Dodging in and out

I TOTALLY agree with Dave Carden, a man who talks a lot of sense and obviously loves the canals with some great passion, writes  Bernie Davies.

My main moan is that I seem to spend most of my expensive cruising time now just dodging in and out of gaps in the undergrowth and holding my boat steady whilst waiting for oncoming boats to pass me.

Badly damaged

My paint work and sign writing is now badly damaged from being continually forced into bushes and undergrowth by oncoming boats who feel it's their right of way when it isn't, and I am certainly not blaming all hire boater's for this.

This is damage directly caused to me, a paying license holder, by bad canal maintenance and not cutting back on encroaching trees, weeds and undergrowth.

Who foots the cost

Only an expensive repaint will make my boat look loved again. Who will foot the cost of this? Not any committee I feel.

Nearly £800 is a lot of money for a new licence and I am certainly not seeing any improvement at the moment.

Maybe Dave Carden could make himself available to the navigational committee and give them the advice they obviously are looking for!