Reading over this thread again, I have come to the conclusion that the answer to the topic question ‘do we really need electric posts???’ is - no we don’t. Had Charlie asked ‘do we really want electric posts???’ it seems to me that the answer would probably be yes. I don’t get the impression that anyone totally relies on them, cruising from post to post, rather that they find them useful in many circumstances. We all use our boats in different ways, for different purposes and for different lengths of time, the point is that we all enjoy our time afloat in a way that suits us. (Robin has proved that three times and I don’t think he’s finished yet!) Shore power is still a relatively new thing, particularly for hire boats but I get the impression that the all-singing all-dancing boats will remain popular for some time to come.
With apologies to MauriceMynah who actually mentioned the ‘need and want’ aspect quite some time ago!