set you back around £10,000 a year - an obscene price for a parking space and a plug socket (which you will pay even more for if you decide to connect to it).

I cannot comment on the entire network but I have noticed that an increase in enforcement appears to be especially strong in areas close to BWML marinas, for example the Grand Union South & Regent’s Canal. This is, presumably, just coincidental as CRT states that the company, “operates under a Fair Trading Code of Practice. The principles of the Fair Trading Code are that BWML will be treated by Canal & River Trust (CRT) in the same manner as any other private mooring or marina operator and that BWML should not receive any special help, information, services or privileges that are not made available on the same terms to other operators on the CRT network of waterways.”

Obviously, if CRT were intentionally making life difficult for continuous cruisers close to their own marinas with the hope that some of them will take up a mooring yet neglecting to patrol those areas where they have less of a presence with equal vigilance, it would be a contravention of the above. 

Even without the relationship between CRT & BWML, I wonder if the sheer volume of BWML sites merits intervention by the Monopolies commission? BWML, I believe, has way too much power in the marina marketplace.

Furthermore, given this relationship, can anything we are told by CRT be taken at face value? Many of us share concerns that the 1995 British Waterways’ Act is applied, interpreted, reinterpreted and misinterpreted by CRT in whichever way suits whatever their agenda happens to be. The actual wording and its intentions do not seem to be of much relevance at all.

Here’s a couple of questions and answers you probably won’t here at any of the current  season of CRT Q & A evenings.

Q: Why are there not enough water points in London? 

A: Because it makes life much harder for people who continuously cruise. This is intended to increase the uptake of home moorings and therefore the dividends paid to the BWML directors - ie the same people who could authorize expenditure on additional water points if they did not have a vested financial interest in not doing so.

Q: Why are CRT focussing so strongly on enforcement atm?

A: Because it makes life much harder for people who continuously cruise. This will increase the uptake of home moorings and therefore the dividends paid to  BWML directors -  ie the same people who initiated the programme of increased enforcement as they have a vested financial interest in  doing so.

And so it goes on.

I do not believe that the directors of the body that are responsible for managing the waterways and benefitting from boat license revenue should also have a strong financial motivation for forcing boaters off of those waterways and into marinas. It is a conflict of interests.

Is it ethical? 

In line with my own code of ethics - which is all I have to go on - it is not.

Is it legal? 

I do not know but would be interested in hearing the views of someone who does.

In my first few years of boating, I stayed at 3 BWML marinas on contracts of varying lengths. I was charged according to the length of my boat but - on most of my contracts - only provided with a 40 ft finger pontoon. This troubled me. I could understand paying for a towpath mooring according to my boat’s length but if the marina would only provide me with a 40 ft pontoon, how could it justify charging me for  using 60 ft of their space? I never received a satisfactory answer to this and it was the first time I had cause to feel that BWML’s ethics were out of line with my own. That said, I know other marinas do this too.

I once had a BWML winter mooring where - for 6 months - I used a berth which belonged to another boater who had taken her boat to another part of the country for a year. That boater was still paying for the berth though so - upon my arrival -  the laws of physics were defied whilst BWML was paid twice over for the same space. I did not mind too much, of course, as I wanted to be there and was getting what I wanted but, once again,  the relationship between BWML’s corporate morals and my own personal ones was being questioned in my ever questioning mind. How can they receive the same money TWICE for the same space? Shouldn’t the permanent resident of that berth have their costs reduced on account of me having sublet the space in their absence? 

If you pay for a home mooring (towpath or BWML), then you are worth more money to CRT than I currently am. A boater with a home mooring who goes out cruising is not consistently subject to the same enforcement proceedings as a continuous cruiser. The 14 day rule does not always seem to apply to boaters who pay for a home mooring. I regularly hear of cases where boaters with a home mooring are left alone for months when they remain in the same spot on the towpath. A continuous  cruiser friend of mine has called CRT in more than one occasion to complain about overstaying boats and has been told that they are not on their system as continuous cruisers. They are already paying a premium and for this they are  seemingly granted extra towpath privileges and left to do as they wish. In fact, for as long as they stay away from their home mooring, the opportunity exists for the marina to charge another boat to use their space. Smart business or corporate bandits? Perhaps it’s both. But is it legal?

My own experience is also reflected in the above. Before I became a continuous cruiser, I sometimes overstayed in places and - not once during that period -  did I receive a patrol notice.  Tbh I had begun to think I was immune. Soon after I  registered as a continuous cruiser, I received my first notice on my 16th day at a 14 day VM.  Yes, I understand that I did a terrible thing and I make no excuses. I also accept that it is possible that the timing of my decision to continuously cruise may have coincided with the period when CRT increased its patrol and enforcement activity. However, I’d be interested in hearing from any boaters with home moorings who have overstayed whilst away from their base and experienced received a patrol notice.

I wonder why the relationship between CRT & BWML isn’t on everyone’s radar? For obvious reasons, CRT do not make much noise about the connection but, oddly, neither do boaters.

Here’s my thinking.

If you are in a BWML marina, you do not care about continuous cruisers and enforcement  proceedings. Consequently, other than when your license renewal comes up, CRT is not going to be on your radar.

If you are a continuous cruiser, you do not care about marinas & home moorings. Consequently BWML marinas are not going to be on your radar.

Boaters belong to one camp or the other and it’s hardly surprising that they don’t pay attention to issues that affect the other camp. Again, that is a part of human nature. Either intentionally or circumstantially, however, it is an aspect of the human condition that is currently being manipulated & exploited.

I did not plan to get into issues of good, bad, right and wrong.  I make an effort to empathize, see both sides & not be judgmental. Sometimes, it’s hard though.

Joel

Feb 22nd, 2014

The Angry Boater meets The Purple Army @ Ronnie Scotts

This is a departure from my usual format. It's also very unboaty. The only boating links I can contrive are (1) I filmed a 20 second section on board and (b) I was moored in Camden which is how I met the Prince fans outside Koko ... and that gave me the idea to make this film the following day.

Rotten Boaters - Pt 2

When I first got a boat, I sometimes used to drive too fast.

I remember zipping past a line of moored boats once and being shouted at to, “Slow the fuck down.”

Through ignorance & anger, I shouted back, “Fuck you. I’m nowhere near you.”

“That’s hardly the point!” he yelled.

“Well, what is the point?” I yelled back.

He didn’t say anything.  Perhaps he didn’t know either.

These days, I’m more careful when I pass moored boats because, these days, I understand the point. 

My own pins have been pulled out by the wash from speeding vessels a few times and, consequently, I try not to do that to others.  For the most part, us human types empathize better when we have first hand experience of the situation in hand. So, nowadays, when I pass moored boats, I tend to slow down.

Last summer, I was cruising along the Grand Union, somewhere around Leighton Buzzard . It was a gorgeous day during the heatwave and I felt happy and relaxed. My boat and I were chugging along  so slowly that other boats were overtaking. The pace of my boat matched the pace of my mind.

Just ahead of me, there was a cluster of residential moorings and - out of instinct rather than necessity - I slowed down even further.

As I passed the moorings, one of the boat owners jumped out of his back door and, sarcastically, called over, “Oi - have you got a plane to catch?”

I snapped out of my daydream state. 

“What?”

“You’re going too fast!” he shouted. His face was red. Slow down!” 

I saw red too. 

“If I was going any slower, I’d be going backwards,” I called back, “Use your eyes.”

Instead of retreating to his boat or, heaven forbid, admitting that he might have been mistaken, he turned self righteous and started droning on about inconsiderate boaters and the perils of creating wash.  My calm demeanor was long gone now. I pulled my throttle into reverse. I felt compelled to continue the discussion. 

Reversing a 60 ft boat is an unexpected and powerful mid-argument strategy. As I pulled alongside him, the self righteousness, pride and pomposity drained from his cheeks. 

To a stranger, especially when I’m not smiling (which is often)  my appearance can appear a little disconcerting as I am a bit overweight. I used to think that there could only be an upside to eating less, working out and slimming down. However, a larger build definitely has its silver linings - even when that size had been fueled by pizza and cookies rather than free weights.

As I reversed, I had a flashback to a boating encounter I’d once had near Uxbridge with a grumpster who routinely came out of her boat to stare judgmentally or reprimand every passing boat. She had a reputation for complaining to other boaters - whether there were grounds to do so or not. Consequently, some boaters deliberately sped up every time they passed her.

“That line of yours about catching planes?” I began, “You say that to every boat who passes by, don’t you? That’s your little catchphrase, right?” 

It was a gamble but by the way that his expression shifted., I knew I’d hit a nerve. Without a word, he went back into his boat and closed the door. I resisted the temptation to drive away at full throttle. I was no longer calm though. My serenity had been stolen away from me and I was filled with unwanted adrenaline.

As I drove on, I tried to process what had just happened. 

Perhaps, over time, so many boats had sped past him that he had developed some kind of OCD and constantly felt triggered to prevent it in advance. 

The heatwave may have been a factor too. It had been extreme of late and, consequently, tempers were more prone to being lost. 

Ultimately, though, my sense was that it came down to a need to feel in control - a trait I recognize in myself too and one that contributed to my decision to live on a boat in the first place.

I touched on this in a previous post but I think a lot of boaters have control issues. You need to feel that you do not have enough freedom in order to take the decision to create a life which is - superficially - all about freedom. I can certainly identify with that scenario. The trouble is that a solution is usually more complicated than a lifestyle change. Floating around on a canal might help but, unless the deeper subconscious cause is dealt with too, over time, the problem will morph itself into the new lifestyle. That’s also a part of my experience and, perhaps, one of the reasons why I created this blog.

For me, living on the water initially provided the calming antidote to life’s stresses but that was only a temporary fix. Boating moved me on to the next phase of my life, yes, but the essence of who I am and what drives me has not really changed. Whilst my awareness and understanding has evolved, deep down, I still have a need for freedom and control that I sometimes seems insatiable. At the root of that is anger and - if someone tries to control me or restrict my freedom - it’s that anger that always rises to the surface. 

The “Have you got a plane to catch” guy pushed my buttons by unjustly accusing me of speeding past his boat and his use of sarcasm & cliche probably angered me even more. However, even if his complaint had been justified, I would probably have felt the same. 

A few weeks after I met him, I performed the mid-argument boat reversal for a 2nd time....

Joel

Feb 7th, 2013

Rotten Boaters Pt 1

First of all, I’m in a foul mood. 

I moved from LV to Paddington Basin earlier.  The only available spot here was under a footbridge, directly over the world’s loudest jacuzzi. It’s obviously not a jacuzzi but - whatever the water churning device in the basin is - it sounds like a jacuzzi, keeps working 24/7 and I am moored on top of it.

Before you ask why I haven’t moved, my lower back is on the verge of going into spasm so I daren’t. For now, I’m stuck here, wearing earplugs and dealing with the constant movement caused by whatever the contraption is that lies beneath me. Furthermore,  I’m feeling empathy with everyone who has ever flipped out in public for no apparent reason. Yes, I am on the verge of madness. 

This is the worst mooring spot ever. Luckily, there is a tube strike tomorrow so I’ll be able to stay on board and get used to it.

Why didn’t I stay where I was in Little Venice? There was plenty of space there. I wasn’t annoying anyone and no-one was annoying me. 

I didn’t stay there because my 14 days was up and muggins here didn’t want to get a patrol notice or be known as one of those evil, sociopathic overstayers.

Because, if I’m honest, I don’t like people who overstay.

Now, I have occasionally overstayed myself and, in order not to be accused of hypocrisy, I’d best confess that I don’t like myself very much for having done so.

I’m not really talking about a few extra days here and there though. Most of us have done that  - emergencies, weather etc. Shit happens. I’m talking about the long termers, those who think that they have a God given right to stay wherever they want for months on end and will boldly shout about how anyone who doesn’t like it should mind their own business. 

On a side note, not long ago, I was moored up in Islington and deliberately got up at 6.30am in order to fill up with water before moving on. When I got to the water point, another boat was already there. They weren’t filling up. They were just there - moored up (I found out later they’d been there for over a week). What does that even mean? Only 5 water points in central London and one boater thinks it’s OK to hijack one for their exclusive use. 

I moored up alongside them and - and climbed over their boat to attach my hose to the tap. The owner came out and wearily complained that I’d woken her up. I smiled, secretly,  wishing that I’d filled up at 3 am instead. 

I pointed out the obvious and she said, “I’ve got permission to be here from CRT.” I choose to assume that she was lying. In the event that CRT are capable of such insanity, I simply prefer not to believe it. Fingers in ears. Lalalalala.

As for the constant overstayers, I hear stories that CRT are clamping down and even removing boats from the water. Usually, these stories are told in the context of how evil and heartless CRT are. Sometimes, I find myself nodding and expressing that sentiment too but - inside - I’m not always siding with the boater. I’d sometimes like to stay for months at an awesome mooring or not pay for a license. However, I don’t and I therefore reserve the right to judge others by my own standards. Why would I sympathize with them? I’m human and that’s not how humans are. We support those who behave as we do. We do not support those who behave in ways that we do not. 

If I choose not to overstay somewhere, it’s not REALLY because I care about the rules or that I feel obliged to keep the system moving or create a space for another boater. It’s primarily because I’m fearful of the consequences I might incur by breaking the rules.

In the interests of full disclosure, I should also state that my water tank lasts just over 2 weeks. Consequently, for me, after 14 days I HAVE to move to fill up and - if I have gone to the trouble of driving my boat to the water point anyway - it’s not a significant extra burden to moor up again somewhere else afterwards.

My point is that, if (a) I was less fearful of authority and (b) I had a bigger water tank, I would find  the temptation to overstay far greater than I do with my current temperament and tank capacity.

I don’t like overstayers but partly it’s because I cannot be one. Perhaps, I’m just jealous.

Anyone in Paddington fancy a jacuzzi? I’ll swap spots with you.

Joel

Feb 4th, 2014