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Welcome to yours2share's June 2010 newsletter.
Couch surfing Several months ago I stumbled upon the website couch surfing, a worldwide network for making connections between travellers and the local communities they visit. (According to Wikipedia, couch surfing is the practice of moving from one friend's house to another, sleeping in what ever spare space is available, floor or couch, generally staying a few days before moving onto the next house.) Couch surfing, with its community ethic, accords well with yours2share and my views. So I signed up and put a few things on my profile and, well, I'll admit, I forgot about it. Then a few weeks ago I received a message from Jeff and Gerda who live in Canberra and wondered if they could stay with us as they cycled through Norfolk. Explaining this to my partner was a bit tricky: he didn't quite get it. I was perfectly happy to make excuses and remove my profile and say no more, but he did at least have the courtesy to read Jeff and Gerda's profile. Then he realised that maybe this would be OK and agreed to let them stay with us. They stayed for a Monday night a couple of weks ago. They were perfect house guests and lovely company. This is a fantastic idea. I love travelling, but hate the anonymity of hotels. Hotels are great for a lovely break, but moving from hotel or hotel (or bed and breakfast) constantly is irritating not only because of the constant moving, but because they are all the same. You learn very little about the place you are staying in and don't experience what it is like to live there. I usually try and stay with friends when I travel not just because it is cheaper, but because I learn more and enjoy finding out what it is like to live in that country. You can't really do this if you are staying in a hotel. My partner's just asked me when the next person is coming to stay!
Sharing boats and coding Many boat owners are wondering whether they can justify keeping and maintaining their beloved boat and yet selling it, even if they wanted to, isn't that easy at the moment either. Some of these pondering sailors are coming to yours2share to sell shares in their boat: this is a great way forward. They raise some capital and reduce their annual outgoings in one stroke. An alternative is finding a like-minded person to rent your boat for part of the time on a long term basis, say for a week or weekend a month for a year: I call this fractional rental. One or two sets of people renting a boat like this should make a good contribution towards the annual running costs. In the latter case, if you have a British flagged boat and wish to charter or fractionally rent it, in the UK or overseas, it must be 'coded' by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). MCA Codes of Practice apply to all boats under 24 metres in length that are in commercial use, carrying cargo and/or up to 12 passengers. 'Coding' means that the boat carries all the necessary safety equipment and is deemed to be a 'safe vessel' by the MCA. The RYA is one of the organisations approved by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) as a Small Commercial Vessels (SCV) Certification Authority. And finally, here are a few of yours2share's recent ads that I really like. Selected ads are entirely my choice, but the quality of the pictures is the key factor. Remember this if you are posting an ad! |
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If you enjoyed reading our newsletter, please forward it to friends and
colleagues. We are always delighted to receive feedback. Kind regards Sophie Garrett yours2share share valuable assets with like-minded people |
