Rip Off Britain!

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Richard_Woods

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As PBO readers will know, we have been sheltering from the hurricanes in the Rio Dulce, Guatemala (thank goodness I didn’t go to Grenada which was Plan A!) on our 32ft catamaran Eclipse. In November we sail south again to Panama. Then it is up the west coast of Mexico and the USA to British Columbia.

So we have been buying the necessary charts and pilots. All the 99 charts necessary to sail from Panama to San Diego, S California cost GBP60. That would be, what, 4 UK charts? The corresponding pilot books cost about GBP15.

I was recently in San Francisco (a great place to sail by the way) and so checked up on marina prices as a 32 ft catamaran can be expensive to moor. The first marina I visited was new, with nice showers, internet access on each pontoon etc. The cost was GBP100 a month. I later found that was the typical price for much of the Bay area. But I did find a half tide berth in a somewhat run down marina for GBP70 a month, and it was only a half hour sail to the Golden Gate bridge.

So what’s going on, why is Britain so expensive? Fair enough, we are paying GBP100 a month for our berth here in Guatemala but labour rates are low (GBP10 a day for workers in the boat yard) and who cares about the environment! But that’s not the case in the USA now is it?

Best wishes


<hr width=100% size=1>Richard Woods of Woods Designs for quality sailing catamaran designs
www.sailingcatamarans.com
 
Not this old gem, if you are going to compare economies you should also look at what people earn, taxes etc. I bet if you went to the south of France you would soon think Britain was cheap. I recently went there and found beer cost 5.5 to 8.5 euros per pint, I count myself lucky living here in old Blighty, plus there is the added benefit that it is not America so its probably worth paying the extra.

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.yachtinguniverse.com>http://www.yachtinguniverse.com</A>
 
Gulled

>I bet if you went to the south of France you would soon think Britain was cheap. I recently went there and found beer cost 5.5 to 8.5 euros per pint,<

Oh boy, they must have seen you coming! Or maybe it was because you asked for a pint? Somewhere around €1.80 to €2.20 for a demi is about par. Better still a carafe of rosé will set you back less than €10.

We had our silver wedding dinner in one of the better gaffs down there, splendid meal, fabulous outdoor setting, surrounded by millions of euro worth of art, and it cost considerably less than an entirely forgettable meal in a pretentious little bistrot in London.



<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.writeforweb.com/twister1>Let's Twist Again</A>
 
Re: Gulled

I admit this was various in night clubs but still more than British clubs, I am sure there are cheaper, quieter places but that wasn't my point.

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Silver wedding

You old romantic, let me guess what you bort Mrs TK for this momentous event, expensive perfume, jewelry, shoes, holiday, pretty frock. No! They're just plain boring, had to be something unuaual and exotic.

I've got it, how about a new teak deck?

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Puzzling. After all you can no more buy decent beer in the US than you can in France. Lager maybe, but not beer.

<hr width=100% size=1>this post is a personal opinion, and you should not base your actions on it.
 
You certainly can get some excellent beers in the US, you just have to put a bit of effort into finding it, which is no different to the UK!!!.

If you ever happen to be in Washington, I can recommend the microbrewery and pub just outside the railstation, in the Post building. This pattern is repeated all over the US

<hr width=100% size=1>Me transmitte sursum, caledoni
 
Re: Schlitsz

There are microbreweries all over now, producing beers of exceptional quality. I've sampled many of them. The one example I gave (of many I've been to) was while I was there a few months ago producing a white wheat beer, a porter, a pale ale, etc etc etc. All were exceptionally good, and far superior to anything you typically get in the UK (mainstream breweries)

If you are just going to wander off the streets into any old bar and then drink Schlitsz, then no wonder you think they don't have any decent beers.

<hr width=100% size=1>Me transmitte sursum, caledoni
 
What bout this for a rip-off. In "transit" at Ponza in July the going rate on a pontoon with water and 240v (no showers or toilets - you go to the barbers) is €10 PER METRE per night, in August . So for 7m X €10 = €70! August maybe more!!!

Any bids,

Will

<hr width=100% size=1>"If you're too open minded your brains fall out"
 
Tek doree

Can't figure out how to do diacritics on this site. Anyway, you won't able to resist once she finds the right reason. And I can think of a number of nosheries in London which charge more for less.

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Its nice of NOAA not to retain copyright on their charts, so they can be freely copied and sold really cheap. Don't think any other national chartmaker does that, British or otherwise. Pity they only cover North America.

Re cost of marina berths I think you had better double-check. I was once asked $100 (£60) per DAY in one Florida marina, and on the west coast, $70 (£40) in Seattle. Only once had a longer term berth, that was $500 (£300) per month in a back-water yard in Florida.

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Re: diacritics

You must be an IT freak, haven't seen that term used in a while. To use a diacritic hold down the "Alt" key and key in the decimal value of the character But use only the key pad for the numerics, the top line of the keyboard doesn't work. Alt 128 is Ç, Alt 158 is ö. As i don't have a hex: to dec: convertor you'll have to work out the rest for yourself. I'm sure Google will oblige.

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Stop what you're doing and wait my signal
 
Re: diacritics

Thanks for the info. What I know about IT would fit comfortably on the back of a postage stamp. I do however speak a couple of other languages - the term is common in languages which use them.

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