.: Giles Chichester MEP (Conservative - South West England)
Approached Giles Chischester MEP
on 6th July 2008 via e-mail with a letter of introduction
and again on 10th July 2008, also via e-mail, with an
apology for technical site problems.
We received the following e-mail from
Giles Chichester on 16th July
2008:
Dear Miss Woods
Thank you for your emails of 6th and 10th July and for posing an
interesting
conundrum.
It brings to mind a phenomenon I observed in the West Indies
some 30 years
ago after I had sailed to Antigua. The island economy was very
dependent on
tourism both airborne and seaborne yet the local population
remained
relatively badly off. Some yachts arrived in a poor condition,
materially
and financially, because their owners had quite probably put all
their money
into the purchase so they could pursue their dream but
consequently
struggled to meet all the running and upkeep costs. As a result
they spent little or nothing with the local suppliers who in
turn felt hard done by because people rich enough to own a boat
should be able to afford to pay their way and contribute to the
local economy.
Now, moving on to your proposition I can well understand your
resentment at being made to pay for something which has hitherto
been free. I feel much the same about all the extra tax imposts
of former Chancellor Gordon Brown.
I suppose, however, that it boils down to who owns what and
whether they have the power to enforce their exploitation of the
resource. I also ask myself whether it is entirely fair that
live-aboard sailors should be exempt from charges all others
have to bear, especially if the others have to meet all the
liabilities on their domicile as well.
I hope, after politics, to get a boat and undertake quite a long
list of voyages and cruises while physically capable and I have
a sense that life afloat is much more subject to control and
charges than when I did quite a lot of sailing in the late
1970's. So I have sympathy for what I understand as your
feelings. But I expect to have to pay my way because I don't
think
I am owed a free lunch (if there is such a thing) and one of the
reasons I try to save is to meet my obligations.
So, what I have to offer by way of comment is good luck to you
for trying because there is no harm in asking but count me out
as a supporter. Furthermore, I am unaware of any European
legislation covering this area and it remains a matter of
national or local competence or responsibility. I think the
chances of introducing any European law on this issue are very
slim.
Sorry not to be more encouraging.
Yours sincerely
Giles Chichester
Giles Chichester MEP
We responded by e-mail on 16th July
2008 as follows:
Dear Mr. Chichester,
Thank you for your email of 16th July, your response is most
interesting.
Obviously, I cannot answer for the behaviour of some yachtsmen
arriving in the West Indies, although even they must have to
eat and drink which, unless they have arrived stocked up with
everything they need to stay any length of time, presumably
means they shop ashore and benefit the local shopkeepers and
thus, indirectly, the tax coffers.
In my experience of the West Indies in 1998 and 1999, the vast
majority of yachtsmen arriving in Chaguaramas, Trinidad, for
example, were bringing their boats for refitting and ten marinas
and boatyards had sprung up around the bay where, only four
years earlier, there had been but three. We had crossed from
Spain and spent several weeks at Peake Marine, at a cost of
roughly 30% more than the equivalent services would have set us
back on the Spanish mainland!
In Bermuda, in 2000, we were made welcome for as long as we
wished to remain at anchor, even offered free dockage which we
did not take up, in St. George's harbour. The authorities were
well aware that, with the price of food and drink being
exorbitant, most yachtsmen were unlikely to overstay their
welcome! St. Barts and Sint Maarten, Mustique, Bequia, Antigua
and
many other islands, welcome yachts anchoring with open arms,
knowing that the occupants are bringing money to the islands,
however little, and that the anchorages cost them nothing to
provide.
Our feeling about the trend towards the buoying off of
anchorages and charging exorbitant fees is not one of resentment
- we
are in the fortunate position of being able to anchor in places
where most boats could not go, even if their owners wished to
go there - deeper waters in places where there are no
facilities.
Many others of our acquaintance are not thus fortunate and need
to be where they can get ashore and go to work daily, paying
their taxes and contributing to the social security coffers as
well. Indeed, until November last year, we were running the
restaurant and bar at the Anchorage Club in Illetas, Mallorca
and paid plenty of dues as well as spending liberally with
quite a few local suppliers. We didn't take the resulting income
and disappear to spend it with some other community but have
remained here, living on our savings. The winter before last we
spent many thousands having work done to the boat in Palma.
We are not suggesting that live-aboard sailors should pay
absolutely nothing but, on the other hand, 20 euros a day is an
excessive amount to ask and limiting the stay to three or five
days is putting an intolerable burden on ordinary people who
have already accepted that they can no longer afford to visit
marinas, without resentment, because marinas are man-made and
costly to maintain, whilst anchorages are natural spaces.
These spaces do not 'belong' to any government to be exploited
for gain. They 'belong', if not to the human race as a whole
then, at least, to the people of the individual country,
including, in Europe at least, live-aboard boat owners who are
ordinary working people, on wages that simply will not stretch
to the sudden imposition of fees aimed at corporate-owned,
charter and personal pleasure-only yachts.
Having never received, nor expected a free lunch, I am
fascinated to hear that you do not believe in their existence. I
can
assure you that there are a great many people who are indeed
enjoying free lunches, not to mention breakfasts and suppers, in
spite of being neither physically nor mentally incapacitated,
being supported by tax-payers, including us and many other
live-aboard sailors. Without being rude, I must say that one
would have thought any politician would be acutely aware of that
fact.
Surely, this issue is one of discrimination against those who
have chosen to live at sea or, in many cases, who were born
into families already living at sea and who know no other life.
Hounding sea-dwellers off the sea will not make them
disappear. On the contrary, they will end up having to move
ashore, most to their European country of origin and be in need,
not just of free lunches but of housing as well! We have met
many sea-dwellers who would rather make sacrifices to stay
aboard than turn up with their hands out for benefits but there
will come a point where they are denied that choice unless
something is done to protect them.
It is sad to hear that you, of all people, do not wish to
support this campaign, being of such illustrious sailing stock.
Incidentally, a dear friend and supporter, Murray Raynes,
Australian circumnavigator and author of the splendid 'One Easy
Lap', upon hearing that I had contacted you emailed me the
following anecdote:
"Strange, you mentioned Giles Chichester. When his dad was doing
his thing across the Pacific, Giles was on board a Qantas
707 I was flying from Sydney to Mexico City and sat in the
cockpit for a couple of hours as we approached Gypsy Moth’s
supposed position. Couldn’t find him, but the intention was
there."
I too am sorry that you don't feel you can be more encouraging.
It is to be hoped that you may be persuaded to reconsider.
Warmest regards,
Linnet Woods
Incidentally, One Easy Lap by Murray Raynes is available from
his web page at
http://www.oneeasylap.com
(and we have no commercial involvement
with this publication whatsoever).
On 17th
August 2008 we received the following e-mail:
Dear Miss Woods
Thank you for your long email letter of 16th July.
I think you have misinterpreted my comment about not thinking I
am owed a free lunch though judging by your touchiness on the
subject you clearly grasped the thrust of my observation in
connection with your demands for free mooring rights.
I am interested in your Australian friend's anecdote. I did
indeed fly Qantas in 1967 from Sydney home via Tahiti and Mexico
but talk of looking for my father's position is fanciful. I
returned to the UK some time before my father left Australia and
in any case his route was well to the south of Tahiti.
But I do remember the friendly hospitality of the Qantas
captain, whose name I cannot recall for sure, in letting me on
the flight deck. A privilege no longer available thanks to Al
Quaeda!
Yours sincerely
Giles Chichester
Giles Chichester MEP
To which we
replied on 18th August 2008 as follows:
Dear Mr. Chichester,
Thank you for your e-mail of the 17th of August.
It was surprising to hear that you thought my attitude towards
the subject of free lunches was 'touchy'. It was also
interesting that you interpreted our request for, at least,
reduced charges on mooring buoys as "demands for free mooring
rights" which rather makes us sound like militants when, in
fact, I can assure you we are really quite mild-mannered
individuals simply trying to do something we consider necessary!
Having earlier resisted the urge to comment on your remark, in
your first e-mail, that "one of the reasons I try to save is to
meet my obligations", I now feel obliged to point out that being
in a position to be able to save for anything, even the next
mortgage repayment, is something quite beyond the grasp of much
of the population of Great Britain and you are, perhaps,
forgetting the extraordinary position of financial good fortune
in which politicians today find themselves, affording you all
the opportunity to save up for whatever you desire - something
you do not have in common with the vast majority of citizens.
It is important to try and see things from the standpoint of the
ordinary people whose interests MEPs are supposed to represent,
don't you think?
As for Quantas, it is a pity that visits to the flight deck have
become impossible - at the age of seven I flew Quantas to
Singapore as an unaccompanied minor, clutching a large toy
chimpanzee, purchased for me at the airport and aptly named
'Jet' and was invited to introduce my inanimate pal to the
flight crew. I remember being spellbound by all the dials and
gadgets crammed into the cockpit and the friendliness of the
crew was unforgettable.
Murray Raynes, your captain on the occasion you visited the
flight deck, has sailed around the world himself, aboard the
yacht 'Sonnet' and his account of the trip is a very good read
indeed. Perhaps you would recognise him from the photo on his
web page at
www.oneeasylap.com ...
Anyway, thank you again for getting in touch.
Best regards,
Linnet Woods
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