Roger Millin wrote: > bty465680 wrote: > snipped >> I hop this teaches them that they can't walk on us like this and > that >> in a few years they'll have canals with no boats on, you can > already >> see the huge glut of GRP cruisers that has suddenly hit the market > and >> are going for peanuts in the last six months. One year ago they > were >> fetching more than they ever were (glad I sold then!!)but now you >> can't give them away. >> > I understand the sentiments expressed but look at the situation from > BW's point of view. Although there are people starting to get out of > boating due to the cost increases (not only moorings but over the > next 3 years licences) you don't see boats being taken out of the > water and destroyed by their owners do you? Therefore the number of > existing boats remains on the water and is added to each year by the > number of new boats built. Thus, from BW's perspective, all they see > is a steadily increasing boat population. They may also be seeing an > increasing number of unlicensed boats (either moving or static) as > the owners give up bothering to licence the boat that they cannot > sell but this number isn't going to increase as fast as the rate of > new boats coming onto the system.
There is an important variation that seems to have escaped BW's economic advisors. Before they sell their boat, many people will consider other ways to keep boating, notably selling shares in their boat or covering some of their costs by 'hiring' the boat out for part of the year. The net result of this is that existing boats will spend more time on the water (presumably increasing the cost of maintaining and monitoring to BW) without producing any significant additional direct income. A greater movement of boats will make boating less attractive to (existing and potential) boaters and tend to reduce the number of new boats being built (and registered). If, as I understand, both BW and EA are keen to increase the number of boaters, they had best keep the costs down, not increase them. Cheers Will -- Will Chapman Save Our Waterways www.SaveOurWaterways.org.uk
