Captain Beeky wrote: > I'm not looking for an argument with you Steve, the words "marina > based boater" are perfectly true of my status though could be > substituted with "boater with permanent mooring" if you wanted to > remove the irrelevancy of the *nature* of that permanent mooring. It > *is* relevant to, and the biggest component of, the total sum of money > I have been prepared to spend annually on inland waterways boating as > a leisure activity.
Agreed in all aspects (especially the first bit :) ) though I'm still unconvinced that it is relevant. The only relevant factor in whether or not you should be able to use visitor moorings or not is whether or not you have paid a licence fee. I do think this is a fundamental principle and linking mooring fees to the ability to moor in any location other than the specific one that you have paid for leads us down a slippery slope. There were previous discussions on here some time ago where it was suggested that paying a mooring fee in one location somehow entitled one to overstay in another. BW themselves floated (sic) the idea of regional mooring permits which were strongly rebuffed as I recall. Licence fees allow one to move and stay anywhere for 14 days (or less in specific locations.) Mooring fees reserve a bit of bank (or pontoon) for your exclusive use. I am opposed to the concept of allowing time limited visitor moorings to be filled up with CCs if a fee is paid over the winter. I can see a case for unused space to be allocated as long as sufficient capacity is left for those of us who happen to enjoy boating out of the peak season, and I'll propose 50% of any given location as a starter figure for what can be temporarily let. > I am miffed at BW's failure to understand why I like boating and why > I'd like to cruise on my boat in my holidays and why I'd like have an > expectation of the chance to moor somewhere convenient for villages, > towns and attractions when I am on holiday. As I have mentioned before > I could cruise in exotic locations, including food & entertainment for > less £'s per week than it costs to fund Uncle Mort per cruising week. Couldn't agree more. The opportunity to attract more people onto the cut as a result of the recession was grasped by the hire boat industry, yet some within BW seem to think that above-inflation licence fees rises are somehow the right way forward. > Beeky, still wondering about Llangollen at Xmas Busy busy busy! But delightful :) Steve NB Bream
