Staying On Boats

[stumpy]

54 minutes ago, MotorBoater said:

I married a Geordie, first thing she bought me was Geordie passport, second was a Geordie phrasebook, that was 30+ years ago and I still can't make sense of it. 

So did I (for a little while). First visit up to meet the prospective in-laws I was somewhat surprised when Da took me off the 'the welfare' while the ladies cooked Sunday dinner. I was even more surprised when ladies started taking their clothes off to music - apparently it was a Northern thing. Was the phrasebook 'Learn yersel Geordie' by Scott Dobson? Still got it somewhere 40-odd years on!

[MotorBoater]

18 minutes ago, stumpy said:

Was the phrasebook 'Learn yersel Geordie' by Scott Dobson? Still got it somewhere 40-odd years on!

Something like that, trouble is I find it occasionally, then lose it again !

It was easier to teach the wife english.

[OldBerkshireBoy]

Know for a fact that transport companies were told in advance to prepare for changes to be announced so on that basis I  will wait for Andy @FreedomBoatingHols to tip us the wink. 

[OldBerkshireBoy]

14 hours ago, MotorBoater said:

I married a Geordie, first thing she bought me was Geordie passport, second was a Geordie phrasebook, that was 30+ years ago and I still can't make sense of it. 

My mate married a Geordie lass and when I arrived up there as his best man she gave me a translation booklet. The speech seemed to go down ok as I remember or maybe they were all drunk, who knows.

[Oddfellow]

33 minutes ago, OldBerkshireBoy said:

Know for a fact that transport companies were told in advance to prepare for changes to be announced so on that basis I  will wait for Andy @FreedomBoatingHols to tip us the wink. 

Don't rely on me. I have regular conversations with the BA on this and there is, categorically, no wink to tip. 

If other industries like Warwick Castle are still saying 4th July, either they have been tipped off or, as I suspect is more likely, they are hedging their bets. Let's face it, on Wednesday at about 22:00, the Government suddenly announced that Zoos could open from the 15th June giving them mere hours of notice. This is where we are at: a government making snap decisions which seem to bow more to pressure than science. It was clear that they had to do something about animal welfare and that was either fund it or allow it to try and fund itself again. 

In the wait to get second homes usable again (which is what this is about), there are no real welfare issues at stake other than the tourism industry which has received no additional support despite the many regional economies relying on it for the major part of the income for the area. If the virus spreads and we have a spike anywhere, it will need to be contained and the ONLY way to do that is test, track and trace whilst preventing further movement. 

Whichever way this is looked at, there are stark choices to be made by the decision makers: risk the economy which needs people to spend to keep it alive and fund things like healthcare or risk the health of the nation which relies on the economy to find things like healthcare to keep them able to go out, earn and spend. 

Sadly, there are too many people like Marshman who make analogies like, you don't close a car company because of a road accident. But, by the same token, one road accident doesn't spread the "road accident" disease to other drivers and cause another one 100 yards ahead. Its an awful analogy. 

What's more important? Opening the economy or preventing a second wave? At this stage, I would argue that there's a relatively even weighting, but there could be more financial stimulus to protect the economy which would then negate the need to encourage people out prematurely and create risks that nobody wants to consider. Bejing has locked-down 11 neighbourhoods this week after 45 people out of about 500 tested positive. This is still a very serious threat that cannot be under-estimated. There are way too many people being blasé about this: lockdown is finished. This is clear in the supermarkets were social distancing is not observed, customer limits in the store aren't monitored and the only queues are in the checkouts. 

People move the virus around; it can't get on a bus or train itself. Some of us are happy with this risk because of the "it won't happen to me" attitude. There's a great deal of selfishness being exposed in many desires to get to second homes, boats and such like. Some of those so privileged amongst us who have these things are almost demanding that they get to use them as they wish whilst those couped-up in tower-blocks (maybe with flammable cladding) merely crave the opportunity to be able to get on a bus safely and take the kids to the park. 

The problem is that this has never been about "me", it's about everybody else and society as a whole would do well to remember that. 

So, can we please all stop worrying about when we can take a holiday and look at the bigger picture. 




 

[Bexs]

A few things that occur to me are (and my thoughts are just that, not gospel...):

The government knows that big recessions cost lives also.

That a way to help the British economy is to allow domestic tourism to open up. Staycations are worth a lot of money.

That we have to find a away to live with COVID-19. Which means minimising as much risk as possible, but not eliminating it.

I feel they will stick with the July 4th if at all possible.

Teachers weren’t given advance notice about schools opening... so I don’t think there will be a nod or a wink. But the industry has been working towards the 4th.

I am predicting an announcement in a daily briefing by Borris sometime this week though...


I am also a firm believer, that we will ALL tell ourselves what we want to hear... we will bend the facts to suit our needs.

(and on that note I have a boat booked on the 4th July and it could be causing me to over optimistic).





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[Polly]

I can’t wait to get back 🙂

.....but I will have to.

[grendel]

the boat i have booked out at the end of july is currently being offered out as a day boat, if they can organise the deep cleaning necessary for daily hire, then they should surely be able to clean between weekly hires, so i too am looking forward with hope.

[Poppy]

 

I believe this to be genuine.

[JennyMorgan]

If people staying on their boats were to fall ill with the virus then do they rush home or go into isolation? Isolation onboard sounds good but if you then really become ill, or simply need to go shopping, then you are putting other folk at risk. Seems a tad selfish to me.

[grendel]

30 minutes ago, Poppy said:

 

I believe this to be genuine.

since you need to be logged into their site to see that, i cant possibly comment

[CambridgeCabby]

6 minutes ago, grendel said:

since you need to be logged into their site to see that, i cant possibly comment

Beat me to it 

[Poppy]

36 minutes ago, grendel said:

since you need to be logged into their site to see that, i cant possibly comment

[MauriceMynah]

Sorry but I think the "Web Team" is incorrect.

[JennyMorgan]

Perhaps someone should ask the same question of Norfolk's web team.

Whatever the question, perhaps wind and tide might be a deciding factor, not Plod.

[marshman]

Tidal waters only? So on Barton ,you could stay?

I don't think I would rely on that too much!!!! Having said that, if they knock me up at night, and I appear in my usual garb ( or not) who will have the biggest laugh????

[CambridgeCabby]

Screen grab of relevant sentence from ukgov page which applies to all private craft both inland and coastal 

[Bexs]

I thought it was the government saying we must all sleep at our primary residence that was stoping sleeping on board...


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[grendel]

1 hour ago, JennyMorgan said:

If people staying on their boats were to fall ill with the virus then do they rush home or go into isolation? Isolation onboard sounds good but if you then really become ill, or simply need to go shopping, then you are putting other folk at risk. Seems a tad selfish to me.

so do we wait a month, a year, 10 years, before we are allowed once more to use a cruiser as it should be, because this virus will be with us for a while yet. in the mean time what about the boat hire businesses.

[CambridgeCabby]

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/covid-19-coronavirus-using-a-boat-inland-and-on-the-coast

[SteveO]

We now seem to be seeing a division between people who make money out of tourists and those who do not - often retirees who settle or happen to live in tourist areas. The former group want to get the tourists back ASAP and the latter want to preserve the status quo for as long as possible. I think we all know that, no matter what our preference, we need to get back to some kind of normality very soon otherwise the "cure" for COV-19 will be worse than the disease. Thousands of excess deaths from cancer and heart disease are being stored up for the future. The number of people waiting for operations is becoming staggering, our dental health is deteriorating and mental health problems are mounting. Whether we like it or not, we need to bite the bullet and let tourists in. I would be very concerned that the government gives the green light to everything in early July because this would cause chaos but some sort of phased return, starting with low risk activity needs to start.

.

[Bexs]

If people staying on their boats were to fall ill with the virus then do they rush home or go into isolation? Isolation onboard sounds good but if you then really become ill, or simply need to go shopping, then you are putting other folk at risk. Seems a tad selfish to me.

This could be said for other virus’s that we have learnt to accept as risks. I am sure people come down with flu or Norovirus whilst on boats. Do they stay put? or risk transmitting it to others by going home?

If you were at home, you would still need to arrange shopping. You can get grocery’s delivered to boatyards the same way you can at home.






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[JennyMorgan]

17 minutes ago, grendel said:

so do we wait a month, a year, 10 years, before we are allowed once more to use a cruiser as it should be, because this virus will be with us for a while yet. in the mean time what about the boat hire businesses.

I wonder what the cost of a second spike would be?

[CambridgeCabby]

The economy needs to be restarted equally the spreading of covid-19 needs to be contained , the government has a nigh on impossible juggling act to manage.

We all have our own agendas , both private individuals and those in business , yes I can’t understand what difference it would make if I stayed over night on our boat or if my son went to a caravan park but I’m sure thousands of others feel the same so suddenly it’s thousands overnighting on what could be congested camp sites, caravan parks and rivers and that would  make a difference .

When UKgov give the go ahead then great but until then I will follow the precautions and rules that a body of people far more informed than myself have made.

[Paul]

We have a pitch booked with a major holiday company to take the caravan to Wales on July 11th, they have been very candid in conversations we have had with them that they expect sites in England to reopen on 4th July but Scotland and Wales not until 15th. They must be getting that from somewhere. 

I cannot imagine that holiday parks would be allowed to reopen and boat hire companies not.