UK bans yachtsmen from sailing abroad

That's not quite the headline you will see but it is the precise effect of proposed rule change being introduced by HMRC, the UK tax authorities.

Under UK law, pleasure boats are allowed to use "red diesel" which is coloured with a red dye to indicate that the taxes payable for road fuel have not been paid. Red diesel is all you can buy at most UK marinas and harbour. There is no alternative available.

HMRC says it will introduce a measure to ensure that "red diesel for use as fuel for propelling private pleasure craft can only be used in UK waters. All purchasers of red diesel for use as fuel for propelling private pleasure craft will be required to sign a declaration to that effect." The gory details are here (PDF).

So if you have a sailing boat with a diesel engine, or a motor boat, or if you want to hire a yacht this year, or perhaps go on a course with a sailing school, you'd better not plan on crossing to France (or anywhere else).

Of course, the reverse restriction applies too. If you're a foreign yachtsman or woman and want to refuel when you arrive in the UK, bad luck. Unless you plan never to leave again, you'll have to find some way of purging your fuel tank as you reach the limit of UK territorial waters so you don't get caught out taking your red diesel away from the UK. A good way of cutting back on pesky foreigners cluttering up our harbours, but a pretty stupid idea otherwise.

Workarounds? Well, you can make multiple trips to the nearest garage and fill up with "white" diesel. I have a sailing boat rather than a motor boat and only need to fill my tank a couple of times a year. With a couple of jerrycans it should only take me a few dozen trips. For those lucky souls with a great big gin palace and a need for a few thousand litres of fuel each time they fill up, the situation will be different.

More background here is available on the HMRC website here and from the RYA. There's a petition too.

Although this legislation takes effect from April 1st, it is apparently not an April Fool's joke. It will be interesting to see what happens next.

Sailing round the world

I like sailing.  I suspect my love of sailing dates from childhood reading of the "Swallows and Amazons" series of books, written by Arthur Ransome. Happy days.

I started sailing in dinghies, originally on the River Dee in Chester, a sailing location so placid (the river in Chester is narrow and frequently overhung by trees) that boredom is probably a greater danger to health than drowning, but I loved it, and was given the freedom to sail whenever I wanted.

I particularly remember an idyllic summer when I would cycle down to the Chester Sailing Club with the sails for our Mirror dinghy in my rucksack, then spend the day exploring the river.

Much later, when I went to University, I started sailing on the sea for the first time.  Still in dinghies, I came to the realization that the gentle sound of water trickling around the bow of the boat was not an indication of great speed after all.  All the rules I had leaned from sheltered river sailing were void.  The water could be three-dimensional rather than a two-dimensional plane, and with a strong breeze, and some decent-sized waves, the boat would surf at a speed that was both exciting and exhausting.

Since then, I've graduated to gradually larger boats, learned the rudiments of navigation (just early enough to not take GPS completely for granted) and have cruised far and wide.  Well, far and wide to me means France, Ireland and Scotland, so not really very far in global terms, but holidays are short.   I have yet to summon up the courage to give up work and head off over the horizon long term.

I love sailing, but the British climate tends to make it a summer pursuit, so in the winter (which seems to last at least half of the year) I often escape into accounts of sailing written by others.

My latest reading experience (it's now November, so actually going sailing is not totally compelling) is A Voyage for Madmen by Peter Nichols and highly recommend it.  It is a gripping account of the Golden Globe, the first non-stop round-the-world sailing race, which started in 1968 and finished in 1969.  

I started the book on Saturday afternoon and finished it on Sunday.  Extraordinarily readable, even though I've read about the race many times.  If you have the slightest interest in sailing, and perhaps even if you don't, you should love this.