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AFLOAT BUT ONLY JUSTThe Spring is upon us, myfriends. A time of revival,regrowth. And a merry towpathparade of summer skirts andbare legs in shorts has caughtthe Floater quite unawares.

He has been called uponto look back, though, to TwentyTwelve. To a time when, afteran iffish Summer of on-off rain,Olympic Closuresand a PyratesRegatta, a time when somefraught battles had been

fought, and water brought tothe thirsting excluded crews,and when a caf was born.

Listen to my tale now,my little floaters.

Once there was a dis-organisation, we called itLondon Boaters[1]. It had liftedlike a Phoenix from the flames,

called into being, a humbleemail list became a fierce force

to face, in meetings, on thetowpaths we fought for ourcause and won. The Lea andStort Moorings Policy wasdefeated, lost cats were found,and lostbicyclesreturned.

But while these gainswere made, in higher halls

the House of Lords, no less another cause was fought andwon a thing called the Canaland River Trust had begun. At

the last minute a group defined

as Liveaboard Boaters Withouta Home Mooringhad had theirinterest declared, but time ranout on the Bill democracy inaction and the waterwayswere handed over, lock, stockand barrel, to the managers ofBritish Waterways.

Thus was born CaRT, theCanal and River Trust.By May Twenty Thirteen thefirst-ever National Associationof Bargee Travellers floatinggeneral meeting had been heldin a well-attended upper roomof the Malt Shovel in CowleyBridge. Nigel Moore spoke atlength, and, at times, phil-osophically upon the outcome

of his legal battles with BW andCaRT, and dwelt briefly uponsome of the niceties of the

English Constitution.Those floaters familiarwith Section 17.3 c) ii)[2] of the1995 Act should also know ofthese two 1965 Byelaws,which, the Floater has beenpartly able to recall:

Byelaw 28: Any vessel

shall be securely moored

head and stern with good

and sufficient ropes orother apparatus in such

a position as not to cause

any obstruction to the

navigation of other vessels.

Byelaw 29: No mooring

rope shall be affixed to any

sluice, lockgate, bridge or

other work of the Board not

provided for the purpose of

mooring.

Any Guidance, or terms andconditions, or charges, permitsor fines that exceeded theseprinciples, and those of themuch disputed Section 17.3

(c)(ii) were thus found to beunlawful.

Back in March of thatyear a spate of announcementsof plans and consultations,reports and proposals fromCaRT and from the InlandWaterways Association nowtheir partners in fulfilling theirCharitable Objectives[3] hadprompted the followingAnnouncement, which in turnlead to London Boaters

participation in the LondonAssembly Rapporteurship intoMooring on ondons Water-ways:TheLondon BoatersGroup haveconsensually appointed aboater to draft a Statement

which, in response to theprovocations of an alphabet of

acronyms, is intended to draw aseries of red lines in the sand,

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to mix metaphors, and to offerfig leaves to embarrassed bur-

eaucrats:

London Boaters Group rejectany proposal of Local MooringPermits, as the Licensealready paid for by boaters is

all the permit anyone shouldneed. The hope that this policy

will both raise revenue for theTrust and drive down thenumber of eligible boaters tozero through their withdrawalto terrestrial accommodation,emigration or death is neithernecessary nor likely to proveeffective. London Boaters

believe rather that the year-

round presence of boaters inLondon and throughout thecountry benefits the water-ways. This has been supported

by our own research inresponse to the Lee and Stortconsultation.

Community Moorings, asunderstood by LondonBoaters, are a means of

developing offline moorings asa community run project. They

should not encroach upontowpath mooring, which will

remain open to all boaters forthe 14 day period, or longer,

as specified by Law.

Although London Boaters

welcome the introduction of

Winter Mooring Permits in theplace of towpath closures,

their proposal is that the Trustrelaxes enforcement throughthe winter, when waterway useis lower, and focus theirresources instead on keepinga steady turnover of boats onthe more popular mooringsites throughout the summer,

applying only measures in

keeping with the word and thespirit of existing legislationand in co-operation with otherwaterways users.

Current discussion of Non-Compliant Continuous Cruis-ing, Capacity, Overcrowdingand Honeypot Sites, andconsequent attempts atmanaging life on the water-

ways through restrictions,permissions and enforcement

are and will remain ill-informed and ineffective until

academic qualitative andquantitative research is

conducted.

Only when the responsibilities

of the Canal and River Trusttocarry out canal, lock andtowpath maintenance are

given their due attention, andare sufficiently financed, willthe full potential of thewaterways to provide homes,workplaces, and an attractiveand sustainable environmentfor all users be properlymeasured or understood.

London Boaters Groupbelievethat priority should be given tothe provision of services andsecurity on the towpath for all

waterways users, over andabove the current focus onrestrictions, permissions andenforcement. This will surelyresult in an improved

experience of the canals andrivers for all and the

preservation of a unique andvaluable way of life.

SPORTS NEWS IN DEPTHNigels one SonUp till now he has been a

familiar sight on the field for FCCRT, but key CRT defender

Nigel Johnson has taken an

early shower. He was involved

in todays clash between FC

CRT and NABT Athletic at the

High Court ground (result

pending) where his perform-ance was disappointing, sugg-

esting his 250,000 price-tag

was excessive, as many had felt

at the sight of his obvious

failure to reach the high

standard of play set by

renowned opposition forwardNigel Moore (then on loan from

Brentford). CRTs new Chairman

was unavailable for comment.

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New Team on the BlockThe Sporting Association of

Continuous Cruisers, a new

team lead by experienced

managers previously of the First

Cub Scout Troop of Cowley

Bridge Under 21s, took the field

for the first time yesterday in a

friendly match at the FC CRTground. A series of own goals

assisted their opponents to the

unprecedented 213-0 victory

which was claimed to be a

great success. After years of

conflict, said an SACC

spokesman in a rare unguarded

moment, we believe that by

working with FC CRT we were

able to move together in co-

operation to achieve many

shared goals. We hope this

result will prove decisive in

changing the confrontational

attitude which other teams

seem to have taken to FC CRT.

They do own the pitch, ball andreferee, and they wrote the

rules of the game, after all.

Line and LengthsmenControversy continues as the

full consequences of the

Waterways Leagues replace-

ment of experienced linesmen

with volunteers sinks in. The

legality of this change was

challenged today. A spokesman

for the League said the long

and short of it is, there has

been a lot of back and forth,

and flags have been raised. We

are now locked into this, we

realise, for better or for worse,and the flood of complaints has

left our volunteers feeling

somewhat bogged down.

Many pitches are still awaiting

inspection as we write. The

Floater is anxious for some

resolution of this issue.

FOOTNOTES FOR THE FOOLHARDY OR SOME USEFUL AMMUNITION FOR THE AMOROUS[1]STATEMENT OF THE LONDONBOATERS GROUP 2011.

"London Boaters act collectively to

protect the homes and way of life of the

people who live on Londons waterways.

We reach out to all those committed to a

sustainable future for our canals and

rivers."

[2] SECTION 17 (3) OF THE BRITISH

WATERWAYS ACT 1995.

(3) Notwithstanding anything in any

enactment but subject to subsection (7)

below, the Board may refuse a relevant

consent in respect of any vessel unless

(a) the applicant for the relevant consent

satisfies the Board that the vessel

complies with the standards applicable to

that vessel;(b) an insurance policy is in

force in respect of the vessel and a copyof the policy, or evidence that it exists

and is in force, has been produced to the

Board; and (c) either(i) the Board are

satisfied that a mooring or other place

where the vessel can reasonably be kept

and may lawfully be left will be available

for the vessel, whether on an inland

waterway or elsewhere; or (ii) the

applicant for the relevant consent

satisfies the Board that the vessel to

which the application relates will be used

bona fide for navigation throughout theperiod for which the consent is valid

without remaining continuously in any

one place for more than 14 days or such

longer period as is reasonable in the

circumstances.

[3] CHARITABLE OBJECTIVES OF THE

CANAL AND RIVER TRUST.

1 Subject to Clause 1.2 and 1.3, to hold in

trust and retain in perpetuity for public

benefit the Infrastructure Property for

the following purposes: 1.1.1 to operate

and manage the Infrastructure Property

for public benefit, use and enjoyment

including: (a) for navigation; (b) for

walking on towpaths; and (c) for

recreation or other leisure-time pursuits

of the public in the interest of their

health and social welfare; 1.1.2 to protect

and conserve, for public benefit, sites,

objects and buildings of archaeological,

architectural, engineering or historic

interest on, in the vicinity of, or otherwise

associated with the Infrastructure

Property; 1.1.3 to further, for public

benefit, the conservation, protection and

improvement of the natural environment

and landscape of the Infrastructure

Property. 1.2 To use the income (which

expression shall not include the proceeds

of any Capital Disposal of the

Infrastructure Property) for the purposes

set out in Clause 2.1 and the following

purposes: 1.2.1 to protect and conserve,

for public benefit, sites, objects and

buildings of archaeological, architectural,

engineering or historic interest on, in the

vicinity of, or otherwise associated with

Inland Waterways; 1.2.2 to further, for

public benefit, the conservation, for

protection and improvement of the

natural environment and landscape of

Inland Waterways; 1.2.3 to promote,

facilitate, undertake and assist in, for

public benefit, the restoration and

improvement of Inland Waterways; 1.2.4

to promote and facilitate, for public

benefit, awareness, learning and

education about Inland Waterways, theirhistory, development, use, operation and

cultural heritage, by all appropriate

means including the provision of

museums; 1.2.5 to promote sustainable

development (as defined by Clause 13) in

the vicinity of any Inland Waterway for

the benefit of the public, in particular by:

(a) the improvement of the conditions of

life in socially and economically

disadvantaged communities in such

vicinity; (b) the promotion of sustainable

means of achieving economic growth andregeneration and the prudent use of

natural resources; and 1.2.6 to further

any purpose which is exclusively

charitable under the law of England and

Wales connected with Inland Waterways;

provided that in each case where the

Trust undertakes work in relation to

property which it does not own or hold in

trust, any private benefit to the owner of

the property is merely incidental. [the

objectives continue in this vein for some

time, though we have been forced to edit

it here for reasons of space, and of

running out of it, but we are confident

you have the most important bits. The

Editor]

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LONDON BOATERS

ANNOUNCEMENTThere Will Be A Meeting.

The Meeting Will Be At St MichaelsCommunity Hall, London Fields.

The Meeting Is On April 19thFrom 1till4.

The Meeting Will Ask:

1)Who Are We?2)Why Are We Here?3)What Should We Do?4)Whats Going On?

1)Will be an opportunity for anyonewho has done workfor LB to brieflysum-up what they did.

2)Will be a discussion about the futureof the group, potentially withproposals regarding structure andpurpose.

3)Will be an attempt to reach aconsensus on structure and purpose.

4)Will be a summary discussion of thingswith which LB ought to engage.