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Showing content with the highest reputation on 08/08/11 in all areas

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  2. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  3. I can't see anything in mrsmelly's post to warrant your comments. All that was said is that many people buy something and then decide they don't like it a short time later. If people didn't do that half the retailers in the country would be out of business.
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  4. If we had a government who spent money on society and taxed corporations who reap the benefits of said society then this wouldn't be an issue. Instead we have a crumbling waterway system and a bunch of bastards making themselves and their mates rich at everyone else's expense while people point the fingers at other poor sods saying 'them, it's their fault'. They should be looking upwards at the mountains of shite being poured down on them and saying no, I'll not be shat on and my fellow man won't be shat on just so you can own a super yacht and your kids can go to eton.
    1 point
  5. Ultimately, the waterways will need more money to survive. That money is not going to come from the money fairy, and a proportion of it is going to come from the pockets of boaters. As soon as we mention this, the cry goes up to tell us that a large proportion of CC boaters are on low and fixed incomes, and obviously somebody else will have to pay. Suddenly we enter a kind of netherworld where BW/NWC is expected to charge according to what people can afford, not what a service costs to deliver. That is not sustainable. Boating, whether as a leisure boater or as a home is a choice that we make, and we must expect to pay for that choice. We cannot continually say "well I can't afford what I have chosen, so somebody else will have to pay for me". If you can't afford it, you can't afford it. The elephant in the room here is the vexed subject of differential charging for CCers. It has become the subject that dare not speak its name, and any suggestion to change the system of charging is seen as a malicious attack on CCers. There are many complex factors at play here, and with the number of continuous cruisers growing, and 9% of all continuous cruisers being subject to enforcement proceedings for failing to continuously cruise (and there are many others not subject to proceedings whose pattern of cruising is very localised), it is clear that some boaters are registering as CCers for purely economic reasons. A charging system that reduces the financial differential would probably help to reduce wear and tear on the waterways, as some fake-CCers would take up moorings and no longer cause wear and tear on the system. The argument advanced against such a charge is that CCers would get nothing for their fee, but moorers pay for something. To counter that, I ask what does a moorer get for an EOG fee for a farmers field to BW? They get absolutely nothing, not even a right to moor in the place. For mooring and services, they must pay the landowner. Basically, the EOG fee, mooring agreement fee from a provider etc. are, for most boaters, just an extra bit of licence fee. It is also easy to dismiss the cost of facilities. Sanitary stations and rubbish disposal are NOT zero cost to BW, and are not fixed costs (more use=bigger bill), and a CCer makes greater use of these facilities. Some form of charge is, I believe, appropriate. The question is "how much". I am going to suggest, as a starting point, that a fee of £5/ft/year to cover greater use of facilities would be appropriate ETA a pertinent quote which demonstrates that services are not fixed cost; Clearly an additional emptying of the septic tank, earlier than scheduled will have a cost. The majority of my emptying occurs at my home mooring into a main drain. Is it fair that I pay as much as a CCer for those costs?
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  6. I used one bag of coal a week last winter, and eco logs from Andy Little, (country4x4) albeit with diesel central heating for early mornings, and during the summer I forage for as much free wood as possible. From my maintenance fund I purchased a chain saw, so easy to use and saves considerable muscle power. The high maintenance quote has been agreed as high, however since I am unskilled I am saving for regular professional service checks and any eventuality. Likewise the full repainting and subsequent re-sign writing is a skill I could not hope to learn and I intend to keep the boat looking as new, inside and out. Im pleased for you that you mange to spend just £5000 a year but you could agree that sometime in the future you might have to find a considerable sum for an unforeseen problem. I prefer to build into my annual costing for any eventuality. If in seven years time the repainting is not as expensive as I've been quoted then I will spend my savings on a luxury.
    1 point
  7. Nah it's these two: I always read mayalld's posts in an Arthur Putey voice.
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  8. I think you might have several I seem to have reached my quota all deserved though how ever many
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  9. Thank you The greenies are awarded by clicking on the white cross on the green circle background at the bottom right of the post just above the Multiquote option. Not that I'm asking for a greenie - just letting you know!
    1 point
  10. OK then it's just about ok. We're currently moored in the middle of nowhere with a huge sky to stargaze and just the sound of the occasional passing train to break the silence. Tomorrow we will choose another remote location to be just about ok in. And the next day. The one after that we haven't planned for, we have lots of waterways to explore that I'm sure will be just about ok. In the meantime we'll be going through locks and having lots of conversations with total strangers, we may chat with a neighbour when we moor - in fact we may say more words to our mooring neighbour than we did to our house neighbour in five years! Small children will wave to us from the towpath and we'll chat to their parents. Yep it's all very vomit inducing for the cynical but we're happier now than we've ever been in our lives. Sorry, but we were just about ok when we lived in our semi detached house. Now life is bloody marvellous - over two years living aboard and I wouldn't swap it for a house. If that's not the answer you're looking for I'm sorry, but it's the truth for us.
    1 point
  11. It's all here - take your pick! http://mdmetric.com/tech/tict.htm Chris G
    1 point
  12. I think Graham I would say (as a Transport Planner) our Governments do not like public transport full stop. They subsidise it reluctantly in London because they realise the capital would fail without it, but elsewhere, yer on yer own. European Countries use rail and and underground and tram and guided bus and conventional bus and demand responsive bus. I recall years ago (1986 I think) trying to get from Brussels to Ronquierres in Belgium, based on information published in 1972. I didn't know the railway to Ronquierres had closed, the ticket office guy didn't know I thought there was such a railway, but I got my ticket, change to bus at Brain-le-Comte. I believe Essen in Germany has the full house, bus, tram, underground, guided busway... Guided busways have their place, but we seem to see them as innovative, they are old hat. Adelaide in Australia had one 40 years ago.
    1 point
  13. I did an approximate set of costings for a year on a narrowboat back in 2009, it will have increased a bit for 2011 but decreased in other areas as skill and experience grows. Approximate annual costs for a Live aboard 60' narrowboat.....July 2009 Mooring, average (£2.500) Licence 60' is (£676) Diesel.............. minimal cruising but enough to run a fridge, washer, dryer tv, computer etc...(£250) Gas 4 bottles a year at £30 .... (£120) Logs/Coal.......... £40 a month winter so six months is £240, round up to (£300) for a year Insurance...... average fully comprehensive, boat and contents ...average (£500) Maintenance ..........what to save for usual maintenance.....(£2.000) Repainting ......every 7 years or so save (£800) a year Batteries 4 batteries every 4 years ...(£84) Blacking £500 every two years so save (£250) a year Oh B*****r Fund..what to save each year for emergencies...(£300) Boat Safety Cert ...£200 every 4 years so save (£50) for that. Sanitation costs....cassette system...chemicals etc ...(£24) Grand Total ..... £7,854 ...... these are average costs for a new build but with built in maintenance costs for future eventualities and to have a realistic budget to plan from....and although the maintenance costs are high, I've discovered it is probably best to try to save that amount ready for the inevitable price increases and for professional service to keep a boat in as new condition.
    1 point
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