Boaters’ Update January 2011

It’s not too late to make the canals part of your New Year’s resolutions

It may only be mid-January but by now many of us will have already broken our New Year’s resolutions. Not to worry though as waterscape has got some great suggestions for canal and river-themed New Year’s resolutions that you can actually keep. Forget about the clichéd gym membership you’ll never use and the strict diet regime destined to end with gluttonous binging. Set yourself a realistic resolution, why not blast out the week’s cobwebs with a weekly walk along the canal or help make a real difference to your local community and make a resolution to volunteer this year.

Read more ways to make the canals part of your New Year’s resolutions.

Check out the latest BW volunteering opportunities at www.waterscape.com/volunteering

The name game

Throughout January research is being conducted to test possible names for the new waterways charity, which will take over the management of the waterways in 2012. Suggestions will be fed into Defra’s wider consultation, due to start shortly, about the formation of the charity.

Firstly, it is important that any prospective name does 'what it says on the tin’ i.e. it shows that the charity is about ‘waterways’ or ‘canals & rivers’. Secondly, the names should evoke a feeling amongst the wider public that waterways are a worthy ‘cause’ (and therefore include the terms ‘charity’ or ‘trust’). Please put your suggestion forward by filling in a short online poll. It will only take a few minutes and the results will quite literally help make waterway history.

The poll is open until 5pm on Friday 4 February 2011. Visit www.surveymonkey.com to take part in the survey.

Stoppages still on track

Thanks to good planning and hard work, BW’s winter programme of maintenance and repairs remains largely on track despite the coldest December since records began. All the stoppages that were due for completion before the Christmas break finished on time.

BW’s chief executive, Robin Evans said: “I would like to thank all our bank staff for their efforts. Working in arctic conditions is truly challenging and it is thanks to the dedication of the teams across the country that these stoppages have been completed on time.”

This winter, BW is opening up a number of stoppages across the country so the public can get a behind-the-scenes look at the work that goes into keeping the canals open. There are still nine events taking place in 2011, from guided tours of Lune Aqueduct and Caen Hill to the chance to see inside one of BW’s specialist lock gate workshops.

For more information visit www.waterscape.com/canal-open-days

Short, back and sides

Winter is also the optimum time for routine tree management along canals & rivers, balancing the needs and safety for boating and towpath users with conserving the unique waterway environment, including consideration for nesting birds.

BW’s standard profile creates a clear corridor for boating to the water’s edge but with the recent snow and ice damage more vegetation has fallen in a short space of time. Working on overhanging trees on the towpath offside is often quite difficult and very expensive so BW tries to make the most of these maintenance opportunities. Work may, at first, appear a little drastic, particularly if you are used to seeing a heavily wooded section of canal, as quicker-growing trees may be cut back quite heavily. However, the overall impacts and benefits are always assessed as well as considering restrictions resulting from legal protection of sites and species as well as looking at maintaining open, un-shaded aquatic habitats through the removal of overhanging vegetation, or using the cut wood to create habitat piles where possible.

Unpaid or cancelled Direct Debits

Paying for a BW boat licence or mooring permit by Direct Debit instalment is a convenience that many boaters take advantage of but, please be warned, from April 2011, if BW is unable to collect an instalment that’s due – either because you’ve cancelled your Direct Debit without telling BW in time, or there are insufficient funds in your account – a charge of £30 will be made. This is less than what it costs BW to unravel the problem.

Boat checker update

During December 2010, website users reported 31 sightings of unlicensed boats via the BW website. Of these, 22% have subsequently relicensed and a further 58% were already in BW’s enforcement process. 10% resulted in new cases being opened for action, and the remaining 10% were boats which were not identifiable through a valid boat index number but the details have been passed to BW’s enforcement teams for further investigation.

Visit the online boat checker

BW winter moorings

BW winter moorings are still available. If you are interested in buying a winter mooring permit valid until the end of March 2011 visit www.bwmooringvacancies.com.

Keep in touch this year

Have you noticed many waterscape news stories and features have a readers' comments area to let us know what you think, or whether you agree, or disagree with a topic?

Facebook and twitter are also both great ways of getting in touch with waterscape. Why not sign up today and take part in this year's competitions or get involved in the latest waterway discussions.

For those of you who entered waterscape’s Christmas Quiz, answers can now be found at blogs. The winners should be receiving their waterscape goody bags any day now.

Register now for the Boaters' Update

Sign up for your free monthly boaters’ e-newsletter, the weekly waterscape newsletter or stoppage alerts by clicking on www.waterscape.com/signup.

Last updated: 17/01/2011