Keep us in the picture

■ I changed boats a year ago and have always thought the Coastguard CG66 registration system is a good idea, so I cancelled my registration for the boat I sold, and filled out a registration for my new boat.

Everything went fine until the final part of the exercise, where you can add a photograph of the boat: this is not mandatory for the registration process, but the Coastguard do recommend it.

The online site wouldn’t accept my photo so I emailed their helpline and eventually received a reply that the site was being upgraded and that I’d be able to upload a picture shortly. That was in January: I keep trying every month or so, and the site is still not yet working. Following what I have been reading recently about delays with EPIRB registrations, I wonder if this is just another example of how under-resourced the Coastguard service is? ■ A spokesman for the Maritime & Coastguard Agency said:

The CG66 registration system has been down since February while we move the system to a newer and more secure platform. Unfortunately, this is taking longer than expected. WeÕre aware this is causing frustration, but are working with the manufacturer to bring the software up to meet the security standards that the public expect and will reopen registrations as soon as we can. Her MajestyÕs Coastguard apologises for any inconvenience the delay has caused.