Riddle me this ?

Never a nice thing to be shelling out large chunks of money. January is our boat license renewal month. I will have detailed in other posts the cost of having a boat on the UK canals. 

Boat licence 

Mooring fees

Insurance 

Maintenance 

Having just paid out for this years licence I took a look back at the last few years of licence costs and the increases Canal and Rivers trust have applied 

So we are £1,352,72p lighted in pocket from today. Have a look at those % increases and the corresponding RPI ( on which my pension is calculated). The principal is more painful than the amounts. 

In my life I manage the income and expenditure as one is finite each year so the other has to match ideally be a bit lower or our savings get reduced. Not rocket science. But like our successive governments they  just don't seem able to balance the books..... but why should they worry as unlike me they have a  legal right to extract more money when they want to and what route to objection have we got... well two really I guess, both are the same but for different reasons - don't pay?

Don't pay as we have sold the boat 

Don't pay and join the club of many others in society who put the load on the mugs who do pay to try and keep some degree of progress and normality? 

I came very close today to joining the above lot..... I wonder what C&RT would have done ? Offered me a payment plan? Reduced my contribution ?  Removed my boat ? Given me a cuddle and told me it would all be ok ? 

Could I have legitimately challenged them over my non payment as a protest at their incompetency? I am one of those limited few who see the canals as a transport infrastructure for boats. I watched a fishing video recently and the match was on a canal and the bloke was moaning about boats while advising to mix soil into the ground bait... the dredging costs were not far from my mind as I marvelled at his fixed negative point of view on canal boats. I wondered what his fishing clubs section rental fee increase was this year? Or the cost of a paddle board license, the cost to walk the tow path, the cost to cycle the towpath, the cost for famers to remove water from the canal. You might be getting the picture  - the boaters pay !

Ultimately I have a choice  - sell and shut up. I love the canals and they have been an integral part of my life for many years so for now I'll try and keep calm and carry on.