NABO and A New Group

I too went along to the NABO (not NArrow BOat owners, but rather National Association of Boat Owners) meeting on Saturday morning. I am not a member, but I wanted to see what sort of things NABO are involved in. In all my years afloat I have never heard of their activities, nor that of RBOA and although I did look up the websites once, I didn’t get beyond the first page.

Nowadays I wonder whether I should belong to one of these organisations not least because the waterways seem to be getting a hammering, and in turn the boaters are too with increasing costs being piled onto the boaters. Not only have standards on the Oxford Canal dropped noticeably in the two years I was away, but we are being asked for more money with increases in licence fees and the like, yet where that money is being spent on this waterway has not been obvious. What is obvious is that BW are coming up with all sorts of strange plans - 3 bollards at locks, more ladders and this controversial, and bound to fail, mooring tender scheme they have thrown at us.

Moorings have always been a rarity, and the new ‘tendering’ regime that BW has instigated is only causing discord amongst boaters; the rich will get to moor and the poor will have to move on. This tendering process is already a shambles.
As things decline there seems to be little unity, little information, and little action concerning our waterways (I ought to be a bit more reserved on the latter, as people are active, but I am sure we should be MORE active considering the situation). Not only that but boaters are inclined to be an independent self-sufficient bunch and to get them all together to protest or even as one voice is a hard thing.

Boaters are a small proportion of the total who use the canals, yet we are paying more and more each year to maintain this vast leisure service in licence fee’s and the such like. To make a difference we need one voice, so I thought I would investigate the groups that are meant to stand up for our rights.

My conclusions? I think I should start a Scruffy Boat Brigade. This group of people are prolific on the waterways, we live in half sinking boats some of which we are doing up, some of which are the nearest to four walls we will ever get. Inside these heaps, tips and off casts of society are people. People who have (had) dreams, who have opinions, and people who no-one cares about (other than to put down and make themselves look better). Yes, they/we may be the poor of the waterways if you look at our boats, but who knows what is held inside. If we are the poor, the outcasts, the scum of society then bring it on. If you look out the window you will notice it is these very people that the government open their eyes to, that councils get tired of listening to, and who have the unadulterated guts to challenge society, and fight for what they believe in – a roof over the heads.

I think the scruffy boat brigade should be the voice of the people, I am sure there is more substance in a pile of bridge-hopper boat dwellers than can be found in any polished society. They know no-one will do it for them; they have to do it themselves. The criteria to get into this no-membership fee group? - how loud you shout, it doesn't matter about the state of your boat or whether you have one.