The continuing 2D confusion
IT WOULD seem that it is not only boaters that do not understand the new 2D mooring restriction, but neither do those that have the task of enforcing it, as Suzanne MacLeod writes:
From my experience, CaRT don't really know themselves what they mean by a '2D' visitor mooring.
Recently I moored on a 2D spot at Foxton, arriving about 10.30 on a Friday morning. Later that day, a 'Welcome to Foxton' letter had been attached to my boat that explained and mapped the new mooring arrangements.
Amber
The next day, returning to the boat on Saturday afternoon, I found an 'AMBER' letter attached to my boat. It stated: '... today is your last day of free mooring and you need to move. If you are still here tomorrow when our mooring ranger visits, a charge ... will apply'.
Having assumed that 2D meant exactly the same as the former 48 hours, I was now unsure. What if the ranger visited on Sunday morning at say, 09.30—47 hours after I had first moored? The letter implied that I risked being charged for overstaying my 2D allowance.
The query
I emailed and queried the letter's signatory, Patricia Fox of CaRT. I received a reply, not from Patricia, but from Matthew Symonds, (Boating Liaison Officer South). In the tail of Matthew's reply to me was the message that Patricia had forwarded internally to Matthew. Patricia had emailed him:
'Hi Matthew. How would you like me to respond to this one? I am assuming that when we say 48 hours we mean two nights? Regards, Trish'. Excellent example of doublethink, I thought.
The explanation
Matthew's reply to me in full read:
'Thank you for your email regarding your recent visit to Foxton Locks. The volunteer rangers deliver the amber letters the day before they will overstay in a zone so that they have plenty of notice to avoid an extended stay charge.
However from your email description it sounds as though the letter may have been attached to your boat in error. If you were sighted moored in the 2 day zone on Friday, the amber letter shouldn't have been attached unless you were still sighted in the zone on Sunday. My apologies that you received the amber letter.
We are in the process of reviewing the first few months of the new Visitor Mooring arrangements and so your feedback is very welcome. We're aware that the definition of ‘days' has been misunderstood by some boaters so we'll be clarifying this when we update the welcome leaflet for winter.
Where we have introduced the new visitor mooring arrangement we have indicated mooring times in number of days rather than in time period such as 24 or 48 hour as in reality, managing time periods set out in hours is not practical. We think that using days is clear and fair, but as mentioned we'll be helping to make the definition clearer.
The full terms and conditions set out clearly how the boat sightings are recorded as follows;
Recorded stay time: is measured by the number of nights between the first and latest sighting. A boat recorded at any time on two consecutive days will be treated as having stayed for one whole day and a single sighting of a boat on one day only will also be recorded as a one day visit.
The updated welcome leaflet will include this clarification.
Thank you again for your feedback.'
Amazing, really, isn't it? How a visit could be recorded as 'one day' based on a single sighting, but also be recorded as 'one day' if the boat is sighted on two consecutive days. Clear as silt!
Guys, if you really mean 2 Nights (not quite as clear for legal purposes as 48 hours, but at least it is understandable and practical) then please have the signs read '2 nights'. However, you will then have to allow that a permissible stay may then easily extend well over 48 hours (did CaRT mean to do that?) and that, in this case, a ranger working regular daylight hours would have to log sightings on FOUR consecutive days in order to have evidence of a stay that had exceeded 2 nights and must have constituted an illicit 3 nights'.
Clarity is a wonderful thing.