On 3, Jun 2007, at 14:12, Mike Stevens wrote: >> Are these people depriving boaters that need moorings of a scarce >> recourse? > > That's one view. The opposite one (often voiced on > Narrowboatworld.com)is > that continuous cruisers who don't pay for a mooring aren't paying > their > share of the cost of running the system. > > One way of doing it, which we did for many years, is to have a home > mooring > at a boat club and let them know when you plan to be away for an > extended > time so that they can use your mooring to accommodate visiting boats.
I have been unable to find a marina or "moorings supplier" prepared to even consider the possibility of brokering unused space. If a mooring holder confirms that "his" mooring will be vacant for, say, three months then it would seem sensible for the vacancy to be filled during that absence with benefit to the temporary encumbent, the moorings supplier and , with a little enlightenment, to the mooring holder. Of course there will be times when many temporarily vacant moorings are available - such as in Stourport last week, and times when there are very few. I suppose there are legal, H&S, BW rules and who-knows-what-other issues to get in the way. Beeky
