Victor: I told you so!

SO I HAVE been proved right yet again!  This time over the Water Chariots debacle, that I warned was doomed to failure.

Anyone with an ounce of sense would baulk at ordering 15 brand new expensive boats to act as water taxis for the the short period of the Olympics, then hope they could be used on the Thames, already overcrowded with such boats.

And then to charge a fare of £95 each for adults and £50 each for children for the short trip up from Limehouse Basin to the Olympic Park.

Didn't anyone realise that a ticket to the Olympics included free travel on both the underground and the light railway?  So who in their right mind would fork out £290 for a family of four when they could get there for now't!

And why on earth would anyone want to go to Limehouse to get to the Olympics anyway?  Were they expecting boat loads of passengers coming down the Thames?

A spokesman for British Waterways pointed out that Water Chariots were chosen as they presented a sound business plan.

But we all know about British Waterways business plans!  That alone should have been warning enough!

What a difference

A couple of weeks ago I saw CART organising the outside painting of a building, but what a palaver. All the health and safety inspections, then the cabin, then the fencing, then the scaffolding, itself being fenced, then all the notices, then the required breaks for the staff of three.  Then everything removed.

Last week our Thomas had the outside of his house painted—but what a difference. One fella doing it the old-fashioned way with just a pair of steps and an extending ladder.  And he was a real worker, starting at 9am and working until 4pm, refusing to stop for breaks, just wanting endless cups of tea.

It took him just nine days to prepare and give two coats to 20 'Georgian' type windows, a broad soffit and a portico. Not the weeks required with all the rigmarole of the CART job, and as to the cost...

And  I wonder if it would have been as good a job as Thomas' professional painter, who incidentally had been painting for over 20 years—accident free he told.

Who is next

With the forthcoming demise of Tony Hales as our Chairman will come a possible election of a new incumbent to the position. Well, I'm assuming there will be an election, or perhaps it's already a 'done deal'.

One thing for sure, I know that both Tony and boss man Robin Evans are rather fancying a certain person for the job, which rather fills me with disquiet...

I'm sure many boaters will agree that, on past endeavours alone, we definitely need some fresh blood, and most certainly not one of the same ilk...

Victor Swift