Rebotco

Correct. That will be the canoing representative, whose officer will be on the council as of right, without voting. The 4 to be elected are the ordinary boaters we are talking about on this thread. There will also be 2 further places for "Boating Businesses" to be elected. This makes up the 7 "Boaters" who will serve on the Council, out of the 35 total number. Brian

It is the nominating of all the eventual candidates which will open on 12th December and close on 18th January 2012. This has nothing to do with voting, except perhaps amongst ourselves. Anyone eligible can stand with no voting at all. (To be eligible each nominee must have 10 sponsors, and presumably each of these can sponsor as many as they wish). It is only after all these names are in from all sources, that voting will take place from 8th Feb to 9th Mar 2012. AIUI the final voting process will be one vote per licence holder (I imagine we will have to quote our licence number to be able to cast our one vote). It is this vote that will decide who serves on the CaRT Council. That is why I suggest if we submit just ONE candidate, and we all vote for him/her, there is a very good chance they will gain enough votes to be among the four that will be elected. There will of course be other candidates from other sources around the boating community, which is why we need to ensure "our" candidate receives the maximum number of votes possible from this site. Lets say there are 2000 eligible voters on this site. If we put up 4 candidates our 2000 votes will be split between them, each getting on average 500 votes. That may well be insufficient for them to be elected as one of the 4 places available. If on the other hand we only put up one candidate, he/she will have 2000 votes, which must give them a much better chance of being among the top 4 who are the "winners". It all depends on what the competition is from other sources, and nobody yet knows that. Brian

Absolutely right! Brian

I wonder if it would be possible for the Mods to Pin a distinctive page specifically for those who are willing to stand? The idea being that anyone who wishes to could post their 150 word "manifesto" and the rest of us could place our vote against the one who we agree with most. Then after 10 days, say, the one who has collected the most forum members' votes is the one we nominate to the Council. Then when the CaRT vote time comes, we all vote for that nominee. With the number of members here, there should be a very good chance they will actually be elected. Brian

Being pragmatic, it would be best to limit it to ONE nomination from this site, otherwise our subsequent votes will get split too much. If we all then vote for that member, our chance of success will be much greater. Nomination is only the first thing - getting one elected to the CaRT Council is the ultimate aim that can make a difference. Brian

Sods Law says that if I drop my my keys and floating device in the water, I shall find them shortly afterwards wrapped around my prop.! Brian

Its working fine for me too, just come off it. Brian

[quote My fire came with the boat 11 years ago - it could be anything up to 9 years older than that. It's had new fire bricks, new riddle plate, new door and a few rounds of new door glass/seals at various times. But has been a trusty companion - I don't want to put it out in the cold before its time... Sounds like my 20 yr old broom - its only had 6 new heads and 4 new handles!!!!!! Brian

Isn't it also for keeping the glass door clear of soot? Brian

I agree, its difficult to know how an individual boater can make his views known to those that matter. There have been a couple of opportunities in the past, with a petition etc, but thats only any good if you happen to agree with it. I suppose the only effective method is to join one of the boating organisations that express similar views to your own, and then seek to influence their policies. The problem is that boaters are a widely scattered group with even wider scattered views. If you get 6 boaters together, there will be at least 7 opinions on any subject! That doesn't help much, but I think over the next few months there will be opportunities to make a difference. Need to keep an eye on forums such as this. Brian

Fantastic - thanks for sharing that. Brian

And you can't get better than that.....!!!!! Brian

It may not only be a hazzard of causing a fire, but there may also be the risk of the less obvious Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Need to get that sorted! Brian

To overcome this, I use the General Boating Forum as my bookmark page instead. From there you have access to about 380 pages of previous topics. Also you can then click "new content" limk at top right hand corner to get back to your previous bookmarked page. Brian

I believe they're a bit tetchy about manslaughter these days. It will be interesting to see other replies to this post. Brian

Some members may be interested in this:- The National Association of Boat Owners (NABO) have thrown their weight behind the Boaters' Manifesto which has been presented to the Transition Trustees of the Canal & River Trust which will replace British Waterways on April 1st next year. Simon Robbins, Vice Chair of NABO said: "We are pleased to see that an independent group of boaters shares broadly the same concerns as we identified in our formal submission to DEFRA during the Summer, about ensuring that navigation remains a central element in the proposed Canal and River Trust. “Boaters represent one of the core funders of the navigable waterways and this will continue for the foreseeable future. Apart from the direct fees paid to BW we contribute substantially to BW’s commercial income through the services we buy from waterside businesses. “The Transition Trustees are clearly anxious to identify new funding streams for the new Charity and this is an aspiration that boaters and representative groups have consistently lobbied for over many years. “However, many boaters feel that our interests as a major existing stakeholder may be sidelined. We hope that the Transition Trustees will not overlook the fact that on a conservative estimate over 20% of BW’s annual income comes from boaters’ pockets. Boaters represent a committed group of long term shareholders in the waterways and many feel that we need to be embraced rather than, as it sometimes feels under British Waterways, simply being taken for granted. Robbins said that he is encouraged by the news that there is to be a meeting with some of the Transition Trustees to discuss the manifesto and concluded: "We are conscious that NABO are regarded by some as being among the ‘usual suspects’ in these matters and think it is important that other boaters express their concerns too.” Brian

Sounds like a load of bo***cks to me. Brian

Ah! You spotted the flaw floor in my suggestion! Brian

Couldn't you just saw his legs off ? He could then become a "short standing member" ! Only trying to help. Brian

Sorry, I seem to have missed earlier post. No point duplicating. Brian

Here's a link to the auction of almost 1000 tools that BW is selling via online auction. So CaRT will have no tools of their own to do any maintainance. But there will be a nice little (i.e. BIG) Contract for a tool hire company. http://www.go-dove.com/event-16115/British-Waterways-Small-Plant-Sale-2/lots?Action=Move&AP=15&Auction_ID=0&PP=50&Show=all&EventID=16115&SortBy=paddedinventoryid&SortDir=asc You know it makes sense! Don't you? Brian

I'll second that! My experience with 3 was some years ago and a mobile phone contract. I found them as CROOKED as a £9 note, with no morals at all. They ripped me off for £129 with the same type of bully-boy tactics as Blackrose. And they are stupid - yes, they did con me for £129, but it has cost them thousands. Not only in the loss of my business, but that of many friends as well. I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole ............ on second thoughts, maybe I would. Brian

Depends on the type of adhesive I expect. Must say Betterware stuff usually is pretty good. Brian

Bit of a wild assumption isn't it? Presumably you also think shopping trolleys and old bikes etc. that litter the canals come from boaters. Brian

Had A look at this. The sales blurb doesn't say anything, but the "review" says its no good for outdoor use. Brian