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Gerry underwood

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18 minutes ago, PD1964 said:

Once again people have steered the topic off track with talk about right of way. Just enjoy it, take your time and treat other boaters how you want to be treated. Remember we all started boating once, at first you will be cautious and nervous but in a few weeks you will be ok, the more you move the more confidence and experience you will gain. Just do it and if you make a mistake, take it in and learn from it, as I say we all started at your start point. Good luck.

The OP asked for advice about boating in general, being new to the game. If you think that safe handling your boat by having a knowledge of the steering and sailing rules is "off topic" then I am very surprised. It is a fundamental to keeping safe and enjoying your boat, and as importantly, avoiding damage or injury to others. The rules are there for a very good reason and knowledge of them is just as important as any other boating knowledge.

 

Howard

Edited by howardang
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3 minutes ago, PD1964 said:

I would say most people on this Forum don’t know what these are never mind read them and have boated safely for years not knowing about them, so obviously not the bee all and end all of boating the system.

Knowledge of, and implementation of the colregs would certainly be useful in the event of an insurance claim.

 

Getting T-Boned by a boat coming out of a Junction (had he given the correct sound signal ?) could certainly spoil your day.

 

The CANAL BYE LAWS stipulate sound and light signals, rights of way etc - surely every canal user is aware of them - even if they do not know the full colregs.

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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2 minutes ago, PD1964 said:

I would say most people on this Forum don’t know what these are never mind read them and have boated safely for years not knowing about them, so obviously not the bee all and end all of boating the system.

I profoundly disagree with that statement, which in my opinion is complacent, silly and downright wrong.

 

Howard

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1 minute ago, howardang said:

I profoundly disagree with that statement, which in my opinion is complacent, silly and downright wrong.

 

Howard

 

Particularly when the OP (as a non-boater) asked for things he should do, learn etc.

 

It takes some time, but eventually newbies will realise who gives "sound information" and who just likes 'the sound of their own voice' We can only hope they learn before it is too late.

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8 minutes ago, howardang said:

I profoundly disagree with that statement, which in my opinion is complacent, silly and downright wrong.

 

Howard

I wouldn’t, you obviously come from a sailing back ground, your average person on the canal knows very little about these Regs and manage safely and without causing danger.

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8 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Particularly when the OP (as a non-boater) asked for things he should do, learn etc.

 

It takes some time, but eventually newbies will realise who gives "sound information" and who just likes 'the sound of their own voice' We can only hope they learn before it is too late.

He will also learn that there are boaters and there are boaters, those that live and work on the canals and get on with it and those that are on here most of the time and  can quote every rule and regulation, complain if it does not go their way and have little common sense in the real world.

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6 minutes ago, PD1964 said:

I wouldn’t, you obviously come from a sailing back ground, your average person on the canal knows very little about these Regs and manage safely and without causing danger.

Ignorance of rules through complacency would be no excuse in the case of an accident. They are there for a reason. My background is really irrelevant but just let’s say that I do have some broad knowledge of the subject.

 

Howard

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1 minute ago, howardang said:

Ignorance of rules through complacency would be no excuse in the case of an accident. They are there for a reason. My background is really irrelevant but just let’s say that I do have some broad knowledge of the subject.

 

Howard

The OP will learn what he needs to on his Helmsman course and the rest through experience and meeting fellow boaters, far more so then reading Maritime Regulations. 

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3 minutes ago, PD1964 said:

The OP will learn what he needs to on his Helmsman course and the rest through experience and meeting fellow boaters, far more so then reading Maritime Regulations. 

The Helmsmans course will of course be useful as a basic grounding, but the OP will still Need to be aware of the relevant rules to comply with his boat licence obligations, such as those spelt out in the CRT Bye Laws which all boaters should be familiar with. With respect you should be encouraging him to get familiar with them rather than being disparaging about them.

 

Howard

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9 minutes ago, PD1964 said:

The OP will learn what he needs to on his Helmsman course and the rest through experience and meeting fellow boaters, far more so then reading Maritime Regulations. 

The Helmsman Certificate syllabus includes knowledge of the legislation that you are so dismissive of :

 

 

Knowledge of: 

The Rules of the Road Understands: 

Bye-laws and local traffic regulations 

National regulations 

Publications to be carried 

 

So hopefully he will have a better knowledge that you appear to have.

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5 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

The Helmsman Certificate syllabus includes knowledge of the legislation that you are so dismissive of :

 

 

Knowledge of: 

The Rules of the Road Understands: 

Bye-laws and local traffic regulations 

National regulations 

Publications to be carried 

 

So hopefully he will have a better knowledge that you appear to have.

You have obviously just Google’d that, as I said earlier there are boaters and there are boaters. 

 We all know the RYA’s Helmsman course is just a way for them to make money and the majority of Narrowboaters have not done one, so don’t make out it’s a big thing to know all these often irrelevant regulations before getting a narrowboat or widebeam. Obviously the offshore boaters are more impressed by regulations then the canal users, then again totally different boating conditions.

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2 minutes ago, PD1964 said:

You have obviously just Google’d that, as I said earlier there are boaters and there are boaters. 

 We all know the RYA’s Helmsman course is just a way for them to make money and the majority of Narrowboaters have not done one, so don’t make out it’s a big thing to know all these often irrelevant regulations before getting a narrowboat or widebeam. Obviously the offshore boaters are more impressed by regulations then the canal users, then again totally different boating conditions.

I would be interested then in what you think a “real” boater is, and why do you mock people about whom you have no knowledge of their experience, boating skills and indeed why you think that if someone has knowledge of offshore boating they can’t also be  familiar with inland boating. 

 

Howard

 

 

 

 

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3 minutes ago, howardang said:

I would be interested then in what you think a “real” boater is, and why do you mock people about whom you have no knowledge of their experience, boating skills and indeed why you think that if someone has knowledge of offshore boating they can’t also be  familiar with inland boating. 

 

Howard

 

 

 

 

In order to answer that, he would need to go off topic, so I can't see a reply coming in this thread from PD1964:)

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11 minutes ago, Gerry underwood said:

Woah right there good people. I never meant to poke a stick into the hornets nest. Just looking for advice. 

Never expected it to turn Into Brexit The Boating Debate Version. 

 

You're clearly new to the forum: they all end up like this.

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17 minutes ago, Gerry underwood said:

Woah right there good people. I never meant to poke a stick into the hornets nest. Just looking for advice. 

Never expected it to turn Into Brexit The Boating Debate Version. 

A positive mental attitude and a willingness to take advice is a good start . You are on the way to that already.

Enjoy

 

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5 hours ago, Gerry underwood said:

What is the one piece of advice that you would give us.

Start by reading the Boater's Handbook and/or watching the film.  They don't cover everything, but they give a taster of what you can expect to deal with.

 

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-the-waterways/boating/a-guide-to-boating/boaters-handbook

 

There are plenty of other introductory things on the CRT website too - details about what you need to sort out with licences and insurance and the Boat Safety Scheme.

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36 minutes ago, Gerry underwood said:

Woah right there good people. I never meant to poke a stick into the hornets nest. Just looking for advice. 

Never expected it to turn Into Brexit The Boating Debate Version. 

Welcome to the forum :)

it's always like this but amongst the chaf (and I consider myself chaf) there is plenty of help, advice and good people.

relax into it and don't take it personally 

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40 minutes ago, Gerry underwood said:

Woah right there good people. I never meant to poke a stick into the hornets nest. Just looking for advice. 

Never expected it to turn Into Brexit The Boating Debate Version. 

LOL wrong forum to ask anything on I'm afraid. Everything seems to end up in a free for all so newbies tend to dissappear quickly and others, like me, stay but don't post much because someone will, inevitably, be controversial. The best bit of advice you have had so far is that "everyone has started where you are starting from" even the "experts."

 

Do your courses, read the rules but mainly just do it. It isn't hard, it's mostly common sense. There is an audible code consisting of various sequences of horn blasts but a lot of boaters do not have a horn and when I have used the audio code I was told to stop blowing my horn.

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1 hour ago, howardang said:

I would be interested then in what you think a “real” boater is, and why do you mock people about whom you have no knowledge of their experience, boating skills and indeed why you think that if someone has knowledge of offshore boating they can’t also be  familiar with inland boating. 

 

Howard

 

 

 

 

Yes they can have knowledge of both but they mainly stick to offshore or big rivers, totally different from going up and down the Leeds Liverpool canal on a narrowboat. The OP is interested in advice that is relevant to the canals from people who have a similar boat and who live on it, their advice, top tips and any help that is relevant, I’m sure he does not want to be reading about rules and regs at this stage and I’m sure he knows about licensing a boat as he says he’s in a Marina, so they will help on that side I’m sure.

1 hour ago, Gerry underwood said:

Woah right there good people. I never meant to poke a stick into the hornets nest. Just looking for advice. 

Never expected it to turn Into Brexit The Boating Debate Version. 

Sorry for making the Thread go off topic a bit, If you want to know about the rules and regulations read Rules of the Road or “ColRegs” if you want to learn about boating the canals just chat to people in the Marina, take the boat out with an experienced common sense approach boater and take your time. Enjoy and remember we’ve all been there and only the idiots will shout and get irate at a new boater as we’ve all made mistakes and still do.

Edited by PD1964
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26 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

Welcome to the forum :)

it's always like this but amongst the chaf (and I consider myself chaf) there is plenty of help, advice and good people.

relax into it and don't take it personally 

You will always be Wheat to me monkey. Besides, you're to old to be a chav! 

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10 hours ago, Gerry underwood said:

We are in the process of purchasing a 59x12 widebeam. Never owned a boat before never mind lived on one. What is the one piece of advice that you would give us. No negatives please as we are super excited. 

Don't read the thread on widebeams!

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