Its really an issue for all inland water users, but the support of other people is needed to get them to see that people care, and want to have they're opinions heard.

Here in Scotland, i now know i can turn up and use any waterway as long as i do so in a safe and responsible manner, and i would like to think it should be the same in England and Wales.

Cheers
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The Welsh Canoeing Association (WCA) are currently lobbying the Welsh Assembly to introduce a Land Reform Bill for Wales which would give the right of responsible access to the open countryside and inland waters of Wales. The power to introduce such legislation was transferred from Westminster to Cardiff last July, and we are currently in a position where Assembly members are seriously looking at the WCA proposals. If passed the pressure would greatly increase on Westminster to follow suit for England.

Although the law regarding access to the countryside in England and Wales was recently clarified through the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (2000), this, however, did not include inland waters. As such water sport enthusiasts often face uncertainty as to their legal rights when utilising non-tidal waters. There is no guarantee that a canoeist, for example, will not be committing an act of trespass by simply traveling down a river where they have not obtained permission from all those who own land along the stretch being paddled. Introducing a Land Reform Bill would remove such uncertainties and allow all to enjoy their natural heritage rather than making it the preserve of a privileged few

If you support idea of a Land Reform Bill for Wales, please sign the online petition at http://petitionthem.com/default.asp?.... The Government of Wales Act (2006) requires the Assembly to act on petitions received if an issue falls within their powers so, if we get enough people to sign, this petition can make a difference .The Welsh Assembly have confirmed that signatures from anywhere in the world are appropriate, so please sign up. It only takes a matter of seconds. Similar lobbying helped in getting the Scottish Parliament to pass the Land Reform Act (2003).

Many thanks for your support. For more information please visit http://www.canoeingisnotacrime.org.uk.

Best regards

The Canoeing is Not a Crime team

Ok so done the sailing, it was awesome ! A real great experience, and something else i'd like to do again and again.... yet another expensive hobby! I stuck some pictures up, didnt take too many as with the boat tipped over at 40 degrees its hard to hold on/steer/do the rigging and take pics. We got to do the whole lot from steering, to hoisting the booms/sails etc. Even a bit of cooking on a self leveling cooker, which is the weirdest thing when everything else is tipped on its side but the cooker is level(ish). Someone's got to make the tea and we all took turns. Thankfully i was scheduled to be up on deck most of the time, its a bit disorientating being below when moving at that plane of existence.

Sadly my John Muir Leader trainning was canceled for the following weekend. Rescheduled to March or something..

I'll write a bit about this weekends trainning in a few days when i can look back on it!

Ok so have a bit of a hectic month ahead, just found out I have a place on a Sailing Training course this weekend, which should be ace, a 60ft yacht thats been used to sail round the world etc, hope to get some ace pics. And hope i dont get sea sick, i never have been before on any boats, but never been on a yacht like this before, well in stormy waters anyway.

Following weekend a training even for leaders of the John Muir Award and environmental/outdoorsy based award for young people.

And last weekend in the month i'm finally getting to update my first aid qualifications with a specialist outdoors course. So if you fall and break your legs i'll know exacly what to do... make you sign a disclaimer before touching you! Sadly thats almost the way were going, my last first aid instructor said that she'd been involved in a few cases. One where the person receiving first aid had tried to claim compensation for 'pain' etc cause by the first aider, who was doing there best in a bad situation. The first aider had overtightened an arm sling causing some mild brusing while immobilising a broken arm.