Email: Separate problem

I am amazed that the anti-continuous cruiser adherents have still not grasped the fact that all licensed boaters are licenced to cruise continuously for the period of their licence.

That some continuous cruisers do not cruise is a separate problem that should be resolved by enforcement of the regulations. Sadly, I am, like many others, envious of continuous cruisers—because I cannot cruise continuously. Consequently I need, and have, a mooring. But that is my problem, no one else's and I do not expect continuous cruisers to subsidise it.

 

Using the latest missives on the subject:

Reference 1: That part of article by Bill Gill Dated 11 July 2012 that reads:

'As a significant part of my annual marina fee also goes to CART, I would suggest that all continuous cruisers pay an additional charge on top of the licence fee, of say £500, to pay for the additional wear and tear they cause the system'.

Reference 2: That part of the J & M Cunningham's email Dated 11 July 2012 that reads:

'We agree wholeheartedly with the proposition of extra cost to the licence of continuous cruisers, who use the locks if they ever move, and the facilities, far more than we do'.

In respect of the above references, asking anyone to pay extra should they want to fully use their licence is, I think, ludicrous—it is a one year licence to cruise, nothing more, nothing less. Taking the add-on charge principle to extremes, could Oyster (or pump-out) cards and a card reader mechanism to release the lock winding gear at every lock be a solution?

Additionally, could we maybe fit a GPS in every boat to allow distance travelled and average speed to be calculated so as to further refine the charges levied? Perhaps also lock gate sensors coupled to cameras to assess collision damage and apportion blame? By implementing these schemes then each boater could be made to pay for the wear and tear he or she was personally responsible for much more equitably than they do at present. The possibilities are endless, but, I must confess, the schemes are totally impractical (I hope!).

On the other hand, wouldn't everything be much better if existing mooring/cruising regulations remained unchanged and CART were to enforce those regulations? I think that we have to accept that all boaters' licences are equal, even if some do sometimes seem to be more equal than others! (With apologies to George Orwell.)

D Willetts