First volockie irritation of the year.

[Lily Rose]

Last four posts were helpful - thank you.

[MtB]

We might be close to a resolution to the PITA vollies. Some feel free to behave badly as they cannot be properly identified by boaters.

 

A campaign to have vollies wear formal ID seems like a Very Good Idea. Wearing formal ID will probably be a strongly moderating influence.

 

 

 

Edited August 11, 2019 by Mike the Boilerman

[TheBiscuits]

17 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

We might be close to a resolution to the PITA vollies. Some feel free to behave badly as they cannot be properly identified by boaters.

 

A campaign to have vollies wear formal ID seems like a Very Good Idea. Wearing formal ID will probably be a strongly moderating influence.

 

 

 

The one that prompted my rant was wearing his name badge.  I just didn't think it needed sharing with the forum.

 

It has been shared with CRT though ...

[MtB]

Just now, TheBiscuits said:

The one that prompted my rant was wearing his name badge.  I just didn't think it needed sharing with the forum.

 

It has been shared with CRT though ...

 

I really don't think a name badge with just a christian name on it will have the same moderating effect as a badge clearly showing full name and CRT volunteer ID number. 

 

In fact I bet CRT tell you there is more that one volunteer named "John" (or whatever it was).

 

 

 

[Spanners]

I have to admit our local locky,s all bar one are great  guy,s and I see them almost daily as I also have a  dwelling close to the cut in gargrave

1 minute ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

I really don't think a name badge with just a christian name on it will have the same moderating effect as a badge clearly showing full name and CRT volunteer ID number. 

 

In fact I bet CRT tell you there is more that one volunteer named "John" (or whatever it was).

 

 

 

Some could be called ,,  C,U, Next Tuesday, 

[MtB]

14 minutes ago, Spanners said:

I have to admit our local locky,s all bar one are great  guy,s and I see them almost daily as I also have a  dwelling close to the cut in gargrave

Some could be called ,,  C,U, Next Tuesday, 

 

Cambridge University netball team....

 

 

[aracer]

On 01/08/2019 at 14:27, Big Bob W said:

Volocky then rolls up and proceeds to open both top paddles without even looking back. After Sue eventually managed to get his attention, he flatly refused lower the paddles - "Theres two boats here waiting to come down".

So we lowered the bottom paddles and watched as a full lock of water went to waste. Quite unbelievable.

Personally I'd have lowered the top paddles. What was the vlockie going to do, fight you (and if there were two of you he couldn't be both sides at once)?

[TheBiscuits]

1 hour ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Cambridge University netball team

Squad.

 

That was the old joke ...

[Big Bob W]

17 hours ago, aracer said:

Personally I'd have lowered the top paddles. What was the vlockie going to do, fight you (and if there were two of you he couldn't be both sides at once)?

In hindsight, that is exactly what we should have done. But to be honest I think we were just caught off guard.

What is more worrying is another 30 seconds later, the lock would have been empty and the gate half open when Volockie opened his paddles without looking. Gate would have slammed shut taking the Mrs and any number of gongoozlers with it.

[adam1uk]

Arrived at Stoke Bruerne top lock this afternoon, going up.  These are our local locks, and we do them many times a year.  We know that with a single boat going up, the calmest way is to open the ground paddle on the same side as the boat, and the gate paddle on the opposite side.  That keeps the boat into the side of the lock.

 

There was a volunteer lock keeper at the lock.  As soon as the gate was shut, he lifted the paddle.  He didn’t ask if we wanted help, and he didn’t check with me at the helm if I was ready.  My crew went to the other side of the lock and lifted the gate paddle.  He ordered him to close the paddle, pointing at the little sign which warns of turbulence.  My crew said we knew what we were doing, and this would be fine.  The volunteer became somewhat apoplectic, and eventually called my crew a stupid a***hole.

 

My crew asked him to step away from the lock and leave us to it.  He said he was in charge and it was his responsibility to make sure we used the locks properly, as he worked there.  My crew pointed out that as it was our boat, it was our responsibility to work the lock, and he didn’t work there, he volunteered there.  Eventually he did step away, but only to tell gongoozlers everything we were doing wrong.  And he couldn’t resist repeatedly coming back to pick holes in each action.  Apparently the paddles were even wound down incorrectly.  He’s going to report us to CRT for using the lock incorrectly.

 

An email of complaint has been sent to CRT, pointing out that he didn’t follow volunteer procedure, and that he was a really bad representative of the Trust.  This was by far the worst example of a volunteer lock keeper we’ve ever encountered.  He was in great contrast to the very nice volunteer who was helping a novice down the locks, that we’d met just an hour earlier.

[Spanners]

Can all lockie,s swim ???

[Jim Riley]

Perhaps the solution is, if a volocky opens a paddle or anything before asking, one should point out what they are trained to do, request that they shut it and go away, then report them. Shame you didn't get a video of him denigrating you, as evidence. 

[Chris Williams]

They should not be allowed to have a windlass, except a chocolate one.

 

BTW - isn't it time the title of this thread was updated?

 

Edited August 22, 2019 by Chris Williams

[Boater Sam]

10 minutes ago, Chris Williams said:

They should not be allowed to have a windlass, except a chocolate one.

 

BTW - isn't it time the title of this thread was updated?

 

Or shut down completely, its getting really boring with all the moaning about people who are trying to help and doing it for absolutely nothing in return

[Rob-M]

58 minutes ago, Spanners said:

Can all lockie,s swim ???

It's all right they have life jackets.

[GUMPY]

15 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

It's all right they have life jackets.

Normally with no crutch straps.

Over the head they go

 

[matty40s]

1 hour ago, adam1uk said:

Arrived at Stoke Bruerne top lock this afternoon, going up.  These are our local locks, and we do them many times a year.  We know that with a single boat going up, the calmest way is to open the ground paddle on the same side as the boat, and the gate paddle on the opposite side.  That keeps the boat into the side of the lock.

 

 

By far the best way to do the GU locks on this stretch with a single boat, I always do it this way, sometimes using the offside ground paddle after the gate paddle has steadied the boat against the wall. 

We are out this weekend, might just drop down SB..... 

[frangar]

I have to say so far on this trip the vollies have been spot on....especially the Standedge Tunnel chaperone, Alistair, who was a top bloke and a mine of tunnel information both in when to duck...and the history...so much so that I’m going back when he’s a guide on a through tunnel trip so I can take more in. 

 

Will see how we get on with the rest of the trip!  

[ditchcrawler]

The last few I have encountered have been fine, trouble is I am doing the Stratford again next week and I wonder if he will remember me

[frangar]

1 hour ago, Boater Sam said:

Or shut down completely, its getting really boring with all the moaning about people who are trying to help and doing it for absolutely nothing in return

We have to put up with you knocking CRT at every opportunity so perhaps you shouldn’t moan! 

[Boater Sam]

12 minutes ago, frangar said:

We have to put up with you knocking CRT at every opportunity so perhaps you shouldn’t moan! 

Perhaps if you read my posts you would find that I don't "knock" at "every" opportunity but report the facts that I know to be true. Nor do I moan.

I have also praised CRT in the past for the improvements they made when they first took over from BW.

But I am not alone in criticizing them for some of the more recent events.

 

Thank you for the opportunity to once again get CRT's shortcomings back into the public eye, entirely unaided!

[Chris Williams]

4 hours ago, Boater Sam said:

moaning about people who are trying to help

I always appreciated help from professionals.  These volies should stick to opening and shutting gates and getting the next lock ready.  Not working MY paddles.

 

[Athy]

12 hours ago, Boater Sam said:

Or shut down completely, its getting really boring with all the moaning about people who are trying to help and doing it for absolutely nothing in return

To be fair, the thread has also contained considerable praise for these people who, as you correctly say, are acting purely voluntarily. But the thread's title encourages people to speak about unsatisfactory, and sometimes dangerous, practice, which should indeed be made known to our members and to CART.

 

I quite understand that some people may not like some of its content; but they are not obliged to read it.

[Mike Tee]

12 hours ago, Boater Sam said:

Or shut down completely, its getting really boring with all the moaning about people who are trying to help and doing it for absolutely nothing in return

Did you read post 485? Is that the sort of behaviour you accept from volunteer lockies? And if you find it boring why do you bother reading the subject matter?

[MtB]

13 hours ago, adam1uk said:

An email of complaint has been sent to CRT, pointing out that he didn’t follow volunteer procedure, and that he was a really bad representative of the Trust.  This was by far the worst example of a volunteer lock keeper we’ve ever encountered.  He was in great contrast to the very nice volunteer who was helping a novice down the locks, that we’d met just an hour earlier.

 

Which leads on to another point about rogue vollies.

 

How did you identify him in your email? Do vollies wear ID? What was written on his ID badge? How on earth will CRT positively identify this volunteer given there was more than one on duty? Will they even bother?

 

I suspect you will get nice email back written by someone whose job is 'customer relations', but nothing will happen behind the scenes as you were unable to identify this vollie. And him knowing you could not definitively identify him is the reason he felt free to behave like this. 

 

In your place I'd have got my phone out and warned him I was recording his interaction with me, and taken a few photos of him 'for my records'.