A. Getting across the channel was an adventure https://youtu.be/gHpyuw8evBM
Now am starting to get impotently angry with the London boating community as it’s just not here any more and the boats are all full of fearfull hipsters. Kinda expected this but still kinda annoying. Way to meany “boaters” doing crap mooring and leaving piles of trash everywhere…
I left on my boat to get away from it 5 years ago, I arrive back to find it everywhere. Not surprising but kinda hard.
Q. I’m not familiar with the boating world, but my guess would be that as houses become impossible to buy and almost impossible to rent – especially in places like London – more people may be trying to live on the water instead. Free from a landlord.
A. yes the aspiring classes were sold this in meany #mainstreaming articals over the last 5 years. BUT living on a boat is NOT living in a flat… You need a community to be a part of to live on a boat with out this, non boaty people end up miserable poring money down the drain and then sinking when the boat is left empty after a few months of winter.
Its been like this the last few years, xmus is the time of huge run of boat breakins, Both the boats behind me are empty, one of the boats In front has a non comungative hipster types the other is empty. Likely 2/3 of the boats I have moored up next too the last month have been empty. Meany of the rest have fresh faced or scared hipsters.
London boating has not only lost its community, swompted and pushed out of town, but it’s now a slow train reck of abondond to decay dreams.
On a positive side the “policeman” of the waterways #CRT are incompetent, this slows their neo-liberalism based privisation of the remaining inland commons. And the is a relatively affective grassroot’ish counter force in #NBTA who “react” to slow/mediate the privatisation.
BUT this slowing might not survive the inrush of non boaty types who won’t cheap flats on water and happy go with the #CRT agenda as then they can pay to keep their boats static to get the relatively cheap flats on water they desire.
CRT will continue pushing out vagabond boaters by selling off the mooring spots and closeing stretches of canal by development. More “common sense” restrictions are on the way, the community to push back is scattering and srinking.
The #deathcult is killing one more of our few remaining commons.