Imposition On
p. 68 · Read in the full issue
Yachts
The Solomon Islands are now imposing on all visiting yachts a charge for 'Light Dues' of $lOO plus 5c per registered ton.
Such an imposition on non-commercial vessels is unheard of in most countries of the world. Every yachtsman should write in protest to the Chief Minister, as I have done, and yacht clubs everywhere should likewise protest in the strongest possible terms.
Once this imposition becomes widely known, it will surely prove counter productive. Yachts will avoid the.
Solomons entirely, and the Solomons will lose the often quite considerable sums that cruising yachtsmen spend.
A charge of a few dollars would doubtless have been acceptable to most but this is the fee charged to visiting passenger liners!
Tom Hepworth,
Pigeon Island, Reef Islands, Solomon Islands.