What Are 'Bridge Hoppers'?

Bridge hoppers are the bane of the British waterway network, but who are they and why do they provoke such animosity?

Two Official Ways to Live Aboard

Officially there are two ways you can live on a boat on Britain’s network of waterways. Firstly, you can find yourself a permanent residential mooring, and use this as a base from which to go exploring. The downside of this is that mooring fees can be expensive.

Alternatively, if you were attracted to the waters by the idea of roaming up down and around the 2,200 miles of rivers and canals, never staying in one place, then you could forgo the permanent mooring and opt to be a ‘continuous cruiser’. Although this relieves you from the financial burden of residential mooring fees, the appeal of having to keep moving on soon wears off.

The Bridge Hopper

But isn’t there a more agreeable medium of the two - couldn’t you have the stability of location of one and the cheapness of the other just by switching between local public moorings?

In a word, no. This is cheating the system. By doing so you become what is derisively known as a ‘bridge hopper’. Nevertheless, disdain from other boaters and disapproval from the waterway authorities has not stopped many boaters adopting this unlawful liveaboard lifestyle.

The bridge hopper – or continuous or constant moorer – doesn’t want the travellers’ lifestyle of the continuous cruiser but the stability of a permanent resident. Because of work, schools and friends, they want to stay in the same location, but can’t get, or are reluctant to pay for, a residential mooring. So instead they exploit the freedoms of the continuous cruiser status.

What is the Continuous Cruiser Status?

This is not to say that ‘continuous cruiser’ is simply a euphemism for a boater that can do whatever they please. Officially there are strict guidelines that such a waterway user must follow.

A continuous cruisers is defined by British Waterways as a boat that makes a “genuine progressive journey around the network”, never staying in one location for more than 14 days. This means it must maintain reasonable journey distances between each successive mooring, moving further and further away from the starting point.

For the true continuous cruiser these restrictions do not present much of a problem, unless the weather is particularly adverse, you fall ill, boat breaks down or the canals are ‘stopped’, and exceptions are granted for such instances.

Unfortunately, actually enforcing these guidelines has proven to be difficult for the waterway authorities. This has allowed bridge hoppers to masquerade as cruisers, sullying their reputation in the process. Many now see the two groups as one and the same, and dismiss both as freeloaders that contribute little to the upkeep of the network.

The Introduction of Continuous Cruisers

The level of status already accorded continuous cruisers on the waterways is not helped by being relative newcomers to the waterways.

Prior to 1995, all boats on the canal system required a permanent home base for their vessel. Those boaters who lived on the move still existed but they had to declare a permanent mooring. With some justification they complained that such a system unfairly penalised them because it meant they had to pay a marina owner for services they didn’t take advantage of, and therefore subsidise the boaters who actually lived there. Their complaints led to British Waterways introducing an exception for continuous cruisers in 1995.

Sort Out Your Mooring First

Many bridge hoppers have claimed in their defence that they have not adopted this lifestyle through choice but necessity. With the liveaboard population steadily rising, suitable residential moorings are becoming harder and harder to secure.

However, it is argued that boaters who find themselves in such a situation have not followed one of the basic rules of liveaboard – always secure an appropriate mooring before buying a boat.

If a mooring is not available in the area that you wish to live then you should either look somewhere else or abandon the idea of living on a boat altogether. In the bricks and mortar housing market, it would be unheard of for those property seekers unable to find a reasonably priced residence in their desired location to simply set up camp on the town square instead.

Damaging EconomiesBesides the resentment they inspire in other water users by cheating the system, there is an argument that the actions of bridge hoppers damage waterside economies. With temporary moorings at a premium, there are concerns that bridge hoppers prevent visitor boats from mooring, and so keep them from spending money in local shops, restaurants, and bars.

There have been proposals to deal with the problem of bridge hoppers. For instance, British Waterways has put forward the concept of the ‘roving mooring permit’.