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Shall we all stop slowing for moored boats?


doratheexplorer

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2 hours ago, bizzard said:

Sounds like you eat too much for lunch which will make you drowsey. I get fish and chips once a week. I buy the senior citizens deal, cod and chips for £4-20p which is quite ample for less drowsiness and allows me to work on after gorging on it.

But I don't want to work on after lunch...

 

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6 hours ago, Rob-M said:

I've started reattaching my fenders for a lunch time stop and putting a bit more effort in to ensuring I'm moored a bit better as i noticed we crashed about a lot.  

I did today, one boat crept past but the other may not have noticed I was there

1 hour ago, Arthur Marshall said:

But I don't want to work on after lunch...

 

Same here. 

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4 hours ago, Loddon said:

What is this stopping for lunch you speak of?

It depends what we are having or if its a very short day and I don't want to finish too early. Other reason like the other day we had lunch in Typhoo Basin, it was convenient before the next flight of lock, but often we eat on the go.

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30 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

It depends what we are having or if its a very short day and I don't want to finish too early. Other reason like the other day we had lunch in Typhoo Basin, it was convenient before the next flight of lock, but often we eat on the go.

I struggle with flights of locks after lunch, not that there are any east of Northampton.

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3 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

It depends what we are having or if its a very short day and I don't want to finish too early. Other reason like the other day we had lunch in Typhoo Basin, it was convenient before the next flight of lock, but often we eat on the go.

Not likely to need fenders there Brian.

I came past there once and my attention was caught by much hornblowing and shouting. A nice shiny new boat was well stuck in the middle of the basin. I started to reverse into it, and fortunately had my 'river' ropes on. I got close before sticking, but managed to throw him a line at the 3rd attempt. After dragging him out, he said thanks, we've been stuck here for nearly 3 hours. He did not realise how lucky he was. Some weeks you often see no boats around Ashted, and I was only there to take the boat 'home'.

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2 minutes ago, Ex Brummie said:

Not likely to need fenders there Brian.

I came past there once and my attention was caught by much hornblowing and shouting. A nice shiny new boat was well stuck in the middle of the basin. I started to reverse into it, and fortunately had my 'river' ropes on. I got close before sticking, but managed to throw him a line at the 3rd attempt. After dragging him out, he said thanks, we've been stuck here for nearly 3 hours. He did not realise how lucky he was. Some weeks you often see no boats around Ashted, and I was only there to take the boat 'home'.

I always explore very gently, but didn't detect a problem

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9 hours ago, Dharl said:

often.....though often aim for an early start and moor up about 1500 so we can get a good spot and also can open the bar!

 

And what is this stopping to open the bar you speak of?

 

;)

 

9 hours ago, Dharl said:

 

 

Edited by TheBiscuits
Stupid mobile phone
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This forum is too nice.

Nobody would (? haha) park their car / bike / motobike badly (oh yeah...)

So why park your boat badly??

 

If the bank is carp, I find a space where the is ARMCO, drop proper boating fenders to absorb the shock of other boaters passing and fix both ends of the boat with springs (nautical term - not umm - springs).

Then when ohter boaters pass, 'we' gently rock (and don't have another G&T) and all is rosy.

 

Not rocket science - be defensive. Stick your head above the parapet and you'll get shot. Dig a trench and have a pot at the enemy without harming yourself makes more sense - if you understand the analogy....

 

The waterways are a jungle in all aspects.

 

 

 

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3 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

And what is this stopping to open the bar you speak of?

Enjoy the drink much better if finished boating for the day...less likely to spill  a drop so can relax that bit more.   

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Over the last couple of days I've noticed an odd phenomenon.

 

I'm moored on my own on a fairly straight section.  About 100m in one direction there's the start of a line of permanently moored boats on the off-side.  About 60m in the other direction is a bridge with a slight bend just after it, restricting the view through.  I've noticed quite a few boats who hammer on past me at full revs but then noticeably drop their revs soon after.  Presumably these are boaters who pay no heed to boats moored on their own but do slow down for lines of boats or for bridge holes?

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2 hours ago, doratheexplorer said:

Over the last couple of days I've noticed an odd phenomenon.

 

I'm moored on my own on a fairly straight section.  About 100m in one direction there's the start of a line of permanently moored boats on the off-side.  About 60m in the other direction is a bridge with a slight bend just after it, restricting the view through.  I've noticed quite a few boats who hammer on past me at full revs but then noticeably drop their revs soon after.  Presumably these are boaters who pay no heed to boats moored on their own but do slow down for lines of boats or for bridge holes?

Maybe they think boats moored on their own are less likely to be occupied, or that they're more likely to get shouted at by *somebody* in a line of boats than a solo boat -- in other words they're selfish tw*ts who don't slow down out of consideration for other boaters, they only slow down if they think somebody's likely to give them a mouthful or throw something at them...

 

I've also seen more and more of this kind of thing recently, and private boaters are usually the worst culprits, especially shiny ones -- yes I know this is a generalisation and there are considerate private boaters (many of them shiny) and inconsiderate hire boaters, but on average the facts are clear. This kind of don't-give-a-sh*t behaviour does seem to be driven by a sense of superiority -- it's like the John Cleese/Two Ronnies sketch with Cleese=shiny private boats, Barker=scruffy private boats, Corbett=hire boats.

 

It's definitely worse than it used to be, maybe because of the proliferation of moored boats, or maybe people are just more selfish and less thoughtful than they used to be, driven by things like Brexit tribalism and Covid-19 and "them-and-us" divisions ?

Edited by IanD
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3 minutes ago, IanD said:

...but on average the facts are clear.

Whilst I count myself among of few you haven't tarred with your pretty broad brush, I might point out that your assertions are perception-based rather than "clear facts".  Just saying... ;)

 

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22 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Whilst I count myself among of few you haven't tarred with your pretty broad brush, I might point out that your assertions are perception-based rather than "clear facts".  Just saying... ;)

 

As I said, it's a generalisation (with exceptions) based on my observations -- in my last two week trip (on a hire boat) passing boats who slowed right down were mainly hire boats, ones who didn't were mainly private boats, and the ones who barely slowed down at all were mainly shiny private boats who refuse to look you in the eye if you glare at them. I'm not the first person to point this out and I dare say I won't be the last. I didn't run out and shout abuse at anyone because I was always moored securely, but it was clear to me who does take notice of "slow down past moored boats" and who doesn't.

 

I don't have any axe to grind with any category of boater, I've been hiring boats for more than 30 years and am considering buying one (probably new, because I can get exactly what I want...) when I retire so I expect to cover both ends of the spectrum -- albeit missing out the "scruffy liveaboard" category, who I have nothing against either, they're mostly lovely people (yet again, with some exceptions). I'm willing to give anybody the benefit of the doubt until they show whether they're a nice person or a tw*t, you get both in all walks of life.

 

But then I always slow down several boat lengths before moored boats because I think being considerate to others -- regardless of how securely moored they are -- is what boaters should do, whereas some people obviously think that they're too important or in too much of a hurry to bother...

Edited by IanD
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1 minute ago, IanD said:

As I said, it's a generalisation (with exceptions) based on my observations -- in my last two week trip passing boats who slowed right down were mainly hire boats, ones who didn't were mainly private boats, and the ones who barely slowed down at all were mainly shiny private boats who refuse to look you in the eye if you glare at them. I'm not the first person to point this out and I dare say I won't be the last. I didn't run out and shout abuse at anyone because I was always moored securely, but it was clear to me who does take notice of "slow down past moored boats" and who doesn't.

 

I don't have any axe to grind with any category of boater, I've been hiring boats for more than 30 years and am considering buying one (probably new, because I can get exactly what I want...) when I retire so I expect to cover both ends of the spectrum -- albeit missing out the "scruffy liveaboard" category, who I have nothing against either, they're often lovely people.

 

But I always slow down several boat lengths before moored boats because I think being considerate to others -- regardless of how securely moored they are -- is what boaters should do...

I don't disagree, but it is a subject where perception is everything and facts are not always clear.

I have an on line mooring on the Grand Union and my boat rarely moves so, whilst some boats do look or sound faster than others, I am rarely troubled. A neighbour, on the other hand, spends much of his day shouting at boats to slow down. We are experiencing the same factual occurrences, but our perceptions are clearly very different. 

I think it's a fact that my 45 degree head and stern lines and a back spring make the difference - his perception is that this isn't the case. ;)

 

 

 

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22 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

I don't disagree, but it is a subject where perception is everything and facts are not always clear.

I have an on line mooring on the Grand Union and my boat rarely moves so, whilst some boats do look or sound faster than others, I am rarely troubled. A neighbour, on the other hand, spends much of his day shouting at boats to slow down. We are experiencing the same factual occurrences, but our perceptions are clearly very different. 

I think it's a fact that my 45 degree head and stern lines and a back spring make the difference - his perception is that this isn't the case. ;)

 

 

 

I don't think we're arguing here -- as I said I was moored securely so never had any big problems, but I did see and hear other boats being thrown around by the speed merchants. My perception was based on how fast they passed and how much wake they made, not how much our boat moved.

 

Of course everyone should always moor securely, but not everybody does (or knows how), or sometimes can (soft banks, short spikes, no way to use spring lines, changing water levels). So if you go past a moored boat quickly there's a chance it will cause some inconvenience (or even damage or injury) to the people inside -- some people on here say that's their fault for not being super-aware boaters, but not everybody is, they might be newbies -- this is another example of not putting yourself in the other person's shoes, or looking down on them for not being experienced, or not owning their own boat.

 

I seem to remember somebody famous in the past (indeed, several of them) suggesting the world would be a better place if we were just nicer to other people... ?

Edited by IanD
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4 hours ago, doratheexplorer said:

Over the last couple of days I've noticed an odd phenomenon.

 

I'm moored on my own on a fairly straight section.  About 100m in one direction there's the start of a line of permanently moored boats on the off-side.  About 60m in the other direction is a bridge with a slight bend just after it, restricting the view through.  I've noticed quite a few boats who hammer on past me at full revs but then noticeably drop their revs soon after.  Presumably these are boaters who pay no heed to boats moored on their own but do slow down for lines of boats or for bridge holes?

Must confess I'm a bit the opposite : a single boat tends to get the tickover, then slight increase to mantain a reasonable passing speed treatment, while a line of permanent moorers gets passed slightly quicker :D

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1 hour ago, IanD said:

 

I seem to remember somebody famous in the past (indeed, several of them) suggesting the world would be a better place if we were just nicer to other people... ?

Hard to disagree with that either. I don't shout at passing boats at all. If they usually do slow down, they have made a genuine mistake and don't need shouting at. If they don't know any better, some random grumpy git shouting isn't a good way to teach them. If they don't give a stuff and do it all the time, I won't be the first or last to shout at them and I doubt that I would be the one to make them see the error of their ways.  Pointless exercise in my view. Other views are very, very freely available! Which was my point: it's all about perception, remembering that perception isn't necessarily wrong - it's just not the same as a fact. ;)

 

 

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41 minutes ago, Iain_S said:

Must confess I'm a bit the opposite : a single boat tends to get the tickover, then slight increase to mantain a reasonable passing speed treatment, while a line of permanent moorers gets passed slightly quicker :D

I tend to operate the same, a single boat I might even knock it out of great and drift past. A long line of boats I usually need to put a few revs on to keep the boat moving forward with steering.

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I don't think it's changed much, really. There are just more boats about, and therefore more selfish thoughtless buggers than there used to be. On the other hand, there are more of the good guys too. You just don't remember them like you do the ones that knock your whisky bottle off the shelf.

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18 hours ago, IanD said:

Maybe they think boats moored on their own are less likely to be occupied, or that they're more likely to get shouted at by *somebody* in a line of boats than a solo boat -- in other words they're selfish tw*ts who don't slow down out of consideration for other boaters, they only slow down if they think somebody's likely to give them a mouthful or throw something at them...

 

I've also seen more and more of this kind of thing recently, and private boaters are usually the worst culprits, especially shiny ones -- yes I know this is a generalisation and there are considerate private boaters (many of them shiny) and inconsiderate hire boaters, but on average the facts are clear. This kind of don't-give-a-sh*t behaviour does seem to be driven by a sense of superiority -- it's like the John Cleese/Two Ronnies sketch with Cleese=shiny private boats, Barker=scruffy private boats, Corbett=hire boats.

 

It's definitely worse than it used to be, maybe because of the proliferation of moored boats, or maybe people are just more selfish and less thoughtful than they used to be, driven by things like Brexit tribalism and Covid-19 and "them-and-us" divisions ?

 

I think you may be right, but I also think people speed up a bit when there's a really long line of permanently moored boats.  So there's probably an optimum number of boats moored together for maximising the slowness of passing boats.  My guess would be in the middle of a line of 6.  As I occassionally use my genny, this is a position which I avoid as far as possible.

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15 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I don't think it's changed much, really. There are just more boats about, and therefore more selfish thoughtless buggers than there used to be. On the other hand, there are more of the good guys too. You just don't remember them like you do the ones that knock your whisky bottle off the shelf.

There's a lot of truth in that, especially the increase in thoughtless people. Do you think that the time has come to think of better stowage for your valuables?:boat:

 

Howard

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15 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I don't think it's changed much, really. There are just more boats about, and therefore more selfish thoughtless buggers than there used to be. On the other hand, there are more of the good guys too. You just don't remember them like you do the ones that knock your whisky bottle off the shelf.

That's not what I've seen.  It's the proportion which has changed, not just the numbers.  This year is markedly different to last year.  Either that or the area I'm cruising this year is worse for some reason?

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