canal etiquette

[pomkitanner]

May i ask some of you 'old hands'for a few pointers on the above? On my first and only canal holiday, even though i had read the boaters handbook, there were a couple of instances where i felt i was being given the sideways look, presumeably for having transgressed ! Although i am at a loss as to what. I was told at one stage that hirers were not accepted into the canal cameraderie by owners, but i cannot say i experienced anything like.Although were that the case i would have no trouble accepting that. Are there any unspoken norms by which everyone is expected to abide ? basic rules i understand, slowing when passing - allowing those in favour at a lock to go first etc. Appreciate any pointers so as i am better prepared next time . Many thanks .

Edited March 13, 2012 by pomkitanner

[Burgiesburnin]

May i ask some of you 'old hands'for a few pointers on the above? On my first and only canal holiday, even though i had read the boaters handbook, there were a couple of instances where i felt i was being given the sideways look, presumeably for having transgressed ! Although i am at a loss as to what. I was told at one stage that hirers were not accepted into the canal cameraderie by owners, but i cannot say i experienced anything like.Although were that the case i would have no trouble accepting that. Are there any unspoken norms by which everyone is expected to abide ? basic rules i understand, slowing when passing - allowing those in favour at a lock to go first etc. Appreciate any pointers so as i am better prepared next time . Many thanks .

 

 

This comes up on here from time to time and as a fellow hirer I think that your observations are valid. I dont think that anyone would deny that some hirers do get a bit silly and perform in ways that are not acceptable. These people are a minority and so are the "canal people" that rant and rave and give the sideways look that you refer to.They think of hirers as noisy neighbours and look down on them. They appreciate [i,m sure] that it would be harder for the system to survive without hirers but are reluctant to admit it. It is their domain.

 

In addition to the owners handbook, the only rule of thumb that I would use is common sence, common courtesy and basic good manners.

[alan_fincher]

I think sometimes you maybe just get unlucky that the last person may not have tried to behave so well, and the grumpy ones they have upset may take it out on the next boat. So you may have slowed down to perfection, but it was the view of those now glaring at you that the last one didn't, and now they quite fancy tarring some more hire boaters as "inconsiderate".

 

Don't let it spoil your fun. Anything many hire boaters lack in experience we usually find they are more than willing to make up for in trying hard to learn. Far, far preferable to those private boaters who "have done it this way for years" and are incapable of understanding why anybody else should possibly have ways that differ from them.....

[allybsc]

May i ask some of you 'old hands'for a few pointers on the above? On my first and only canal holiday, even though i had read the boaters handbook, there were a couple of instances where i felt i was being given the sideways look, presumeably for having transgressed ! Although i am at a loss as to what. I was told at one stage that hirers were not accepted into the canal cameraderie by owners, but i cannot say i experienced anything like.Although were that the case i would have no trouble accepting that. Are there any unspoken norms by which everyone is expected to abide ? basic rules i understand, slowing when passing - allowing those in favour at a lock to go first etc. Appreciate any pointers so as i am better prepared next time . Many thanks .

Well you do get "tutters" everywhere, ignore the sideways glances! I like hire boaters, had some really good chin wags with them at locks, in general they are lovely and so too are the private boaters. The main rule is to enjoy your holiday.

[rgreg]

Just ignore the snobs, do your best to get things right and enjoy yourself. I'd rather meet happy hire-boaters than pompous private boaters who look down on others. Thankfully the pompous are the minority and most of us remember that we were hire-boaters once.

[john6767]

Most people are great, hire boaters and owners alike. You get some owners who think they know it all, and look down their noses at hirers. You get some owners with shiny boats that look down on the rest of us with our far from immaculate paintwork, etc etc. You always get a few as in any part of life.

 

Of course you get a few hirers that don't really want to play the game, but in the main hirers usually are happy, enjoying themselves, and trying their best, what more can anyone expect. Financials aside I think it would be a lesser place with out hire boats.

 

If you think you did something less than perfect, then a wave and a "sorry" is the best way to go, I always do when I mess it up.

[WJM]

It is really only at locks that an interface happens. A difference that I can see is one of 'intent'. For experienced boaters, working through a lock is something that they have done hundreds of times. Generally, experienced boaters will be quite slick and efficient, purposeful. Holiday boaters tend to deal with a lock as an exciting novelty, to be pondered over with a lingering joy of the moment. Neither party is wrong, but it is obvious both are trying to do something completely different and only one has the potential to inconvenience the other.

 

So my advice to the OP, enjoy the experience, but if you are delaying another boat then pull over for 5 or 10 to let them through.

[Naughty Cal]

It is really only at locks that an interface happens. A difference that I can see is one of 'intent'. For experienced boaters, working through a lock is something that they have done hundreds of times. Generally, experienced boaters will be quite slick and efficient, purposeful. Holiday boaters tend to deal with a lock as an exciting novelty, to be pondered over with a lingering joy of the moment. Neither party is wrong, but it is obvious both are trying to do something completely different and only one has the potential to inconvenience the other.

 

So my advice to the OP, enjoy the experience, but if you are delaying another boat then pull over for 5 or 10 to let them through.

 

Not always true. Most of the novelty acts we have seen at locks have been private boaters .

 

To the OP, there are grumpy people in all walks of life. Boating is certainly no different. The best advice is to just ignore the grumpy ones, hire boaters have as much right to be on the water as private boat owners. Take your time and enjoy the experience but be warned boating is an adictive pass time.

[Pykebird]

For some reason, certain boats seem to have a problem with hire boaters. As we are the fist up hill lock they come to from wyvern, it often confuses people and sometimes it goes wrong! Most people who hire are more than glad of any offer of help and advice and none of us are beyond learning! The best thing I find is to talk to people, try to remain calm and cheerful, life is far too short to be grumpy, especially if you are lucky enough to be boating.

For the first year of owning my boat she was still in the hire boat livery and I had several "propper" boaters tell me what I could and couldn't do, share locks with them was a classic. So my advice is to enjoy your boating, for every 1 grumpy old git, lots of us are quite nice honestly.

[G4YVM]

It is their domain.

 

 

 

 

Im "only" a hirer but I dispute that. If I hire a car am I a lesser being because the road is the domain of car owners? Some 'canal people' (whatever they are) might THINK its their domain, but it isnt. Surely Rolt and Aitken made the point that the canals are the domain of EVERYONE.

 

 

This is not intended as a snipe, by the way, at anyone. Just a disagreement with a concept! The only 'canal people' I have ever been given a sideways glance by are those living in right old sh1te number 1s tied up to trees! (Well there was one case when someone shouted "slow down!!!" as we motored past and that was my fault, a genuine accident and well deserved)

 

David

Edited March 13, 2012 by G4YVM

[jeddy11]

Think i have told this story before but it makes me chuckle for some reason...

 

I was talking to some boating friends who liveaboard when a boat passed they were like "hello how are you" etc etc Then another boat came past, to be fair the passing boaters said nothing and my friends also ignored them.

 

Strange behavour so i asked why they hadnt said anything to the passing boat they said "there only a weekender they turn up their noses and call us water pikeys"

 

Well i laughed and now i always call them water pikeys and they call me yogurt pot and tupperware..

 

So to help answer your question i think there is always a barrier between different types of boaters based on them and us attitudes for some reason i dont know. Probably because of the minority on both sides..

[MartinClark]

It is their domain.

Im "only" a hirer but I dispute that. If I hire a car am I a lesser being because the road is the domain of car owners? Some 'canal people' (whatever they are) might THINK its their domain, but it isnt. Surely Rolt and Aitken made the point that the canals are the domain of EVERYONE.

 

I think you may be being a little over-sensitive and taking that too literally, David. The way I read Burgiesburnin's post, he was writing about how pompous boat-owners see things and that pompous boat-owners think the canals are their domain. I didn't read it that Burgiesburnin was actually stating that the canals are the domain of boat owners.

 

I can understand how newbies on the cut can think they are being looked down on by some pompous boat-owners. After all, these pompous boat-owners look down at everyone else on the cut, including other private boat owners. Hirers are flagged up as newbies to them because they are in a hire boat. However, I have noticed that some hirers are more experienced and more competent boaters than some boat-owners.

[alan_fincher]

Surely Rolt and Aitken made the point that the canals are the domain of EVERYONE.

Aickman, actually!

 

 

Actually, whilst we have huge amounts to thank these guys for in terms of raising awareness, I think "inclusiveness" could hardly have been further from (particularly) Aickman's agenda. AS I see it he saw it very much as a posh persons preserve to be enjoyed by the "initiated", and certainly didn't want it to turn into an alternative holiday for those normally at Butlins or Pontins!

[koukouvagia]

It is really only at locks that an interface happens. A difference that I can see is one of 'intent'. For experienced boaters, working through a lock is something that they have done hundreds of times. Generally, experienced boaters will be quite slick and efficient, purposeful. Holiday boaters tend to deal with a lock as an exciting novelty, to be pondered over with a lingering joy of the moment. Neither party is wrong, but it is obvious both are trying to do something completely different and only one has the potential to inconvenience the other.

 

So my advice to the OP, enjoy the experience, but if you are delaying another boat then pull over for 5 or 10 to let them through.

 

I realise that an ex-working boat can be a bit daunting to a first time hirer. So when I share a lock with a hirer I always ask him or her how they'd like to go into the next lock. I suggest that if I went in first, I'd be able to keep my boat against the wall whereas they might find it a bit tricky. However, if they prefer to go in first I say that I'll be right next to their stern so that I'll be able to stop them swinging over.

 

Sometimes, I suggest that they might like to go out of the lock side by side. They are usually pleasantly surprised to see how the two boats stick together and how easy it is to go into the next lock like this.

 

A warning to those experienced boaters who might be tempted to be just a bit superior. You can never tell who the hirer is. I've met several members of boating families, who'll have forgotten more than I'll ever know about boating,enjoying a hire boat holiday.

 

However, I do sigh in resignation when someone insists that they open the paddle half a turn at a time and I do indulge in silent gnashing of teeth when, as happened last year, a hirer vociferously asserted his right to waste water at Bascot because he didn't have a clue how a staircase worked.

 

I've found first time boaters keen to learn. However, not all advice, however diplomatically given, is well received. I can't bear to see children dangling their legs over the front of a boat, or windlasses left on spindles, but having been told in no uncertain terms to mind my own business, I'm a bit reluctant to get involved.

[G4YVM]

Fair points!

 

Thanks for the correction of Mr A's name too, and his concepts. Yes, you might have a point that he regarded it as posh person enclave but he did want to see them USED, rather than just "conserved" which is what I get from Rolt's book Narrowboat.

 

I was going to use the phrase "water pikeys" but refrained from it for fear of insulting anyone, but these boats you see tethered to the banks, covered in slime and tat and clearly occupied by people not really taking part in society, well... See how I look down my nose?!?!?!?!?

 

 

There'll always be people who sneer at other people for some reason, any reason really. Thats people I guess, which is why I rather prefer the quiet side of things! Just I and I's dog, as it were!

 

D

[Martin Megson]

As a boat owner I'm afraid their are grumpy folk on the cut just as elsewhere in life. I'm amused when I pass a row of moored boats on tick-over and exchange friendly nods & greetings to find one who calls slow down. I think for some it's a Pavlovian rection The water is there for all to enjoy I sumply treat people with the same courteousy I do elsewhere and ignore the miserable ones.

[howardang]

May i ask some of you 'old hands'for a few pointers on the above? On my first and only canal holiday, even though i had read the boaters handbook, there were a couple of instances where i felt i was being given the sideways look, presumeably for having transgressed ! Although i am at a loss as to what. I was told at one stage that hirers were not accepted into the canal cameraderie by owners, but i cannot say i experienced anything like.Although were that the case i would have no trouble accepting that. Are there any unspoken norms by which everyone is expected to abide ? basic rules i understand, slowing when passing - allowing those in favour at a lock to go first etc. Appreciate any pointers so as i am better prepared next time . Many thanks .

There is a web page called "The considerate Boater" which makes an attempt to set out many aspects of canal etiquette - link below.

 

http://www.considerateboater.com/homepage.htm

 

Like a lot of things in life, it's as much about manners and consideration rather than detailed technical knowledge, but above all, just ignore the minority who may be snooty towards hirers. They all forget that they were also novices once

 

Regards

 

Howard

[David Mack]

Im "only" a hirer but I dispute that. If I hire a car am I a lesser being because the road is the domain of car owners?

 

But your hire car is unlikely to be emblazoned with the name of the hire company, so who knows you are a hirer?

 

You will hear tales of experienced boaters on hire boats being talked down to by relative newbies on shiny private boats, and similarly new hirers on the few 'stealth' hire boats that don't broadcast their ownership being treated as old hands.

 

There are a few boatowners out there who seem to come with I-look-up-to-him-I-look-down-on-him mentality.

 

Like

!

 

 

David

[carlt]

There is a web page called "The considerate Boater" which makes an attempt to set out many aspects of canal etiquette - link below.

 

http://www.considerateboater.com/homepage.htm

 

 

Yes and a more condescending pile of rubbish would be hard to find anywhere on the net.

 

 

I was going to use the phrase "water pikeys" but refrained from it for fear of insulting anyone, but these boats you see tethered to the banks, covered in slime and tat and clearly occupied by people not really taking part in society, well...

 

There'll always be people who sneer at other people for some reason, any reason really.

 

There'll always be snobs so blinded by their hypocrisy that they can produce a post like yours.

[PaulG]

Yes and a more condescending pile of rubbish would be hard to find anywhere on the net.

Bit harsh.

If you know all that stuff already it could be seen as condescending.

But it's aimed at newbies.

[howardang]

Yes and a more condescending pile of rubbish would be hard to find anywhere on the net.

 

It may appear condescending to you but you are an experienced boater. Why not give him the opportunity to make up his own mind.

[pomkitanner]

It does appear as if i have raised debate on a relevant subject. However most comments have been very reassuring, and for those i am grateful. I did find the considerate boater info helpful. There were points i had not considered, and i shall now be better informed. My first experience was very memorable such that i can hardly wait to return. Thanks all.

[PaulG]

It does appear as if i have raised debate on a relevant subject. However most comments have been very reassuring, and for those i am grateful. I did find the considerate boater info helpful. There were points i had not considered, and i shall now be better informed. My first experience was very memorable such that i can hardly wait to return. Thanks all.

Good stuff. Don't be put off by a few dickheads. Some of the nicest people I've met have been on the waterways, and they are in the majority!

[pomkitanner]

it just occurred to me with all the replies - whether everyone has wifi access ?? or are you all now moored up for the evening and sitting in the pub ? If so, and i bring my Travel PC , how often will i get an internet connection?

Derek.

[Naughty Cal]

it just occurred to me with all the replies - whether everyone has wifi access ?? or are you all now moored up for the evening and sitting in the pub ? If so, and i bring my Travel PC , how often will i get an internet connection?

Derek.

 

Sat in the bloody office at work wishing I was on the boat

 

We have a dongle for mobile internet but find that most pubs have wifi now so we can just hook up to that and get more reliable connection and an excuse for a pint or two