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Attitudes towards hirers


Robster123

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14 minutes ago, The Happy Nomad said:

 

As well as instruction about driving the boat through to how the various bits of the boat work.

 

But either way I was never instructed in anything when I bought our boat, but Ive never been allowed to take a boat out from a hire base without instruction first.

 

This could account for a lot, but we were very late picking our first hire boat up and our instruction was the engine, oil, water, weedhatch and I think toilet, it was one of those things full of blue water

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5 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

This could account for a lot, but we were very late picking our first hire boat up and our instruction was the engine, oil, water, weedhatch and I think toilet, it was one of those things full of blue water

 

They have to give instruction now. Its a requirement of their licencing and insurance requirments I believe.

 

In the rare instance they dont they would be in breach of those and I would be wary of using such a company if they cut corners like this.

 

The broads hire company we hired from last month wont let you take the boat out if you arrive after a specified time ??6pm. You can go on board overnight but you have to get instructions the following day before you take one of their boats onto the river.

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4 minutes ago, Rambling Boater said:

Boat owners? Never seen ANY boater do that.

 

Only had it once.

Summer time jut outside Burton on Trent.

Very busy, we were 19th in the wait for the lock with several more behind ud when a chug-chug-chug came down the cut overtaking us all - when he was informed we were all in a queue waiting for the lock, he said "I'm an ex-working boat and we have priority" and off he went to the head of the queue.

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3 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

There's a trad boat rally at Ellesmere Port,


sorry to be particular about this but it’s the Historic Boats this weekend at Ellesmere. 
 

I wouldn’t like to think anyone with just a ‘trad’ could turn up. 

Edited by Goliath
Reposition the word just
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I don't know why, but this reminds me of being in an average 50mph camera/roadworks on a dual carriageway that was about to narrow to single lane. As we all got in the one lane in advance, some twot drove past at about 100mph, swerved into the single lane then drove along at about 20mph to get his average speed down! Kind of worked out for him in that he did get ahead of everyone and then had a clear road ahead. Barsteward.

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1 hour ago, Arthur Marshall said:

That's what I did with the turned lock. I just put the kettle and waited. Normally I'd have gone up and helped open gates.

It’s amazing how many things suddenly need a few minutes immediate attention when one is no longer disposed to go and help out :D

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We got to one lock today just as another boat arrived at the top.  A boat had left the lock going up just a few minutes before so I expected them to open the top gates and go in but when I walked up the guy from the other boat seemed a bit confused. The lock was leaking badly and was almost empty so I just said it looks like it is in my favour, I put the bottom paddles up and carried on.

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56 minutes ago, Rambling Boater said:

Boat owners? Never seen ANY boater do that.

 

Which of course doesnt mean it didn't happen to the OP exactly as described.

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3 minutes ago, MPR said:

The bossiest (mainly women) were Ownerships.  Ironic really as Copperkins at that time was an Ownerships boat although not immediately recognisable as such.

Oh, we had shares in Copperkins for over 20 years and I do hope that I was not bossy with other boaters. We did sometimes find though that the boat was not as welcome where it had been on a previous cruise 🙂

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Some time ago I had "Hieronymus Bosch" sail past me as I was untying at Beeston Iron lock which I had just set for me to go up.    He proceeded to let his crew operate the lock.

He has yet to pay for those gross bad manners, but he will one day.

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1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Only had it once.

Summer time jut outside Burton on Trent.

Very busy, we were 19th in the wait for the lock with several more behind ud when a chug-chug-chug came down the cut overtaking us all - when he was informed we were all in a queue waiting for the lock, he said "I'm an ex-working boat and we have priority" and off he went to the head of the queue.

 

Now, if he had said 'I'm a working boat and we have priority' I suspect you'd be too young.

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Last year moored up at Hassal Green overnight, next morning my wife was prepping the lock to go down as I was pulling out, historic boat comes along, blowing hooter and takes the lock. We followed them all the way to Middlewich. They finally apologised to us, said they thought I was pulling out to take their lock but had not realised the lady working the lock was with me. A pity that they did not take the time to find out.

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I think what this thread shows is that there are good and not so good boaters in all types of boating - hirers, sharers, working, ex working, private but some types are more identifiable than others 

Edited by haggis
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3 minutes ago, haggis said:

I think what this thread shows is that there are good and not so good boaters in all types of boating - hirers, sharers, working, ex working, private but some types are more identifiable than others 

I don't think it's anything to do with 'types'. It's the first sentence of your post which sums it up.

 

"I think what this thread shows is that there are good and not so good boaters in all types of boating - hirers, sharers, working, ex working, private"

 

What 'type' of boater are you?

 

 

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Funnily enough I witnessed this a couple of weeks ago for the first time in my 15 years on the canals.

 

We started early one Saturday morning to take our very obviously privately owned boat up a succession of 7 wide locks which are fairly close to each other. On arriving at the first lock there was a hire boat on the landing who had arrived just before us. I pulled in behind and we chatted and agreed we’d go up all the locks together. They were experienced hirers and between us we had 4 crew purely for operating the locks, so I knew we’d make it up quite fast. We both went into the first lock, went up and I exited onto the pound first with them behind. That was when I noticed 2 scruffy narrowboats moored up on the towpath ahead of us. They had clearly overnighted there and they were obviously together. I could see the tell tale signs of them trying to leave their mooring quickly to get in front of us (you know…..ropes, mooring pins and gang planks flying around, along with frantic leaping on and off the boat with the centre line etc), however they were still nowhere near ready to move as we went past so I didn’t think anything of it.

 

We pulled up on the next lock landing and I noticed one of the women from the moored boats marching up the towpath with a windlass. She announced that they would go first as they would be quicker as my companion was a hire boat. I was about to say, “I don’t think so” when I bit my tongue…….I long ago learned to not have a confrontation with any boaters that are going the same way as you (Sod’s law dictates you always end up on the same visitor mooring as them that night, no matter how much you try). I turned to my hire boat companion and said “that is what’s known on the cut as an a**hole”, and advised him it was not worth the bother arguing.

Sure enough, we were on their tails the whole way up and being of the CMer type they pulled in for the day just past the top lock where we then overtook them. Idiots. 

Edited by booke23
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6 minutes ago, Rambling Boater said:

I don't think it's anything to do with 'types'. It's the first sentence of your post which sums it up.

 

"I think what this thread shows is that there are good and not so good boaters in all types of boating - hirers, sharers, working, ex working, private"

 

What 'type' of boater are you?

 

 

Sorry, I didn't explain what I was trying to say. I meant that while there are boaters of all types who area bit selfish some are more identifiable than others, for example hirers and ex working boats seem to come in in for a lot of stick.

Not that it really matters but we are privates boaters . We hired for many years then shared a boat for many more years before buying our own.

 

Haggis

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3 minutes ago, haggis said:

Sorry, I didn't explain what I was trying to say. I meant that while there are boaters of all types who area bit selfish some are more identifiable than others, for example hirers and ex working boats seem to come in in for a lot of stick.

Not that it really matters but we are privates boaters . We hired for many years then shared a boat for many more years before buying our own.

 

Haggis

 

 

Also fat boat owners. When they behave selfishly it stands out more than when a 40ft narrowboat owner behaves in the same way.

 

 

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Sometimes we are hirers, usually we are on our own boat, the last really good row I had was woth a fisherman and I think it would have been exactly the same row no matter what the boat was, Other boaters are usually absolutely fine no matter what we are steering - with very few exceptions.

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18 hours ago, The Happy Nomad said:

They have to give instruction now. Its a requirement of their licencing and insurance requirments I believe.

 

I've always been surprised that hire boats do not have some very basic safety (and possibly etiquette) guidance on some sort of wall poster inside the boat. It wouldn't need to be too overbearing, but would help the inexperienced to avoid the simplest and some of the most dangerous mistakes.

 

Reminds me of an incident last Summer when I unexpectedly found myself in a surreal and increasingly disturbing game of chicken with one of those small open-sided day-boats coming in the opposite direction. As we approached one another, I moved over to the right in the usual way, only to find to my alarm that he repeatedly matched my manoeuvre and seemed intent on a head-on collision. I finally decided to blink first and took what felt like a last-second opportunity to put my 65ft boat onto the 'wrong' side and pass starboard-to-starboard. To my relief, he didn't mirror that final change of direction and we very narrowly avoiding what (especially for him and his family) would have been quite a memorable impact! Having gathered my thoughts, I politely enquired as we passed what he was thinking. He was most apologetic - he had literally only just left the hire base and 'didn't know what side to drive on' (and had assumed it was the same as his car). All ended in smiles and apologies. I don't know what instruction he can have been given, but it can't have been much!

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