I'm new to boating.. Where is the best to start my journey from?

[dmr]

17 hours ago, dave moore said:

Tam, you are not alone. My involvement goes back to the early 60s, when as a schoolboy I joined the crew of Bumblebee, the school’s wooden joey, converted by a previous woodwork master. This was at Harris’s yard, Netherton, and I was fortunate to meet Malcolm Braine there soon afterwards. He opened my eyes to a wider canal world than the school boat and I became an enthusiast, involved with restoration projects and the tail end of carrying, which you know so much better than I. The majority of boaters then we’re enthusiasts too, committed to preserving the system and respectful, in the main, of the prevailing ethos. Sadly, this has been eroded as more and more boaters have come to the cut with little or no interest in how things were or what has gone before and there is much more of a client mentality abroad these days. All of the older greybeards that I’m in touch with have a similar mindset...the Wain’s, Coopers, and many others. I doubt that little can be done about this, Ian Kemp thought that the things we oldies hold dear will be carried forward by a caring few. 

I hope he’s right!

 

I share much of your gloom and doom, but its not jut the canals, its a general change in our society and behaviour.  I never thought I would become a miserable old man and say "things were better in the old days", but I now realise that although some are just miserable old men, many are in fact quite correct.

The only glimmer of home is that we have met a few London boaters leaving leaving London, and although some just bring their bad ways with them, a few are turning into real boaters..

[doratheexplorer]

46 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

I share much of your gloom and doom, but its not jut the canals, its a general change in our society and behaviour.  I never thought I would become a miserable old man and say "things were better in the old days", but I now realise that although some are just miserable old men, many are in fact quite correct.

The only glimmer of home is that we have met a few London boaters leaving leaving London, and although some just bring their bad ways with them, a few are turning into real boaters..

Excuse me?  What's a "real boater"?  Is it, by any chance, one which operates in a similar way to you?

[dmr]

27 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

Excuse me?  What's a "real boater"?  Is it, by any chance, one which operates in a similar way to you?

 

Oh my goodness, no, Ive had three overstay emails from CRT in the last three months so I must be a continuous moorer 😀 

(two were a bit harsh but one was sort of deserved, though we were taking a little rest after the traumas of getting up the Rochdale through Manchester).

A real boater is just somebody who likes boats and boating? 😀..

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

22 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

Oh my goodness, no, Ive had three overstay emails from CRT in the last three months so I must be a continuous moorer 😀 

(two were a bit harsh but one was sort of deserved, though we were taking a little rest after the traumas of getting up the Rochdale through Manchester).

A real boater is just somebody who likes boats and boating? 😀..

and pubs

[MtB]

59 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

Excuse me?  What's a "real boater"?  Is it, by any chance, one which operates in a similar way to you?

 

 

I'd say it is someone who likes to go boating, as opposed to someone who avoids boating to the maximum extent possible. 

 

 

Edited February 9, 2022 by MtB
Finesse the point.

[dmr]

3 minutes ago, Goliath said:

and pubs

 

Real boaters drink at home on the boat too 😀.

 

Still trying to keep out of pubs but just done a pumpout at the wharf outside the Golden Lion and it would have been rude not to go in.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

16 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

Real boaters drink at home on the boat too 😀.

 

Still trying to keep out of pubs but just done a pumpout at the wharf outside the Golden Lion and it would have been rude not to go in.

That’s early doors for you 👍, nice one. 
 

[Tony1]

20 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

 

I'd say it is someone who likes to go boating, as opposed to someone who avoids boating to the maximum extent possible. 

 

 

 

I wouldn't go so far as to say I avoid boating to the maximum extent, per se..... There's probably more I could do, if I'm being honest.

In fact, to paraphrase Jerome K Jerome, I love boating. I could watch it all day. 

 

 

[IanD]

51 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

Real boaters drink at home on the boat too 😀.

 

Still trying to keep out of pubs but just done a pumpout at the wharf outside the Golden Lion and it would have been rude not to go in.

Nice pub. Good beer. Great Thai food at sensible prices. What's not to like?

 

(assuming you're in Toddy...)

[MtB]

1 hour ago, Tony1 said:

 

I wouldn't go so far as to say I avoid boating to the maximum extent, per se..... There's probably more I could do, if I'm being honest.

In fact, to paraphrase Jerome K Jerome, I love boating. I could watch it all day. 

 

 

 

 

In which case you fall into the first category, and are duly admitted into that most exclusive and rare category, "Proper Boater". 

 

Don't Fcku it up by mooring for three months at a time on the 48hr VMs, like the other lot! 

 

 

[Tony1]

1 hour ago, MtB said:

 

 

In which case you fall into the first category, and are duly admitted into that most exclusive and rare category, "Proper Boater". 

 

Don't Fcku it up by mooring for three months at a time on the 48hr VMs, like the other lot! 

 

 

 

I consider myself a very improper boater- hardly a boater at all, truth be told.

Don't get me wrong, its a wonderful pastime, and I could watch it for hours from my stern deck or lounge window.

But when I try it myself, it always ends up badly. 

 

I've been under a slight misapprehension about the CRT mooring rules. I thought the idea was to stay for a minimum of 2 weeks in one spot, with extra points if you can stay for 6 months. 

I naturally assumed that the 48 hour mooring limit was measured in Jovian hours, each of which is about ten earth hours. 

 

Well I'm jolly glad we cleared that one up.

 

[dmr]

1 hour ago, IanD said:

Nice pub. Good beer. Great Thai food at sensible prices. What's not to like?

 

(assuming you're in Toddy...)

 

Yeah, did all that, think I will do it again now.

The music is not always to my taste and Friday and Saturday nights can be much too busy and loud (and young), but have seen some good bands there, and the cheap beer nights are appreciated.

It's still not quite right after Covid, only three handpumps on yesterday.

[IanD]

8 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

Yeah, did all that, think I will do it again now.

The music is not always to my taste and Friday and Saturday nights can be much too busy and loud (and young), but have seen some good bands there, and the cheap beer nights are appreciated.

It's still not quite right after Covid, only three handpumps on yesterday.

There was a reggae night when we there there, certainly was loud inside the main pub but everyone was having a great time, and we found a quieter bit in the back bar to play crib. Couldn't hear it at all from the boat when we went to bed, which was surprising since we were moored at the end of the moorings right outside... 🙂

[Victor Vectis]

Proper boaters do the BCN Challenge.

[doratheexplorer]

59 minutes ago, Victor Vectis said:

Proper boaters do the BCN Challenge backwards

 

[Rob-M]

1 hour ago, Victor Vectis said:

Proper boaters do the BCN Challenge.

With an ex working pair.

[PD1964]

3 hours ago, IanD said:

Nice pub. Good beer. Great Thai food at sensible prices. What's not to like?

 

(assuming you're in Toddy...)

A real English Country pub with Thai cuisine. I take it also does Chinese and Indian and a nice Sunday jerk Chicken roast dinner with a relaxing background Reggae Steel band.

  

Edited February 9, 2022 by PD1964

[IanD]

30 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

With an ex working pair.

And a horse.

[dmr]

2 hours ago, PD1964 said:

A real English Country pub with Thai cuisine. I take it also does Chinese and Indian and a nice Sunday jerk Chicken roast dinner with a relaxing background Reggae Steel band.

  

 

Its most certainly not a real English pub, in fact it says so on the wall outside.The reggae is not background.

It's a sort of cross between a bohemian boozer, a Thai restaurant (landlady is Thai), a community centre and a rave.

Four reals ales on tonight, cheapest at £2.50, proper Thai food (we ate there again) , quiz downstairs, some sort of alternative orchestra upstairs.

[dmr]

4 hours ago, IanD said:

There was a reggae night when we there there, certainly was loud inside the main pub but everyone was having a great time, and we found a quieter bit in the back bar to play crib. Couldn't hear it at all from the boat when we went to bed, which was surprising since we were moored at the end of the moorings right outside... 🙂

 

That would have been a quiet night then, I have laid in bed right down the far end of the wharf and still enjoyed the music.

For a little Yorkshire town it gets some pretty famous people there.

Came home early tonight but we did start a 4.

[Victor Vectis]

Any sign of Andy Kershaw?

 

He started producing a podcast from his kitchen in Tod back in May. Andy Kershaw plays some bloody good records

10 podcasts so far, 20 hours of wonderful music.

 

Highly recommended.

[IanD]

59 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

Its most certainly not a real English pub, in fact it says so on the wall outside.The reggae is not background.

It's a sort of cross between a bohemian boozer, a Thai restaurant (landlady is Thai), a community centre and a rave.

Four reals ales on tonight, cheapest at £2.50, proper Thai food (we ate there again) , quiz downstairs, some sort of alternative orchestra upstairs.

It's definitely like no pub I've been in before, and I've done a fairly comprehensive survey. Son and GF had just got back from Thailand, asked landlady if she could do them something not on the menu -- no problem, and they said it was as good as anything they'd had in Thailand. Blew my head clean off though...

 

Lovely place 🙂

[system 4-50]

4 hours ago, Rob-M said:

With an ex working pair.

would with an ex working au-pair qualify?  Just asking for a friend.

[jake_crew]

I see Bia hasn't been back for a while.    Perhaps she is having a rethink. 

[Tam & Di]

On 07/02/2022 at 22:59, Biafreespirit said:

Thank you everyone! What I meant was the continuous cruising licence, because I need to move every 2 weeks... Its doesn't say anywhere exactly how many miles... I would like to know approximately....  I'm working in London Holborn... I just need to familiarise myself  with the canal map. Should I buy the golden licence? If the survey is going well tomorrow I'm having the boat and I'm a bit scarred...😔 Sorry for the stupid questions guys... I appreciate all the answers anyways.cheers! 

 

Some of the answers are probably much more stupid than the questions and have cruised a lot further, with a bit of licence. I wonder how the suvey went, and what thoughts Bia now has.

 

Tam