We all know that this country has been in a recession since about 2008 and I do wonder what real impact this is having on the canal system, I don't mean in just financial terms but in social terms, with most large ticket items being reduced in price, borrowing difficult to obtain, mortgages having been difficult to get hold of in the recent past and of course less money around in general, is this leading to people looking at narrow boats as a cheaper housing alternative, I know people have been looking at boats for that very reason for years but it strikes me that we are seeing more and more people looking for a cheap liveabord, bigger boats have come down in price quite a lot, probably because they are less affordable to run, and maintenance is higher too,what ever the reason boats are becoming very desirable to people who can only just afford them; Over the last couple of years I have seen the number of people seeking cheap liveabords rise, and they all seem to want the same thing, a boat with a reasonable hull and engine and then they will make do with the rest and 'do it up' as they go along, they don't want a mooring as they intend to continuously cruise; Now given that we are all entitled to use the waterways within the current CART guidelines then there should not be an issue, but unfortunately not everyone does.
Now my question is this, with more continuous cruisers, more people looking for a cheap home, more people staying in popular spots for longer than they should, is it only a matter of time before the canal becomes less desirable as a place to relax and go boating, are hire boaters looking elsewhere for holidays, are private (no continuous cruising) boaters getting fed up with it, or has that time already arrived? Is the canal slowly turning in to a sort of floating social housing system? Is it a sign of the times?
Simon
As a continuous cruiser, a genuine one, I can only say that I'm as fed up with those who abuse the system as anyone. Unless C&RT get their fingers out and start enforcing the rules then, yes, who would want to take a holiday along a canal lined with a floating slum? Not many. Especially as the visitor moorings are blocked by those who have been there for weeks, untroubled by any enforcement action. If a group of travellers set up camp in Bath all hell would break loose, yet the canal there is lined with what we now have to call "Non compliant continuous cruisers" and nothing is done. Am I fed up? You had better believe it. We get lumped in with the Hedge Monkeys. The most annoying thing is that these people are referred to as boaters, yet they have no interest in the canals, the history or the infrastructure. Someone needs to get a handle on the whole mess.
ReplyDeleteGraham to true mate, As you know I dont boat on the canals anymore but I get the feed back from our hirers about the 'hedge monkeys' as you put it, and I personally think that it is slowly strangling the canal system of its life blood, yes I agree something needs to be done to stop this from happening and before we end up in a situation where there are less and less cruising boats and more and more static liveboards abusing the system!
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