Not in the real world

THE boater Martin Howes who must either not be using his boat or in a marina with facilities is not in the real world of continuous cruisers, writes James Henry.

Saying , and here, if I may, I quote:  And as for anyone who is not prepared for supply difficulties of cards and keys, then they should look at their own housekeeping.  Arrangements can easily be made within a week for postal supplies'.

Cannot easily be made

I can tell him that arrangements cannot be easily made, for one, as now a continuous cruiser I do not have an address where post can be delivered, and two, the usual post offices in village shops and the like are closed.  (I spent the most part of a day on my bike attempting to find one I could use as I am very much in need of a pump-out card.)

With the sudden closure of shops many of us I learn were taken by surprise and were left in difficulty needing pump-out and fuel cards.

Admirable chance for Canal & River Trust

It would have been an admirable chance for Canal & River Trust to have someone either supplying cards, or better still operating the facilities at certain points around the system and giving notice of such, but all we were told was 'Our offices remain closed until further notice to minimise social contact between both employees and members of the public'.

In other words as far as we were concerned they could not care less.  So Mr. Howes please tell me how I was to arrange my 'housekeeping'.