Who do some people think they are ??

[bizzard]

[pedant]

 

Captain Mainwaring

 

[/pedant]

 

Tony

You shouldn't have told him Pike.

 

Nearly all boat clubs especially sea sailing clubs use the RN hierarchy titles.

I once belonged to the 'Half-wit' yacht club and even they used it. bizzard.

[hawkers]

I guess I can understand where Kiki is coming from, even though it might all see a bit petty. A couple of years ago I was on The Lancaster canal and during the period I was there a cruising club based on The Bridgwater decided to have there annual cruise on The Lancaster. When I arrived at Tewitfield they were all there as I pulled into one of the very few moorings vacant a guy came running up to me and said I could not moor there as they were keeping the space for "The Commodore" I naturally took no notice and continued to moor. I was told that if I continued to moor in that space they would untie my boat as soon as said "Commodore" arrived. Now as stupid as this might seem had they just come up to me and said they were waiting for a friend to arrive I would have happily moved to one of the other few moorings left (not as nice as the one I was mooring at) but the fact that they came up to me all superior saying that was the space reserved for "The Commodore" as if I should bow out of respect to his station in life made me stay where I was. I know silly and petty but these things can rub me up the wrong way!!!

 

Absolutely the right action. These tin-pot titled individuals need to learn that there is a real world out there.

Did they try to move you when the ar---ole arrived?

[carlt]

 

Nearly all boat clubs especially sea sailing clubs use the RN hierarchy titles.

 

They can call themselves after Mad Max characters, if they like.

 

It's when they think that some fictional title should earn them one iota of respect, that they start to get peoples' backs up.

[saltysplash]

They can call themselves after Mad Max characters, if they like.

 

It's when they think that some fictional title should earn them one iota of respect, that they start to get peoples' backs up.

 

Dont even mention about their blue ensign.

[AlanH]

Alan, you can leap to the defence of the NCCC if you wish.

 

However, it might be wiser if you and the club were to stop and take stock. Ask yourselves the question "Do non-members really think about the club in this way?"

 

I have to tell you that the answer to that question is "yes, a number of them do".

 

Now, you can either delude yourselves with the notion that all those who think that way are wrong, or you can accept that there is no smoke without fire, and that the antipathy is born of a genuine dissatisfaction with the attitude that the club as a body displays towards other boaters in the area.

 

As I am condemned by you as a barrack room lawyer, let me deal specifically with that area specifically.

 

I am interested to learn that IWPS gave permission and that they gave instructions that non-members should be directed elsewhere. You state that IWPS believe that they have the right to give permission. I am afraid that this assertion doesn't stand up to scrutiny. I have written confirmation from BW that IWPS (and specifically Ian Edgar) have been told that they are not allowed to grant permission for events, and that they are not allowed to reserve parts of the basin for particular groups of boaters. It has been made clear to IWPS that any requests to hold events such as the one organised by NCCC this weekend require written application for permission, as described at http://www.britishwaterways.co.uk/be-part-of-it/planning-an-event

 

So far as overstaying goes. I'm afraid that I don't know the exact times and dates when Kiki and the other two boats arrived and departed. As I have posted elsewhere, the birth of our grandson meant that we could only visit by car. I have no reason to doubt your assertion that they stayed around the same length of time as some of the club boats.

 

You will be delighted to learn that I also have correspondence from BW on the subject of staying beyond the 48 hour limit (a limit which is, I believe, currently unsigned). Here, BW say that they are happy to delegate first line management of the limit to IWPS, and that provided that boats staying longer than 48 hours do not prevent new arrivals finding a mooring, they are happy that boats should stay longer. When mooring space runs out, boats that have been there longest should be asked to leave to provide space. When I was there on Saturday Evening, three boats arrived and found moorings in the Upper Basin, including at least one member of NCCC, and I counted a couple of other mooring spaces. Doubtless if the moorings had become completely full, IWPS would have asked all the longest overstaying boats to move on.

You may be right about the permission thing. I'm not convinced. Your house must be full of written confirmations! However the club thought that it had permission. That is what matters. I am not an official of the club but I am reliably informed that BW were made aware of the club's intentions and verbally gave the OK. No moorings were reserved by the club. In fact out of the 30 odd boats moored in the lower arm I counted nine that were not club members. There was no instuction from IWPS - merely a request. I realise that I called it an instruction at one point. This was a mistake.

So the only thing that was a problem is that the man who asked Kikki to moor elwhere was doing so because he didn't want her to be inconvenienced by the club members. He may not have put it in very affable terms but those were his motives.

 

If your final paragraph is correct then what was this about?

So, the club gave £300 to an organisation that manages 48hr visitor moorings on behalf of BW, and that organisation turned a blind eye to blatant overstaying by the club.

You do know that Kikki was at Bugsworth on Wednesday - It was the date of her first post from there in this thread. You do know that she was still there on Saturday at least - her last post from there and you visited.

I can assure you that they left on Monday. So did I and they shut the swing bridge at Furness Vale on us when they knew we were behind them.

 

I am sorry if the club has a reputation for being arrogant. It is one of the reasons that it liased with IWPS over the August meeting at Bugsworth. As I understand it from those in charge, BW was informed of the intention and gave its approval verbally. The club is aware of the problem and is trying to improve matters. The club is not desperate for members although new ones are welcome. At the moment we have about 200, the moorings are full and financially it is thriving.

I find the members of the club very friendly and willing to help. The moorings are cheap, there is a workshop and a slipway where you can get your boat out of the water for £40. There is a wealth of knowledge about all things boating which members are more than willing to share. For instance, I recently had an electrical problem in that my fridge ceased to work. Another member helped me to sort it out by providing a fuse holder and fuse, some of the necessary tools and his time all free of charge. I found a club member broken down at Disley on Monday and towed him home. There is a great sense of camaraderie.

 

I should like to point out that I am not an official of the club and my views and opinions are purely personal. I shan't post any more on this thread.

[David Schweizer]

I guess I can understand where Kiki is coming from, even though it might all see a bit petty. A couple of years ago I was on The Lancaster canal and during the period I was there a cruising club based on The Bridgwater decided to have there annual cruise on The Lancaster. When I arrived at Tewitfield they were all there as I pulled into one of the very few moorings vacant a guy came running up to me and said I could not moor there as they were keeping the space for "The Commodore" I naturally took no notice and continued to moor. I was told that if I continued to moor in that space they would untie my boat as soon as said "Commodore" arrived. Now as stupid as this might seem had they just come up to me and said they were waiting for a friend to arrive I would have happily moved to one of the other few moorings left (not as nice as the one I was mooring at) but the fact that they came up to me all superior saying that was the space reserved for "The Commodore" as if I should bow out of respect to his station in life made me stay where I was. I know silly and petty but these things can rub me up the wrong way!!!

I had a very similar experience atbove the Hilmorten Locks several years ago, when I was told I could not moor in the only vacant space as it was being reserved for someone who had not yet arrived. I moored there anyway.

 

It turned out that the group of boats hogging the moorings were all from the Boaters Masonic Lodge who were assembing for a meeting somewhere on the outskirts of Rugby, a good reason in itself for upsetting them. It did occur to me that as they were all friends, they could have breasted up rather than occupy all the visitior moorings, but in the end there was no problem anyway as another boat vacated it's mooring just before the "someone" arrived.

[cariad]

[pedant]

 

Captain Mainwaring

 

[/pedant]

 

Tony

 

oops!

[mayalld]

You may be right about the permission thing. I'm not convinced. Your house must be full of written confirmations! However the club thought that it had permission. That is what matters. I am not an official of the club but I am reliably informed that BW were made aware of the club's intentions and verbally gave the OK. No moorings were reserved by the club. In fact out of the 30 odd boats moored in the lower arm I counted nine that were not club members. There was no instuction from IWPS - merely a request. I realise that I called it an instruction at one point. This was a mistake.

So the only thing that was a problem is that the man who asked Kikki to moor elwhere was doing so because he didn't want her to be inconvenienced by the club members. He may not have put it in very affable terms but those were his motives.

 

I am sorry if the club has a reputation for being arrogant. It is one of the reasons that it liased with IWPS over the August meeting at Bugsworth. As I understand it from those in charge, BW was informed of the intention and gave its approval verbally. The club is aware of the problem and is trying to improve matters. The club is not desperate for members although new ones are welcome. At the moment we have about 200, the moorings are full and financially it is thriving.

 

The trouble is that this is hardly a new thing.

 

This time last year, somebody from NCCC approached boats already moored in the lower basin, and told them that they would HAVE to move, because the moorings were reserved for NCCC.

 

At Easter, the basins were full due to large numbers of NCCC boats overstaying, to the extent that we couldn't find a safe mooring.

 

The club website is full of references to reserving moorings, and to IWPS giving permission to reserve moorings.

 

The people who run Bugsworth have kindly allowed us to put up the marquee and say we can use the straight arm as you enter Bugsworth just for us, so we are going to try and reserve that till you all arrive.

 

Some boats went to Bugsworth on the Wednesday to prepare the venue which involved erecting the Marquee and trying to save mooring spaces for the flotilla that followed.

This doesn't speak of a club attempting to rehabilitate itself. It speaks of a club that is determined to do as it damn well pleases.

 

My house is not full of written confirmations. Rather I have a 3 page letter which unambiguously states that Ian Edgar has been told that IWPS is not to grant permission for events in this way, and that clubs wishing to hold events must apply in writing to BW.

[Laurie Booth]

The Boat Inn, at Whittlesey, is supposed to be very nice but it's many years since I've been.

You must mean The Lodge Inn

[mayalld]

Just to re-open an old topic...

 

It has been suggested that BW and IWPS gave permission for this event.

 

I have now heard from BW to say that they were informed a few days beforehand, that what was being organised was "5 or 6 boats, a gazebo and a barbecue", and on that basis said that no permission was needed.

 

Had they informed BW that 20+ boats, a marquee and a generator we envisaged, they would have been told that they had to apply for permission in advance and that they were too late to apply now.

[Chertsey]

Reminds me a bit of our experience at Torksey. We weren't intending to go up the lock but to wait overnight for the tide. When we arrived, following two other narrowboats, the (lengthy) pontoon below the lock was entirely occupied by 20' cruisers moored with 40' gaps between them. One of the other nbs squeezed onto the end in the bushes, the other I think onto the other end but only after being yelled at hysterically by one of the cruisers. I wondered whether we should ask them to shift up but were getting such hostile looks decided that discretion was the better part of valour and went onto the lock landing and radioed the lock keepre. he told us to come up the lock and moor above it which was a much nicer spot. Later I idly wondered about the four police cars in the car park... the next day we learnt that this had been because of a knife fight breaking out on the pontoon. Never did discover whether it was over moorings though....

 

We also spent some time as guests of a boat club. They were very nice to us (we had been personally invited by one of the members) but I did see some members being hostile to other local boaters. Interesting as it was for a week, it's not a way of life or a way of boating that I would choose. Having got caught up the the herd mentality in my political days, and seeing what it could do to me, let alone to others, makes me very wary.

Edited September 19, 2011 by Chertsey

[Ssscrudddy]

Wow, as an outsider reading this it seems lots of you boat peeps are just as horrible as any other walk of life, despite hearing about how friendly everyone is.

 

What I got from this thread, the OP wasnt happy that said boat club took over all the moorings despite them being 1st come 1st serve... as long as you are 1 of them & if you are not 1 of them then 1st come 1st serve doesnt count.

Then a member of said boat club seemed to be a bit embarrassed by the behaviour of said boat club, but not being an official couldnt really comment.

Then someone else (anything to do with the club? certainly reads as tho he/she is)came on saying blah blah you dont like it jog on, its 1st come 1st serve, we got there 1st so you cant park there even tho there is enough room to do so, we can break the rules you cant...

Then "bit embarrased" blokey came back on giving it rah rah we can do it you cant... perhaps had a ticking off from the club for not being aggresive enough?

 

& as for the other chap who mentioned about having his boat untied if he didnt move (yes I realise nothing to do with this) well that would be like a red rag to a bull for me, as in go on try it & see what happens.

 

I succesfully ran a bike club for over 10 years (Vice Chairman... official pompous title), whe didnt have a problem with anyone. When the Hells Angels moved into the area & shut all the other clubs down, we was "asked" to do the same & then for some reason we was allowed to carry on as before, then when the Outlaws tried to move into the nearby area, other nearby clubs were also shut down or given the opportunity to join them, once again we were left alone.

 

I would suggest that anyone running a 'respectful' club of any sort (after all I assume you're presumably not a bunch of council estate chavs competing over postcodes) would do well to think about this

Alan, you can leap to the defence of the NCCC if you wish.

 

However, it might be wiser if you and the club were to stop and take stock. Ask yourselves the question "Do non-members really think about the club in this way?"

 

I have to tell you that the answer to that question is "yes, a number of them do".

 

Now, you can either delude yourselves with the notion that all those who think that way are wrong, or you can accept that there is no smoke without fire, and that the antipathy is born of a genuine dissatisfaction with the attitude that the club as a body displays towards other boaters in the area.

 

NCCC - National Chronic Constipation Club?

Edited September 19, 2011 by Ssscrudddy

[Tim Lewis]

But was it not the same at the IWA festival at Burton on Trent this year? What gives the IWA the right to charge something like £50 to moor on a towpath? Why does BW allow such a thing? It would not be so bad if the actually provided anything, but when I rang up the woman organising it, there was no services provided for your money by the IWA at all. No rubbish disposal, no water boat, no elsan boat nought at all.

It was a rip off. She said I could be moored up to 1.5 miles from the Festival site. So I said no thank you and did not go.

 

As part of the team that took the best part of a week off to operate the rubbish/recycling/elsan disposal boat every day at Burton may I point out that you are talking rubbish!

 

 

Tim

[carlt]

Wow, as an outsider reading this it seems lots of you boat peeps are just as horrible as any other walk of life, despite hearing about how friendly everyone is.

People who like boats come from every walk of life and all personalities are represented

 

Some are just as horrible, as any other walk of life, some are just as nice.

 

It seems strange that anyone should believe any different.

[mayalld]

People who like boats come from every walk of life and all personalities are represented

 

Some are just as horrible, as any other walk of life, some are just as nice.

 

It seems strange that anyone should believe any different.

 

It always strikes me as odd that there is this expectation that all boaters should stick together, and that we should all have common aims and desires.

 

And now over to Dale Farm, where a spokesman from the Caravan Club spoke out against the evictions....

 

[bizzard]

A neighbor of mine once knocked at my door at 2.30am.I couldn't believe it 2.30am!

Luckily i was still up playing my Bagpipes.

[Evo]

People who like boats come from every walk of life and all personalities are represented

 

Some are just as horrible, as any other walk of life, some are just as nice.

 

It seems strange that anyone should believe any different.

 

Hmm. I'm slowly finding that there are some real weird buggers on boats. Narrowboats seem to be a magnet for miserable loners with temper issues. So far I have to say I seem to only get on with the elderly retired type, I dont seem to get on with the ex school teacher know it all type, or the youngish drop out 'big bottle of cider', chip on their shoulder, living cheap, sort. Even retired early, 'we've got a better boat than you', sold the house types are getting on my tits now aswell, they've been doing it all summer and now know everything..!!

 

We seem to be slowly keeping ourselves to ourselves.

[WotEver]

Personally, I can't be doing with the unsociable keeping themselves to themselves types

[DaveG]

A neighbor of mine once knocked at my door at 2.30am.I couldn't believe it 2.30am!

Luckily i was still up playing my Bagpipes.

 

Brilliant!!! Can't stop chuckling!!!

 

On a par with comedian Michael Redmond....'A lot of people say to me, "Hey you.................what are you doing in my garden".

[Morat]

So... what happens if you breast up with a NCCC boat?

[Chris Pink]

So... what happens if you breast up with a NCCC boat?

 

You can conclude, with a high degree of certainty , that you are not Dave Mayall.

[jeddy11]

I cant help but wonder why this old bloke waving his stick around barking at boaters hasn't had his stick inserted where the sun doesnt shine !!!