Inconsiderate boaters

[Flyboy]

We've all seen boats moored near bridge holes on blind bends, opposite overhanging trees making passing difficult and the ones that hurriedly untie just as you are approaching so as to get to the next lock before you. We've just experienced what must rate as the most outrageous and inconsiderate. We were travelling south on the T&M on Good Friday and decided to stop overnight about a mile short of Wood End lock near Fradley, which is an idylic spot. At about 1 o'clock in the morning we were woken up by the sound of a fast running engine and looking out of the rear doors saw a large headlight of an approaching narrowboat. This passed us at full speed causing our boat to rock violently and loosened our mooring pins. We couldn't see a name or number as it was dark and the excessive speed it was going. The next morning we set off at 7.30am and when we got to Wood End lock we saw what looked exactly like the offending boat moored on the lock bollards! Has anyone else had a 'better' inconsiderate boater experience?

[carlt]

Chill out.

 

Was anybody injured?

[jonk]

Unfortunately a few people take their car driving skills to the cut. Feel sorry for them - they are not enjoying life!

[Lady Muck]

On the Lee this weekend, I saw a man try to attack a woman with his windlass, chasing her and swearing. She had dared to suggest it might be safer to use the centre line when he moored in the lock with stern and bow lines, dozen turns of rope and a couple of hitches on each one.

 

He was absolutely evil to her.

[Bunny]

Couple of years ago 3 americans having coffee and cake inside their hire boat, in a lock, waiting for the forth to return to tell them where they were going to moor, they were half way up the Lapworth flight. Very sorry didn't know how to drive the boat , I moved it for them, nicely . Bunny.

[Guest]

Flyboy - get urselves up the Erewash - it really is idyllic up here....

 

yes a bit of hard work working the big double locks with the anti-vandal crap on them along with some dodgyly maintained paddles., espes. boating up on your own as we are but so worth it...

[Midnight Rider]

set off at 7.30am and when we got to Wood End lock we saw what looked exactly like the offending boat moored on the lock bollards! Has anyone else had a 'better' inconsiderate boater experience?

Trust that you made sure that they were awake while you worked the lock.

[Flyboy]

Trust that you made sure that they were awake while you worked the lock.

They probably were after using their boat as a pontoon and they didn't come out to complain about inconsiderate boaters.

[Billw]

Not far away from the original post, at Wolsely Bridge last night one particular rottweiler owning boater decided that all the others there may like to listen to his generator till midnight.

Personally have no problem with anyone travelling as late as they like, but engines or generators late I do find annoying.,

Edited April 25, 2011 by Billw

[kitman]

Has anyone else had a 'better' inconsiderate boater experience?

 

HAve been woken up by a drunk guy pulling his boat past ours by rope, banging into ours and everyones elses boat as he went. That was at around 1am.

 

Also, whilst asleep, been untied and moved by BW at around 4.30am becuase the front half of our boat was on the mooring where they like to tie their hopper.

 

Been threatened with violence a few times at locks, have got abuse from strangers off boats for no reason.

 

This can be all fairly usual stuff, most boaters I talk to has had some experience of it.

 

A guy who works at our place - who's been working with boats and boating for over 40 years solid - was telling me today how everytime he goes out for a week on his boat he expects at least one incident nowadays. A women went ape shit at his wife last holiday they had.

 

Another guy at our place had a handful of maggots thrown at his boat and they we went all over his missus, pretty disgusting. (Fisherman was pissed off cos he had to lift his rod out of the water.)

 

Quite frankley I'm not surprised when I hear these stories, I remember the ridiculous shit we used to get off some boaters and general public when I was skippering and living on the Oxford. Good natured people who make mistakes are fine, even good natured drunks moving boats at 1am are fine but some people are bloody arseholes on the cut. Not sure what is wrong with people?

 

Still these things happen, just got to let it go over your head if you can (same goes for the maggots!).

[sociable_hermit]

Last September, in the rain, coming down the one flight of locks on the Macc, we crossed a boat coming up. Both parties left their respective gates open - great.

 

Get in the lock, close the top gate, open the bottom paddles. The boat is about a third of the way down when a guy in a hat appears from under the bridge and launches into a tirade about how we've "shut the doors in his face". It takes us a while to cotton on, and we eventually manage to persuade him that there's a boat ahead of his and it was them he saw closing the gates (and it must have been a good 10 minutes before) to work their boat up. I think he was pissed off because it was raining.

 

By this stage the lock is empty so we open the gates and head under the bridge. It transpires that Mr. Grumpy's missus is only just leaving the following lock, which is about 400 yrds away, so nowhere near 'our' lock in fact. She ignores me as I walk past but tries to have a go at my mate Dan, who is following behind. Dan tells her to get her bloody facts straight, at which point she accuses him of having "anger management issues"!!!

 

You just can't win with some people.

[kitman]

 

You just can't win with some people.

Don't get me wrong, I try to be as amicable as I can with strangers and I can see you do too - but I bet you couldn't help wondering whether it would have been quicker to tell the guy to fuck off as soon as he opened his mouth lol!

[saltysplash]

HAve been woken up by a drunk guy pulling his boat past ours by rope, banging into ours and everyones elses boat as he went. That was at around 1am.

 

Also, whilst asleep, been untied and moved by BW at around 4.30am becuase the front half of our boat was on the mooring where they like to tie their hopper.

 

Been threatened with violence a few times at locks, have got abuse from strangers off boats for no reason.

 

This can be all fairly usual stuff, most boaters I talk to has had some experience of it.

 

A guy who works at our place - who's been working with boats and boating for over 40 years solid - was telling me today how everytime he goes out for a week on his boat he expects at least one incident nowadays. A women went ape at his wife last holiday they had.

 

Another guy at our place had a handful of maggots thrown at his boat and they we went all over his missus, pretty disgusting. (Fisherman was pissed off cos he had to lift his rod out of the water.)

 

Quite frankley I'm not surprised when I hear these stories, I remember the ridiculous sh#t we used to get off some boaters and general public when I was skippering and living on the Oxford. Good natured people who make mistakes are fine, even good natured drunks moving boats at 1am are fine but some people are bl##dy arseholes on the cut. Not sure what is wrong with people?

 

Still these things happen, just got to let it go over your head if you can (same goes for the maggots!).

Strange, Ive never ever been threatened, abused or had maggots thrown at me.

 

I must be doing something wrong

[alan_fincher]

I'm also puzzled by some of the comments people make about the behaviours of others on the cut.

 

As boaters who don't generally hang about when moving, (we are just completing over 300 miles and nearly 200 locks in just over 2 weeks), you might expect that we would be more likely to get into conflicts, particularly with those who really like to dawdle. (Just putting in a 12 hour day should surely increase the possibility).

 

I have to say though it hardly ever happens.

 

Yes, we experience some twits - those who had got boats wedged between gates at Hanwell, with no idea about how to extricate themselves. We persuaded them what needed doing in the end, with nobody setting upset.

 

And, on a very busy bank holiday weekend, a few people did turn locks on us, where it was quite unnecessary, and a bit more observation might have got everybody through quicker.

 

But having done things like argue about turned locks in the past, I now realise it increases stress levels, probably seldom does anything to "educate" the offenders, and that little is achieved by getting into disputes over something that 10 minutes later we can move on from.

 

Oh, and we had a couple of occasions where people who clearly saw themselves as "done it all, seen it all boaters", decided to give us some "friendly" advice. Cath didn't even react to being called "dearie" by one particularly patronising "gent".

 

My advice is that some people need to chill more - and that advice comes from someone who in other walks of life is often not that good at chilling!

 

Enjoy yourselves out there - otherwise what's the point!

[cotswoldsman]

Strange, Ive never ever been threatened, abused or had maggots thrown at me.

 

I must be doing something wrong

 

You seem to have the same problem as me. I have now been CCing for 4 years and during that time covered quite a lot of the system and I have yet to be threatened or abused. Have never really come across any inconsiderate boaters but maybe that is because I just do not worry about what other people get up to. If I have to wait 10 minutes or even 2 hours at a lock who cares makes no difference to me. When boats speed past and rock the boat what is the point of worrying about it and getting upset the people on the speeding boat don't care.

 

 

My advice is that some people need to chill more - and that advice comes from someone who in other walks of life is often not that good at chilling!

 

Enjoy yourselves out there - otherwise what's the point!

 

What a good post I agree 100%

[choogh]

I'm also puzzled by some of the comments people make about the behaviours of others on the cut.

 

As boaters who don't generally hang about when moving, (we are just completing over 300 miles and nearly 200 locks in just over 2 weeks), you might expect that we would be more likely to get into conflicts, particularly with those who really like to dawdle. (Just putting in a 12 hour day should surely increase the possibility).

 

I have to say though it hardly ever happens.

 

Yes, we experience some twits - those who had got boats wedged between gates at Hanwell, with no idea about how to extricate themselves. We persuaded them what needed doing in the end, with nobody setting upset.

 

And, on a very busy bank holiday weekend, a few people did turn locks on us, where it was quite unnecessary, and a bit more observation might have got everybody through quicker.

 

But having done things like argue about turned locks in the past, I now realise it increases stress levels, probably seldom does anything to "educate" the offenders, and that little is achieved by getting into disputes over something that 10 minutes later we can move on from.

 

Oh, and we had a couple of occasions where people who clearly saw themselves as "done it all, seen it all boaters", decided to give us some "friendly" advice. Cath didn't even react to being called "dearie" by one particularly patronising "gent".

 

My advice is that some people need to chill more - and that advice comes from someone who in other walks of life is often not that good at chilling!

 

Enjoy yourselves out there - otherwise what's the point!

 

Ya, whats the point. Average 12 locks/day, plus 19 miles /days for plus 15 days rain or shine. Ya, take it easy I say...

[Barry]

From the other point of view - I have to confess that at the very first lock I did alone I got it wrong and shut the gates in front of another boat, appearing to me to be a long way off. The lady on the other boat came and had a word and said her husband was most unhappy that I hadn't waited for them. I apologised, explained that I was a novice and therefore was still learning, but would wait in future. She seemed a little less than impressed when I said "its hardly the end of the world though is it"

 

I did learn from it though.

[kitman]

Strange, Ive never ever been threatened, abused or had maggots thrown at me.

 

Yes, it's a bit overly kinky for me too.

 

 

One of the times I was threated was about 7 years ago at Slat Mill Lock between Banbury and Cropredy.

 

I was crewing on a passenger boat called Rosy with 30 customers on board. 70 foot boat, 6' 10" wide, so as you can imagine it was full and had a tendancy to roll from side to side when people were walking around inside.

 

Slat Mill is fairly deep lock, if you let the water in too quick the boat will crash very violently forward and back potentially injuring the passengers and creating a situation where passengers may panic. A situation which would need dealing with in a dificult location aswell because salt mill lock is quite isolated.

 

After getting the Rosy in the lock I was met by a stocky guy in his mid thirties wearing black jeans and a leather waistcoat. Because I was in charge and responcible for the saftey of the passengers I instructed him that I didn't require any additional help locking through. I distinctly remember him rolling his eyes and smirking before he went straight to the paddles with his windlass and starting to quickly wind the paddles up letting the water gush in at an alarming rate.

 

 

Now a question, what would any of you guys do? Remember I was at work, working for a company that needed to maintain a good reputation for behaviour.

[saltysplash]

 

 

 

 

Now a question, what would any of you guys do? Remember I was at work, working for a company that needed to maintain a good reputation for behaviour.

 

Put my bow against the top gate/cill in ahead tickover to avoid being pulled forward.

 

 

 

eta just noticed you said the boat was a 70 footer so it wouldnt do a great deal of backwards and forwards. I also know the southern oxfords locks very well and never close the bottom gates till my nose is up against the top cill or gate.

I can imagine the frustration when people dont listen to instructions

Edited April 26, 2011 by saltysplash

[Windfola]

All I can say is, being a potential 'twit,' that I would rather be educated nicely than shouted and sworn at. How am I supposed to get better at boating if I am continually stressed out and embarrassed?

 

I think I might invest in some 'L' Plates and a sign saying 'Please be patient. I'm a beginner' written on it.

[Chris Pink]

 

 

Now a question, what would any of you guys do? Remember I was at work, working for a company that needed to maintain a good reputation for behaviour.

 

I completely agree with Mr Splash, the boat was in no danger and you could have easily just got on with it.

 

If you were in any doubt about this (wide lock for instance) then one thing to do would be to go an open the bottom paddles until geezer gets bored and goes away.

Edited April 26, 2011 by Chris Pink

[magpie patrick]

All I can say is, being a potential 'twit,' that I would rather be educated nicely than shouted and sworn at. How am I supposed to get better at boating if I am continually stressed out and embarrassed?

 

I think I might invest in some 'L' Plates and a sign saying 'Please be patient. I'm a beginner' written on it.

 

Judging by your posts on here, you strike me as the type who is likely to err on the side of caution, which generally causes less aggro

[Mrs Tawny Owl]

<snip>

 

Now a question, what would any of you guys do? Remember I was at work, working for a company that needed to maintain a good reputation for behaviour.

 

Drop the paddles, then explain to the boater how those bloody stupid H&S rules and insurance conditions and the bosses threats that you hate so much mean that only you can work the lock. What a pain in the arse it is, don't you think, but there it is...

 

Richard

[carlt]

Now a question, what would any of you guys do? Remember I was at work, working for a company that needed to maintain a good reputation for behaviour.

In that case, obviously, you could not afford to let any witnesses survive to tell the tale.

Edited April 26, 2011 by carlt

[Bunny]

Couple of summers ago heading downstream just before Abingdon lock on The Thames following a novice hirer a very large Salters Steamer tred to overtake both of us, we signalled that we were we going to turn into the water point. The steamer kept coming until his bow was no more than 6ft off our stern, trying to force us to pull over and out of his way,so he didn't have to wait for the lock, the hire boat turned into lock mooring to get out off his way. After we tied up to fill with water my husband quietly and politely (because there were passangers and children on board)asked the skipper to come down and have a word about his dangerous action. He was told to 'go away' but the go forth and multiply words were used. We telephone Salters to report their skippers dangerous boat handling , they would look into it, when he returned to base . We past the steamer and skipper tied up at Abingdon and we went past he yelled out' Watch you ropes to-night mate, they might just become loose' that was before his boss had a word with him. The hire boat decided to go back and up The Oxford didn't want to spend anymore time on The Thames. Salters did phone back but really didn't want to know. We asked the lockie if the trip boats have 'right of way' over us mere mortals , and they don't, he wasn't very impressed by the skippers attitude or bully boy tactics. Bunny.