Lady C

I was told that, once the specified* boat age has been reached, the normal requirement for a hull survey would be every 6 years. This falls within the 7 year statute of limitations so that the surveyor can be sued or a claim made under his/her professional indemnity cover. I suppose an insurer could ask for another survey sooner if they had a concern about the boat. * Starting point does seem to vary per insurer and, possibly, per boat builder.

On the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, try looking for an area that used to be a wharf when seeking a mooring place.

Bradshaw's guide to the canals lists dimensions for all waterways. Published by Imray, these days it is edited by Jane Cumberlidge.

Your boat may well be 71' 6" long rather than the 71' 8" shown on the gauging sheet. It may be worth getting the tape measure out next time in the dock. This proved to be the case with a Northwich that has a gauging sheet showing 71' 9" that had successfully (fenders up) gone through BCN locks known to be too short for a boat of 71' 9". The boat was subsequently measured as 71' 6".

Double Dunton windlasses were never widely available. However, these days Canal Shop at Hillmorton seems to be the only place you can possibly source one. I have heard tell that they sometimes have stock. They also take online orders. Why not give them a call to establish the current situation.

Yes but that suggests quite a short boat for living on - 12 metres I think? As 2/3 of the current moorers are not described as residential, perhaps £300 per metre per annum is not such a good deal for a leisure mooring, even in that area.

As others have said, residential moorers at Stonebridge do seem to have had a pretty good deal until now. On the other hand, such a massive one-off price increase may not be the best way to change the situation. It also seems rather silly for CRT to start charging so much more on the basis of improved facilities before the work has even started let alone been properly completed. If existing boatowners decide to move away now due to the price rise, how many of those seeking a residential berth will wish to move in during the construction works? CRT may be left with empty berths and loss of existing income. This may be a reasonable negotiating point. You might also try asking for the price increase for existing moorers to be phased in over a few years. As regards the leisure users, perhaps the time for them to protest was at the planning stage. Presumably CRT needed planning permission to change these leisure moorings to residential? I'm somewhat surprised that they managed to get it past the Lea Valley Park Authority. It may be perfectly reasonable to ask CRT to offer at least some alternative leisure moorings, and perhaps again look at a phased approach. For example, a two tier pricing structure with a gradual transfer of berths from leisure to residential. One simple way of identifying a leisure berth might be to deny access to electricity. In both cases, everyone will lose out if a significant number of the boatowners choose to move off the moorings immediately.

Members of the boat clubs on the River Lea and indeed those on the Regents Canal and Paddington Arm make up a large proportion of the indigenous pleasure cruising boat owners in London. Also, as has been mentioned, these clubs helped keep the River Lea/Lee Navigation and Regents Canal open though their activities in past decades. In 2012, they were all asked not to take their boats out during the summer due to the Olympics and, since then, with the rise in the floating residential population, it has become more and more difficult to plan to cruise locally at all due to the shortage of visitor moorings. Unlike the visitor boater who is passing through and may find mooring a bit tricky once or twice, these boat owners face the same issue every time. Additionally, apart from individual cruising, going out in groups often with a social intent is something which many boat clubs organise for their members. The particular matter raised here is the passage of boats from the River Lea/Lee Navigation to the IWA's Canalway Cavalcade in Little Venice. This journey cannot be completed in a single day and therefore an overnight stop is needed. The bookable spaces at Rembrandt Gardens have been very popular and, if it is decided to put in a few more, this might be one solution. If not, a single annual mooring suspension for Cavalcade purposes may be required. I wouldn't condone a mooring suspension for a Club barbecue though I do believe a way must be found for such activities to continue.

To clarify, I meant it can be possible to include damage caused by one of a pair of boats to the other under a fully comp policy, when the pair is owned and insured by one person. Normally when simply towing another boat this would not be covered.

Perhaps you need to differentiate between basic public liability insurance cover and fully comp. For fully comp, I have seen policies that do cover accidental damage when the towed boat is part of a pair owned by one person. Hope this helps.

I believe that the six year term for survey validity relates to staying within the seven year Statute of Limitations. With Towergate you are advised to check that they have given you another six years before the next survey is due. I have had repeated problems getting the correct repeat date for surveys done in November prior to insurance renewal the following February. The requirement for a first survey seems to vary from boat age of 20 to 30 years.

I was only describing my own experience and my Sea Otter certainly has a couple of dents from minor impacts. My paint job is now ten years old and pretty faded.

I believe that the longer Sea Otters often have a bow thruster to offset the effect of the slight V-shaped hull. Not only do they dent more easily than a steel boat, the paint falls off more readily too when there is an impact. The rubber fendering looks impressive but is often not where the boat is going to touch something, also you have to be careful to avoid it sitting on the lock edge when descending. Some Sea Otters can, with the fendering, be slightly over-width. I use mine all year round and get a lot of condensation. I think they are mainly designed for 'sunny days on the river'. The water ballast makes them quite tender so crew must be careful moving around. In general, I struggle to prevent the boat listing to one side. Conversely, it handles very well and, with a full water tank plus someone standing up front, the boat will continue in a straight line if you take your hand off the tiller. You can also make it spin on the spot. Overall the handling of my small Sea Otter compares very favourably with a steel 25 footer that I owned previously which tended to go round in circles when the forward power was removed. You can moor anywhere, turn anywhere and scarcely have to slow down for moored boats. The reasons for the failure of the first company are well documented. Otherwise, I suspect there simply is not a big enough market for this type of boat. Perhaps the recession didn't help. They are really rather expensive. The OP should consider joining the Sea Otter Owners' Club if he is serious about buying one.

I see the BSS guidance still states that certificates last for four years LESS one day. Any chance of some explanation why they are not valid for four complete calendar years please?

If nothing is moored opposite, it should be possible to turn up to about a 60ft boat in the Bragborough Stream indentation in the pound below Nelson Lock - using ropes not the engine. We once saw a 65ft hire boat turn there but they were desperate and did scratch the front of the boat in the offside vegetation. I expect the comment about a good water level is relevant and wouldn't try it if windy either. We can spin our 45ft boat there, even with one moored opposite.