Training

[Bromleyxphil]

“What kind of car can do 100 miles per hour in first gear?  ……..   a hire car” 😀

 

I will be at the helm of my first owner boat in a few weeks time.  We have hired on a few occasions, I am confident at the tiller, been through plenty locks and not hit anything yet.  I do however feel a little under certificated.  Any tips and advice on books, videos or courses and the usefulness/validity of any of the above?

 

My very first hire was from close to Debdale Wharf Marina.  We got on the boat and the guy proceeded to sail us towards Foxton locks, sweeping canal, no locks whilst telling us all about his boat “not the boat we were on” and his life on the canal.  He gave me the tiller for a couple of minutes then moored us up in the pound next to the swing bridge, he then left!  In the morning I was a little worried!  Fortunately the guy moored behind us was on his dad’s boat with his three kids.  They offered to help us out, they spent an hour or more on board teaching me how to drive, moor and set off, handle the boat with a centre line use pegs pins etc.  Life saver.

 

I am a long way from that morning at the bottom of Foxton locks now but…..do you all have certificates or have you picked it up as you sail along.

[Melita]

This might be worth a watch

 

 

[Tony Brooks]

Be wary about any course with RYA endorsement. It is a franchised operation and from many reports I received when I was running the maintenance & electrical courses the quality of the courses vary widely from excellent to dire.  Maybe the RYA now do unannounced checks and demand qualifications in training, but as far as I could see they did neither and refused to acknowledged national and internationally accepted prior learning/experience from potential instructors. Hence the variable quality.

 

So personal recommendation is the way to go and hopefully other members who had been in a similar position will recommend.

[IanM]

38 minutes ago, Bromleyxphil said:

I am a long way from that morning at the bottom of Foxton locks now but…..do you all have certificates or have you picked it up as you sail along.

I would think that most boaters on the waterways haven’t got any certificates and have just picked it up as they went along.  There are helmsman courses that you can do and I think they are held in quite high regard although they aren’t mandatory and will probably help you build on your existing skills rather than show you exactly how to do things. 
 

The yachty/power boating/lumpy water types on here will bang on about certifications and training but in reality on the canals and small rivers it isn’t necessary. 
 

Edited to add: I did do a RCR engine maintenance course and found that extremely useful. 
 

 

Edited April 17 by IanM

[Tony Brooks]

15 minutes ago, IanM said:

Edited to add: I did do a RCR engine maintenance course and found that extremely useful. 
 

 

 

My view is that that would be far more useful in the long term than any helmsman course, as long as you find a good one.

 

I think the majority of inland boaters just picked it up as they went along. The courses are really only confidence building rather that teaching boat handling under all conditions and situations.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

The basics you can pick up very quickly. I've been doing this nearly two decades now and I am still picking up new tricks and finessing what skills I have. 

[Tonka]

36 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

Be wary about any course with RYA endorsement. It is a franchised operation and from many reports I received when I was running the maintenance & electrical courses the quality of the courses vary widely from excellent to dire.  Maybe the RYA now do unannounced checks and demand qualifications in training, but as far as I could see they did neither and refused to acknowledged national and internationally accepted prior learning/experience from potential instructors. Hence the variable quality.

 

So personal recommendation is the way to go and hopefully other members who had been in a similar position will recommend.

My daughter had to do an RYA course when she worked for Surrey County Council on their disabled widebeam.

She knew more then the tutor and was regularly pulling him up on things he had got wrong

[IanM]

Also remember that the likelihood of you getting something wrong when boating is directly proportional to the amount of people watching you at the time.

 

i.e. with no-one watching you will be able to moor like a boating god.  With 6 people watching you will be in the trees on the opposite bank having knocked your favourite coffee mug into the canal.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

3 minutes ago, IanM said:

Also remember that the likelihood of you getting something wrong when boating is directly proportional to the amount of people watching you at the time.

 

i.e. with no-one watching you will be able to moor like a boating god.  With 6 people watching you will be in the trees on the opposite bank having knocked your favourite coffee mug into the canal.

You must have been on the boat behind me when I moored up yesterday!

 

First law of boating that is. 😀

[b00ke23]

Willow Wren were a former narrowboat training organisation that closed a few years ago but their YouTube channel has some useful instructional videos....first one here:- 

 

[Hudds Lad]

Having recently come across someone under instruction on an RYA course i'd say it's totally not worth it.

Shambolic bordering on outright dangerous.

[brianthesnail96]

I bought a copy of "The Boater's Guide to Boating" which, for the few quid it cost, I found a good read. It's skewed towards single handing and (ex) working boats but I though it did a good job of explaining in layman's terms why boats do some of the odd (and until you get used to it, unexpected) things they do. It hasn't stopped me doing silly things, but it has helped with identifying why it was silly...  

[Lady M]

Not surprising that that the quality will depend on the instructor.  Be aware that the course does not include canal tunnels.

[Onewheeler]

11 minutes ago, brianthesnail96 said:

I bought a copy of "The Boater's Guide to Boating" which, for the few quid it cost, I found a good read. It's skewed towards single handing and (ex) working boats but I though it did a good job of explaining in layman's terms why boats do some of the odd (and until you get used to it, unexpected) things they do. It hasn't stopped me doing silly things, but it has helped with identifying why it was silly...  

An excellent book. I learnt a lot from it. Don't know if it's still available. Author was Chris Deuchar.

[Peanut]

Very basic, free download:

https://www.lancaster-canal-boat-hire-holidays.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/boaters-handbook.pdf

 

"The Boater's Guide to Boating" gave no results on G******, not ever CWDF yet.

[alias]

9 minutes ago, Peanut said:

Very basic, free download:

https://www.lancaster-canal-boat-hire-holidays.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/boaters-handbook.pdf

 

"The Boater's Guide to Boating" gave no results on G******, not ever CWDF yet.

 

The title is "A boaters guide to boating".

 

There is one second hand copy on Amazon, and another on Abe Books (the latter at a grossly inflated price). There may be others elsewhere...

Edited April 17 by alias

[Quattrodave]

I've done a number of RYA courses, radio, navigation, power boat levels etc etc. Mine have all been a nice mix of classroom & practical. The instructors have all been amazing, some of the tips have been invaluable. Most of mine have been weekends and long weekends at Pool harbour...

But like any skill, it requires practice & determination to perfect it...

[Wiltshire Moonraker]

Seems to still be available here https://www.canalshop.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000002.pl?WD=deuchar&PN=skills.html#a990405

[Tam & Di]

2 hours ago, Tonka said:

My daughter had to do an RYA course when she worked for Surrey County Council on their disabled widebeam.

She knew more then the tutor and was regularly pulling him up on things he had got wrong

RYA instructors are checked regularly, but the person doing the check will likely have little or no inland boating experience himself. The RYA Inland Cruising Guide is maybe worth looking through, but won't get you far in practice - no book for any hands-on skill can in reality

[Peanut]

16 minutes ago, alias said:

 

The title is "A boaters guide to boating".

 

There is one second hand copy on Amazon, and another on Abe Books (the latter at a grossly inflated price). There may be others elsewhere...

So not “The” boater, but “A” any boater. Thank-you.

[LadyG]

3 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

The basics you can pick up very quickly. I've been doing this nearly two decades now and I am still picking up new tricks and finessing what skills I have. 

Every basic book will talk one through handling boats.

OP must learn to tie a bowline,:(handy on occasion), a  clove hitch (very quick to tie, not so easy to untie) , and most usefully a trawlermans hitch. Practice, and use each when appropriate.

I use a round turn and two half hitches for mooring.

When finished,  coil the tope. Never handle the rope like your mothers washing line. If it gets knotted you have handled it carelessly.

ALWAYS put the rope on clockwise.

Carry a knife. For emergency rope cutting. 

Handling the boat at lock landings requires the use of ropes. These need to be suitable length, and thickness.

You can learn these things before you go on the course, 

23 minutes ago, Tam & Di said:

RYA instructors are checked regularly, but the person doing the check will likely have little or no inland boating experience himself. The RYA Inland Cruising Guide is maybe worth looking through, but won't get you far in practice - no book for any hands-on skill can in reality

I have done most of the RYA yachty courses and found them usefull,  being under pressure of examination for four days was a bit of a trial!

The teaching courses were very enjoyable, very sociable. 

The  NB teaching boats i have seen seem very small and very easily handled.

Take it slowly.

On rivers and in strong winds the boat should be "driven".

 

Edited April 17 by LadyG

[Wafi]

22 minutes ago, alias said:

The title is "A boaters guide to boating".

Another vote for this book. Best kept on board and reviewed from time to time; don't try to absorb the whole book on day 1, think of it as a compendium of more refined techniques to experiment with and build over time, as you get more comfortable with the basics.

 

2 hours ago, IanM said:

Also remember that the likelihood of you getting something wrong when boating is directly proportional to the amount of people watching you at the time.

When there aren't lots of people looking at you (or even when there are if it doesn't bother you) look for opportunities to experiment with different techniques and to practice things you're not so good at. If you're a bit rubbish at winding for instance, find a couple of winding holes relatively close to each other and go back and forward between them. Try winding in the "wrong" direction to see what happens, whether it's actually harder, and if so why. Then go back and do the same thing on a breezy day. If you're "hovering" in a pound waiting for a lock, have a go at reversing back up the pound. If you can't get something to work, pick up the book that evening with a fresh memory of what you tried and what went wrong; that'll give you a whole load of context to visualise the book's explanations. One of the great things about narrowboating on canals is that it's mostly a pretty forgiving environment, so (with a bit of common sense) you can try stuff out without having to worry too much about the consequences of getting it wrong.

[Lady M]

Just be prepared to never stop learning.  Please!

[Laurie Booth]

4 hours ago, IanM said:

Edited to add: I did do a RCR engine maintenance course and found that extremely useful. 
 

 

I had RCR come and service my engine and the chap showed me what to do. Great to be taught on your own engine

[Bromleyxphil]

1 hour ago, Wiltshire Moonraker said:

Seems to still be available here https://www.canalshop.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000002.pl?WD=deuchar&PN=skills.html#a990405

Bought one, thanks for the link

 

Thanks to everyone else for your answers, this forum at its best👍🏻