Winter special offer - £10 for 2 days, Teddington only

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angelaquayle

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Hi - press release about to go out announcing this winters special offer to encourage more people to try the non-tidal Thames.

Go upstream this winter – 2 days for just £10

The Environment Agency is running a special offer for boaters this winter - a two-day licence for just £10 to visit the non-tidal River Thames.

Starting on 1 November and available until 29 February 2008, boaters can come onto the freshwater Thames at Teddington Lock and spend two days shopping in Kingston, visiting Hampton Court or just enjoying the variety of bars and restaurants near the River at Molesey.

Angela Quayle, Business Development manager, said: “This offer is aimed at boaters on the Tideway or London canals who might not normally come onto the freshwater Thames. We are running this exceptionally good deal to encourage them to take a look at what’s on offer upstream, and hope that they might consider another visit in the Spring or Summer. There’s a lot to do on or near the river in the stretch between Teddington and Molesey Lock and visitors planning a trip can use our award winning website, www.visitthames.co.uk, to give them some ideas or decide where they want to go before they set off.”

This offer is for passage through Teddington Lock only. Boaters wishing to continue their journey through Molesey Lock will have the £10 deducted from the price of the normal licence for their boat.
Boaters wishing to arrive early or leave late can moor overnight at Teddington Lock for £5.50.
The offer applies to all boats except passenger boats, tugs or visiting houseboats. Licences can be purchased at Teddington Lock and we recommend customers call ahead regarding tide times on 020 8940 8723.
 
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Cant see why you're restricting it to below Molesey.

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No, a friend who is resident on that reach will be overjoyed at the influx of boats; half of whom are probably used to discharging their "black-water" into tidal streams
/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif


Those of us a little further upstream will think Molesey quite far enough
/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

R
 
They can take advantage of it 3 times as visitors are only allowed up to 6 individual days in our current licensing system. That's one of the reasons it's restricted to just Teddington, and that it's meant to encourage people to try the trip through Teddington so see whether they like it, and hoping they might try again another time and come for longer.

Visiting boats have to self certify for their safety status.
 
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Visiting boats have to self certify for their safety status.

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Angela, is there a checklist for self-certification ?and given the question in BSS change in financial arrangements – questions and answers V2 June 07

... why can’t boaters self-declare their craft and cut the expense of the certificate and examination?

the answer is very interesting:

The concept of self-certification is a non-starter. This just would not address the risks that the BSS was set up to reduce. Whilst boat owners are obligated to self-check their boats in between examination to ensure their craft continue to meet the BSS requirements, BSS examiners are still finding that 67% of boats have faults. Over 170 boats last year had faults so serious, they were an immediate hazard.
Self-certification was in effect in operation before 1997 and it simply did not work then and indeed was one of the main reasons why examiners were introduced.
 
Thank you and well said Steve. Now Angela if you think that self certification is enough then please look in November addition of MBM and turn to page 68 and read. This was a brand new boat that failed its BSS. Please tell me why I have to run the risk of mooring near visiting boats which might not have a BSS ticket. Lets see if you can come up with a reasonable answer and not just a load of old spin and bull. I think that when I apply for next years licence I might issue the EA with a written warning about visiting boat liability.
 
Just because a boat "fails" the BSS doesn't mean to say it isn't safe! It just doesn't comply with a set of "rules". One of the problems was a lack of stickers - wow how dangerous is that?
 
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Just because a boat "fails" the BSS doesn't mean to say it isn't safe! It just doesn't comply with a set of "rules". One of the problems was a lack of stickers - wow how dangerous is that?

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Some of which are nonsense anyway, the original BSS was a total shambles of nonsense.
 
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One of the problems was a lack of stickers - wow how dangerous is that?

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When we were on the Thames (and part of the initial BSS) I didn't want stickers saying "Gas Tap here" or Battery Switch here". FFS we were the only one's who used the boat and we knew where they were!!!- agreed with the examiner pre-inspection he would accept a laminated boat plan showing the location.
Any friends coming on the boat got the usual five minute fuel tap, gas tap, battery switch, fire extinguisher here speal (and there's the fridge with the beer and a bottle of white for the ladies, the location of the crisps, and oh; Liz says the maggot box has to stay on the outboard side of Nenesse - an Eastwood 24) /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
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Some of which are nonsense anyway, the original BSS was a total shambles of nonsense.

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Absolutely loved the tale of the owner told to change his 12v single core leisure circuit cable to multi-core; so he did; and then BSS said single core was OK so he sued them and got all his costs back and nominal damages.
 
Having some difficulty getting my head round this.

Any boats that take advantage of this offer will need to either come in through Teddington Lock from the tideway, although they could conceivably launch directly into the river between Teddington and Molesey.

They will need to be able to come up the tideway on a tide and leave on a tide to return to whence they came. They must therefore be within easy access distance wise and, as its winter, need to be weatherproof.

So just how many boats are likely to meet these criteria and how many of those might actually take advantage of the offer??

And does two days mean day of arrival and day of departure or do they get a full day in the middle?

And can you please get John Lewis to put up a notice on the moorings outside to say they are reserved for us full licence fee payers? /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
C\'mon chaps,

The lovely lady is trying to "move some empty space" and raise the profile of the river and possibly a bit of cash.

A good try I'd say.

Maybe that not many folks come 'cos everyone's tucked up for the winter especially as the plugged bit is usually closed all winter. BUT this year there's a big gap - December and January when the whole track (ish) is open for intrepid cruisers. That didn't happen last year or the year before, and I wonder how many folks are aware of that; or even care for that matter. If I can swim out to my boat I'll certainly be cruising.

Well, done AngelaQ, possibly a bit misguided, but hey- you've got to start somewhere.

You never know some tin things may take up the offer and moor head to tail as for sure very few other types of craft will be hardy enough to have a go. There's loads of room in the carefully labelled boat Park on the offside just above Kingston bridge.

Aggressive marketing from EA; love it!
 
Re: C\'mon chaps,

At least the NBs are likely to comply with the BSS, unlike some of the floating sheds moored down by Richmond!

Mind you, its the draw off soon..... /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
I will take advantage of this special offer....

and would love to visit the non-tidal Thames more often.

The normal charges, however, are far too high for me to justify the expense.

Even the special winter offer is very expensive compared to how much I paid the last time I spent time in the French inland waterways.

So it'll be the French bistros and cafes that get our business next summer rather than the poor old English pubs.
 
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