Owners versus hirers

[Minos]

I've only owned a boat for a few weeks. And I'm a couple of days into a hired boat holiday. For the most part, there is no difference between owning and hiring.

 

People in general are just as friendly. It's brilliant.

 

Except...

 

A small minority of people seem to think it is appropriate to talk to hirers like they have communication difficulties, and need simple instructions in short sentences made up of monosyllabic words.

 

That just makes it even funnier when the patronising prat then leaves a bottom paddle open while filling a lock.

[pearley]

We were all hirers once!

[Sunset Rising]

All hirers are the scum of the earth. They should be shot, hung, drawn and quartered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But not between August 16th and 23rd.

[RichardH]

I had someone pontificate to me recently about 'hirers this and hirers that'

 

I simply asked 'did you hire before buying'

 

'Yes'

 

'And how would you have felt listening to what you have just told me when you were stood at the bar'

 

Red face and silence followed by a quick change of subject.

 

On our first hire boat holiday we were truly awful and made most mistakes. We still make mistakes !

[casper ghost]

We were all hirers once!

Not all of us!

 

Casp' (never hired a boat)

[mayalld]

We were all hirers once!

No we werent

[DeanS]

I've had 2 experiences today....edited to make that 3.

 

One was a guy and his wife, from Norway, on their first ever hire trip. I felt so sorry for him. It was all a bit new, and he had to go through some tunnels on the Trent and Mersey in front of me...he kept bashing the walls all the way through.....

 

The second was a 30ft boat ...coming towards me from a distance. Next minute it's right across the canal, bow into the reeds...and no where for me to pass. I havent got a bow thruster, so I could do nothing but ram into reverse, leaving me in the reeds. The driver was so drunk (as were his passengers), I dont think he even knew where he was going. They managed to get away and ended up smashing into the next bridge...and off they went.

 

Oh, and I saw a third....a boat came round a corner, and steered straight into the side of a moored boat....as if they were dodgem cars.

 

It's been quite a day, but the weather has been great

[Sanddancer]

Hello

it's the old STUCK UP PEOPLE who think they know better than all other's but in fact they are still in the 60's save the water let's wait for the boat to come dome it might be 20 minutes away and 6 boats waiting to use the lock but they wait or get in a STROP and sit on there boat waiting for you to leave the lock open for them to come through and not helping, ii just wish i could name them but i'm sure they know who they are.

[casper ghost]

Hello

it's the old STUCK UP PEOPLE who think they know better than all other's but in fact they are still in the 60's save the water let's wait for the boat to come dome it might be 20 minutes away and 6 boats waiting to use the lock but they wait or get in a STROP and sit on there boat waiting for you to leave the lock open for them to come through and not helping, ii just wish i could name them but i'm sure they know who they are.

Daft response, did you read the opening post or just decide to rant about anything?

Casp'

[cloggy]

Hello

it's the old STUCK UP PEOPLE who think they know better than all other's but in fact they are still in the 60's save the water let's wait for the boat to come dome it might be 20 minutes away and 6 boats waiting to use the lock but they wait or get in a STROP and sit on there boat waiting for you to leave the lock open for them to come through and not helping, ii just wish i could name them but i'm sure they know who they are.

 

I'm not one of those stuck up people.

But if you notice the bl**dy water levels in most of the country and dragged your ar*e up the cut as much as we have the last few days, you'd wait as well

[Minos]

That's two full days hiring done (after rather more than that in my own boat) and I'm very happy to say that the vast majority of people on the water don't appear to care whether you own, hire or borrow - just so long as you don't steal the boat, I suppose.

 

And I'll also say that Debbifiggy recommends an excellent pub. The Rising Star at Berkhamsted is an outstanding little place.

 

We did meet a couple of pompous arses, but after a day of seeing so many people to have met only two is a good thing.

 

And anyway, some people have such psychological insecurity that they are compelled to use every opportunity to demean others and make themselves feel superior. The best response is to just ignore 'em.

[ditchcrawler]

Hello

it's the old STUCK UP PEOPLE who think they know better than all other's but in fact they are still in the 60's save the water let's wait for the boat to come dome it might be 20 minutes away and 6 boats waiting to use the lock but they wait or get in a STROP and sit on there boat waiting for you to leave the lock open for them to come through and not helping, ii just wish i could name them but i'm sure they know who they are.

Are, your talking about me!

Maybe you should spend the summer on the Oxford canal and you would appreciate why you wait for boats coming the other way when a lock is against you

[Circe]

And I'm just having a nice holiday

 

Went past Sickle earlier (very exciting to see the real boat) and have met some lovely people. Pressing on tomorrow, but thoroughly enjoying the GU so far.

[Janet S]

We've hired for several years and have come across this attitude on only a few occasions. However, I'm pleased to say that the majority of boat owners are both courteous and friendly, so we just ignore it when we encounter it.

 

I well remember one occasion a few years ago when we were cruising back up to Sowerby Bridge after one of our epic trips. I'd just entered the second lock at Brighouse basin whilst my travelling companion was stil closing the gates the first lock. The crew of a boat moored above the locks came down and shut the bottom gates and proceeded to fully open ALL the paddles at once then walked back to their boat, leaving me to fend for myself...despite me sounding the horn and shouting and the top of my voice they simply ignored me.

 

I can't remember ever being so scared whilst narrowboating. In a tiddly little 32 foot boat I was thrown all over the place - cupboards and doors opened, crockery and glasses hit the floor...not something I'd like to experience again!

 

As for waiting for oncoming boats...it we know there's one coming, then in the interest of water conservation we'll wait for them rather than wasting a lockful of water...so what if it's 20 minutes???? On a canal that's low on water, then that makes perfect sense to me. After seeing the Leeds & Liverpool closed last year because of water shortages, and scraping along the bottom on the Huddersfield Narrow, then it's pretty clear to anyone with an ounce of common sense that it's the sensible thing to do.

 

If anyone's in that much of a rush that they can't wait twenty minutes, then perhaps they should consider doing something else...

 

Janet

[Gibbo]

At least the hirers are nearly always happy, unlike some of the sour face owners I see.

 

I've mentioned this before but how many times have you seen a grumpy "owner" bloke at the stern, and his Mrs with a face that would scare a police horse sat in the well deck?

[Bimbly1]

No we werent

Perhaps not hirers, but we were all novices once. And can still make mistakes, especially if there is an audience!

 

At least the hirers are nearly always happy, unlike some of the sour face owners I see.

 

I've mentioned this before but how many times have you seen a grumpy "owner" bloke at the stern, and his Mrs with a face that would scare a police horse sat in the well deck?

Didn't know that we'd met.

[choogh]

At least the hirers are nearly always happy, unlike some of the sour face owners I see.

 

Id his Mrs with a face that would scare a police horse sat in the well deck?

Why would a horse, any horse, want to sit in the well deck ??

[Janet S]

but how many times have you seen a grumpy "owner" bloke at the stern, and his Mrs with a face that would scare a police horse sat in the well deck?

 

I've seen that more times than I'd care to count! I have a smile on my face from the minute we collect our boat to the minute we (reluctantly) hand it back! Luckily we don't have to rely on hiring all the time, as we have some wonderful CWDF friends who are happy to lend their boats to us, so we get to cruise quite regularly in between our annual hires.

 

I've recently started work for a local hire boat company, doing boat handovers and from my personal experience as a hirer, and chatting to our guests as they arrive, it's clear that many have spent weeks or even months planning, researching and trying to learn as much as they can in advance so that they can make the most out of their holiday. I know when we booked our very first one that we spent weeks and weeks reading up, watching the DVD's and trying to learn as much as we could so we wouldn't appear to be absolute numpties! We had a boat out last week that was hired by a couple from Switzerland...they'd watched the DVD's, bought books...they'd even bought rope and practiced knot tying in preparation...!

 

Most hirers simply want to get it right and have a nice holiday...hopefully they'll enjoy it and get hooked as we did after our very first trip. Our canals NEED them.

 

Janet

[steelaway]

At least the hirers are nearly always happy, unlike some of the sour face owners I see.

 

I've mentioned this before but how many times have you seen a grumpy "owner" bloke at the stern, and his Mrs with a face that would scare a police horse sat in the well deck?

 

The same ones who wont even acknowledge your cheery 'good morning' --------------- Miserable gits

 

Alex

[PhilR]

The vast majority of hirers these days are really nice considerate people. When some of them do things wrong it is usually due to inexperience rather than any deliberate intention to cause a nuisance to others. Unfortunately the same can't be said about an increasingly large minority of Day Boat hirers ..... but that is life. People hire day boats for birthday/hen/stag parties etc and alcohol usually comes into the equation before 11:00am.

[Sunset Rising]

<snip> the same can't be said about an increasingly large minority of Day Boat hirers ..... but that is life. People hire day boats for birthday/hen/stag parties etc and alcohol usually comes into the equation before 11:00am.

Thats because narrowboats dont have yardarms

[jelunga]

I agree. The majority of hirers are happy cheerful nice folk. Could this be that it costs so much to hire nowadays and they therefore want to get value for money? The number of boat owners we see who are grumpy, in a hurry and just bad mannered is beyond belief. As somebody else said earlier, if they are not enjoying their time on the canals get off them! (and try origami?)

[Minos]

It wasn't a hired boat that saw us following them towards a lock, raced in, shut the gates in our face and then buggered off leaving the exit gates & paddles open.

[Jamboat]

"If anyone's in that much of a rush that they can't wait twenty minutes, then perhaps they should consider doing something else..."

My thoughts exactly, have a greenie Janet.

[Nightwatch]

Why would a horse, any horse, want to sit in the well deck ??

Coz he has been pulling the bloody thing for years and the owner has a new kind of horse power now and he was having a ride as a treat.

 

Martyn

Edited August 14, 2011 by Nightwatch