Peter's Waterways Blog London's Moorings This was first published in IWA West Riding's Milepost in June 2018, reflecting on some of the challenges brought by the new enthusiasm for mooring in London.

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London's Moorings are indeed very crowded, and after travelling for four hours with no possible mooring opportunity, we found a single ring a boatlength from an innocent plant growing from the concrete bank around which we hitched a rope for our stern. We need navigators to continue to visit London and be persistent in finding spaces to moor as they appear.

Back end moored to innocent towingpath plant

Moored in East London

As an example of a new waterways business on London's crowded moorings, we met (as in, we were bumped-into by) an after-midnight boat shuffle. The boat was one of a group of maybe a dozen boats sold to London workers seeking accommodation on the waterways. During their ownership, the organiser arranges and skippers the minimal boat-movements which shuffle between a few available temporary moorings, so that none of their owners receive 'overstay notices'. When their owners move on to other jobs or other accommodation, the boats may be sold back to their organiser.

Whether or not this business is good for the Waterways, it must be better than the informal renting-out of continuously-cruising boats to London workers wholly inexperienced in the ways of boats. It is C&RT enforcement officers who have to deal with overstaying boats whose occupants deny being the owners, who arranged their let in the pub and only meet the landlord when they come to collect the rent.

Moored Vegetation

Peter Scott @peterjohnscott