SO THE 14 DAYS RULE for continuous cruisers is being cancelled until the end of September
It meaning that they can either sit it out or move when it necessary and so save water
It was after we suggested that insisting that the continuous cruiser had to move every 14 days wasted the hell of a lot of water, that then this rule was stopped—thus saving the water that would have been used for the thousands of them having to move, and often through many locks.
But comes another worry, in that it is not yet known what will happen after the 30th September when the cancellation ends.
Will the trust insist that then their time is up and they must all move straight away or give them another 14 days in which to move?
Just think. Should the trust decide it is the end of the cancellation of the rule so all continuous cruisers must move straight away, just think what will happen.
With all the thousands then moving at the same time that will have a devastating effect on water supplies and no doubt causing more problems.
Or will the trust use a bit of sense and allow them to stagger their movements spread over 14 days? Thus saving water.
We shall see.
Exodus of boaters
We have never had so many boaters telling us that they are packing-up boating.
For those who purchased a boat to cruise, the reason was obvious—they couldn't, or were afraid to venture too far from their moorings in case they were stuck behind one of the 50 current stoppage or 59 restrictions we were told of. Not only course by lack of water but by repairs to, as we have shown.
But no few could not tolerate that heat wave that had them stuck outside their boats as the insides were far too hot to enter. A couple mentioning that living in a narrowboat was too hot or too cold, depending on the weather, with just one inch of insulation.
Still going on
Though reinstatement of the flooded field and repairs to the culvert inlet and outlets have been completed on the Llangollen breach, there still seems a great deal to do.
The embankment reconstruction has not yet started, that will be a major construction and we understand will be needing around 14,000 tonnes of compacted granular aggregate, and this together with geogrid enforcement.
So it will be a while yet.
Better for boaters?
The investigation of safety on the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct follows a wider review of navigation and safety at the site, particularly with the introduction of canoe associations taking to the aqueduct that has caused frictions with the boaters.
As the National Association of Boat Owners (NABO) has welcomed the practical measures being introduced things should be improved especially with the constructive engagement that has taken place to address the concerns.
There's a trial going on that will be monitored, with the trust thanking local businesses, commercial operators, boaters, partner organisations and NABO for their continued support and cooperation.
So things should be better for boaters, hopefully.
Not bad eh?
I've learnt that the CEO of Canal & river Trust earns more than Andy Burnham the PM!
Yes, it is true.
The Chief Executive of the Canal & River Trust—The overall compensation package for the CRT Chief Executive (formerly Richard Parry, now Campbell Robb) sits in the region of £220,000 to £230,000 per year, with the Annual Report showed the CEO package at £226,880 for 2023-2024.
Whilst the Prime Minister managed just £172,000 to £182,000 per year (combining the standard MP basic salary of £98,599 and the additional Prime Ministerial allowance).
So the trust's CEO's beats that of the Prime Minister's official pay by approximately £40,000 to £50,000 annually.
As I mentioned—Not bad eh?
No way José!
No September cruise for us after struggling over the past three cruises.
Stoppages prevented the first two then we took to the Lancaster Canal early this year that gave us just a single pound, though quite long, with no locks but just a single swing bridge (pictured).
So where to? Somewhere different, Anyway it's the weekend of the 5th September for a couple of weeks.
But you may get an update or two if our Thomas gets too bored.
Getting the wet stuff
Well, the wet stuff has been coming down in torrents, seemingly over the whole country, with thunderstorms thrown at us through most of Friday night, and in Derbyshire it has not stopped raining all yesterday, Saturday, so things should be getting much better on the cruising front.
Then at long last we should eventually get somewhere to cruise, but alas too late for us in September.
Victor Swift—telling tales for 26 years