Can we cruise?

Over the past few weeks I have been planning the couple of summer cruises we will be taking, but having read about all the stoppages, I'm thinking "will we get back from cruising or be stuck behind a stoppage?", writes James Henry.

The stoppage season should now be at an end with the boating season picking up, but we read of stoppage after stoppage.  First there was the Worcester & Birmingham, then the Kennet & Avon and now I have just read the Staffs & Worcester is closed.

Beyond believe

The latter two are clearly structural failures, that should have been attended to during this winter's stoppages, but CaRT having the cheek to tell us it will brace the lock gates hoping they will last until next winter's stoppages is beyond belief!

There must now be an untold number of such failures waiting to happen, for it is obvious that maintenance is now very much hit and miss, with many structures in desperate need of maintenance that have been neglected.

Someone wrote it is now a case of 'wait until it breaks', which is something I can well believe, and so only hope we can actually complete our cruises this year.  But it must be a nightmare for the boat hire people not knowing if their boats will be returning.

The phrase 'On a wing and a prayer' springs to mind.