Jump to content

They Dont Hang Around Long


Parahandy

Featured Posts

4 minutes ago, TheMenagerieAfloat said:

That went for most of the original occupants of canal boats too. They weren't the landed gentry taking time to 'cruise x% of the network' - they were working people who could very often not afford anything else. 'The life (of a retired canal spotter)' is definitely not a part of 'the (older) history'.

Wtf is a “canal spotter”?? Your arguments are making less and less sense. 

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

33 minutes ago, TheMenagerieAfloat said:

That went for most of the original occupants of canal boats too. They weren't the landed gentry taking time to 'cruise x% of the network' - they were working people who could very often not afford anything else. 'The life (of a retired canal spotter)' is definitely not a part of 'the (older) history'.

I think most of them worked the canals and knew how they worked though and were not just sat in a London Marina.

Edited by PD1964
  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, TheMenagerieAfloat said:

I meant picking on new widebeam owners.

New, expensive widebeam owners

If these new expensive owners were to put their fat boats on the northern waterways which were built for wide vessels then there would be no problem, would there? Putting a fat boat where all it does is to obstruct every other user of the waterway is both ignorant and selfish. 

  • Greenie 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, WotEver said:

If these new expensive owners were to put their fat boats on the northern waterways which were built for wide vessels then there would be no problem, would there? Putting a fat boat where all it does is to obstruct every other user of the waterway is both ignorant and selfish. 

Luckily there's not enough Marine's for them and property is cheap so there's no need for them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, PD1964 said:

  Most new boaters have no interest in canal history, they seem to just want to film themselves for their Vlog on YouTube, they move their boat do a couple of locks and are experts. They get a narrowboat for a cheap place to live while still working and not for the the life or history. Offer them a 2 Bed Semi and they would be off in a shot never to be seen on a narrow boat again.

If house prices drop to sensible levels, everyone would be better off. I'd never be able to afford a house on my final salary these days, like I could all them years back. People need cheap housing, and they don't care much if it floats or not. That said, there's a few in Yorkshire today might wish theirs did.

  • Greenie 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, PD1964 said:

I take it you haven't got any ticks yet then?

Not my objective, no, although I'm cruising one of my boats at present. I've never holidayed on a canal and may well never do so, even when retired. Was genuinely perplexed by the idea a boater mentioned of keeping a written log of journeys!

 

I can get my boats from A to B and the cruising one is just a slightly interesting place to host friends and family really. For more extended leisure boating I used to row and more recently sail. I'm keen on my narrowboats but wouldn't particularly want to be taking them all over the country. I even staycationed sometimes in a land home 8-)
 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, PD1964 said:

I think most of them worked the canals and knew how they worked though and were not just sat in a London Marina.

It's not really super-complex is it? https://www.amazon.co.uk/AquaPlay-Water-Toy-Holiday-System/dp/B000PKFF3C

Blinking hard work, but not, y'know, actually that hard to 'know'.

 

Most London boaters can't afford a mooring in a London marina and are struggling to manage commitments and cruising simultaneously. I'm very fortunate. And hard working. Albeit in a 'commute to it by boat' rather than a 'do it on the boat' kind of way.

 

And yes, for many years (before they were all integrated with the Oyster system) I had a Thames Clipper pass but no travel card/car to commute with.

Edited by TheMenagerieAfloat
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, TheMenagerieAfloat said:

 Was genuinely perplexed by the idea a boater mentioned of keeping a written log of journeys!

 

 

 

Most lumpy water sailors or sea going botes keep a log just like Captain Kirk did. We do. Plus a maintenance log. Helps so we know where the good pubs are, where the good mooring spots are, where the bad mooring spots are, where the good curry houses are, where the good/ bad 4G reception areas are........Oh I give up!

......I'm sure it will help when we sell our bote.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, TheMenagerieAfloat said:

Not my objective, no, although I'm cruising one of my boats at present. I've never holidayed on a canal and may well never do so, even when retired. Was genuinely perplexed by the idea a boater mentioned of keeping a written log of journeys!

I can't get my head around the "Canal Tickers" too, those boaters that rush from place to place, canal to canal, just to get a brass plaque and screw it to their rear doors or cabin wall. Theye done all the canals in the country but have seen nothing of the town's and cities they've passed through or explored the countryside they've just seen from the back of their boat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Dr Bob said:

Most lumpy water sailors or sea going botes keep a log just like Captain Kirk did. We do. Plus a maintenance log. Helps so we know where the good pubs are, where the good mooring spots are, where the bad mooring spots are, where the good curry houses are, where the good/ bad 4G reception areas are........Oh I give up!

......I'm sure it will help when we sell our bote.

Giggles. I love London and I love that my boats are basically less good at getting around than I am as a pedestrian so I never have to leave it. I *did* used to keep a (b)log of the best curry houses though!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

Most lumpy water sailors or sea going botes keep a log just like Captain Kirk did. We do. Plus a maintenance log. Helps so we know where the good pubs are, where the good mooring spots are, where the bad mooring spots are, where the good curry houses are, where the good/ bad 4G reception areas are........Oh I give up!

......I'm sure it will help when we sell our bote.

You can always write a book for the Newbies, or just write about your adventures:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Living-Dream-Trevor-Pavitt/dp/184753757X

Link to comment
Share on other sites

33 minutes ago, TheMenagerieAfloat said:

Was genuinely perplexed by the idea a boater mentioned of keeping a written log of journeys!

Maybe not overly relevant to ditch-dwellers but many on here are also 'proper boaters' with many years experience of open water and the rules applicable.

 

It is good practice to maintain a log, even on muddy-ditches.

 

https://www.jollyparrot.co.uk/blog/why-do-we-keep-log

 

Why do we keep a Log?

 

Under Regulation V/28 of the International Convention for the Safety of Life as Sea (SOLAS) 1974 all vessels are required to keep a navigational log by law. British registered vessels must comply with this regulation as defined by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Keeping a log is, therefore, not only a sensible thing to do, it is also a legal requirement.

A log may be kept on paper or electronically. If on paper it should be kept in a book with numbered pages so that pages cannot be removed. If errors are made they must be crossed out, not erased.  Furthermore, a log should be kept when alongside and also when underway or at anchor.

Edited by Alan de Enfield
Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, PD1964 said:

I can't get my head around the "Canal Tickers" too, those boaters that rush from place to place, canal to canal, just to get a brass plaque and screw it to their rear doors or cabin wall. Theye done all the canals in the country but have seen nothing of the town's and cities they've passed through or explored the countryside they've just seen from the back of their boat.

Bit judgemental, maybe? I can't believe that people who have cruised as much as you suggest haven't visited and enjoyed the towns  etc. Surely they are more likely to be genuine continuous cruisers, wandering round the place rather than just bridgehopping and looking for excuses not to move. 

You certainly can't do it as a leisure boater - I've had mine thirty years and never had the time even to get to London, and I do more boating than most who don't live on. Got no plaques, though. Or horse brasses! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Maybe not overly relevant to ditch-dwellers but many on here are also 'proper boaters' with many years experience of open water and the rules applicable.

 

It is good practice to maintain a log, even on muddy-ditches.

 

https://www.jollyparrot.co.uk/blog/why-do-we-keep-log

Not relevant, no. Hence the giggles. I don't keep one (beyond service history and receipts etc) for my car, bike, microscooter or roller skates either... I'm not too worried about navigating on a canal in a major conurbation in a vessel I can walk as fast as (when it is going at a suitable tick over speed for passing wide beams...). My terriers have greater range most days and we like tow path walks!

 

Horses (with or without full veterinary and competition history) for courses innit ?

 

Remarkably I've managed to steer all of the above without GPS. A canal is much harder to loose than a bridleway (or ones balance on roller skates)!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Bit judgemental, maybe? I can't believe that people who have cruised as much as you suggest haven't visited and enjoyed the towns  etc. Surely they are more likely to be genuine continuous cruisers, wandering round the place rather than just bridgehopping and looking for excuses not to move. 

You certainly can't do it as a leisure boater - I've had mine thirty years and never had the time even to get to London, and I do more boating than most who don't live on. Got no plaques, though. Or horse brasses! 

 

The reason for the widespread concern about the proliferation of widebeams on the GU is that at the current rate it is filling up with them, people who want to actually cruise on the GU as opposed to living on a static boat are gonna find themselves squeezed out in a few more years. 

 

It might be an irrational fear, but that is the base reason for the widespread dismay about so many widbeams on the GU.

 

 

 

 

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, TheMenagerieAfloat said:

Horses (with or without full veterinary and competition history) for courses innit

But of course, even horses have a log book (a legal requirement) - had a colt gelded yesterday and the Vet had to fill in the logbook (Passport) to note the change in location of his 'bits'.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Alan de Enfield said:

But of course, even horses have a log book (a legal requirement) - had a colt gelded yesterday and the Vet had to fill in the logbook (Passport) to note the change in location of his 'bits'.

That isn't about loosing it though - just making sure only suitable ones make it into the food chain.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, TheMenagerieAfloat said:

Horses (with or without full veterinary and competition history) for courses innit ?

 

And never a more appropriate saying where widebeams on narrow canals are concerned. There are the wrong horses for this specific course. Fine for northern canals, not fine for the course under discussion, i.e. the GU. 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

And never a more appropriate saying where widebeams on narrow canals are concerned. There are the wrong horses for this specific course. Fine for northern canals, not fine for the course under discussion, i.e. the GU.

They visibly fit. I pass them double moored daily. I've never seen my coal boats not breasted up. Etc, etc...

'Tis worse than saying people shouldn't have fat ugly cars on the road because the GU was built to take fat boats in a way that London streets weren't built for fat cars. Instead we tax them and let them get on with it.

 

I get the fear that the location commitment-free may not be able to park their boats there easily. It is valid. But I'm not sure their rights to handy free (at the point of use) mooring spots are necessarily greater than anyone else's.

 

PS I am now slightly wondering if it would be OK for Alan's spare bits to enter the food chain if the (ex)colt is only buted afterwards...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.