A question of etiquette

[mayalld]

May be some people cruise singlehanded or with a wife who is disabled,and are unable to go as fast and as efficiently as you.

 

Firstly, whilst some people are advocating that those who want to operate efficiently should find alternative recreations, nobody has suggested that those who want to bimble around aimlessly shouldn't do so.

 

All that has been asked is that they should appreciate that their pace is NOT the only acceptable pace.

 

Feel free to dawdle, but accept that others have different aspirations.

 

Secondly, Please don't play the disability card!

 

Bev suffers from quite a number of disabling conditions, yet we take pride in operating efficiently, and in not getting in the way when others are even more efficient.

 

Maybe people should be a little more understanding of others using the waterways.

 

Indeed so, and the people who should be more uinderstanding include those who are holding others up.

[Guest]

Maybe some people cruise singlehanded or with a wife who is disabled,and are unable to go as fast and as efficiently as you.

Maybe some people are not in the same amount as a hurry as you.

Maybe some people because of lack of experience/fitness cannot operate the locks as quick as you.

Maybe people should be a little more understanding of others using the waterways.

14Skipper

 

But apart from 2 I can see no reason why any of that would affect your 'cruising' speed??

 

and if 2 is correct it's not reasonable as has already been said to impose that speed on those behind.

 

Fully agree with the rest and if I see someone in those situations I will offer as much help as the other person is willing to accept.

[14skipper]

Your replies are no more than l,ve come to expect from this forum.

14Skipper

[Guest]

Your replies are no more than l,ve come to expect from this forum.

14Skipper

 

Which bit?

 

The bit where I didn't agree with you or the three bit's where I did..

[steelaway]

While we're talking about unreasonable assumptions, let's deal with the obvious one: the assumption that anyone who wants to get past anyone else on the waterways is speeding, eroding the banks, part of the 'speeders lobby' etc etc etc.

 

Like I said, for me the issue is people who cannot objectively evaluate the impact of their own behaviour on others.

 

There is a clear contradiction between wanting to slow down and enjoy the waterways and insisting that anyone wanting to get past is damaging the environment.

 

If someone else wants to boat responsibly but at 0.5mph faster than you, without creating a wash or causing damage, then comments about them speeding and causing damage are clearly unreasonable assumptions.

 

 

 

Another reason is - I don't like following boats. You're constantly having to watch them and react accordingly, which is far from relaxing and all you are seeing is the back of a boat,

If you have caught some one up, you obviously prefer going along a little faster than they do. It is bad etiquette not to allow anyone overtake.

 

Alex

[Minos]

Personally, I go boating to go boating.

I don't do it as an antidote to the modern pace of life, although that is a bonus.

I like the challenge of doing it efficiently, safely and without damaging the canal, its structures or any other vessel.

 

I don't do it to gaze around admiring the landscape at the slowest pace possible, that's for when I go for a walk,those that do it are rarely in full control of their boat. So don't tell me I've chosen the wrong form of transport because it's more likely to be you.

 

Keith

Gets a green from me, too.

 

 

My 2p worth

 

I like to go at my own chosen speed which is faster than some and slower than many. So if some one wants to pass then that's fine by me and I will pull over as soon as it is safe. If on the other hand I catch someone up it would be nice if they did the same for me, sadly that is rarely the case so I have found it better to pull over and have a cup of tea.

 

As does this reply.

 

It just happens to be a particularly British idiosyncracy that a slow driver of a car or a boat will automatically assume that anyone who catches up and wants to overtake is a reckless, speeding hooligan.

[Ex- Member]

Gets a green from me, too.

 

 

 

As does this reply.

 

It just happens to be a particularly British idiosyncracy that a slow driver of a car or a boat will automatically assume that anyone who catches up and wants to overtake is a reckless, speeding hooligan.

 

Like drivers hogging the middle lane syndrome whilst rigidly sticking to 70mph

 

 

 

[jim and pat dalton]

From Answers.com - No, insects do not have lungs, they have a system of small holes in their exoskeleton which allows air entry into a system of narrow tubes from which it can diffuse directly into their living tissues.

 

 

Indeed they do, which is why when you find a drowned one in the bath or your beer, you can revive it by covering it in salt. After about 15mins the thing will happily fly or crawl off, probably back into your beer!

 

Jim

[Capt Ahab]

I don't think it's a case of some boaters wanting to travel faster - it's just that others want to travel slower than is necessary.

 

That's not a bad thing. After all, like so many other people, the whole purpose of my being on the water is to slow down. But 3mph on a waterway is a lot faster than some people think it is. Unless you're measuring your speed with a GPS (which I frequently do) all you've got to judge speed by is your senses - and there isn't much that is more subjective. I've just spent the day travelling up an down the same stretch of river with relatives on board, and if it wasn't for GPS and timing journeys I would have been unable to convince them I travelled both directions at the same absolute speed.

 

I'm waffling. Back to the point.

 

There is a minority of boaters who think that tickover is the only speed narrowboats should travel at. This can be a problem when you're behind them on the tidal Ouse, where my GPS once registered 14mph, and you're hoping to reach York by dark and the boat in front only wants to reach Naburn.

 

Annoying, yeah, but when I drive to work in rush hour I plan ahead expecting to get stuck behind those tossers who like to drive at 40mph on derestricted A roads. Same with waterways.

 

Expect delays.

On the Tidal Ouse, or any other big river for that matter, why would you even think of sitting behind a slower boat. Passing etiquette is inapplicable in these situations. Just be curtious and dont steal locks.

[Circe]

Tidal Ouse on this particular occasion was post-Cawood bridge on the way to Naburn. It's harder to pass safely there, and there was a queue of boats - some of whom were zig-zagging because of the slow speed of the lead boat in the centre of the river.

 

If it had happened earlier on in the journey, we could have all passed. As it was, it wasn't really safe to try and overtake in a narrowboat, so we didn't.

 

No harm done, but it was a bit worrying at the time as it was starting to get dark. It's only happened once, thankfully!

[Sunset Rising]

So if passing was difficult, for either boat, all you have to do is wave them into the next lock ahead of you

No ?

[mayalld]

Your replies are no more than l,ve come to expect from this forum.

14Skipper

 

What, replies that dare to express an opinion that may differ from yours?

 

Oh yes, it's a real bugger that in discussion forums, people daring to have their own opinions.

 

As far as I can see, the overwhelming majority of people seem to take the "I'll do my speed, and you do yours, slower boats should let faster boats past as soon as convenient, and faster boats shouldn't expect to pass instantly" attitude.

 

A small number of people, including you, appear to have taken the attitude that anybody who dares challenge your authority to determine how fast other boats can go is WRONG.

[Athy]

I am surprised iby the support for the poster who doesn't advocate idling along admiring the scenery. Surely this is one of the great pleasures of canal boating, as long as you aren't getting in someone else's way.

Our boat seems to have a faster tick-over speed than some, so we have occasionally found ourselves in danger of getting up the exhaust pipe of the boat in front who is travelling more slowly (though quite possibly above HIS tick-over speed). In such cases, whichever crew member is at the pointy end calls out "Do you mind if we overtake you, please?". Invariably they have either pulled over to the bank or kept going but waved us past. We have also waved past boats who want to go faster than we do. There has never been any animosity on either side, except for that gnome-like little jerk on a Water Bug who sped past us without any kind of request or warning - I literally jumped with surprise, and this could have been dangerous.

If you are letting the boat behind overtake you, please slow right down - some boats do not do this, and it takes a lot longer than one might imagine for one narrowboat, even a 45-footer such as ours, to overtake another as their speed diferential is far smaller than it would be on a road (with the exception of those lorries on the motorway who pull into the overtaking lane and take four or five minutes to overhaul the lorry in the middle lane!)

[WotEver]

Like drivers hogging the middle lane syndrome whilst rigidly sticking to 70mph

Mercedes make narrowboats?

[mayalld]

I am surprised iby the support for the poster who doesn't advocate idling along admiring the scenery. Surely this is one of the great pleasures of canal boating, as long as you aren't getting in someone else's way.

Yes, for some people it is.

 

For others, the scenery is a pleasant backdrop to moving between two places that they want to be.

 

Neither is more right than the other, and it disturbs me a little that there are people out there who feel they can tell other people what they should enjoy.

[Semitrad]

Like drivers hogging the middle lane syndrome whilst rigidly sticking to 70mph

 

I'm afraid that I'm "guilty" of this heinous crime. I fail to see why I should have to constantly swop between inner and middle lanes due to a long procession of slower lorries while there is a perfectly good outside lane available for those who want to break the law.

If there are no obstructions in the nearside lane I move over.

[Sir Nibble]

I'm afraid that I'm "guilty" of this heinous crime. I fail to see why I should have to constantly swop between inner and middle lanes due to a long procession of slower lorries while there is a perfectly good outside lane available for those who want to break the law.

If there are no obstructions in the nearside lane I move over.

Sound to me like you're using the motorway properly. The irritation (and let's face it, it is just an irritation) comes when driving down the left hand lane one has to move over 2 lanes and back in 2 lanes to overtake a car stuck to the middle lane. I must admit sometimes (rarely ) I am far more norty and just go straight past on the inside.

[WotEver]

Sound to me like you're using the motorway properly. The irritation (and let's face it, it is just an irritation) comes when driving down the left hand lane one has to move over 2 lanes and back in 2 lanes to overtake a car stuck to the middle lane. I must admit sometimes (rarely ) I am far more norty and just go straight past on the inside.

I recently joined the M69 from the M1 behind another car. It was early morning, and there was no other traffic in our vicinity. I accelerated faster than the other driver, so moved to the middle lane to pass him. Something about the way he moved made me think he was going to move over into the middle lane, so I kept a close eye on him just in case he did (I repeat, there were no other cars in sight in front or behind us). As soon as I passed him and moved back into the nearside lane he indicated and pulled out into the middle lane. As I disappeared into the distance I could see him in my rear view mirror, still sitting all alone in the middle lane. I'm quite convinced that a significant number of drivers believe that the middle lane is the one to be in if you're doing 70.

 

Tony

[mayalld]

I recently joined the M69 from the M1 behind another car. It was early morning, and there was no other traffic in our vicinity. I accelerated faster than the other driver, so moved to the middle lane to pass him. Something about the way he moved made me think he was going to move over into the middle lane, so I kept a close eye on him just in case he did (I repeat, there were no other cars in sight in front or behind us). As soon as I passed him and moved back into the nearside lane he indicated and pulled out into the middle lane. As I disappeared into the distance I could see him in my rear view mirror, still sitting all alone in the middle lane. I'm quite convinced that a significant number of drivers believe that the middle lane is the one to be in if you're doing 70.

 

Tony

 

Oh, I can beat that!

 

On Tuesday, travelling home along the M60, approaching J21, I was in the inside lane, with nothing ahead of me as far as the eye could see.

 

I can, however, see 3 cars coming up the slip road, to join the motorway, so I move out into the middle lane, to allow the (slower) joining traffic to join more easily.

 

The first of the 3 cars joins a litlle in front of me, and then after about 3 seconds in the inside lane dives over into the middle lane, without so much as a signal, barely 4 car lengths in front of me, and probably travelling at around 50mph to my 70mph.

 

The two cars that joined behind him shot up his inside, as I braked to avoid a collision, and he continued to bimble up the middle lane at 50mph.

 

For the life of me, I cannot conceive what thought led him to believe that having just joined the motorway at 50mph, and with NOTHING in front of him to overtake, a move without signalling in front of another vehicle was a good idea.

[nigel carton]

CLOC Centre lane owners club! now you have got me going, fog lights in the rain! grrrr there fog lights not rain lights, F1 cars have rain lights!!!!

[WotEver]

... bimble up the middle lane...

What a great phrase

[FadeToScarlet]

I am surprised iby the support for the poster who doesn't advocate idling along admiring the scenery. Surely this is one of the great pleasures of canal boating, as long as you aren't getting in someone else's way.

Our boat seems to have a faster tick-over speed than some, so we have occasionally found ourselves in danger of getting up the exhaust pipe of the boat in front who is travelling more slowly (though quite possibly above HIS tick-over speed). In such cases, whichever crew member is at the pointy end calls out "Do you mind if we overtake you, please?". Invariably they have either pulled over to the bank or kept going but waved us past. We have also waved past boats who want to go faster than we do. There has never been any animosity on either side, except for that gnome-like little jerk on a Water Bug who sped past us without any kind of request or warning - I literally jumped with surprise, and this could have been dangerous.

If you are letting the boat behind overtake you, please slow right down - some boats do not do this, and it takes a lot longer than one might imagine for one narrowboat, even a 45-footer such as ours, to overtake another as their speed diferential is far smaller than it would be on a road (with the exception of those lorries on the motorway who pull into the overtaking lane and take four or five minutes to overhaul the lorry in the middle lane!)

 

You can admire the scenery at speeds greater than tickover too.

 

You can see the scenery just as well at 3mph as you can at 2, but if you like long boating days, think how much further you could go. I regularly boat, when on holiday, for more than 12 hours per day. An extra 12 or so miles per day over a 3 week holiday is a much longer possible cruise.

[Higgs]

I am surprised iby the support for the poster who doesn't advocate idling along admiring the scenery. Surely this is one of the great pleasures of canal boating, as long as you aren't getting in someone else's way.

 

 

Athy, don't be suprised. Besides, some of these boaters have boats the size of small trawlers. It's all relative. Not very close to nature, on one of those.

 

By the way, it's ok to hover and pick fruit. I won't qualify that by thinking of all the hazards that that might cause. As everybody knows, we'll being doing it in the middle lane of the M25.

Edited September 2, 2011 by Higgs

[mayalld]

You can admire the scenery at speeds greater than tickover too.

 

You can see the scenery just as well at 3mph as you can at 2, but if you like long boating days, think how much further you could go. I regularly boat, when on holiday, for more than 12 hours per day. An extra 12 or so miles per day over a 3 week holiday is a much longer possible cruise.

 

Damn, out of greenies!

 

Like many leisure users, our main outing of the year is 2, sometimes 3, weeks from a base close to home.

 

We like to visit new places, and visiting new places tends to mean not lingering on stretches that we've done before. We can take leisurely jaunts on the PF/Macc any weekend, but if we want to explore the Oxford, and still have a job to come home to, we won't want to admire the scenery on the Macc.

 

As such, our holiday plans usually involve leaving work (in Leeds) at 4pm Friday, being on board by 6pm, cruise till 9pm, off bright and early Saturday, and being at Hardings Wood by Saturday evening (31 miles, 13 locks, 2 lift bridges, 3 swing bridges).

 

Once we get to terra incognita, we take in more of the scenery.

[Athy]

Scarlet, I do go faster than that (and you'll know that in our area there are not that many stretches where the scenery merits admiration anyway); I just don't see why other people should not idle along as long as they are not impeding other canal users. It's like "bimbling" (ooh, I do like that) along an M-way at 50mph: if you're the only car on the road, not a problem, if you arent't, problem.