Time for hiters to take it easier?

[Peter Underwood]

A ring too far?

This may interest novice and experieced hirers

http://norburywharfltd.blogspot.com/

[RLWP]

Are you Norbury Wharf's publicity officer, Peter?

 

Richard

[luctor et emergo]

Richard, don't feed the troll....

[Pariah]

What's a hiter?

[rrt2]

What's a hiter?

 

 

AN Cook c SK Raina b I Sharma 294 545 33 0

[Peter Underwood]

A hiter is a mistyped hirer. I respond to many requests to write guest blogs and offer them to forums like this as a link rather than cut and paste. That way anyone who finds the topic interesting can take a look and those who don't can pass on without wading through hundreds of words.

 

Oh and I would just like to say how nice it is when you are made welcome in a forum. Thank you everyone who makes me want to stay here and keep posting. I will do my best to keep it up.

[RLWP]

Peter, you seem to be rubbing us up the wrong way at the moment

 

I objected when at the top of the link you provided I get a huge banner for Norbury Wharf. Didn't bother reading any further

 

How about if you try to join in here a little more before putting up some more links to external material? If we get to know you more, perhaps you'll get a better reception

 

Richard

[Janet S]

Well I enjoyed that blog post Peter.

 

As an experienced hirer, we almost always go for marathon cruises - we have been known to cruise for fourteen hour days, but I can see it wouldn't suit everyone. Our last one was a month long trip from the Midlands down to the Thames and back.

 

We are starting to slow down a bit now, as we have the opportunity to borrow a boat from friends, so we aren't always restricted to just a few short weeks where we try to cram everything in, but when hiring, we do try to make the most of the time and see as many new waterways as we can.

 

I've recently started working doing handovers for a local narrowboat hire company, and without fail the hirers are happy, keen and willing to learn. Now i get to go boating and chat to nice people every weekend...and get paid for it!

 

Janet

[RichardH]

Are you Norbury Wharf's publicity officer, Peter?

 

Richard

 

What is the value or merit in this post?

 

 

I think it has raised an intersting issue. We actually discourage guests from walloping the boats around a ring as it uses a mountain of diesel and causes no end of grief if they get their timings wrong and arrive back late.

[Peter Underwood]

Can't say I am too upset by any of it but I take the easiest route when I have something I think is worth saying and say it once and then link to it.

I talk to a series of waterways audiences from Waterscape's pages to Twitter boaters and Facebook boating friends as well as my own blogs and their followers. The reactions fascinate me and help me get a feel of boater opinion, which I will then reflect back in other ways.

What I find curious about this forum is the unusually high levels of personal hostility about honestly expressed opinions as I don't meet it elsewhere about exactly the same material. Wonder why, but not going to worry about it.

 

Janet

Have to admit that when we first owned a boat it was a series of targets, long days etc.

Not suggesting that is necessarily wrong, just that there is another way and some hirers might prefer laid back

[RLWP]

Because it doesn't come over very well. If you want to have a discussion here, have a discussion. Dropping in and linking to something you wrote somewhere else - what's the point? If you are doing it to look clever "look what I did!" it's off-putting. If you are doing it to put up your google ratings (like the spammers do) it's despicable. If you are doing it to engage with this community, why not just engage by posting original stuff here? A conversation is all we want

 

Richard

Edited August 18, 2011 by RLWP

[muddywaters]

Well I enjoyed that blog post Peter.

 

As an experienced hirer, we almost always go for marathon cruises - we have been known to cruise for fourteen hour days, but I can see it wouldn't suit everyone. Our last one was a month long trip from the Midlands down to the Thames and back.

 

We are starting to slow down a bit now, as we have the opportunity to borrow a boat from friends, so we aren't always restricted to just a few short weeks where we try to cram everything in, but when hiring, we do try to make the most of the time and see as many new waterways as we can.

 

I've recently started working doing handovers for a local narrowboat hire company, and without fail the hirers are happy, keen and willing to learn. Now i get to go boating and chat to nice people every weekend...and get paid for it!

 

Janet

We tend to mix and match, will have a structured I prefer to call cruise one year and a more relaxing one the next.

As our last 2 cruisers have been of the more relaxed kind we thought time for another structured one this year hence the Black Country Ring and will most likely do what we did on the StourPort Ring.

Early starts late finishes the first 2 or 3 days to try and get ahead then if that part goes to plan will be able to have late starts and early finishes on the last 2 or 3 days.

That system worked out for us well on the StourPort Ring and had completed it half a day before needing to get the boat back.

All without rushing but starting as soon as it gets light and having lunch on the move

[sueb]

Peter, you seem to be rubbing us up the wrong way at the moment

 

I objected when at the top of the link you provided I get a huge banner for Norbury Wharf. Didn't bother reading any further

 

How about if you try to join in here a little more before putting up some more links to external material? If we get to know you more, perhaps you'll get a better reception

 

Richard

It doesn't matter. You will get slagged off sooner or later.

Sue

[LoneWolf]

Peter, you seem to be rubbing us up the wrong way at the moment

...

How about if you try to join in here a little more before putting up some more links to external material? If we get to know you more, perhaps you'll get a better reception

 

Richard

 

 

... A conversation is all we want

 

Richard

 

whose this 'we' you speak for?

are you perhaps a royal or Maggie T?

Surely you can't have collected all the forum users opinions so fast

[luctor et emergo]

Richard speaks for at least himself, and myself. Thus his use of 'we' is not incorrect at all.

 

Perhaps my asking Richard to 'not feed the troll' was not correct. This is more spamming, rather than trolling. And unfortunately, the more we respond to these threads, the higher his count.

 

Where's Victor btw?

[cotswoldsman]

Firstly I have nothing against Norbury Wharf I think Simon and David run a very good business but I do feel that Peter might be doing them more harm than good. To constantly see links to there website is quite annoying.

Peter in my opinion if you want to have a discussion or debate on a forum and start a thread for debate then post what you have to say, just a few words and a link hardly qualifies as a thread to me, it says two things either the poster is is very lazy and unable to post properly or is trying to promote a website. For both those reasons I for one have not clicked on the link so am unable to debate why HITERS SHOULD TAKE IT EASIER but then I am not a big fan of Boxing so would not be able to contribute much anyway.

I find your arrogance as some sort self promoted expert very annoying.

Edited August 19, 2011 by cotswoldsman

[RLWP]

whose this 'we' you speak for?

are you perhaps a royal or Maggie T?

Surely you can't have collected all the forum users opinions so fast

 

Thank you, well said. I accept that. Perhaps some of us, which would then identify the we I used later

 

Richard

Edited August 19, 2011 by RLWP

[magpie patrick]

Richard speaks for at least himself, and myself. Thus his use of 'we' is not incorrect at all.

 

 

That makes three of us.

 

Okay there are ten thousand members, but active? A few hundred? By and large discussion is what makes this forum tick. Peter also posts the same material on facebook, and there it works because for a start he couldn't post the entire script in his opening salvo, and it is just the culture of facebook. I do respond to his posts on facebook because that's how it works there. It isn't how things work here. Why? Well, there is much less of a "discussion" element on facebook. Someone posts and a lot of, often unconnected, responses come back. Peter can post what the hell he likes here, but if he wants us to appreciate his posts (I think at least four of us, Me, Richard, Luctor and Cotswoldman, and I could probably add twenty more names that are likely to agree with this) he should make them on the board and then come back and argue his case when we knock it.

 

Peter is one of my facebook friends by the way, although I don't know him in person, Lonewolf presumably does. On facebook he gets a different (although overlapping) audience.

 

This forum isn't facebook or twitter, detail is what we do, not soundbites, and I think that (plus the appearance of self appointed expert status) is what is rubbing people up the wrong way.

[Guest wanted]

That makes three of us.

 

Okay there are ten thousand members, but active? A few hundred? By and large discussion is what makes this forum tick. Peter also posts the same material on facebook, and there it works because for a start he couldn't post the entire script in his opening salvo, and it is just the culture of facebook. I do respond to his posts on facebook because that's how it works there. It isn't how things work here. Why? Well, there is much less of a "discussion" element on facebook. Someone posts and a lot of, often unconnected, responses come back. Peter can post what the hell he likes here, but if he wants us to appreciate his posts (I think at least four of us, Me, Richard, Luctor and Cotswoldman, and I could probably add twenty more names that are likely to agree with this) he should make them on the board and then come back and argue his case when we knock it.

 

Peter is one of my facebook friends by the way, although I don't know him in person, Lonewolf presumably does. On facebook he gets a different (although overlapping) audience.

 

This forum isn't facebook or twitter, detail is what we do, not soundbites, and I think that (plus the appearance of self appointed expert status) is what is rubbing people up the wrong way.

 

 

 

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[carlt]

That makes three of us.

 

 

Four.

 

I won't add any more becaus e I've said my piece elsewhere.

 

I would add, though, that I am a great admirer of Peter and, in particular, his politics, just not his recent use of the forum for self-aggrandisment.

[gary955]

I'm happy to be pointed in the direction of articles that I might find interesting. I dont find Peters manner particularly arrogant and his writing is interesting.

What I do find arrogant is the self appointed grandees of the forum instructing other members on how to post, on behalf of the wider membership. If you dont like Peters posts, then dont read them. There is really no need for you to respond to them in any way.

Not trying to put the cat amongst the pidgeons, just an observation

[cotswoldsman]

I'm happy to be pointed in the direction of articles that I might find interesting. I dont find Peters manner particularly arrogant and his writing is interesting.

What I do find arrogant is the self appointed grandees of the forum instructing other members on how to post, on behalf of the wider membership. If you dont like Peters posts, then dont read them. There is really no need for you to respond to them in any way.

Not trying to put the cat amongst the pidgeons, just an observation

 

Sorry no post to read just a link. In my opinion the forum would lose a lot if all we did was post links, I just think (and I am not speaking on behalf of any other member) if you have something to say then post it, if you then have material that might be relevant such as a source then post a link to that. I am sure like any other member Peter has some interesting things to say I just wish he would say them on here.

[Spesh]

Add me to those that form the "we". Pretty much every other thread on this site is started by someone who posts their thoughts/questions and such thoughts/questions are then discussed. If someone starting a thread thinks they have something worth discussing/asking, and therefore want people to respond, it's hardly asking too much for the content of their question to actually be in the post.

 

Given that it would be just as quick to paste the text of the article as is it to link to it I'm not sure the "I'm just trying to do it the easiest way" argument holds any water. It seems perfectly legitimate to question whether there is some other intention at work, particularly as the links clearly have a strong commercial element.

 

As for the content of the post, it's an interesting thought but I don't think it makes a great deal of sense when you think about it. It's logical for a hire company to provide some of the standard routes that can be easily done in a week. I don't consider any of the normal routes that hire companies say can be done in a week to be "hard working". You can do the four counties with considerable time to spare in one week without doing stupidly long days. I don't think you ever see a hire company recommend a route that needs 12 hours a day as the post suggests. A hard week is doing in a week what the brochures suggest should be 10 days/2 weeks. This is spoken by someone planning to do the Avon Ring in early September in a week including going via Droitwich for the Worcester to Hanbury section!

 

The brochures normally give rough timings for the routes they suggest, so it's hardly difficult to figure out you can do part of that route in less time if you fancy taking it really easy. You can't expect the level of detail the post suggests about nice butchers in every town because you're then expecting a hire base to run its business as well as produce something as detailed as a Pearson's guide. That's just not realistic.

[Evo]

I'm happy to be pointed in the direction of articles that I might find interesting. I dont find Peters manner particularly arrogant and his writing is interesting.

What I do find arrogant is the self appointed grandees of the forum instructing other members on how to post, on behalf of the wider membership. If you dont like Peters posts, then dont read them. There is really no need for you to respond to them in any way.

Not trying to put the cat amongst the pidgeons, just an observation

 

 

I could have said all that..!!! spot on.

 

Dont see the sense in the whole article being cut and pasted into a post on here - which seems to be what some are asking for.

[Spesh]

I could have said all that..!!! spot on.

 

Dont see the sense in the whole article being cut and pasted into a post on here - which seems to be what some are asking for.

At the very least it should be summarised:

"I've been wondering whether there would be value in hire companies recomending shorter routes as well as the standard rings that are always suggested. Something like a couple of hours a day with recommendations for nice places to stop, good local food suppliers, that sort of thing. What do folks think?

 

If you want some more thoughts on this, see here: [Link]"

 

That doesn't require a great deal of effort. The onus should be on the thread starter to provide enough detail for discussion without requiring a trip to an external site complete with advertising. Everybody else manages it, so it's hardly too much to ask. This is a discussion board, not a place to just advertise your blog. I think the issue a number of us have is that Peter gives the impression (and by saying that I want to be clear I'm not making any assumptions as to whether this is or is not his intention) of treating it as the latter rather than former.