Mike on the Wey

I second Kris Cruisers (Datchet) on a non-turnaround day. Similarly, Caversham Boat Services on Frys Island in Reading might be able to accommodate you on the right day. I wouldn't go to Racecourse Marina Windsor as a first option - it's a fine place with great people, but the approach channel is difficult for such a long boat. Just upstream from there is Windsor Marina. And Bray Marina is an option too.

Captain Spreadsheet here. We have had our boat just over 12 years, and in that time cruised for 3,707 engine hours over 11,458 miles and through 6,191 locks. Average fuel consumption is 1.3 litres per hour, and 10.7 mpg. We never run the engine just to charge the batteries, and we always switch the engine off in locks.

A taxi wouldn't be horrendously expensive, as there is a rank at West Byfleet station which is only 2 miles from The Anchor. There is plenty of mooring space opposite the entrance to Pyford Marina ... with posts closer to the pub, and good bankside a little further downstream. I would definitely not recommend a walk to RHS Wisley from the navigable Wey along the full length of Wisley Lane - parts are narrow with blind bends, and many cars travel far too fast. There is however a footpath from The Anchor to Wisley Bridge (over the natural river), which is 0.6 miles. Then it's a further 0.7 miles on a pavement to the pedestrian entrance to RHS Wisley, which is the normal access from the overflow car parks. So it's doable safely.

Class 1A NICs arise on a benefit such as a company car. That wasn't always the case - IIRC they were invented (yet another form of taxation) in the early 1990s. Not being an employee does not make a volunteer self employed. I volunteer for a charity ... I am simply a volunteer. I can decide when and where to do what I do, and I can walk away from it whenever I please. They are characteristics of self employment, but I am absolutely not self employed. It is good practice in the charitable sector to have some form of agreement with volunteers - for instance that they will follow the organisations policies and procedures etc - but that would rarely be described as a contract. The provision of a free mooring would not automatically confer employee/worker/contractor status on an individual. A worker is simply a person who performs tasks described as 'work'. Such a worker might be employed or self employed, which is determined by the terms and conditions of the engagement. The term 'contractor' means a few different things. "Which ever one they were classified as, the free mooring would be a benefit in kind and therefore taxable." That contention is incorrect. This forum should not be relied on for tax advice, because many contributors do not know what they are talking about.

There is no employee NIC liability on a benefit in kind such as a free mooring - essentially because it is not cash, and therefore cannot be treated as earnings. But, taking a step back, the provision of a free mooring does not automatically give rise to a taxable benefit in kind, because first there must be an employment. And taking a further step back, providing a free mooring to a volunteer doesn't automatically make that volunteer an employee. It's far more complex than respondents to this thread suggest.

I disagree; I cannot see how the incident can be blamed on the land itself. It could have happened anywhere, and at least at Lechlade there are no buildings close by and the boats are generally well-spaced. How the land is used is up to the riparian owner. If the meadow was closed, it would kill upper Thames boating because the furthest upstream pleasant casual mooring site would then be Radcot ... which doesn't offer Lechlade's shops and bus service.

Update - it was an "engine explosion" (maybe petrol fumes?) and there were 9 people on board including very young children. The most serious casualties were airlifted to two different hospitals. Will it meet the criteria for MAIB investigation?

'Houseboat' was the wrong word. It was a 22' fibreglass cruiser, per the Thames Facebook group.

CRT doesn't have the power to remove a boat based simply on a failure to move often or far enough. Rough process is this for a residential boater - warning emails, 6 month licence instead of 12 month, refusal to issue licence, threat of removal from water, court action, removal, sale or destruction, costs sought. This is very early in your boating life to be asking about non-compliance.

Whilst there are moorings at East Street (on the Thames just above Osney Lock), it's not really worth buying a one-day Thames licence simply to moor up (if there is space) and disappear for the day. If there isn't space, then the next mooring opportunity downstream is above Iffley Lock - because the "visitor moorings" downstream of Folly Bridge are full of permanent liveaboards. I would stay at Thrupp (a brilliant canal mini-village) and take the bus from there.

The Thames locks with side sluices are Bell Weir (Staines), Romney (Windsor), Hambleden (below Henley) and Sandford (between Abingdon & Oxford). I single hand a fair bit on the Thames. Going up - stern rope on, jump off boat with bow line in hand, adjust bow line as water rises (nice and easy as it's nearer to the upper pedestal). Going down - centre rope only ... if a lockie is on I ask permission to use centre rope only. If denied (very rare) I loosely hook the stern rope over a post but still rely on the centre. My boat's only 32' so I have very few issues.

If you're not interested in actual boating, then I would strongly recommend that you don't buy a boat. Sitting in a marina staring at other boats will shatter your dreams. You have a large dog? Remember that you won't be able to just let it out into a garden. Morning and night, rain or snow etc, you will have to walk the dog from the boat to an appropriate area in the (expensive) marina every time it wants to do its business. You'd be better keeping the mortgage-free house and going on occasional boating holidays in fine weather.

Make sure that the map you use is a canal/river map, as you cannot literally go anywhere. Kent has the Royal Military Canal and the River Stour. Neither is connected to the main system. The RMC is, to the best of my knowledge, used only by rowing boats and kayaks with no big boats or moorings. The Stour is connected to the sea at Pegwell Bay and in theory is navigable to Fordwich near Canterbury. Plenty of boats moor on the Stour, but I don't know about residential. If you are thinking about boat life because it is (or would become) your passion, then that's great. But if you think it's a cheap way of living, you are likely to find that it is often an unpredictably expensive life. During the colder and wetter months it can be very challenging.

They are East Street moorings. Free for the first 24 hours.

On day 14 of the break in their bona fide navigation, when they return to the boat with the intention of moving it one mile?