Victor advises winter moorers to read the small print

Published: Sunday, 05 December 2021

NO FEW of you have sent us a link to Canal & River Trust's Terms & Conditions of Winter Mooring, you being somewhat unbelieving!

I have to admit I would be to at the sheer volume of them, page after page13 in all!of frankly ridiculous and really totally unnecessary rules and regulations. 

One thing, you will have to behave if you are not to contravene any of the hundreds of conditions, and be prepared to move at a moments notice in certain conditions.

I made some attempt to make some sense out of them but gave it up thinking it better if you have a look yourselves:

Terms & Conditions.

Getting more expensive

It's getting more expensive to moor at Sawley Marina these days with boaters being told that electricity costs are going up 60%, but what is worrying to its customers just how much will the mooring charges be going up next year?

As the company has splashed out to buy up other marinas, it must need some extra income, so guess who will most likely be providing it?

And I reckon those other marina moorers could be in for a a shock too...

Buy a generator

Unless a boat is stuck on a permanent mooring, where it most likely has a power supply, other boaters will be, or should be, moving. So I can't see the point of CaRT advising boaters to 'buy a generator' as a 'heat source'.

The common sense answer to heating is to do as many do, us included—have the boat's engine's water system connected to the domestic cylinder, so as you cruise you get hot water and if you have radiators you get those supplied with hot water too, all for 'free'!  And as we all know the batteries are also being charged.

To get a generator to supply a 'heat source' I just do not understand, for in this respect all that it can do is supply electric heaters, which would mean the hell of a massive generator, as the normal ones supply just 1,000 watts, that certainly would not keep you very warm.

One thing they certainly do, is irritate nearby boaters mooring for the evening and also need constant filling.

Generators fitted

The fella, Damian, who gave us this information also wondered why boat engines are not fitted with 240 volts generators.

Have to correct him again I'm afraid as our friends' boat was fitted with a 240 volts generator, and I know of others, that you can often tell as they use their generators for a short while such as cooking.

Should he care to look at the offers from boat builders he would see many offer the rather simple technology of adding a generator that can be switched off if not needed.

Good advice

One piece of good advice from Damian is that if cruising it is best to look-up the stoppage notices beforehand so you will not become stuck.

Just one problem however, most of the stoppages occur out of the blue, before they appear as a stoppage notice.  As alas, many of you, including ourselves, have all too often encountered.

Those 'emergency works'

Learning that the cost of the repairs to Toddbrook Reservoir at Whaley Bridge are going to knock back CaRT to the tune of £16 millions, I reckon that this is the 'emergency works' that is causing so many of the winter repairs to be cancelled.

It rings true, with CaRT hardly wanting to admit it as it was its own fault—the lack of maintenance, that was proved at the subsequent enquiry—that caused the failure.

So keeping it in the dark certainly rings trueeh?

Anyone can write

We are constantly being asked by readers what is necessary to become such as a contributor to narrowboatworld, they believing that some qualification or other is required.

I can tell you that nothing is required as anyone can write providing it refers to boating in whatever aspect. The only reason that some writers are referred to as contributors is as they write regularly, but anyone can write as many times as they feel they have something to say and is sensible.

We never alter what is written, (only perhaps for punctuation to fit in with our Style Book) and if on the rare occasion something is wrong we contact the writer.  The only alteration is that if the first sentence is too long for our style and so has to be cut in half to fit, but we always keep the theme.

The only rule is that the writers' name be published, though under no circumstances will any details be passed on to anyone or used in any way.  We never pass what is written to such as Canal & River Trust for comment, as some publications do, as we feel its reply published at the same time negates whatever is written.

So If you have something to say—get writing!

Perhaps I should add that this publication is non-profit, with usually the cash required derived from readers logging on to the adverts. Our Thomas was a newspaper editor for many, many years so this, I reckon, is his hobby!  But you have to admit it does quite a bit of good...

Victor Swift