Mike on the Wey

We are moored halfway between Cleeve and Moulsford ... the Salters boat went upstream a little while ago.

One downstream sluice is not fully closing but they are able to operate the lock at present.

Reopened, first lockful of boats going in at 1248.

So you want the river for yourself when you want to visit? That is not what I said. Short-term free moorings should be available for all, on a first-come first-served basis. What about all the boats that are moored up year round on the Thames very few "Brake loose & cause significant damage" Many of these boats are on pontoons which rise and fall with the river level, or have riser rings on piles. And those on end-of-garden moorings can be easily seen/checked by owners. During the 2014 floods many boats broke away from moorings. See the power of the Thames in flood here. We can look forward & accommodate the growth ... But who owns most of the riverbank? Certainly not the Environment Agency. So "we" cannot do very much without the goodwill and consent of the landowners. In the meantime "we" need to consider the needs of all and maximise mooring availability. To my mind that doesn't include facilitating people leaving boats unattended for a week, or being able to stay for two weeks as on CaRT waters. As frangar said, use a marina.

As an occasional visitor to the Thames I don't want to turn up at a potential mooring site to find it blocked by empty boats moored for a week. The whole point of the EA rules on the Thames is to keep boats moving and ensure that the limited space remains available. I would be so bold to say that the £100 per day charge is not about making money; rather it's about moving people on. Moorings on the Thames are limited because most of the bank is controlled by the respective riparian owners. I'm not sure that there are sufficient EA sites to accommodate caretakers and moorings. In effect much of what you propose is already happening on private land, with businesses like SRB moorings (between Henley and Cookham) collecting mooring fees and sometimes agreeing longer stays at a negotiated rate. Another point about the Thames is that levels and flows can change quickly and dramatically. An empty boat moored for a week could be at risk, and if it broke away it could cause significant damage to other boats and/or infrastructure.

Please forgive my pedantry, but they are fairleads. This is a cleat (picture didn't display). A cleat is what you tie on to.

A week's licence will give you plenty of time to enjoy the Wey, but I don't know how much you like to do in a day. Buy two or three weeks if you need to. Nice towns to visit are Weybridge, Guildford and Godalming. Otherwise it's mainly countryside. There is a large Sainsbury's at Godalming wharf, where you literally wheel your trolley to the boat to unload. Water points: Thames Lock, Pyrford Marina, Pyrford Lock (upstream offside), Cartbridge Wharf, Stoke Lock (downstream landing), Dapdune Wharf, Farncombe boat house (but they charge), Godalming Wharf. Pump outs: Pyrford Marina and Farncombe boat house. Elsan: Pyrford Marina, Pyrford Lock (upstream landing), Dapdune Wharf, Godalming Wharf. Nice places to stop: anywhere apart from near the M25. We have lengthsmen/women, so the bank is generally well-maintained. If you see somewhere nice and can get in to the side, feel free to stop there. Pubs: Pelican below Coxes Lock. Anchor below Pyrford Lock. Seven Stars not far from meadow above Newark Lock. New Inn above A247 bridge at Send. Rowbarge on bank just above Stoke Bridge A320. Several in Guildford, White House is riverside. Several in Godalming, none riverside except a Beefeater. Please always open both gates fully ... funnily enough we don't have significant bottom gate leakage from boat abrasion caused by single-gating. And you can leave your exit gates open on all locks. Borrow a Wey windlass from Thames Lock - you need a longer shafted one as the paddlegear is friction-controlled. Anything else you want to know, just ask.

Sorry to come into this a bit late. I used to work for HMRC, and my specialism was capital gains tax. This will be a long post, but please bear with. There is a "market value rule", at Section 17 TCGA 1992, whereby certain transactions are deemed to take place at market value. So in this scenario and drawing on some of the previous comments: Asset gifted with no consideration passing - disposed of at market value, acquired at market value. Asset "won in a game of cards" - obvious sham, market value rule applies, so disposed of at market value, acquired at market value. (It's an obvious sham because the "game" could only be played with the intended recipient of the asset. The acid test is whether the party disposing of the asset would have played such a game with a random stranger.) Asset sold for £1 - the test is whether one party to the transaction had the intention of conferring a gratuitous benefit on the other party. Selling a £30,000 asset for £1: an obvious gratuitous benefit conferred on the buyer. A "creative" description as to condition/low valuation of the asset would have to be supported by appropriate third-party evidence. Market value rule applies, so disposed of at market value, acquired at market value. And staying with this example, if the person buying for £1 then sells the asset for £30,000, the basic CGT computation will not be £30,000 less £1 = gain £29,999. It will be £30,000 less £30,000. The example of the £500 house purchase - again it would be deemed to have been disposed of at market value, acquired at market value. But I have good news. Narrowboats are wasting assets, deemed to be so by Section 44(1)(c) TCGA 1992. Section 45 TCGA 1992 states that a chattel (tangible, moveable property) which is a wasting asset shall be exempt from CGT unless it has been used in a trade, profession or vocation (loosely speaking, used as a business asset). So CGT is usually not chargeable on narrowboats ... in fact not usually on any boat. Why? I hear you ask. Are HMRC being exceedingly generous? No. If CGT was chargeable on any gain on the disposal of such an asset, then it would follow that an allowable capital loss would arise on the majority of disposals. The same applies to cars, for which there is special legislation. You will not pay CGT on any gain on a classic car, but neither can you claim any capital loss on the disposal of a "normal" car. Items such as household furniture etc sold at a loss do not produce allowable capital losses. The main point of this legislation is that the tax lost from allowable losses would far exceed the tax received on chargeable gains - so the simple solution is to make relevant assets exempt. The points regarding inheritance tax are broadly correct - a gift of an asset or money is a potentially exempt transfer on which IHT might be charged. The IHT charge is tapered as the years pass. MP

Sorry to be a pedant ... Ash, Deepcut flight and Brookwood flight closed. Woodham flight and St John's flight still open, as both have backpumping. So it is still possible to go to Woking. What's not to like???!!!

The continuous cruisers weren't cruising? How strange.

There is a huge amount of irony about the issue of 20 mile range. Many people without a home mooring "manage" 20 miles in one year, sometimes moving as little as 1km every 14 days. Many people with a home mooring travel as much as 20 miles in a single day. That is very ironic.

I have just done Pyrford (River Wey) to Lechlade and return, finishing last Friday. I agree that Reading Tesco is still bad, and there are indeed a few spots where I wouldn't moor e.g. between Tilehurst and Mapledurham. But other than that I didn't have any problems. I moored at Kennetmouth and in Reading behind Fry's Island with no problems at all. It's still a great river, and I am on it right now moored above Penton Hook.

I am currently single-handing Wey to Lechlade and return. I use two ropes going up whether or not the lock is attended ... with just a centre there is the risk of the bow swinging out (or the boat tipping in extreme circumstances). But going down I always ask (if an attended lock) to use just a centre line. That removes the risk of hanging up on bow or stern line, or the risk of harm to self when rushing through the boat from one end to the other. My polite request has never been refused.

Lockies at Bell Weir, Old Windsor, Romney and Boveney on my trip upstream today.

You're basically right ... most Thames moorings are for 24 hours (usually free), and then £5 per day up to three days maximum. The mooring at Staines Bridge is owned by the local council and is free but has a limit of 24 hours. Same for the mooring by the Town Hall. Do you wish to moor and leave your boat for 7 days? That obviously brings risk to your boat (and to other people's boats if yours was to break away), as the Thames is a powerful river with flows prone to rapid and significant increase - particularly at this time of year. Your best and safest bet is to short-term moor in a marina. Penton Hook Marina is two miles from Staines. Visitor charges are £16.70 per night up to 10 metres and £22.25 per night if longer. BTW, Staines is actually Staines-upon-Thames now. Proper posh.