[welly]

I live on a boat and don't pay mooring fees. I'm a "continuous cruiser" which means I move my boat every two weeks to a new location. All of my fellow boating friends do the same and most of us have pretty nice boats. And yes, the boats described in the story are very rare.

I can't say I've seen anything like the ones described in the story in my time on the water, with the exception of one 25ft fibreglass that was pretty much abandoned save the odd homeless person who used to sneak on it.

I'm actually amazed that the Canal and River Trust would even give a license for such a boat.

Most boaters I know have lovely boats and are incredibly proud of their homes.

[Doctor_Fegg]

It's not on a Canal and River Trust waterway. It's the Thames above Teddington Lock, which is controlled by the Environment Agency. Historically the EA has fewer powers on rivers (because it doesn't own the riverbanks) than CRT/BW does on canals.