VHF on Canals More Prevalent Than You Think ?

In a recent survey on two canal related Facebook groups, it was discovered that

22 boats carry VHF either permanently or occasionally
12 boats don't and have no interest
15 boats don't have VHF but would consider it if more boats and marinas fitted

To me, this suggests that VHF has potential on our canals.

I don't mean that boats cruise round with aerials up and loudspeakers blaring static to spoil everybody's peace. Quite the opposite.

However, if marinas and some service-supplying boatyards fitted channel M, this would allow VHF equipped boats to communicate about berth locations, pump out availability, etc.

In fact, virtually anything you might normally phone a marina or yard for, except the calls are free.

I'm not even suggesting boats fit VHF specially for this purpose - it just seems that if 44% of boats already have VHF, they could actually get better use out of it.

Channel M costs a marina £75 per year for the licence. A VHF base station can be bought for around £100.
No trained operator is required to operate a set working on channel M. The person who normally answers the phone can operate the channel M set.

Most VHF boat sets sold in the UK, come complete with channel M (or Ch37A as it is sometimes called).

I've spoken to a few marinas and there seems little interest. One even said in their defence, that they had not received anybody asking for it.
I wonder how many boaters know about the merits of Channel M ??

Blue on Blue

My friends boat had been lifted out of the water for ten days, while it had its bottom cleaned and self-polishing anti-fouling added.





No drydocks or nasty blacking in the Med - they simply lift a nearly 60ft sailing yacht out of the water on a wheeled gantry, place it on the tarmac of the marina and get on with it.

Anyway, she went back into the water today (at 0800 this morning to be precise, as it's too hot to work on her later in the day).

I asked if they winterised the boat.
Wry smiles from all concerned - no they said, we don't really get winter.

She got plonked in the water, the engine started first time and they motored her to her berth.
Bit of varnish and she's ready for a sail to Turkey.

Men in this part of the world are men, or should that be Men.

Its all chest hair and medallions here.

I casually mentioned that a friends son must be under a lot of pressure from his family to have children, now that he has been married for a full year - they normally don't hang around in these parts.

Yes, he is, they replied. Mind you, she might be barren, they added.

No mention of any possibility of flaws in the male seed - Jaffa's are unheard of down here.