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


Biafreespirit

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10 hours ago, MtB said:

 

I'm not entirely sure I'd agree with that. A lot of boaters in real life turn out to be highly opinionated about a range of subjects once once you scratch the surface. It's not that rare on mentioning CRT for example and in particular, to hear some really aggressive, unreasonable and unpleasant attitudes come tumbling out. 

 

 

Despite what the tv programmes and youtube videos might say, you're right on the money with this.  The canals really do seems to attract a disproportionate number of miserable, angry old buggers.  They instinctively rail against any rules or authority and had assumed that moving onto a boat would equal freedom from all that.  Then when they find out it's not like that, they go to war with CRT (and sometimes the IWA, local authority etc).

 

Yet in the wider community, canal life is seen as this idyllic community where everyone helps each other.  Some people are like that, but IME it's the minority.

 

The verse from a Levellers song is about as inaccurate as it's possible to imagine:

 

"If I could choose the life I pleased

Then I would be a boatman
On the canals and the rivers free
No hasty words are spoken
My only law is the river breeze
Which takes me to the open seas
If I could choose the life I pleased
Then I would be a boatman"
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You tube does not show that a lot of these angry old buggers on the cut are probably from marriage break ups/mental health problems, alcohol/drug addiction and people that have just given up on society in general. Lots of single blokes in the 50+ age group.

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22 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

Or avail yourself of facebook groups, where the knowledge base is often poorer, but there's less prejudice on the whole.

 

It's such a shame that this forum consistently lets itself down in these instances.  There are many really knowledgable people on here, willing to help and advise, but there's also far too many who just want to pick holes, criticise and stir up division.  A lot of the time it looks like they don't realise they're doing it.

 

I posted early in this thread with my concerns about the OP's intentions, but I made sure to include some constructive advice in there too.

 

Double shame because there's probably more real knowledge about the canals and the boats on them here than any other online resource -- and unlike Facebook the posts are organised by subject and date and are searchable, things don't just disappear from view after a few days and become inaccessible.

 

If you have a question about anything -- boats, equipment, holidays, the canals themselves -- you can easily find out everything that has been said on the subject since the forum was created, among millions of posts. And since a lot of things to do with the canals hardly ever change, some of the most useful answers can easily be from ten years ago or more -- or you can see how opinions on things have changed over the years.

 

There's no other canal resource on the internet that can do this, and it's a pity that newcomers -- even ones asking questions that "old-timers" think are repetitive or stupid -- are treated so harshly. Because they're the boaters of the future who will keep this forum alive after all the grumpy old curmudgeons have opened their final paddle... 😞

 

13 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

Despite what the tv programmes and youtube videos might say, you're right on the money with this.  The canals really do seems to attract a disproportionate number of miserable, angry old buggers.  They instinctively rail against any rules or authority and had assumed that moving onto a boat would equal freedom from all that.  Then when they find out it's not like that, they go to war with CRT (and sometimes the IWA, local authority etc).

 

 

...and anyone on the forum -- including newcomers! -- whose views they dismiss or disagree with, by firing off endless playground-level personal attacks instead of actually debating the issues like grownups... 😞

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1 hour ago, IanD said:

There's no other canal resource on the internet that can do this, and it's a pity that newcomers -- even ones asking questions that "old-timers" think are repetitive or stupid -- are treated so harshly. Because they're the boaters of the future who will keep this forum alive after all the grumpy old curmudgeons have opened their final paddle...  😞

I would disagree with these Newbies especially the young generation are the future of boating. I have seen 3x young boaters come into the Marina in the last year, only moving the boat from where they bought it from. Their boats have not moved off their mooring, not even to get water, they would rather carry endless plastic containers a couple of hundred yards. They all work from the boat with similar jobs(web design, proof writer, IT) they look like they have little money to maintain their boats and are often behind with their moorings. They are on the boat short term to save money and have no interest in the canals or boating. These are far from the future of the canals and boating as I see it, but maybe the future of how the canals and boating will be in a few years.

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3 minutes ago, PD1964 said:

I would disagree with these Newbies especially the young generation are the future of boating. I have seen 3x young boaters come into the Marina in the last year, only moving the boat from where they bought it from. Their boats have not moved off their mooring, not even to get water, they would rather carry endless plastic containers a couple of hundred yards. They all work from the boat with similar jobs(web design, proof writer, IT) they look like they have little money to maintain their boats and are often behind with their moorings. They are on the boat short term to save money and have no interest in the canals or boating. These are far from the future of the canals and boating as I see it, but maybe the future of how the canals and boating will be in a few years.

The majority of boat owners never move their boats.  This has been true for decades.  It's nothing to do with the young generation.

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1 minute ago, PD1964 said:

Their boats have not moved off their mooring, not even to get water, they would rather carry endless plastic containers a couple of hundred yards.

 

 

I notice this too. A young couple have been here too for about three years now and rather than move the boat, they do the same. Endless trips to the water point with containers in a wheelbarrow. Seems bonkers to me. Even though it's two locks each way to the winding 'ole, I prefer to cruise the boat there and back to get water, but then I actually like boating. 

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25 minutes ago, PD1964 said:

I would disagree with these Newbies especially the young generation are the future of boating. I have seen 3x young boaters come into the Marina in the last year, only moving the boat from where they bought it from. Their boats have not moved off their mooring, not even to get water, they would rather carry endless plastic containers a couple of hundred yards. They all work from the boat with similar jobs(web design, proof writer, IT) they look like they have little money to maintain their boats and are often behind with their moorings. They are on the boat short term to save money and have no interest in the canals or boating. These are far from the future of the canals and boating as I see it, but maybe the future of how the canals and boating will be in a few years.

 

We are spending our winters on  Rochdale so maybe a heavily locked Northern canal attracts a better class of youngster, but there are a handful of new younger boaters here doing things really well, moving every 14 days, going for longer cruises when they can, learning about boat and engine maintenance, getting involved with the local community etc etc. Its interesting that the ones that are more inclined to continuous mooring are mostly the older ones.....

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1 hour ago, doratheexplorer said:

The majority of boat owners never move their boats.  This has been true for decades.  It's nothing to do with the young generation.

Also not specific to canals. The majority of boats in my lumpy water marina never move either according to the marina staff. Think it's just a boat thng !

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2 hours ago, doratheexplorer said:

The canals really do seems to attract a disproportionate number of miserable, angry old buggers.  

 

Yet in the wider community, canal life is seen as this idyllic community where everyone helps each other.  Some people are like that, but IME it's the minority.

 

 

In my experience this is an exaggeration. I am indubitably an 'old bugger' though not angry and no more miserable than most.

 

I would usually go out of my way (at least a certain distance) to help someone. There are fewer of us than previously but we are not a minority yet.

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1 hour ago, doratheexplorer said:

The majority of boat owners never move their boats.  This has been true for decades.  It's nothing to do with the young generation.

 

The grumpies are also missing the point that regardless of whether they consider themselves to be "real boaters" and the newbies to be "fake boaters", the newbies are by definition going to be the future of the canals since nobody lives forever, so better a) get used to the idea b) be nice to them and try and educate them into valuing the canals like "real boaters" do.

 

And as dmr says, some of the youngsters are "real boaters" -- just like some of the oldsters are not...

6 minutes ago, frahkn said:

In my experience this is an exaggeration. I am indubitably an 'old bugger' though not angry and no more miserable than most.

 

I would usually go out of my way (at least a certain distance) to help someone. There are fewer of us than previously but we are not a minority yet.

 

If people come over as "miserable angry old buggers" on the forum -- and plenty do, see responses to the OP! -- it doesn't matter what they're like in real life, they'll drive newbies away from the forum -- and it will wither and die as they do... 😞

Edited by IanD
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1 hour ago, doratheexplorer said:

The majority of boat owners never move their boats.  This has been true for decades.  It's nothing to do with the young generation.

 Yes the majority of boats don’t move regular or never at all sometimes in Marina’s, especially the ones that are buying them for leisure use. I was paying more reference to the young Newbies that are not the future of canals but short term boaters and as I said they’re all very similar in terms of jobs and reason why they have a boat. To live cheaply and save money for a house.

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How often I think back to a young couple who came on here many years ago, I think her name was Amy and he was probably James. If I remember they were on a BMC powered craft called Duck or similar that seemed to be held together with bailer twin. They don't all end up with no interest in the waterways.

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4 hours ago, dmr said:

 

We are spending our winters on  Rochdale so maybe a heavily locked Northern canal attracts a better class of youngster, but there are a handful of new younger boaters here doing things really well, moving every 14 days, going for longer cruises when they can, learning about boat and engine maintenance, getting involved with the local community etc etc. Its interesting that the ones that are more inclined to continuous mooring are mostly the older ones.....

Tbf you have to like boating to spend time on the Rochdale!

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4 hours ago, Victor Vectis said:

I'm guessing this is the James you are talking about: https://buskengland.wordpress.com/

(Scroll down quite a bit to the entry 'Spoil')

 

And isn't 'Spey' a wonderful boat!

Nice to see the blogger's pics of her tied up in Paddington Basin.

It's actually Tom that is writing that article, although he did go boating with James the other month

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Yes.

I don't know Tom but I enjoy reading his blog posts. James, and Amy, are friends of friends.

 

We've come across'Spey' a couple of times.

The most memorable when going up the west side of the Hudds Narrow in a pound where the top was far too close to the bottom.

We were making heavy weather of things and leaning at a jaunty angle whereas 'Spey', heading downhill, was cowped over much further. They seemed to have rounded up all the urchins in the area and had them on the end of a rope bow hauling.

 

What larks!

Real boating or what?

😃

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9 hours ago, Victor Vectis said:

Yes.

I don't know Tom but I enjoy reading his blog posts. James, and Amy, are friends of friends.

 

We've come across'Spey' a couple of times.

The most memorable when going up the west side of the Hudds Narrow in a pound where the top was far too close to the bottom.

We were making heavy weather of things and leaning at a jaunty angle whereas 'Spey', heading downhill, was cowped over much further. They seemed to have rounded up all the urchins in the area and had them on the end of a rope bow hauling.

 

What larks!

Real boating or what?

😃

The Spey crew are good at finding people to haul them over things, I'm on the end of this line helping them through a bridge 'ole.

20160530_110138.jpg.617e62c4388be9cb5652af42a06136da.jpg

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23 hours ago, Mike Hurley said:

You tube does not show that a lot of these angry old buggers on the cut are probably from marriage break ups/mental health problems, alcohol/drug addiction and people that have just given up on society in general. Lots of single blokes in the 50+ age group.

Are you speaking (writing) for yourself there lad?  😞

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13 hours ago, Victor Vectis said:

Yes.

I don't know Tom but I enjoy reading his blog posts. James, and Amy, are friends of friends.

 

We've come across'Spey' a couple of times.

The most memorable when going up the west side of the Hudds Narrow in a pound where the top was far too close to the bottom.

We were making heavy weather of things and leaning at a jaunty angle whereas 'Spey', heading downhill, was cowped over much further. They seemed to have rounded up all the urchins in the area and had them on the end of a rope bow hauling.

 

What larks!

Real boating or what?

😃

I know both Tom Kitching and Jason Gallop from their interests in folk music, I've played with them in sessions several times -- both lovely people.

 

And have passed them on Spey several times too, last time just outside the BCLM when they were complaining about the amount of prop crap a deep-draughted boat picks up round there... 😞

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