Cruising Clubs

[jeddlad]

Has anyone any experience of cruising clubs, apart from it being difficult to join them? I've always avoided them but I like the idea of meeting other leisure boaters and having people around to help out when my limited mechanical and electrical knowledge runs out. All the boat / cruising clubs I've seen, seem very well equipped. 

 

Have always been in marina's or CRT moorings. Have enjoyed them but the other boaters have always been mainly live aboards who don't travel much. I'm mainly single handed but do like trips with other boats. 

 

My main concern is having to bow and scrape to the Commodore!

 

I'd be interested in hearing people's experiences. 

Edited November 9, 2020 by jeddlad
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[Slim]

I used to be when I moored in Hasler Marina, Gosport. You needed to be to use all the facilities in the lightship clubhouse. The only thing I don't miss about offshore cruising .  

[Alan de Enfield]

17 minutes ago, jeddlad said:

I'd be interested in hearing people's experiences

You generally get 'cheap moorings' but pay for them in other ways.

Normally you will need to commit to so many days per year 'work' cutting grass, painting workshops, clubhouse, relaying sewers, whatever the committe decide needs doing.

 

Yes, you have to accept there is a Commodore and comittee and you'll need to pass the interview, then if accepted you'll have people telling you to do things (its like being back at work and having a boss), only you know if you can live with that, or if you are a 'free spirit' and it won't work.

[Richard10002]

At our cruising club you agree to do 2 days of work a year, (3 or 4 hours each day), 2 of the club cruises, and attend 2 of the meetings, plus the AGM. The Commodore and Chairman are ordinary people. 

 

It's not as "onerous" as Alan makes out, but I only have experience of one club.

 

If you want the company and people to cruise with, why wouldn't you agree to the various club requirements?

[Ex Brummie]

If you are looking to moor at a cruising club, and finding it hard to find a vacancy, then ask yourself why there are few vacancies. Clubs often have facilities that come cheaper than commercial operations, but, as has already been said, you pay in other ways. They can be cheap because of the input of their members but they also offer companionship and support in a wealth of knowledge and assistance. You do not necessarily have to moor at a club to become a member and that could be a way of seeing if the 'life' would suit you.

A club can be a blunt instrument, as alluded to above, but it can also be a collection of like minded individuals with a common aim.

[ditchcrawler]

If you want a cruising club to cruise with but not a boat club to moor at then this may suit you https://cotswoldscanalcruising.club/ 

[dmr]

I also avoid boating/cruising clubs like the plague and have had a couple of bad experiences when they take over visitor moorings for their outings and are much more territorial than any continuous moorers. On the other hand we do some roving trading and have done a couple of events at boat clubs and met some very nice people.

There is some sort of association of cruising clubs so if you join one you get a welcome at others which might be really useful.

 

If you want a short term "communal boating experience" then the BCN explorer cruise is highly recommended.

 

......................Dave

[sharpness]

34 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

There is some sort of association of cruising clubs so if you join one you get a welcome at others which might be really useful.

I think this is who you mean:

https://www.awcc.org.uk/

 

[Alan de Enfield]

1 hour ago, Richard10002 said:

At our cruising club you agree to do 2 days of work a year, (3 or 4 hours each day), 2 of the club cruises, and attend 2 of the meetings, plus the AGM. The Commodore and Chairman are ordinary people. 

 

It's not as "onerous" as Alan makes out, but I only have experience of one club.

 

If you want the company and people to cruise with, why wouldn't you agree to the various club requirements?

I have only been a member of 2 clubs (1 inland and 1 'lumpy water') I don't have a problem with authority (maybe being in the RAF teaches you to respect - or at least accept - authority)

The cheap bar and restaurant with cheap moorings are the 'benefits' against the 'costs'.

The 'lumpy water' club even had a free 'water taxi' service, you just called on the VHF and they'd come and pick you up off your mooring and take you back to the boat when you'd had your meal, or whatever.

 

The club officials tended to be those who wear 'blazers & caps with scrambled egg' on them, but the majority of members were 'human'.

[Ex Brummie]

1 hour ago, dmr said:

 couple of bad experiences when they take over visitor moorings for their outings and are much more territorial than any continuous moorers.

 

......................Dave

They are visitor moorings, and rarely will a cruising club stay more than a day or two. They cruise, get it?

[dmr]

2 minutes ago, Ex Brummie said:

They are visitor moorings, and rarely will a cruising club stay more than a day or two. They cruise, get it?

Yes, its easy to get stuff like that, what I struggle with is when I am moored on a VM and a boat turns up and says I have to move because the club has "booked" the mooring for an "rally". 

and in my experience it can be a very long weekend rather than a day or two.

 

I do remember when two clubs had both "booked" the same set of VMs for the same weekend. I moved up a lock and watched the confrontation with interest ?.

 

................Dave

[jeddlad]

4 hours ago, Richard10002 said:

At our cruising club you agree to do 2 days of work a year, (3 or 4 hours each day), 2 of the club cruises, and attend 2 of the meetings, plus the AGM. The Commodore and Chairman are ordinary people. 

 

It's not as "onerous" as Alan makes out, but I only have experience of one club.

 

If you want the company and people to cruise with, why wouldn't you agree to the various club requirements?

Thanks for this. I would totally get involved and I'd enjoy meeting new people / boaters. My only experience of trying to join a CC was meeting an odious little man who was the Commodore of this particular club. It properly put me off but as in all walks of life there are different strokes for different folk. 

[David Mack]

8 hours ago, dmr said:

Yes, its easy to get stuff like that, what I struggle with is when I am moored on a VM and a boat turns up and says I have to move because the club has "booked" the mooring for an "rally". 

and in my experience it can be a very long weekend rather than a day or two.

 

 

If a club has formally booked a VM then CRT will have put up notices beforehand advising that normal mooring is suspended. If there is no such booking then you can stay on the VM (within the rules) and there's not much the club can do about it.

[Midnight]

8 hours ago, jeddlad said:

Thanks for this. I would totally get involved and I'd enjoy meeting new people / boaters. My only experience of trying to join a CC was meeting an odious little man who was the Commodore of this particular club. It properly put me off but as in all walks of life there are different strokes for different folk. 

The commodore at our Club gets replaced after 2 years and so far have been okay people - it's the committee that you need to worry about! Us low ranking members manage to survive by dancing naked around a burning handspike with a candle in one hand and an apple in the other chanting "C C" C".
Cheap diesel, cheap moorings, cheap dry dock!

[Phoenix_V]

even if you are not a member of one but moor in a nearby marina they often tend to hold down the price of moorings in the vicinity -  benefits all

[ditchcrawler]

12 hours ago, dmr said:

Yes, its easy to get stuff like that, what I struggle with is when I am moored on a VM and a boat turns up and says I have to move because the club has "booked" the mooring for an "rally". 

and in my experience it can be a very long weekend rather than a day or two.

 

I do remember when two clubs had both "booked" the same set of VMs for the same weekend. I moved up a lock and watched the confrontation with interest ?.

 

................Dave

When we use to hold a rally at the top of the Napton Flight we "Booked" the moorings via C&RT and they put notices on the moorings a good week beforehand so there was never a case of telling a non club member to move, in fact if one did stop we would invite them to join us for the weekend

[Richard10002]

2 hours ago, Midnight said:

The commodore at our Club gets replaced after 2 years and so far have been okay people - it's the committee that you need to worry about! Us low ranking members manage to survive by dancing naked around a burning handspike with a candle in one hand and an apple in the other chanting "C C" C".
Cheap diesel, cheap moorings, cheap dry dock!

I would pay more if it meant not having to watch the low ranking members dancing naked. Not a picture I want in mind “ever”!

[Sea Dog]

15 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

only you know if you can live with that, or if you are a 'free spirit' and it won't work.

This says it all for me. If you're gonna be in a club, then you need to be a team player and be able to follow the club rules (which you will know in advance) for the benefit of all. Such things don't really work if folk are pulling in different directions, so being selfish or a non-conformist really won't work. There are many benefits, but you can't expect to take those whilst not being willing to"fit in". Club membership is a two-way street - if you support that idea, then you'll find it a great way to enjoy your boating. I do, and I do!

 

[dmr]

1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

When we use to hold a rally at the top of the Napton Flight we "Booked" the moorings via C&RT and they put notices on the moorings a good week beforehand so there was never a case of telling a non club member to move, in fact if one did stop we would invite them to join us for the weekend

 

We used to do the floating markets and quite often CRT were not very good at getting the notices out on time, if its a 14 day mooring the notices need to go up at least 14 days in advance, ideally a bit more,  not two days before.

When I saw the battle of the two cruising there were no CRT notices and the reservation was on the basis of "everybody knows we use this mooring every year for this event" ?. On the grand scheme of things its no big deal and boat clubbers and CC'ers "have more in common than what divides us" or whatever the bloke said ?.

 

.............Dave

[John Hartley]

I have had two moorings over the years. The first was a marina of sorts in a beautiful location it did not have electric hookup but water supply was easy to hand, it also had a sanitary station. At that time it was one of the cheapest moorings available. My currant mooring is in a boat club. I have electric hookup at reasonable cost, water point close by and a sanitary station. The cost is about a third of the cost of my first mooring which was about thirty years ago. 

In all walks of life there are those you get on with and those you do not. Thats life accept it and enjoy yourself. The rules of my club are not in the slightest onerous. There are three working days a year where you are expected help with keeping the place tidy. You can do more if you wish. I am expected to cut the grass outside my own boat and keep it tidy. If my neighbors are out then I cut theirs too. They do the same for me. Last but by no means least I am expected to do a bar duty one Saturday night a year. We run the bar for the evening getting to meet and chat to all the other members at the club that night.

Its a gorgeous location on one of the most spectacular canals in the country. I love it.

 

[Mac of Cygnet]

4 hours ago, Midnight said:

The commodore at our Club gets replaced after 2 years and so far have been okay people - it's the committee that you need to worry about! Us low ranking members manage to survive by dancing naked around a burning handspike with a candle in one hand and an apple in the other chanting "C C" C".
Cheap diesel, cheap moorings, cheap dry dock!

 

Clubs are as varied as people.   From welcoming and pleasant to officious and pompous.  I used to leave my boat at AWCC affiliated clubs all over the system, so have experienced quite a few.  I tried to secure a winter mooring at one when I was stuck by a long-term lock closure, and it sparked off an internecine war amongst the committee - I backed out hastily.

 

Midnight's club Is one of the better ones and I and my boat have been welcomed several times - in fact he once tried to persuade me to join and moor there;  if I hadn't been quite happy at my present moorings I would have accepted the invitation.

[GUMPY]

5 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

When we use to hold a rally at the top of the Napton Flight we "Booked" the moorings via C&RT and they put notices on the moorings a good week beforehand so there was never a case of telling a non club member to move, in fact if one did stop we would invite them to join us for the weekend

Wasn't  it   before cart ? in the days of BW  when the navigation authority cared about boaters.

[ditchcrawler]

Just now, Loddon said:

Wasn't  it   before cart ? in the days of BW  when the navigation authority cared about boaters.

Possibly and I nearly put that, but couldnt work backward and get the dates

[Scholar Gypsy]

I am a "country member" of my club. That means I can go on cruises and other activities, but I don't have a vote, or a mooring (and don't have to do the work parties). I don't know how common this model is.  

[GUMPY]

1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

Possibly and I nearly put that, but couldnt work backward and get the dates

Just looked at website rally pictures, 2006 was the last one  at Napton, there is a good pic of you on there

I thought we did more than 5 years there.

Edited November 10, 2020 by Loddon