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A polite plea to dawdlers.


noddyboater

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Just now, noddyboater said:

Look behind you more often.

When you see a boat has appeared and is getting closer, move over,  let them past.

There's a chance they might actually be using the canal for what it was made for. 

Thank you. 

So why are are they in a noddy boat

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14 minutes ago, noddyboater said:

Look behind you more often.

When you see a boat has appeared and is getting closer, move over,  let them past.

There's a chance they might actually be using the canal for what it was made for. 

Thank you. 

Carrying shoddy, perhaps?

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I've given up. These days I just drift onto the mud, have a cup of tea, and catch them up half an hour later. As my old tub won't do more than 3mph, I don't think I'm overdoing the throttle.

They aren't going to let you pass, that's for sure.

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10 minutes ago, dave moore said:

I agree. It’s not about rushing, rather working efficiently and making decent progress. Many of the old timers, myself included, prefer to boat in this way while still observing old time courtesies which seem to be sadly lacking today.

It's definitely getting worse by the year.

Inefficient locking is frustrating,  but being stuck behind someone doing 1mph for miles when it's pretty obvious you're working is something else.

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Not easy to let boats go past, a lot just can't do it. Had a boat following me close so when I found a good spot I slowed to an almost stop and pulled right into the off side, they just continued to follow me into the shallows and very nearly rammed me from behind.

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4 minutes ago, noddyboater said:

It's definitely getting worse by the year.

Inefficient locking is frustrating,  but being stuck behind someone doing 1mph for miles when it's pretty obvious you're working is something else.

The last time I gave up and just went past and left them on the mud….had been following for about an hour. They refused to look behind and I had a moment. No regrets. 

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22 minutes ago, dave moore said:

I agree. It’s not about rushing, rather working efficiently and making decent progress. Many of the old timers, myself included, prefer to boat in this way while still observing old time courtesies which seem to be sadly lacking today.

Amen to that.

 

The way some folk faff about at locks, well, it gets me a tad cross!

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1 minute ago, noddyboater said:

It's definitely getting worse by the year.

Inefficient locking is frustrating,  but being stuck behind someone doing 1mph for miles when it's pretty obvious you're working is something else.


It’s simply a transfer of how people drive on the roads, onto the canals. I drive around the Cairngorms National Park quite a lot. In the 1970s it was a people desert outside the skiing season, now it is rammed with tourists 24/7/365. The minor roads mostly have a 60mph speed limit although to be fair there aren’t a lot of places when you can reasonably do that. But there is a big difference between making reasonable progress doing 45-50 vs doing 20mph looking at the view and going “Ooooh, you mustn’t rush on the canals road” and coming to a complete stop every time a car comes the other way, even though there is plenty of room. It is just bloody selfish, but unfortunately that is the way of the world.

 

Those same people would no doubt be very angry if they were driving to work on their own patch, and I was blocking the road by doing 20 in a 60 making them late for work. People just have no awareness of other people outside of their immediate clan these days.

 

Actually I don’t particularly mind people doing 20mph when I want to get somewhere IF they pull over at one of the very many pulling over opportunities. Occasionally they do, they get a cheery wave. Mostly they don’t and just trundle on oblivious to those behind.

 

Getting back to the canals, sometimes we come up close behind and one of us goes to the bow and asks if we can overtake. Usually this is agreed with but really, one shouldn’t have to ask the bleedin obvious. No doubt they think we are hooligans for wanting to do 3mph and there will be lots of tut tutting after we are past.

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I took the opportunity to pass someone when they pulled in before Armitage tunnel to send someone ahead to make sure there was nothing coming.  I just carried on and said to them I'll reverse back if anyone is coming.

It can be quite frustrating when you have to get somewhere and spend a big part of the journey in neutral or going astern due to someone going so slowly.

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12 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

I took the opportunity to pass someone when they pulled in before Armitage tunnel to send someone ahead to make sure there was nothing coming.  I just carried on and said to them I'll reverse back if anyone is coming.

It can be quite frustrating when you have to get somewhere and spend a big part of the journey in neutral or going astern due to someone going so slowly.

Leave earlier or go by road springs to mind

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16 minutes ago, Victor Vectis said:

Amen to that.

 

The way some folk faff about at locks, well, it gets me a tad cross!

 

I had an interesting exchange with another boat at Audlem last week. I was aware of a boat ascending the flight as I started to descend the thick of the flight. The locks were in my favour so as I left lock 5 I left the gates open for the oncoming boat and proceeded directly into lock 6 on which I had already opened the gates. The ascending boat was just leaving lock 7 as I entered lock 6 yet having closed the top gate and walked to the foot of the lock I noted the other boat pulling onto the lock landing and the top gate of lock 7 having just been shut, which I thought was bizarre notwithstanding that there's a bridge between the locks because they are very close together.

 

Crew member walks up to me and asks "Shall I draw the paddles for you?". I responded "I'd sooner someone went and opened the gate on the lock below if you don't mind" to which I got the response "Why? Are you in a hurry?".

 

I had no answer to that (probably just as well) but after a few moments I said "Well in that case I'll go and do it myself" and off I walked leaving them standing watching with an instruction not to touch any paddles.

 

OK so that was a bit arsey but in truth it's how I would have worked those locks had they not been there and as they ignored (or perhaps inexplicably failed to notice) my presence it seemed fair enough.

 

I did wonder if I'd feature on one of those Facebook pages beloved of the boating Karen's that are full of people complaining about folk that dare to move.

 

Edited by Captain Pegg
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12 minutes ago, nicknorman said:


It’s simply a transfer of how people drive on the roads, onto the canals. I drive around the Cairngorms National Park quite a lot. In the 1970s it was a people desert outside the skiing season, now it is rammed with tourists 24/7/365. The minor roads mostly have a 60mph speed limit although to be fair there aren’t a lot of places when you can reasonably do that. But there is a big difference between making reasonable progress doing 45-50 vs doing 20mph looking at the view and going “Ooooh, you mustn’t rush on the canals road” and coming to a complete stop every time a car comes the other way, even though there is plenty of room. It is just bloody selfish, but unfortunately that is the way of the world.

 

Those same people would no doubt be very angry if they were driving to work on their own patch, and I was blocking the road by doing 20 in a 60 making them late for work. People just have no awareness of other people outside of their immediate clan these days.

 

Actually I don’t particularly mind people doing 20mph when I want to get somewhere IF they pull over at one of the very many pulling over opportunities. Occasionally they do, they get a cheery wave. Mostly they don’t and just trundle on oblivious to those behind.

 

Getting back to the canals, sometimes we come up close behind and one of us goes to the bow and asks if we can overtake. Usually this is agreed with but really, one shouldn’t have to ask the bleedin obvious. No doubt they think we are hooligans for wanting to do 3mph and there will be lots of tut tutting after we are past.

It is the age of entitlement and if you dare speak out you are damned. Manners and consideration for others seem to be gone.

 

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30 minutes ago, frangar said:

The last time I gave up and just went past and left them on the mud….had been following for about an hour. They refused to look behind and I had a moment. No regrets. 

 

I sometimes encounter the oppostie problem where somebody waves you past then proceeds to make it really difficult for you to do so by failing to slow up and move over. Of course this has the inevitable result of their bow being drawn strongly toward your stern once you've finally managed to get past.

 

Sometimes I also find that you have to tell folk which side you're meant to pass.

 

If I get caught up I find the best thing to do is to pull in just past a moored boat or even between moored boats.

 

Edited by Captain Pegg
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15 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

 

I had an interesting exchange with another boat at Audlem last week. I was aware of a boat ascending the flight as I started to descend the thick of the flight. The locks were in my favour so as I left lock 5 I left the gates open for the oncoming boat and proceeded directly into lock 6 on which I had already opened the gates. The ascending boat was just leaving lock 7 as I entered lock 6 yet having closed the top gate and walked to the foot of the lock I noted the other boat pulling onto the lock landing and the top gate of lock 7 having just been shut, which I thought was bizarre notwithstanding that there's a bridge between the locks because they are very close together.

 

Crew member walks up to me and asks "Shall I draw the paddles for you?". I responded "I'd sooner someone went and opened the gate on the lock below if you don't mind" to which I got the response "Why? Are you in a hurry?".

 

I had no answer to that (probably just as well) but after a few moments I said "Well in that case I'll go and do it myself" and off I walked leaving them standing watching with an instruction not to touch any paddles.

 

OK so that was a bit arsey but in truth it's how I would have worked those locks had they not been there and as they ignored (or perhaps inexplicably failed to notice) my presence it seemed fair enough.

 

I did wonder if I'd feature on one of those Facebook pages beloved of the boating Karen's that are full of people complaining about folk that dare to move.

 

 

Do you get away with being recognised though? By virtue of being on somebody else's boat.

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2 minutes ago, noddyboater said:

It's not always possible to leave earlier or go by road if you're working on a canal.

It's about being courteous,  nothing more. 

So what happens when you are proceeding in a queue of boats and some nutter comes up your stern and tries to get through the bridge hole with you. I actually had one try and when I wound up the speedwell slightly it pushed their bow into the bank. Eventually I gave up and let them past. Why were they in a hurry I asked. "Because they had left their car at Authorley Junction and had to get back to there"

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23 minutes ago, Tonka said:

Leave earlier or go by road springs to mind

Sometimes that isn't an option.  Having just one day to get the boat from A to B limits the time available to waste sat behind someone wanting to plod along.

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I find a particular problem with first time hirers who are told to go v. slow past moored boats.  They over react to this and then find they have got very little steerage, which scares them - so they go even slower to avoid hitting othe boats, thus making life more difficult for themselves, and for all those stuck behind them.

On the rare occasions I do manage to pass them, I try to explain why they are unable to control their boat properly, and on even rarer occasions, they appreciate the advice!

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1 hour ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I've given up. These days I just drift onto the mud, have a cup of tea, and catch them up half an hour later. As my old tub won't do more than 3mph, I don't think I'm overdoing the throttle.

They aren't going to let you pass, that's for sure.

I've not given up.

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