Continuous cruiser

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An example of what a boat used as a CCer may look like when moored. Mooring a CCer is the act of securing a mooring line (rope) between the boat and the bank, so the boat does not move away.
An example of what a boat used as a CCer may look like when moored. Mooring a CCer is the act of securing a mooring line (rope) between the boat and the bank, so the boat does not move away.

Continuous Cruiser (CCer) is a class of licence fees on the inland waterways of the United Kingdom. It also refers to the boats and owners who have such a licence, but some people restrict this usage to boaters who "genuinely" cruise continuously (see below).

Contents

[edit] Definition of Continuous Cruising

The licence gets its name because it applies only to boats which are "continuously cruising" on the waterway network. The reason such a classification is important (and contested) is that a boat claiming CC status need not declare a (paid-for) home mooring. Officially-recognised moorings attract both a mooring fee and a licence fee element: a boater who is exploring the network full-time and therefore has no need of a permanent base, will avoid paying these costs by NOT having a permanent mooring. With no permanent mooring to declare, they must apply for a "continuous cruiser" licence[1].

[edit] "Real" and other Continuous Cruisers

BW defines a continuous cruiser as a boat which is always on the move (subject to a maximum stay of 14 days in any one location) and making "reasonable progress" (limited backtracking and reasonable journey lengths) between successive moorings. Anyone genuinely touring the network has little difficulty meeting these criteria, except when travelling conditions are poor or when canals are "stopped" (and exceptions are allowed for these circumstances). Controversially, BW "recommend" that a boater who keeps a log of their trip is less likely to have problems justifying their CC credentials [2].

However, there are people who do not wish to move their boat far (either to avoid the cost of fuel, or to keep their boat within an area from which they can travel to work) - and yet cannot get (or do not wish to pay for) an official mooring in their area. Some of these people will risk not getting a licence altogether (and risk having their boat removed). If, however, they wish to legitimise their boat with a licence, they must claim CC status. Because of their need to make journeys long enough to justify the terms of their licence (or at least to avoid coming to the attention of local BW officials), but short enough to keep them near their desired location, people based in one area but with a CC licence are often referred to (by other people, mostly) as "bridge-hoppers".

[edit] History

Prior to 1995, all boats on the canal system were required to have a permanent base for their boat, known as a home mooring. Some boaters used the system 'continuously', living on their boat as they travelled around the country, stopping in any one place for only a limited time and thus not wanting a permanent mooring. Such boaters resented having to declare a mooring, because they had to then pay a marina owner for services they had no intention of using, and therefore subsidise boaters who actually moored there. BW recognised this argument in 1995 when they first allowed genuine "continuous cruisers" to apply for a licence without declaring a home mooring.

[edit] Current Position

The licence fee paid to BW depends only on boat size. For example a 57 ft narrowboat pays £608 whether the boater declares a home mooring or not. However, someone paying for a licence but not declaring a home mooring has to sign a declaration that they will abide by the BW guidelines for CCing.

[edit] Potential changes

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British Waterways (BW) has proposed an increase in the cost of the CCer's licence to 2.47 times the cost of a normal leisure boaters licence. For example, the licence fee for a 57 ft narrowboat would increase from £608 to £1501.

- Naturally CCer's are concerned by this proposal, asking why they should pay more to BW for the same canal services, when they are the ones who, by using canals most, keep them open and well-maintained.

- Home-moorers may think this change is only fair. Previously the "up front" licencse fees paid by both CCer's and home moored boaters to British Waterways provided both types of licensees equal access to the canal system, while CCers used the facilities more. They also say that the payment for a home mooring is a separate charge, and can cost many additional thousands of pounds.

- CCers say that this applies only to people who wish to use the services of such a mooring, and that just because home-moorers wish to have the luxury of such facilities, that is no reason to ask CCers to pay such a charge.

- Less active boat users argue that their mooring fees include an element of licensing paid by their marina owner to BW (extra to the "up front" licence costs paid by the boater), which CCers do not pay. By taking action to require either a home mooring (with the included licence fee by marina operators) or the proposed higher-priced CCer licence, BW is simply ensuring that it receives either direct or indirect revenue for mooring-related activities.

- CCers point out that the big differential between home-moored and CC licence fees will mean that they will now pay as much as some home-moored boats do INCLUDING marina fees. Cynics say that BW are penalising CCers because, although BW need boats in marinas (to generate licence fees), they would prefer as few boats as possible to use the waterways in between (thereby inconveniencing BW staff and annoying residents of luxury canalside flats on land asset-stripped and sold off by BW to meet short-term financial goals).

It may be possible to predict the growth of "CC-only" marinas in areas of low land prices. They need provide no services (apart perhaps from an optional registered address, always a problem for CCers) but allow the CCer to declare a home mooring and so avoid the high CC licence fee. Such "marinas" will have almost no costs other than the licence paid to BW, and, provided they charge less than the difference between a CC licence and a declared-mooring, one will be a win-win proposition for both Ccers and the marina owner. It wil be interesting to see the debate turned on its head. "Genuine" home moorers will berate "pretend" home-moorers as actually beng "closet CCers". Perhaps BW will have to introduce regulation about the MAXIMUM distance a boater can travel, in order to clamp down on people whose home mooring is "not a real home marina" and who are "hidden" CCers.

[edit] Other implications

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This issue may reveal a more general social-economic and cultural clash between several types of boaters.

  • For some unknown reason, some boaters use the term CCer to refer to people with unmovable, unlicensed boats who are not CCers in any sense. A more rigorous approach by the authority has greatly reduced the number of unlicensed eyesores, and even licensed boats can be impounded if they are deemed unsafe.
  • Some people with CC licences are very poor people in dilapidated boats who moor in isolated areas, not moving at all but hoping to avoid the attention of British Waterways.
  • The people with CC licences referred to by others as "bridge hoppers" are commonly younger couples or families who need to stay in one area because of work or school commitments: many of them have been attracted to the canal by the perceived low living costs, or because they have seen boats on TV programmes, rather than because of any love of canal cruising. To them, the canal is a slightly more attractive or respectable version of what in US English is called a "trailer park".
  • People who actually comply with the CC licence conditions ("genuine CCers") have few permanent land based connections, allowing for a more disconnected and carefree lifestyle. With a love of actually 'travelling' by water, and sufficient money to pay for diesel and to maintain their boats in adequate cruising condition, they are likely to be relatively well-off retirees or sabbatical-takers.
  • Some boat owners with an official (and paid for) home mooring live on their boat full time (in effect, "legitimised bridge hoppers", though some never move their boat at all - see Little Venice). They may be fairly well off and live on a fully-serviced mooring in a well-equipped fully-residential marina.
  • Finally, comes the wealthiest class of boat owner. These are people who live in a house, and probably have a car as well. They travel to the boat only at weekends and perhaps holidays. With plenty of money, they may not fully appreciate the positions of the other groups, even though some of them ("Boat Polishers") use their boats mostly as floating weekend cottages, and cruise in a year no further than "Bridge Hoppers" do (it is the fact that "Bridge Hoppers" pay less that they resent).

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ British Waterways Act 1995.
  2. ^ BW continuous cruising guidelines. Retrieved on 2007-09-14.

[edit] External links