'Inappropriate Mooring' has not been thought through

Published: Monday, 10 February 2020

THERE is little doubt that the 'inappropriate mooring' scheme conjured up by CaRT is nothing more than a knee-jerk reaction that has not been thought through, writes T. Lang.

Victor well and truly puts his finger on it when he told that hire boaters are the worst offender, for they certainly are, either through ignorance or 'don't care'. 

canaltime at AlrewasTied up on lock moorings

I should imagine there are not any regular boaters out there who have not come across a hire boat well tied up on a lock mooring or opposite a water tap—I can't remember how many I have met.  The two hire boaters in the photograph (a few years ago) had just come up Alrewas Lock and tied to the lock mooring bollards leaving no space to moor in the morning.

And of course when you arrive at a popular moorings and see all the regular boaters moored 'nose to tail' to make use of the available space, along comes a couple of hirers spreading out and immediately taking up three good mooring spaces.

So what can CaRT do about them?  They will be long gone when it gets around to a warning, and who will they warn?  The hire company?  Not their fault as most provide their hirers with written rules including where not to moor—I have seen such rules myself. 

Will not upset hire companies

There is no way CaRT will upset the hire companies and jeopardise such a large slice of income, so most likely the hire boats will be ignored, which means the whole process will come to nought so I shall quote Victor: 

'Silly sods. Seems like a bit of 'pie in the sky' to me.'  To which I can but agree.