lake London

[martin]

As the end of the season nears I am thinkin where i want the boat next year. I don't want to stay on the upper Thames as BSS still threatening to cost me ££££.

A short time ago the government were considering making lower thames into lake London by closing the barrier. What happened to it? Is there any technical reason why this can't be done?

 

[boatone]

Whats the problem with BSS? Have put one boat through it before and now getting second one ready for final inspection, Bit of a pain but not that bad moneywise.
Does your boat have special circumstances/problems?

boatone@boatsonthethames.co.uk

 

[martin]

no nothin special a bog standard Princess V39. Had initial report done and from memory the most ridiculous things were stupid things like ventilation!. They wanted to put a vent right in the middle of the B^&&** deck. One of those mushroom heads like those luvley barges have!!!! It will look great on a sports boat!!!...They also wanted to drill additional holes in the side of the boat to vent the batteries boxes, rebuild the gas locker oh the list was quite long and when handled professionally amount to several £K. Managed to argue a license for this year but unlikely to get away with it next year so I'm off.

 

[byron]

Naah! according to Environment Agency it isn't the stupid BSS driving people away, its something else (narrowboats?)

©2001

 

[mike_kolling]

And the superb flood controls

 

[ChrisP]

Under the present navigation laws to close the barrier in a non emergency situation requires an act of parliament overriding the right of navigation.

When questioning the loss of boats on the river consider excessive licence costs, run down amenities, lack of moorings and staff that are better suited to stocking shelves in supermarkets. The agency has always had a policy of getting rid of private boats and just selling water to the water companies. This would allow them to get rid of lockkeepers etc and just keep weir runners for the installations which are not automated. Thus increasing profits.

 

[martin]

A job for Ken?

i know this is a long shot but isnt this something the mayor could take up? I don't particularly like him but it sounds like the sort of thing that he would do and I would think it would change the river completely. It would reduce the tidal stream, allow river side pubs to offer moorings, generally ,make the place easier to use. As I understand it commercial traffic was supposed to use one side of the barrier like a lock? Seems a small price to pay!

 

[markc]

Martin - don't blame you. I went to the Solent from the Thames this summer and decided to stay - the BSS [boat will need it at the end of this year], the £550 licence fee, lack of decent bamkside moorings and flooding all helped make up my mind.

Oh, and 4 knots sucks!!

 

[trev]

Re: BSS nonesense

Martin
Just like you I managed to get this year's Thames license on a 'failure' certificate.
They wanted to cut holes all over the place at great expense to me.
I met a BSS inspector at Shepperton on my way back up river after our summer cruise. He had a refreshing outlook on the scheme, and informed me that things have now very much changed, and the powers that be have realised that cutting holes in a seagoing boat is not a good thing - what do they think boats are for !!?
Could it be that common sense is seeping in ??!! I'll find out next Spring.
Does it mean that all the folk who've forked out for unecessary work will be recompensed ? (no need to answer that one!!)
See you on the South Coast unless things have drastically changed.


Trev