It isn’t all CRT

This bad picture is of an old BW pan. The pan has been a feature of this area for a while and has periodically annoyed me with its insensitive mooring regime.  It spent some time swinging out into the cut at Shipton on Cherwell until someone moored it to a tree on the offside.  Then it loitered on the lock landing at Bakers Lock where it sported some chalk writing from another passer by trying to use the lock landing suggesting the owner should ‘think of others and not just themselves’.  After a while it rocked up opposite me where it has been loitering on its thin string in the rain.

I was away, and on my return I noticed that it was filling up with water. 

I had expected the owner to come along at some point, but they did not. So, when there was an an inch or so before it was going to go under I called CRT.  I could have stopped work and gone and pumped it out myself, but I just didn’t feel like it.   Considering the amount of rain we were having I thought the owner would come along and do something about it.  CRT took the licence number down and said they would find the owner.

Then it was day two and there was about an inch to go. So I called CRT again.  They put me through to someone else who said the pan was sold on to a contractor and they would get in touch with them and get them to sort it out.

Then it was day three and there was half and inch to go.  I made sure I had access to help and pumps but I decided to call CRT again (so I could get on with my work and not have to stop to deal with the boat).  CRT seemed, again, to find this news.  I was put through to someone else who took my number telling me they would phone me back.  Amazingly they did.  And again. Then they told me someone would be there within an hour.

A lovely chap from CRT came along and took some time to pump the boat out.

It took 3 phone calls.  It pays to persist.

I suppose that if it had sunk then CRT would have got the flack -  I had to phone them 3 times; what if I had stopped at the first and gone on holiday for a few days.  I didn’t really have to phone them at all – I could have stopped my work and taken hours out of my day to deal with it.  Would I  be at fault if the boat had sunk?

I suppose the owner of the craft would have been the last person to be at fault if it had sunk.  What a fiasco it would have been trying to raise it.