As a Continuous Cruiser for the best part of 10 years it makes me sad that this sort of discussion comes up from time to time as bits get taken out of the thread and used to justify a general condemnation of continuous cruising.
We all know that there are people out there who actually don't want to continuously cruise but don't want to pay for a mooring in one place and who push the limits to see what's the least they can get away with to achieve this objective. To my mind - using the example quoted - moving for half an hour, of for that matter 5 x half an hour is not usually continuous cruising, though there are times when it is. For example last year I did it a fair number of half hour journeys between villages on the Thames and this year I did the same on the Llangollen. In both cases it was because I wanted to properly visit places and spend time effectively living there. Mooring for a day or two, or even a fortnight in some places is just not enough to see them properly. I spent over two months on the Llangollen and Montgomery this year but I now feel I know them well, having never done them before. Next summer I'm planning to do the same on the Severn, Avon and G&S. I have no doubt in my own mind that I was/will be continuously cruising on all these journeys. As it happens I've been on my current mooring for 17 days for various reasons that are nothing to do with boating (I was not on board for most of the time) but will be heading off tomorrow to another mooring that is a full day's cruising cruising away and stay there for a couple of days as I want to see some people in that area. I will then head back through the location I'm in now and travel a full day in the opposite direction. I plan to stay there for a week then move for 2 days to another location three (not one!) days away from where I am now. I've no plans after that as yet other than an intention to spend Christmas in a particular place. I'm fortunate in that I'm not tied to any one place these days but I was tied to the Cannock area by work for 8 of the last 10 years so made sure that I was generally in a restricted area around there - say an hour in any direction by car (NOT boat.) This gave me an area with maybe 200 miles of canal to play (yes I know there is more canal than this within an hour of Cannock but I don't like leaving the boat in various midlands locations.) I've stayed in places for an extended period on two occasions with BW permission, once after the fire on board (3 months) and once after a fall that put me on crutches (6 weeks) both occasions being in winter and in rural locations. Can't say I've ever had any dealings with local wardens except to say hello from time to time but I've never stayed anywhere long enough to get to know them so can't comment on their favouritism of one boat over another. Continuous cruising and working are not easy things to do at the same time but it can be done if you have a flexible employer and is a rewarding lifestyle. I moved onto land for 18 months whilst Bream was refitted and moved back because I enjoy it. There is a real irony that people who actually do want to stay in one place but don't want to pay for it might force those of us who don't want to stay in one place to pay extra to carry on moving around. Steve NB Bream
