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Keep a clean licence

Huzzah! At long last the wintry weather seems to be loosening its grip on us. The clocks have sprung forward and the temperature is heading up towards more sensible levels – and that means that for most boat owners the time is rapidly approaching when we can get our charges back in the water and start enjoying life afloat once more.

And yet another year flows by

Shiver me timbers – where on earth did that year go? I was amazed when I came to write this final column of 2008 to realise that I’d been doing it for nearly 12 months – firstly in our now defunct sister paper, the Leader and more recently in the Herald & News.

Seeing red over diesel

A change in European law means that, with effect from January 1 2011, a new type of gas oil will be required for diesel-powered boats on inland waterways – but that change could create real problems for some skippers.