The Spymaster speaks

THERE are 4,320 boaters without home moorings on Canal & River Trust waterways that are breaking the law, writes Allan Richards.

That is the astounding claim of Inland Waterways Association trustee, Vaughan Welch, who believes that just 180 of an estimated 4,500 boaters who declare that they do not have a home mooring when licencing a boat manage to comply with the legal requirements of the British Waterways 1995 Act.

Lots of hats

Vaughan Welch wears lots of hats. Not only is he an  IWA trustee but he is also chair of the IWA West Midlands region. To that can be added membership of the West Midlands Waterways Partnership together with fellow trustee Ivor Caplan.

However, not known to many is that he is also an observer to the Licencing and Mooring sub committee of CaRT's Navigation Advisory Group (NAG) which advises CaRT on boating matters.

Not a boating organisation

He is perhaps best known to boaters as one of four IWA members, three of them trustees, appointed as boaters representatives to the 35 strong CaRT council.  This is because these appointments have caused controversy as IWA is not a boaters' organisation. Some boaters feel that they will pursue an IWA agenda rather than represent boaters.

That IWA is not a boater organisation and is following its own agenda is confirmed by Vaughan Welch himself writing in Navigation, his regional newsletter. He confirms  that IWA is not a boater organisation and condemns BW/CaRT for treating it as such:

'Most Executives of BW/CRT think that IWA is a boating organisation which of course it is not. Given that these people have been in their posts and dealing with IWA for some time it is surprising that they still don't seem to have taken this on board. If they cannot understand this when it's been made clear to them so many times over, then what hope is there that staff will change their views either?'.

Umbrella organisation

He suggests, correctly, that IWA's remit is much wider, being seen as an umbrella organisation by many, but bemoans the fact that IWA has no automatic seat on council. He says this is unfair adding: 'So until changes are brought about to change this unfairness, we have had little choice but to endorse a number of candidates for boaters places on the Trust's council'.

Oh dear!

It is, of course, the same Vaughan Welch who states that IWA is not a boating organisation, who is encouraging IWA members to spy on boats in the West Midlands region (Underhand snoopers are IWA—narrowboatworld 4/1/2013).

Wacky world

Time to enter the wacky world of Vaughan Welch and document some of his other claims!

First up, Vaughan Welch believes that 80% of the 4,500 that declare a boat as having no home mooring (so called 'continuous cruisers') simply never move.  Furthermore he believes that of the 900 that do move only 20%, some 180 boats, move far enough to comply with his personal and peculiar interpretation of the law.

Another example of his mindset is that he believes that: 'In London the problem is so bad that it is now becoming difficult for visiting boaters to get a mooring anywhere between Bulls Bridge and some distance up the River Lee past Tottenham'.

He goes on to suggest that continuous moorers form an almost unbroken line of boats between these two points and what is more they are two or three deep.

That's over 25 miles of boats up to three abreast!

Time to reach for the calculator. That's somewhere between 4,000 (two abreast) and 6,000 boats (three abreast).

The midnight shuffle

According to Vaughan, these London boaters circumvent the law by doing the 'midnight shuffle'. This apparently takes place 'in the early hours so as to avoid any genuine visiting boater taking up their moorings'.

Perhaps the trust can obtain a grant to fit these boats with lights such that they become a tourist attraction!

Not immune

And it seems Vaughan's home patch is not immune from his wacky world. Apparently there are unlicenced continuous moorers without boat safety certificates (a contradiction in terms if ever there was one) bending the rules and hiding from officialdom on the BCN.

These  freeloaders, as he calls them, are giving the 180 he says are compliant a bad name.

Then, of course, there is this boaters favourite. The continuous moorers that are preventing others mooring on the pontoons at Stratford-on-Avon. These can be clearly seen from the photo taken a few days ago.

Call for resignation

One boater already fed up with this IWA trustee is Alison Tuck. Alison was the boater (and CaRT volunteer) that organised a petition recently to save a small trader from being evicted by CaRT (Georges is saved—narrowboatworld 15/12/2012).

Commenting on his Navigation article encouraging IWA members to spy on boaters she says: 'I would like to call for his resignation from the CaRT council as I feel that this article is not becoming for a council member who is supposed to represent boaters on the CaRT waterways. It shows ill judgement and discrimination towards a section of the boating community which he represents'.

Boaters talking to CaRT

As one who has been very critical of both British Waterways and CaRT, I am happy to report that over the last couple of months we have seen three meetings with local boaters. These meetings have been arranged by boaters themselves rather than organisations and have enabled the Trust to gain valuable insights regarding the views of  boaters and local issues.

The issues themselves have been wide ranging with the agenda chosen by boaters. Quite obviously, boats without home moorings and overstaying have featured in these discussions if local boaters consider that they are an issue.

Quirk of fate

A quirk of fate has dictated that the next boaters meeting will be in Birmingham, the heart of Vaughan Welch's IWA region.

One wonders if local boaters will consider continuous moorers and overstayers to be an issue in the West Midlands compared with elsewhere.

If not, it will be Vaughan Welch, the IWA spymaster, following his IWA agenda that will be the issue!

[The photo of the pontoons at Stratford-on-Avon devoid of continuous cruisers was taken on Sunday 13th January. Just one private craft was in the basin. The boat was displaying in date CaRT and Avon Navigation Trust licences. Five trading boats were also in the basin. Allan tells us that last year he managed to moor in the basin without problem at Easter and again in June and July. He says that, although the basin can be crowded or even full at peak times, it is generally possible to moor between the bottom lock and basin. Alternatively one can moor on the Avon upon payment of a small charge.]