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Bridging loans available

Hopefully this is the start of improved banking facilities for boaters... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4ng03jg4jyo.amp

You speak as if CRT are spending less on the waterways than they get in from boaters, which simply isn't true. (And when you say underspending by £3million, I think you mean a reduction in spending of £3million -- which is quite different). Anyway, according to the latest accounts 2022/23), boat licences and moorings brought in £47.3 million pounds. Expenditure included: Major infrastructure work £46million (a lot of which was on reservoirs in this particular year) Caring for the waterways £35.4million (which includes inspections, repairs, workshops, engineering etc) Vegetation: £8million Dredging £7.4million Operational buildings, plant, craft, and equipment £16.9million all of which adds up to more that £113million. If boaters were paying for all the things that kept the waterways running, the licence fee would be (as MtB frequently proposes) double what it is now.

At that size is it not trailable with a 4x4 and road trailer? If it is ask Tony Tugboat. No need for a crane then just a slipway. Much cheaper. ETA: we used Tony a few times and he is a top bloke. THOROUGHLY recommended 👌

At that size/weight you should be able to get it towed on a trailer between slipways which will be far cheaper than a truck plus cranes. One option recommended by some in the Sea Otter [short aluminium narrowboat] owners' club is http://tonytugboats.com/ but I'm sure others are available.

But surely if they were fire ants they would cause the diesel to ignite and thus the boiler would be working? 🤣😂

For a variety of reasons, reasons that are currently being vigorously debated in the Political and Current Affairs thread, both the Government and Councils are exceedingly broke. Very worthwhile causes like healthcare and education provision are suffering serious degradation. None of this can be attributed to Cart. Old things are maintenance intensive, especially when it is considered important to maintain heritage values. Very old things more so. So where realistically can Cart gain more money to just stabilise the system? Doing the impossible with insufficient resources , and then incurring the wrath of people because not enough is being done, detracts considerably from job satisfaction. Who would blame senior CART management from now moving on. And without more resources, realistically how would this change things. Sure some of CART spending on promotion was questionable. And that new logo, to replace a classic, was pure vandalism. But it was the government who instructed them to go out and seek alternative funding. So they had to at least try, even when increasing austerity made it obvious that it was unlikely to be successful.

I think they do, probably in ways you or others may not realise, a dearer business licence, running cost of a home base for their boats, probably leased off CaRT. If a large fleet they’ll need to employ service staff for the boats, a mechanic, more BSS certification, diesel, gas. So they’ll probably support/pay a lot of people that rely on canal work for a living. People moan about hire boats and the actions of a few, but when I was down South last month I saw more hire boats moving than leisure boats, so would the canal system be a poorer place without them? I think so. The ones I’ve chatted to have always been decent people and have enjoyed their time on the water. The other thing is, how many people have had a hire boat holiday, enjoyed it so much and have bought a boat? Take @IanD for example, without his hire boat holidays, he may not of bought a boat and be paying a licence. So he’s supported a Canal business and CaRT financially, like many others. So good luck to Hire Companies👍

Hire boating is expensive as holidays go, and there are fewer hire companies about now than at their height in the 70s/80s. Nobody is getting rich running a hire boat company. So increasing the hire boat licence charge is simply going to result in the cost of hire boats going up, and fewer hire boats on the system. The net result might be less wear and tear caused by hire boats, but quite possibly also no increase in the overall amount of hire boat licence fee received by CRT. And fewer hire boaters means a lower profile of boating generally, a reduced pipeline of potential future boat owners and with that less leverage on government for funding. The overall impact may be small in terms of the bigger picture, but I can't see it being obviously positive.