I went down to the boat last week, after a weekend away in Manchester celebrating my mother's 90th and my 60th birthday. Yep, I'm old!
Anyway, my dinghy had disappeared!
I noticed however, that the area where my dinghy was had been cleared. Of bushes as well as other dinghies.
After a few emails to the Harbourmaster, I got the details of the local council clearance department.
It appears that the local council or their operatives have cleared tenders from the foreshore!
To say I'm not happy is an understatement!
I'm currently looking for a replacement, but it's possible that this may be the final straw and I'll be looking to sell Sprite 2 in the near future.
It's a bit much to be paying a fee to the Harbourmaster which includes the ability to keep a tender on the foreshore, if the harbourmaster isn't able to prevent other agencies like the local council coming along and clearing the tenders away and destroying them.
The icing on the cake is the local council not only won't talk to be specifically about my dinghy unless I prove ownership, but if I DO provide proof of ownership, then I may be liable for payment of the removal fees and may be open to be charged with an offence.
I don't think that the local council understand the difference between a hulk abandoned on the foreshore, and a tender that has a legitimate use.
Anyway, this has obviously left a bad taste in my mouth as I don't really have the funds to buy another dinghy. The cost of living crisis has hit hard and I don't have any spare cash to spend after bills.
That's why I'm contemplating selling Sprite. I can't afford to maintain her and it's been bad enough over the past 12 months as I've found it hard to just pay for the mooring fee and the insurance, unlike previous years where I've had a bit of spare cash to spend.
I'll keep you posted.
Sad to hear that you might sell the boat, but it does seem to take a lot of time (and money) to keep the project heading forward.
ReplyDeleteThanks Andrew. I've just sold her. A sad day, but I've come to the realisation that the boat was becoming more of a worry than an asset. There are only so many stormy nights you stay awake through before you start wondering if it's worth it. Also, being in the salty environment means that you are constantly replacing or maintaining parts, because nothing survives that unaffected. It's like the Forth Bridge in that is you stop the maintenance, parts quickly deteriorate and then you just end up with a bigger bill later on.
DeleteI'd rather sell now while the boat is viable, rather than watch it become a wreck.