Trial run at Devizes, but diesel will go sky high..

Moored Devizes, K&A Canal

I hope the rss feed has settled down now, although in my reader (FeedDemon) my blog posts are not displaying right. It does not show as a post with pics, but in html. I have no idea why, but I will leave it for now because I have other things that are more important, and as long as people can see the blog then that should be fine for a while.

No pics again today I am afraid.. I just haven't had the camera out over the last few days, I promise to take a few tomorrow. Mind you Annie of NB Moore2Life has taken quite a few today as Vic and I took our first run out on our hopefully new narrowboat. It went really great, and we spent over an hour and half cruising along the K&A. It didn't seem like I was moving 67ft of boat along.. but the engine was smooth and quiet, much to my liking.

I was pleased the weather had calmed from yesterday.. jeeeeeeeez it was windy, but hey it could have been a lot worse, I couldn't believe the tv pics I was seeing when I switched the tele on last night.. those poor people in North London.. I do hope they get sorted before Xmas.

Anyway at the turning point I had no problem (teehee) turning the narrowboat in the winding hole, and there was a bit of wind too. It was a good test because I tend to be pretty useless at about turns.. I never seem to get the front in quiet the right place and make it very difficult for myself.. maybe this time I was really concentrating and got it right!

More measurements and plans this evening.. the pencil is working hard here, but so is the rubber too!

So some not good news from the EU. They have decided not to renew the red diesel derogation ... from this is hampshire.net ..

"Treasury Minister John Healey today confirmed that the European Commission has rejected the UK Government's application to renew the UK's derogation on red diesel for private recreational boaters."

This is a big blow.. it will put the diesel up from 55-60 to maybe over £1.00 a litre. For sure the boatyards are not going to be able to get the discounts that the garage forecourts and supermarkets do.. It may be that it will be above that even. In fact I think there will be a huge price difference throughout the whole system, and it will make a difference as to where we will buy for sure.

Looking at the various reports, some say that the diesel will be 2 to 2 and half times more than we are paying now.. I can't see that being the case though, but then again, I suspect that in some parts of the country diesel is much cheaper than it is here on the K&A, maybe 40-50p, in which case 2.5 times higher might be more accurate. Whatever it is a lot when you consider we put in about 100 ltrs every 3 weeks.

I wonder what it will do to boating.. those that live on the waterways as a cheap way of living.. they will never be able to absorb it, the hire boat companies and their hungry narrowboats belting around the countryside using 5 times the amount of diesel per day than we normally do.. gawd knows what the hire charges are going to be.. I wonder if they will be priced out the market.. big boats in season charge in excess of £1700 in the summer.. a holiday abroad would cost very much one third of that price for a family.. Ah well remains to be seen.. I am surprised it hasn't been on the TV News.. It seems so important to us. but obviously not to the TV audiences!