On Tue, 08 May 2007 08:39:31 -0000, bt465680 wrote: [a lot of good stuff]
>If BW want to encourage new boaters, then cut costs, at least for >small boats, and only penalise those who CAN afford it, with the >biggest boats. > >Have a fixed mooring cost per foot, with no minimum, and do short >term licences on a pro-rata basis, not on the nearly-as-dear as one >year basis they are now. Bring back the monthly 10 month split, not >the big lump at the beginning, it really hurts us on a low income. > >Auction ALL section 8 boats (as before) not destroy the fewer and >fewer remaining small cruisers that happen to become public property >due to section 8. Put them on ebay at 99p start, no reserve, buyer >to licence and collect immediately. Payment should be made >immediately and if the situation is not resolved within two weeks, >the ownership returns to BW and it's auctioned again. Ebay costs >very little. > >I am absolutely disgusted each time I hear of a new BW decision, the >canals are lost to me now, except for the odd walk, and that saddens >me to know that I will never again be able to afford to use a boat on >them. I will stick to the sea or Windermere which is now VERY cheap >compared to the canals (£5 a year for a licence for any boat). The >sea is still free. > >I was a canal boater for 15 years, and when I started it was a >relatively cheap hobby, but no more. I made just this point on uk.rec.waterways. Adrian - who appears to be the voice of BW on earth here - explained that this is because you have been feckless enough not to save earlier in your live (the word he used was "imprudent" [hi Gordon!]). http://groups.google.com/group/uk.rec.waterways/msg/223247b77244bc03?hl=en&; -- On-line canal route planner: http://www.canalplan.org.uk (Waterways World site of the month, April 2001) My Reply-To address *is* valid, though likely to die soon
