SLOW DOWN! or maybe not…

[dogless]

I've often wondered about the people who shout 'slow down' at passing boats.

 

I'm sure I'm not the only person who's cruised in tick-over by a long line of moored boats (Golden Nook being one such place where this happened) chatting happily to occupants, exchanging salutations etc., to be then confronted by a resident bellowing 'slow down'.

 

Firstly, I can't actually slow down ... I can stop, but tick-over is the slowest I can travel.

 

Secondly, the other two hundred boats I've JUST passed by were quite happy with my speed  ... how can it be that only one out of several hundred (at Golden Nook) thinks I'm too fast ?

 

I suspect the shouters have unhappy lives and need to vent in some way to release pent up anxiety and it's nothing to do with speed.

 

Either that or the penny hasn't yet dropped about how how water moves in and around boats, and that the movement is actually what makes boating different from camping , and why most of us love it so much  😁

 

Rog

[Jerra]

1 minute ago, dogless said:

I've often wondered about the people who shout 'slow down' at passing boats.

 

I'm sure I'm not the only person who's cruised in tick-over by a long line of moored boats (Golden Nook being one such place where this happened) chatting happily to occupants, exchanging salutations etc., to be then confronted by a resident bellowing 'slow down'.

 

Firstly, I can't actually slow down ... I can stop, but tick-over is the slowest I can travel.

 

Secondly, the other two hundred boats I've JUST passed by were quite happy with my speed  ... how can it be that only one out of several hundred (at Golden Nook) thinks I'm too fast ?

 

I suspect the shouters have unhappy lives and need to vent in some way to release pent up anxiety and it's nothing to do with speed.

 

Either that or the penny hasn't yet dropped about how how water moves in and around boats, and that the movement is actually what makes boating different from camping , and why most of us love it so much  😁

 

Rog

We were in a similar situation when a voice from inside a boat shouted slow down.

 

My mate who was at the helm reversed and shouted I didn't hear what you said can you come out so I can hear.

 

Needless to say the boat remained quiet and nobody appeared.

[Rob-M]

I've passed a line of moored boats, winded and gone back passed the same boats a few minutes later with the throttle in the exact same position but been shouted at to slow down by one of them on the return journey.

[hider]

You woke him up on the first pass and he was waiting for you on the second pass!

[nicknorman]

5 hours ago, Grassman said:

Until a few years ago I never bothered with a spring because the vast majority of passing boats slowed down. Nowadays because most don't slow down I always make a spring.

 

Better for my health than getting stressed every time it happens. 

This surely is the crux of my point. There are 2 choices, one being to tie your boat up sloppily and expect everyone else to compensate for that by passing at a crawl. The other is to spend an extra 2 minutes tying your boat up properly and then not expect everyone else to pass at a crawl. Personally I think that following a strategy which doesn’t place a burden on other people is the better one, but other opinions are available!

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

5 hours ago, blackrose said:

Part of the reason trip hazards are hazards is because it's not just the person who put them there and knows where they are who might trip over them. I wouldn't have anything fixed onto a gunwale. 

I reckon your right,

I think I’m looking to solve a problem I haven’t really got, 

the current set has worked well enough,

7 hours ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

Also a plug for big squashy fenders,  rather than the pipe variety.

now those I would

like,

but I’m not spending money on them,

I’ll make more of an effort to scoop out them that others have lost,

 

when I was moored at Paddington some one breasted up with very slack ropes through the rings on the bank,

their boat probably shifted a good 6’to8’ when the trip boats past,

but I hardly noticed because they had big squishy round fenders which rolled as they went to and fro. 
And they didn’t seem to care. 
 

5 hours ago, dogless said:

That's the thing about water, it moves.

 

But then again, isn't that kind of the point of boating ?

 

Rog

Yea, I like mooring to them floating pontoons,

get a proper nice feeling of being on water then. 

[Alan de Enfield]

12 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

There are 2 choices, one being to tie your boat up sloppily and expect everyone else to compensate for that by passing at a crawl. The other is to spend an extra 2 minutes tying your boat up properly and then not expect everyone else to pass at a crawl.

 

 

What is the 3rd option ?

 

You only have two options if you have "a choice".

[gatekrash]

2 hours ago, dogless said:

I've often wondered about the people who shout 'slow down' at passing boats.

 

I'm sure I'm not the only person who's cruised in tick-over by a long line of moored boats (Golden Nook being one such place where this happened) chatting happily to occupants, exchanging salutations etc., to be then confronted by a resident bellowing 'slow down'.

 

I reckon that must be the same one that shouted at me last year. We weren't even in gear, it was a windy day and we were blowing down the canal with no power on, short of being in reverse we couldn't physically go any slower !

[Ewan123]

10 hours ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

 Also a plug for big squashy fenders,  rather than the pipe variety.

They really do make a big difference, it's almost as though they're designed for the job 🤔. 

[system 4-50]

Proper fenders:  [17" alloys]

 

Edited July 26 by system 4-50

[ditchcrawler]

3 hours ago, dogless said:

I've often wondered about the people who shout 'slow down' at passing boats.

 

I'm sure I'm not the only person who's cruised in tick-over by a long line of moored boats (Golden Nook being one such place where this happened) chatting happily to occupants, exchanging salutations etc., to be then confronted by a resident bellowing 'slow down'.

 

Firstly, I can't actually slow down ... I can stop, but tick-over is the slowest I can travel.

 

Secondly, the other two hundred boats I've JUST passed by were quite happy with my speed  ... how can it be that only one out of several hundred (at Golden Nook) thinks I'm too fast ?

 

I suspect the shouters have unhappy lives and need to vent in some way to release pent up anxiety and it's nothing to do with speed.

 

Either that or the penny hasn't yet dropped about how how water moves in and around boats, and that the movement is actually what makes boating different from camping , and why most of us love it so much  😁

 

Rog

I followed a hire boat past the moorings near rose Narrowboats, one chap complained to me how fast the hire boat I was following was going. He  seemed happy with the speed we were doing, but my engine was only going chug chug chug compared to the hire boat doing the same speed.

[Scholar Gypsy]

22 minutes ago, Ewan123 said:

They really do make a big difference, it's almost as though they're designed for the job 🤔. 

I was rather mortified to be sent this photo a few years ago... My excuse was that the previous day was a 14 hour cruise..

 

[ditchcrawler]

25 minutes ago, Ewan123 said:

They really do make a big difference, it's almost as though they're designed for the job 🤔. 

But you can't get through locks with them down 😬 In light of the post I have just seen, except Limehouse

[Mike Todd]

8 hours ago, DandV said:

What I would have liked to have had,  were four bigger versions of the fastening points for those awful pipe fenders our Reeve's hull had.

Two immediatly aft of the front corners of the deck house and two immediatly forward of the aft corners of the deck house.

They were notch cut out of the gunnel edge with a bar across right on the gunnel line and the rear  infilled with a piece of angle iron.  So no trip hazards,  but an opening to pass through a line or at least clip in a carabiner for a spring line.

Ours were just two small to pass either a suitable line or carabiner.

There are circumstances when a heavier-than-water fender is helpful - like with the Shroppie shelf.

[Jerra]

56 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I followed a hire boat past the moorings near rose Narrowboats, one chap complained to me how fast the hire boat I was following was going. He  seemed happy with the speed we were doing, but my engine was only going chug chug chug compared to the hire boat doing the same speed.

I have been convinced for a long time that many "shouters" base their decision on engine note not speed, that and whether it is a hire boat or not.

[hider]

1 minute ago, Jerra said:

I have been convinced for a long time that many "shouters" base their decision on engine note not speed, that and whether it is a hire boat or not.

True. I had a boat with a Beta trolling valve which ran the engine at a constant speed for the Travel Power, around 1500 revs I think.

I got shouted at all day because they heard the engine note and thought I was going faster than the crawl that the control allowed. Sold it as it was a mechanical disaster anyway besides the arsey moorers.

[Tigerr]

56 minutes ago, system 4-50 said:

Proper fenders:  [17" alloys]

 

That beats my shropshire barrow wheels. Mind you I don't see the long gangplank. Problem with the 'shelf' is that the barrow wheels tend to be too floaty. 

I am currently looking at putting in a second bollard at the front, to enable tying up without needing to climb onto the bow, and also to provide triangulation/spring effect. But I definitely don't want a line cunningly laid at perfect trip height for anyone stepping off the boat at night! I can see how that will end. 

[Paul C]

I had one shout "slow down" and I shouted back "I'm actually in neutral" then pointed out the throttle control which was indeed in neutral with idle revs.

[IanD]

10 minutes ago, Jerra said:

I have been convinced for a long time that many "shouters" base their decision on engine note not speed, that and whether it is a hire boat or not.

I've only been shouted at once on my (series hybrid) boat, we were passing them slowly (no wake at all) with the (very quiet) generator running and he gave me a mouthful about boats not slowing down. Obviously wasn't taking any notice of how fast we were actually going, just heard a 1500rpm engine note and went off on one... 😞 

Edited July 26 by IanD

[Stroudwater1]

I find it’s best to reply “two thirty” or “Birmingham” when shouted your going too fast. Theres no point in replying about tick overs generators engine revs or anything else. It just ups the argument 

 

You probably won’t see them again and it’s best to leave them pondering why “the idiot” replied in such a random way. I’ve only been shouted at twice and it worked both times. 

[Rob-M]

If I reply to someone shouting I normally just say "Yes thanks"

[MtB]

16 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

If I reply to someone shouting I normally just say "Yes thanks"

 

I'm currently of the opinion the best response is to yell back "fcuk off".

[Wanderer Vagabond]

21 minutes ago, Stroudwater1 said:

I find it’s best to reply “two thirty” or “Birmingham” when shouted your going too fast. Theres no point in replying about tick overs generators engine revs or anything else. It just ups the argument 

 

You probably won’t see them again and it’s best to leave them pondering why “the idiot” replied in such a random way. I’ve only been shouted at twice and it worked both times. 

I suppose that, in a similar vein, when someone shouts,"Slow Down" at you, you could reply,"Oh, yes please, if you would be so kind", it rather turns the tables and has potential for a bit of fun. I seem to remember an old comedy sketch along similar lines where someone knocks on a door (it may have been Marty Feldman, but I'm open to correction) and the guy then opening it is treated as though he is the one who is disturbing the door-knocker.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

20 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

If I reply to someone shouting I normally just say "Yes thanks"

 

I was told/asked to slow down coming around rugby. 
Boughton I think.
Quite a wiggle in the canal and moored boats both sides on the bends and by bridge holes. 
“nope, I ain’t hanging round here for something to come the other way” I shouted back. 
I was a tad over tick over. 
 

I’m of a mind the longer you take the more chance of meeting something,

I’m not rattling the boats,

but not snailing it round either, 

they could still build house with deck of cards the speed I go. 

 

1 hour ago, IanD said:

I've only been shouted at once on my (series hybrid) boat, we were passing them slowly (no wake at all) with the (very quiet) generator running and he gave me a mouthful about boats not slowing down. Obviously wasn't taking any notice of how fast we were actually going, just heard a 1500rpm engine note and went off on one... 😞 

well…should be ashamed,

people like yourself give us all a bad name…tut tut

 

running a motor and an engine! 

[MrsM]

I think some miserable old gits just can't go to bed until they've had a good moan about something! 😄