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Well this "shiny boater" has done over 800 miles this year. Actually, I find it rather nice to turn up at a reasonable time and be able to find a mooring. I consider myself a boater, matters not if the boat shines.

Yesterday while doing a bit of work to the outside of my boat while moored in the centre of Skipton a boat came within inches of our boat while avoiding a floating weed bank. The offending item got washed to the front of our boat. I proceeded to pull it into the side with my boat hook. After a few aggressive stabs I managed to break it into 3 manageable pieces as it was about 3' by 2' and get it hurled onto the path. I placed it away from the said path onto a small grass verge. Its visible from the path but NOT causing a hazard. Whats wrong with that!? A bloke who sells frozen diary products in his floating shop asked me what I was gonna do with it? I told him nowt. He said why have I pulled it out and not left it as it would eventually rot away. I told him that it causes problems for boaters either for prop issues or for dodging it in the cut. He still insisted I shift it. I said I was going to leave it. He then started to get shirty and say that it would be left there for ever. I replied in a rather abrupt reply. Well its gonna get left then. Have I done wrong? I later praised myself for not loosing my rag with this man who wears genitalia on his forehead.

The "far better suited craft" appear to be tupperwares which have no greater room inside, indeed a lot in Norway seem smaller. Boats in Norway do not seem designed to enable one to live and cruise the waterways taking in the beauty all around slowly. The plastics zip at high speed and ferries are not designed for this type of sailing. The fjords can be as smooth as millponds and I think that we should be broad minded enough to recognise that narrowboats are a versatile craft. OK maybe broad beamed boats would perhaps be a better size but having wandered through this country I cannot see a major reason why they are not there. Just because they were designed for canals does not mean they should be restricted to canals as other posts have illustrated. Specifications on build are there to be tweaked according to requirements, man has always been inventive.

One "could" stick lovely rivets in the holes ;-) But explain please, how a reading of X,X millimeters is dificult to interpret?

If you want to see something that looks like Glascote basin look at a shoe shop. ( nice row of winkle pickers)

We were there last night and today - good to see CaRT on the ball, checking timeframes (in terms of mooring) and licences! I have never managed to get a mooring whenever we have decided to pootle up from Yelvertoft anywhere between the bridge and the top lock. Yesterday was a refreshing change. Love Foxton to bits!!!

CarlT is correct and Tobymonster needs to look at himself hard as he seems to have a serious problem if he believes all passing boaters are giving him "Dirty Looks" Phil

I try to keep my boat shinny and Stan that I cruise with had a complete repaint this year and his boat is extra shinny. I hate this shinny v scruffy thing nearly as bas as CCers v The Rest. I have a dream that one day we will all become boaters

The Uxbridge RMP, C&RT need money for maintenance. Once you set a precedent like this what stops everyone who currently has an online mooring giving them up and stating that they are CCers. The system is there for everyone to use, it doesn't matter how you use it but everyone should pay a contribution for its upkeep, if we do not then we won't have it. Once large numbers of boaters are seen to be getting a free ride then how do C&RT recover the loss, increase licence fees? Charge for visitor mooring? How can it be fair when even a small number of boaters are allowed to moor for free when the rest have to pay, just because in the past they have refused to abide by the licence conditions to which they agreed when they applied for that licence? In the short term this will benefit a small number of boaters in the longer term it will be bad for the rest of us. Ken