Observations after our hols.

[Capey]

Holiday hire boaters were generally very friendly, enjoying the novely of being out and about with people who take the time to say hello. Except for the pratts who saw us coming down Bosley and actaully ran to empty the lock for thier friends, the rest were great. I was a bit concenred though as I had to stop and give some teenagers a safely lesson, like - "see this latch thing, dont take it off, I assume you like your teeth ???"

We realise that snobbishness comes from all angles. The funniest episode we had was on Monday, a couple in what looked like a very nice fancy shmancy boat in front of us - we went up to them to help them and admired the boat - "oh its a one off, build in London" - very nice indeed I must say. Then asked me to raise the lock only 1 ratchet at a time. She said "oh you see, when you own your own boat you take more care" - I pointed to Twakkie (half scraped, half picked off paint, with bits of red, green and undercoat all over the place) and our friends Unnamed and primered boat and said "see those two boats - do they look like bloody hire boats to you!!!"? - how stuck up can you get. Just because I was wearing Paul's jumper in XXXL, ( I am small) a cap advertising Namibian beer and a pair of jeans, more holes than denim, soaked to the skin, it doesn,t mean I cant afford a tatty half painted boat with bird poo on the roof does it ????/

[Lady Muck]

TBH, I don't really ever meet these snobby boaters that everyone harps on about. We were cruisng the Stort and Lee same weekend as the OP, all we met met were friendly and helpful types.

 

We had a campervan before we got the boat, plus a caravan club membership. If you want to see snobbery in action, it is incredibly bad in the campsites.

Edited June 2, 2008 by Lady Muck

[StoneHenge]

My boss is a member of the camping and caravan club, and he could tell you hundreds of stories about snobs there.

 

I must admit, I've onlt come across a few who have been really off, and the majority really nice. It is usually the ones most people stereotypes would write them off with that turn out to be some of the nicest people you could meet.

 

I've only had one or two occasions to be really narked, but that's for totally different reasons to the OP's comments.

[Chertsey]

My boss is a member of the camping and caravan club, and he could tell you hundreds of stories about snobs there.

 

I must admit, I've onlt come across a few who have been really off, and the majority really nice. It is usually the ones most people stereotypes would write them off with that turn out to be some of the nicest people you could meet.

 

I've only had one or two occasions to be really narked, but that's for totally different reasons to the OP's comments.

I thought the Camping and Caravan Club were the less snobby lot and the Caravan Club were the really uptight ones. We joined when we had our elastoplast pink (with yellow doors) 1974 Bedford CF Dormobile, to get the cheap insurance. I would SO loved to have turned up on one of their sites one day and watched their heads explode. They used to have a special feature in their magazine every month where people would write in and sneer about tatty or unusual caravans they'd seen. It was very nasty.

[Lady Muck]

I thought the Camping and Caravan Club were the less snobby lot and the Caravan Club were the really uptight ones. We joined when we had our elastoplast pink (with yellow doors) 1974 Bedford CF Dormobile, to get the cheap insurance. I would SO loved to have turned up on one of their sites one day and watched their heads explode. They used to have a special feature in their magazine every month where people would write in and sneer about tatty or unusual caravans they'd seen. It was very nasty.

 

We were members of the caravan club. We used the sites quite often. Alot of my friends are what you'd term crusties - dreadlocks, army fatigues etc. They'd just look on in horror at us. Didn't stop us enjoying the sites though.

[StoneHenge]

I thought the Camping and Caravan Club were the less snobby lot and the Caravan Club were the really uptight ones. We joined when we had our elastoplast pink (with yellow doors) 1974 Bedford CF Dormobile, to get the cheap insurance. I would SO loved to have turned up on one of their sites one day and watched their heads explode. They used to have a special feature in their magazine every month where people would write in and sneer about tatty or unusual caravans they'd seen. It was very nasty.

 

Yes, you are right, it is that caravan club. My boss is a director, his wife a very astute governer and technical whizz. But they have children, so they are deemed neighbours from hell and usually get shunted to the worst spot to keep them out of the way along with the fact that unless your caravan is less than 2 years old you are virtually ousted.

 

Can't be doing with that! All I ever saw people like that do was set up the van and immediately start watching telly. I can't understand driving 200 miles somewhere to this beautiful location to watch telly.

 

I'll stick with the tent!

[Breals]

Tightly permed woman on the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal... you know who you are!

 

The other week my engine stalled near Saul Junction, and I couldn’t restart it. It was quite a windy day, so the boat did a couple of 180 degree turns as it floated along. It was panic stations for me, and I successfully managed to avoid touching the wooden rudder of a vintage boat, and the spin from that manoeuvre was going to bring me nice and gently alongside a moored boat. I shouted to the owners of the boat that I had lost power and was going to breast up.

 

A woman came out as I was getting ready with my centre line, as my boat was closing up on theirs. ‘You can’t moor up to us’…. ‘We have just had the sides painted’… I was concerned about her paint, and told her the boat was without power and the wind was bringing me in against them, so I couldn’t do anything about it, but my fenders should prevent any contact with her paintwork (I could see her gunnels had not been recently painted).

 

She had a face of absolute thunder. She said ‘Why didn’t you moor up when the engine stalled?’ How are you supposed to just moor up when the engine stalls and you are in a windy section of canal with boats moored each side?

 

I was obviously concerned about her paintwork, but it turned out it was just some of the decorative panels. I had come alongside her gently with my gunnels alongside hers, so what was the problem? I even have big rubber tyre fenders, so there wasn’t even a chance of scraping her blacking! Even when I went out to apologise again and let her know the RCR were on their way, she was really miserable and hard done by about the whole thing. She even made us move the boat alongside the one next to hers so they could move away, and helped by her neighbour we hauled our boat into the spot they had occupied. When we were up and going again, about an hour later, I saw they had moored up about 200 yards down the canal.

 

I don’t know if there are special procedures for dealing with this sort of event, but I think I did quite well to bring the boat in safely without any real mishap.

[alan_fincher]

You should, of course, have used your bow and stern thrusters to keep away from the dear lady's paint.....

 

What do you mean you don't have neither bow or stern thruster ?

 

Call that a boat - you have no right to be on the canals

 

 

Why, oh why, on the Grand Union south of here, are the two or three spots that have the most hazadous strong cross currents, accompanied by permanent moorings on the opposite side. (And wide beams to boot).

 

Not putting boats there at all would seem a stronger option than just hanging fenders off to repel those who get caught out.

 

My apologies to the dutch style barge whos big inflated "space hopper" style fenders I had a brush with - I really was trying to keep out of your way.

 

If it were me, I think I'd try and seek out another mooring.

Edited June 2, 2008 by alan_fincher

[Maverick]

As in 'I'm all right jack'?

 

 

 

You don't have to have been at it very long to have picked up something that will be useful to the next newest person down the line.

 

 

Its very easy to simply take a small quote from a story and and take it out of context. Same as your line above which suggests you know it all and will give folk the benefit of your advice wether they request it or not.

[Neildudman]

Breals,

 

If it were me shouted at instead of that woman, I would have lept up and put my shoes on and given you a hand in rain, sun, sleat or snow!. I am sure I would not have been alone.

 

Treat others as you want to be treated is what I say - Karma - it'll catch up in the end!!!.

 

Neil

[GSer]

Sitting on the Thames once, I was fishing about 100 yrds from my moored boat, when a gin palace came along, it was right beside me when he shouted to his crew, "There's one of those fekkin gypsy narrow boats in our spot" the conversation with his crew carried on and the skipper decided to come and have a word with the owner of said narrow boat, er indoors was walking the dog so I nipped between the bushes back to the boat.

 

Along comes this poncy twat, "I say, I wonder if you could move, its our spot, we are well known for mooring here" I said no, i'd paid the EA for the spot for a couple of days and thats how long I was staying. He went back to his missus, who, by the sound of her language was not a happy lady(?) back he comes and offers me a tenner to move, I said no, he went ballistic, threatened me, threatened the lock keeper who had took my mooring fees and then eventually moored on the water point, set up his chairs and tables and started to prepare a barbeque, all the time getting grief of his missus

 

Pop Pop Pop around the corner, comes a well used narrow boat wanting to use the water point, the lock keeper approached the owner of the gin palace and took great pleasure in moving him off the water point.

 

Well the toys really came out of the pram this time, he just threw all his BBQ kit in the back of his Broom and then shot off shouting threats of retribution.

 

We saw him moor further down on the race course side only to be turfed off again by Windsor race course security. Made my day

 

Paul

[Neildudman]

Class story!...I assume by 'Gin Palace' you mean a big shinny tupperware boat?.

 

Was he wearing boating shoes with slacks and her a stripey white and blue top???? lol

[Capey]

TBH, I don't really ever meet these snobby boaters that everyone harps on about. We were cruisng the Stort and Lee same weekend as the OP, all we met met were friendly and helpful types.

 

We had a campervan before we got the boat, plus a caravan club membership. If you want to see snobbery in action, it is incredibly bad in the campsites.

 

 

we resigned from the Camping and Caravan club after my Paul took our dinky little caravan down to London. He is a wonderful fellow, with a strong Lancashire accent and a round jolly red face. He greeted the cadaverous fellow behind the desk at Clapham Caravan site in a typical Northern friends manner, like mate, pal and my flower...you know the stuff. This fellow says to Paul "you'r not here to "work" are you" using work like one would talk about poo under your shoe. Before Paul could defend himself he said "we dont want you wearing work clothes on the site, it lowers the tone" - nothing could have lowered the tone more than him......resigned, after that week - dont need that sort of grief do you.

[GSer]

Class story!...I assume by 'Gin Palace' you mean a big shinny tupperware boat?.

 

Was he wearing boating shoes with slacks and her a stripey white and blue top???? lol

 

 

Plum trousers, he was on a looser before he even spoke, I can forgive most things, but not Plum trousers

[Sir Nibble]

Similar has happened to me with a "Gin palace" the owner of which refused to move back a yard so's I could get in 'cos then he would have been partly under a tree and anyway this is "his" spot. I did get alongside when another boat moved up a little but my polite request had so insensed this bloke that his entire family came out to watch me struggle to get off the mooring against the river flow, encouraging me to make a hash of it and "Sink that skip"! Sprung her off with the engine, no bother, but since then I have managed to take "his" spot twice and refuse to move. What goes around. It's a kharma thing.

[NB Alnwick]

Reading through these posts I reckon that a large majority of those posting are really 'inverted snobs' and that's the one thing that is worse than snobbery . . .

[saltysplash]

Class story!...I assume by 'Gin Palace' you mean a big shinny tupperware boat?.

 

Was he wearing boating shoes with slacks and her a stripey white and blue top???? lol

 

 

You gotta love em.

 

The Thames Lock keepers have a name for them. We were entering boulters lock a few years ago in a rather large 1908c dutch barge and noticed a flurry of activity by the plastic boats already infront of us as they saw our Bow tower above them. I called out to the lockie from the wheel house "are they alright up front?"

"dont worry about them, there only splitters" says he

 

"splitters?"

 

"oh yes" he says, "thats the noise they make when you run into them"

[BlueStringPudding]

Reading through these posts I reckon that a large majority of those posting are really 'inverted snobs' and that's the one thing that is worse than snobbery . . .

 

 

Is that a bit like an inverted nipple?

[Neildudman]

I dont hide my snobbery!. I like nice things, nowt wrong with that, but life is about getting on with everyone, material things really are irrelevant.

 

How many people go by first impression looks?

[Dominic M]

Is that a bit like an inverted nipple?

"snobs" BSP, not "nobs".

[Tim Lewis]

I dont hide my snobbery!. I like nice things, nowt wrong with that, but life is about getting on with everyone, material things really are irrelevant.

 

How many people go by first impression looks?

 

Many years ago I got caught out badly when someone I took an instant dislike to turned out to be a real star and who is still a dear friend. I decided then to not make instant opinions of people but after a while of trying to see the best in real pratts I went back to doing it as am right 99% of the time!

 

Tim

[Machpoint005]

You gotta love em.

 

The Thames Lock keepers have a name for them. We were entering boulters lock a few years ago in a rather large 1908c dutch barge and noticed a flurry of activity by the plastic boats already infront of us as they saw our Bow tower above them. I called out to the lockie from the wheel house "are they alright up front?"

"dont worry about them, there only splitters" says he

 

"splitters?"

 

"oh yes" he says, "thats the noise they make when you run into them"

 

We tend to refer to them as 'shredded wheat boats' - because of what they look like when you run into them.

 

However, that's so more to the point:

 

If someone comes along wanting to moor, and I can make room by hutching up a bit, I do (without being asked). Sometimes, I get the same treatment, but being only 48ft long the problem doesn't often come up - we can get into a gap the shiny boater thought was too small.

[Chertsey]

Its very easy to simply take a small quote from a story and and take it out of context. Same as your line above which suggests you know it all and will give folk the benefit of your advice wether they request it or not.

On the contrary. I took a whole paragraph with a very clear theme.

 

And you're welcome to take that quote of mine out of context - it still says the very opposite of what you suggest. You don't have to know it all to be helpful to other people. You could pass on something you'd only been told yourself five minutes ago and it would still be helpful.

 

But yes, if I think I can be helpful, or more importantly, avert an accident, then I hope I would have the confidence to approach someone and offer. Many's the time I would really have welcomed help or advice but been either too shy or too preoccupied to request it.

[Maverick]

On the contrary. I took a whole paragraph with a very clear theme.

 

And you're welcome to take that quote of mine out of context - it still says the very opposite of what you suggest. You don't have to know it all to be helpful to other people. You could pass on something you'd only been told yourself five minutes ago and it would still be helpful.

 

But yes, if I think I can be helpful, or more importantly, avert an accident, then I hope I would have the confidence to approach someone and offer. Many's the time I would really have welcomed help or advice but been either too shy or too preoccupied to request it.

 

Thats fine I was forgetting you were a woman. All women are know-it-alls and think they have the right to tell others what to do.

 

Hope that doesnt sound sexist?

[Chertsey]

Thats fine I was forgetting you were a woman. All women are know-it-alls and think they have the right to tell others what to do.

 

Hope that doesnt sound sexist?

I will let it speak for itself.

 

But you must have a terrible memory - the clue's in the name.

Edited June 2, 2008 by WarriorWoman