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Do you find boating stressful


Wrinkley

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Sorry, muddywaters, no offence meant against hirers or ring cruisers - just boaters with a motorway mentality.

 

An example of over-ambitious journey planning and where it can go wrong - we turned up at Bevere lock on the river Severn last August, just after the paddle gear had broken. We were warned by the lock-keeper upstream but carried on regardless and joined the queue of 4 or 5 boats and settled in for along long wait while BW did their best to fix it. Pumps were arranged and fitted, bigger pumps arrived and were fitted, heads were scratched, announcements were made. More boats turned up and some were not happy. Much chuntering, shaking of heads, muttered curses against BW and then reversing, winding and dashing back to Stourport.

The sheep having been sorted from the goats, 36 hours later, the lock was working again and after having made some new friends, we carried on with our cruise and lived happily ever after.

 

Et in arcadia ego.

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When I got the boat It struck me that I had taken on something huge! but when I`m out with her my stresses fade away & I`m lost in the inner peace that I feel. How lucky are we to expererience this!!

 

Sue

 

Does anyone feel the same?

 

I think lots of people do - boating can be incredibly relaxing. When I started it took me a long time to get the hang of steering and I did get stressed. However I remember clearly steering on the Tyrley flight of the Shroppie when it struck me - whats the point of worrying? Since then apart from the occasional blip, I find my stresses fade away when I'm out boating - just like you say.

 

Sam

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Its not as much fun as it used to be for us, so perhaps it's getting a little more stressful. We sailed up from Skipton last weekend and the state of the canal was awful. It used to be a doddle sailing up but it was a trial.

 

No lockies to be seen, low levels, moorings full, grounding in the middle of the cut and sad, miserable faces appearing in windows when you finally find a spot to moor.

 

We're older, less rainfall, more marinas, more boats.

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People react to the similar situations in a variety of different ways. Even organising and going on holiday can actually produce a stress response in some people even if they don't realise it at the time. So it's probably not surprising that moving a big boat which may represent one's life savings and contain all one's personal possessions might be stressful for some people too. Anyway, that was my excuse coming downstream on the Thames, concentrating on river traffic and turning into Limehouse lock against a strong ebb tide, while a couple of friends on the boat wouldn't stop asking me stupid questions... Was it stress or just adrenaline? Probably a mixture of both.

Edited by blackrose
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Stress and adrenaline - that's the same thing. The difference is, are you enjoying it or not?

Venturing onto the Severn, first time on a big river for us and our new boat was stressful but exciting, we had a wonderful cruise.

Queueing endlessly at Manchester airport for 6 hours, queueing endlessly at the other end for security reasons, driving a hire car in a foreign country at night with no proper maps before the hotel shuts it's doors, not speaking the language or even being able to read the road signs - that's stressful!

 

Canal boating and stress - I don't think so.

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Canal boating and stress - I don't think so.

 

Obviously not for you - but judging by the number of couples I've seen arguing at locks etc, it's stressful for some people.

 

Like I said, everyone reacts differently.

Edited by blackrose
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Obviously not for you - but judging by the number of couples I've seen arguing at locks etc, it's stressful for some people.

 

Like I said, everyone reacts differently.

 

Very true - I sometimes wonder if the arguing people would be stressed whatever they did - the boating is incidental. We once spoke to a couple at a waterpoint on the Paddington Arm. They seemed happy enough but then we compared notes on the different canals we'd done. Whilst we raved about most of the canals we'd been on they didn't seem to have a good word to say about any that they had done - as you say different reactions!

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Very true - I sometimes wonder if the arguing people would be stressed whatever they did - the boating is incidental. We once spoke to a couple at a waterpoint on the Paddington Arm. They seemed happy enough but then we compared notes on the different canals we'd done. Whilst we raved about most of the canals we'd been on they didn't seem to have a good word to say about any that they had done - as you say different reactions!

 

Haha! Yes. Met this couple in Dudley, he moaned and moaned and moaned about the Rochdale, said we should forget it. Pleased we decided to make our own minds up. We had a great time there.

 

It depends on the individual doesn't it?

 

I get my knickers in a twist if I see people moored on lock landings and waterpoints and he tells me to 'chill out', yet if we ground the boat (like he did quite spectacularly last year in what turned out to be a disused lock chamber round the back of an ait on the Thames), he has an absolute over the top hissy fit and I'm the calm one.

Edited by Lady Muck
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