BLUEMOMENT

I wonder has anyone else noticed the hike in transit licences for the Crinan Canal. Or are all you chaps flush and I am just being a bit mean:-(. Last year I paid something like £100 for a 34 foot boat, this year it is just short of £160. This compares to just over £200 for the Cally Canal, seems a bit disproportionate to me. Perhaps this includes a fee for assisted passage?

Could be round the horn for us! If many take this approach, surely that could reduce their revenue even more?

Best Regards
Angus

Yotter wrote:I wonder has anyone else noticed the hike in transit licences for the Crinan Canal. Or are all you chaps flush and I am just being a bit mean:-(. Last year I paid something like £100 for a 34 foot boat, this year it is just short of £160. This compares to just over £200 for the Cally Canal, seems a bit disproportionate to me. Perhaps this includes a fee for assisted passage?

Could be round the horn for us! If many take this approach, surely that could reduce their revenue even more?

Best Regards
Angus

Yes
No
Yes

The canal costs a fortune to run..someone has to pay so maybe the operators decided to get some more of the cost from the users?

Personally I like the canal but stopped using it when my boat wintered in the Clyde as I didn't enjoy the transit.
When I bought current boatie I brought her home through the canal as I didn't fancy the Mull in December so paid the fee plus getting a pilot- which I'd recommend.

It's a handy thing to have if the weather and/ or tide is not good for the Mull so use it or loose it.

We went through couple of weeks ago owing to bad forecast, and, yes, knew about the new charges before heading north from Ardrossan.

Apart from the first couple of locks at Ardrishaig when the canal team were probably assessing our competence, we've generally gone without staff assistance, sometimes alone, sometimes with other boats. This time we had the full assisted works all the way through as part of the new package.

Personally, while appreciating the staff, my own preference would have been to continue the old system with lower fees but with an extra chargeable service for people wanting assistance. However, perhaps that made staffing cover difficult owing to demand unpredictability.

As ever, the canal team were very friendly and helpful and a credit to Scottish Canals.

I was not having a go at the Canal or the Staff. I have used and enjoyed the passage for many years, originally with my parents from a very early age. I find the transit very sociable also and a band of helpers usually turn up to help. and I agree with the comment "use it or lose it". I recently looked at the annual report for Scottish Canals, to see what percentage of revenue is generated from transiting vessels, I could not find the information in the report. I suspect that we are more likely to lose it due to less passages and people voting to visit Gigha (if the weather is good), rather than an actual fall in revenue. Local business will also suffer. And I was so looking forward to a pint in the Crinan Hotel

Anyway, we will see what happens this year.

Angus