Thoughts on 12%

kimhollamby

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I grew up near the Thames, enjoyed many happy hours on it in my childhood and subsequently equally enjoyed bringing my boat up for a month each year for several years in the 1990s (the visitor rules meant that we couldn't stay longer as we were coastal based for the rest of the year).

When I recently bought a boat again an attraction was we could strip everything down to limbo under the bridges and revisit old haunts, say hi to friends and give sea-nervous members of the extended family a day or two to remember. However, must confess I'm increasingly disinclined now, sadly.

From our South Coast base it is an equal distance to head for Netherlands (or for that matter to go for the Essex rivers) if we want to head inland. There's nothing quite like the Thames but even the cost of a month's licence would certainly make it a special treat now -- no longer a casual decision. Also not up to speed on BSS rules for visitors which might be a further factor.

I was asked to speak at an EA conference years back when the theme was trying to get more people afloat and arrest falling traffic levels. Seems that any efforts in that regard are now firmly out of the window?

Or am I missing something?
 

Oen

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Kim, you're dead right.

There is a huge disconnect between the EA's public statements and the sentiments of some of its staff, and its actions.

As you know, I have more or less completely given up moboing, and taken to sail, on the coast. I have the continued use of my old mobo, free of charge, thanks to the kind friend to whom I sold her. However, I have not felt the inclination to use the river for many months. Why? The enjoyment is disappearing as fast as the embuggeration factors are on the increase.

Long waits at inadequate locks, significant difficulties finding space to moor a boat of only moderate draught, the rudeness of other users (notably, I'm sorry to say, rowers), and the rising cost of poor facilities are all factors.

There is no justification for the rises which the EA plans to impose. Indeed, rises so significantly in advance of inflation are unjustified in principle.

What is the EA's agenda? Are they genuinely concerned about falling use of the waterways for recreational boating? Do they see boat-free rivers as being easier and cheaper to maintain and more environmentally acceptable?

I don't have any answers. My own solution, whilst opening up much more enjoyable boating for me and those I sail with, is not for everyone.

Perhaps it's time for a campaign? Or perhaps we're all utterly fed up with campaigning? Red diesel, drinking and boating legislation, BSS, CEVNI, other pressure for the introduction of compulsory qualifications... So many campaigns, so little success...
 

miket

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I seriously think that your Para 5 (boat free) may be closer to the truth than we all might seriously believe.
I have been boating on the river since 1959 (as a lad) and still love the river.
Due to various reasons, lack of depth, mooring difficulty, rudeness form both boaters and EA staff, lack of facilities to name but a few, to say nothing of the impending ludicrous licence increases I have downsized from a Broom 37 (licence fee based on 37x13.5=499 sq ft to a Freeman 33 (33x11=363 sq ft) a 28% reduction.
We can now cruise above Oxford to Lechlade where the lock keepers seem more friendly, moorings are readily available and the river is very much more unspoilt. Lack of depth is no longer a problem as I draw only 0.75 metres.
So at least I have screwed EA's statistics as to increased licence fees against loss of revenues!
With so much less capital tied up in my boat I shall have no qualms about using it less and if I wish to go to sea I shall charter in a nice warm climate and try different areas instead of being stuck in the same area every weekend.
So there!
 

SimonA

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According to the EA's press release we will be paying £2.60 a week extra on the third year of rises. This is £135.20 extra a year.

That might not have a huge impact on people with more valuable boats. But here on the Anglian Waterways many people own smaller more modest craft (Lots of Freeman 22's and the like). The future of boating is starting to look bleak for those on a modest budget, especially if we also loose red diesel.
 

apollo

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Well mine will go from £480 to £670 and thats for 11.3M, you dont think they were friggin the figures by using really "narrow" boats by any chance?
 

pheran

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Well, thats certainly b*ggered any faint thoughts I might have had of bringing the good ship Pheran back to the Thames - 648 sq. feet, on top of the money I would need to pay out to conform with some of the more senseless parts of the BSS. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 

boatone

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You were at the ATYC meeting with the EA, Mike?
They showed this slide , I think.....
projections.sized.gif


The first two look like narrow boats to me and I dont think theres many 12.1 metre cruisers with a beam of under 3 metres, do you?
 

apollo

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Yep, looks like a load of "Bow Locks" to me, my 11.3m boat is nigh on 4m wide.

Problem at the meeting, was that there were so many people there to say their piece that most of us couldnt actually see the slides!

If I had seen them, I would have heckled even more than I did!
 

Oen

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How about a big anti-EA policies and price hike rally? One weekend soon, while we still can... Before they close all the ###wanted to put a rude word in here but didn't### Locks...

At Henley, say... Or parading up and down outside Parliament...

I'll bring my old mobo happily, and do some banners etc.

Do we have a media-savvy boat owner to ensure maximum press?
 

boatone

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Whilst the idea appeals to me, the reality is that we would have great difficulty in mustering enough boats to mount a serious onslaught of waterborne civil disobedience.

I did, at one point, wonder if blockading the 600-odd narrowboats in at Beale Park over August Bank Holiday might not have been a spectacular idea /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

BarryH

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Won't go down to well really. For the non boating public it'll look like a bunch of "rich" people (if only) moaning/protesting about a luxury most dream of........
 
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