Not impressed with boaters today

[DeanS]

I'm not impressed. I slow down and pass moored boats with the utmost respect and slow speed.

I've been moored up today and every boat is motoring past at full revs. The last one.....1min ago.....came past in a convoy of 2 boats...and I could have reached out my hatch and touched them they were so close.

 

ok. rant over

 

I'm tied up properly, so I dont mind the speed thing...but the canal is WIDEEEEEE, so dont come within a rulers length when I'm on a straight canal with 200ft clear in either direction

 

ok...now the rant is over

[casper ghost]

I've been moored up today and every boat is motoring past at full revs.

 

 

 

I noticed the same the other week, not one boat slowed to what I consider a reasonable speed. I even noticed that once past me most of them even revved up more so they had slowed a bit. This was a mix of hire and private boats, but I did note that not a single nice engine went past so I can't say if it's a revvy engine thing.

Casp'

[FadeToScarlet]

I'm not impressed. I slow down and pass moored boats with the utmost respect and slow speed.

I've been moored up today and every boat is motoring past at full revs. The last one.....1min ago.....came past in a convoy of 2 boats...and I could have reached out my hatch and touched them they were so close.

 

ok. rant over

 

I'm tied up properly, so I dont mind the speed thing...but the canal is WIDEEEEEE, so dont come within a rulers length when I'm on a straight canal with 200ft clear in either direction

 

ok...now the rant is over

Not necessarily about speed, but even though the canal looks wide, I do often have to pass closely to moored boats because of the depth of the canal. The back of the boat has to be in the deepest water, no matter how close that is to overhanging trees or moored boats.

 

That said, I do always pass as slowly as is safe to do so, which is normally tickover if we're on a canal but slightly faster if on a wide river, unless there's a very strong wind that needs a slightly faster speed to be safe.

[Berengaria]

Weird, I had the same last week too, what's going on there then? To be honest I don't mind boats getting close as a gnats whisker (I'm on the South Oxford so often there's not much avoiding it!) but weather-wise there's no excuse for speed...tightness of mooring not withstanding as even when I've not done a particularly good job of it most boats manage to get past without smacking me into the armco

[cotswoldsman]

Dean sounds like you are on the Bridgewater where no one slows especially for a fat boat!!

[Guest]

I have often found that boats pass quickly on the Bridgewater. I always drop some tyres down the side between the boat and the bank on there, and double up the mooring pins.

[furnessvale]

I've been moored up today and every boat is motoring past at full revs.

 

I too slow down when passing moored boats and I expect others to also be reasonable. However, I have to say that the number of times a boat has passed at FULL revs I can count on one hand in years of boating.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

[Guest]

I too slow down when passing moored boats and I expect others to also be reasonable. However, I have to say that the number of times a boat has passed at FULL revs I can count on one hand in years of boating.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

Well yes, my boat is never run at full revs even when not passing moored boats! I took full revs to mean normal cruising speed.

[DeanS]

Yup..end of the Bridgewater...what a lovely canal. (and very busy today:) We had curry evening in Sale a few days back....and a pub quizz evening in Higher Walton last night....

 

I dont really care what speed people come past.....(why worry about things you'll never change)...but I was washing the dishes looking out the kitchen window, and the next minute this boat appears....with centimetres to spare......at full tilt. The bit I'm on is about 25ft wide..(looooaaads of passing space).so I can only guess they didn't know how to steer in the wind.

 

Yes, I think it is a Bridgewater thing...this "no slowing down" habit.

[furnessvale]

Well yes, my boat is never run at full revs even when not passing moored boats! I took full revs to mean normal cruising speed.

That is where it can get difficult. One man's normal cruising speed can be another's crawl or alternatively it can be a "wash over the towpath" job.

 

I have to admit I sometimes hear boats approaching and detect no change of engine speed. I do not automatically take that as inconsiderate, having sometimes followed others whose normal cruising speed hardly makes a ripple. Occasionally I think, "yes, he could have eased off a bit" but the 6 lines on my mooring, including long fore and aft springs, means he would have to deposit me on the bank before it really bothered me.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

 

Yes, I think it is a Bridgewater thing...this "no slowing down" habit.

Yes, very noticeable on that canal. A combination of its depth and width, and a tradition of non steel boats, I think.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

[trackman]

We've noticed similar reluctance to slow down recently here in the Midlands. Doesn't bother us much as long as we're not on pins, as we know how to moor properly.

However, we too are sometimes concerned when the speed is combined with coming unnecessarily close.

[exfire]

came back from the shops today to find that my mooring pins had been dragged out ,whoever did it had made an attempt to resecure the boat thank goodness.

[Pykebird]

Maybe they just wanted to look in and admire your lovely boat on the inside, Dean

Yup..end of the Bridgewater...what a lovely canal. (and very busy today:) We had curry evening in Sale a few days back....and a pub quizz evening in Higher Walton last night....

 

I dont really care what speed people come past.....(why worry about things you'll never change)...but I was washing the dishes looking out the kitchen window, and the next minute this boat appears....with centimetres to spare......at full tilt. The bit I'm on is about 25ft wide..(looooaaads of passing space).so I can only guess they didn't know how to steer in the wind.

 

Yes, I think it is a Bridgewater thing...this "no slowing down" habit.

[Philip]

Boats tend not to make as many waves and as much wash on the Bridgewater, due to it being 6ft deep. The same applies to fibreglass cruisers as they don't draw much water because of their shallow draught. A few years ago during the summer we met a bloke charging through Dutton stop lock and subsequently Preston Brook tunnel around dawn with the intention of reaching Worsley by lunchtime...

[Grace and Favour]

came back from the shops today to find that my mooring pins had been dragged out ,whoever did it had made an attempt to resecure the boat thank goodness.

Though I may be chastised for my next comment:

 

May I politely suggest that you moor with (additional) springs - for there is no guarantee that another 'erbert may have the same affect on your mooring

[Zayna]

When we very first hired, we weren't told to slow down past moored boats and we just took heed of the polite signs and then we twigged why you need to slow down.

 

I worry about my boat when we're not with it, because we're on a linear mooring.

 

Sorry you've had such a rotten day, it wasn't (and never will be) me, honest guv.

 

Z x

[Timleech]

Boats tend not to make as many waves and as much wash on the Bridgewater, due to it being 6ft deep. The same applies to fibreglass cruisers as they don't draw much water because of their shallow draught. A few years ago during the summer we met a bloke charging through Dutton stop lock and subsequently Preston Brook tunnel around dawn with the intention of reaching Worsley by lunchtime...

 

Maybe it was once!

 

Tim

[alan_fincher]

I've been moored up today and every boat is motoring past at full revs.

 

Whilst acknowledging that many boats pass too fast, (often far too fast), I agree with the previous comment that it is highly unlikely that any, let alone all, of the boats that have passed you today have been at "full revs".

 

Most steerers, (even those from stag parties on hire boats!), don't tend to proceed very far at full revs, and given how overpowered many boats now seem to be by design, I think one would hear an awful lot more complaints if many people did.

 

So by all means please complain about "too fast", "too many revs", etc, but unless you really think every boat has been totally flat out with the speed control fully wide open I don't personally think exaggeration actually strengthens the argument.

[Tuscan]

I can manage to go "too fast" with the lowest revs on the shallow actions where my full length deep draft can still make loosely tied boats move a fair bit.

[alan_fincher]

I can manage to go "too fast" with the lowest revs on the shallow actions where my full length deep draft can still make loosely tied boats move a fair bit.

Yes,

 

There are plenty of places "Sickle" is "too fast" even with the engine running so slow that it is within a whisker of stalling. It is not unusual for us to put her out of gear if it looks like she'll move moored boats around in a significant way, (you have to learn not just to judge the canal conditions, but also to spot the boats "tied" with 2 feet of slack in their ropes, of course).

 

I shudder to think what she could be capable of at "full revs", but frankly I have never yet had her in deep enough water to see what "full revs" could result in.

[Tuscan]

On the other hand we were very grateful for a tow off the bottom when stuck just before wood end lock above the Swan at Fradley. The old ex hire cruiser definitely needed full revs.

[FadeToScarlet]

Yes,

 

There are plenty of places "Sickle" is "too fast" even with the engine running so slow that it is within a whisker of stalling. It is not unusual for us to put her out of gear if it looks like she'll move moored boats around in a significant way, (you have to learn not just to judge the canal conditions, but also to spot the boats "tied" with 2 feet of slack in their ropes, of course).

 

I shudder to think what she could be capable of at "full revs", but frankly I have never yet had her in deep enough water to see what "full revs" could result in.

I can make a breaking wash on both sides of the boat at tickover in some places, and passing moored boats does throw them around.

 

Willow, flat out, makes an awe inspiring wash from the ugly/blunt/purposeful (delete according to taste) forend, much like that picture of that unloaded Admiral class shown a few months back.

[kevinl]

Hi Dean

 

Not slowing down is a Bridgewater thing, otherwise half of it would be done on tickover, blast past, everyone does it, although I can't quite bring myself to do it yet. Big, deep canal a bit of a boater's motorway so go on put you foot down and enjoy.

Yup..end of the Bridgewater...what a lovely canal. (and very busy today:) We had curry evening in Sale a few days back....and a pub quizz evening in Higher Walton last night....

 

I dont really care what speed people come past.....(why worry about things you'll never change)...but I was washing the dishes looking out the kitchen window, and the next minute this boat appears....with centimetres to spare......at full tilt. The bit I'm on is about 25ft wide..(looooaaads of passing space).so I can only guess they didn't know how to steer in the wind.

 

Yes, I think it is a Bridgewater thing...this "no slowing down" habit.

[Ian Mac]

Two things, were you moored on the outside of the bend either near Moore or Dunham Massey? If so thats is where the channel is, those that know would have been cursing you for mooring in a silly place. It is near always better to moor before the start or after the finish of an outside towpath bend, then all should be fine, just because there is a wide surface of water doesn't mean there is any depth to it. This is particularly true near the atomic centre, where they widened the canal as a architectural feature, even providing a mock wharf, sacrificing their own land to do it, looks very pretty, but catches the unaware out every time.

 

Many years ago when there was still commercial traffic on the Bridgewater, not only did you have to put out springs , but one had use steel hawsers, because the Kelloggs boats didn't slow down for moored boats, and neither did the coal boats coming down to Barton power station, they were not going very fast but if you didn't have good water under you 25 tons of water had to get past you somehow, it could create a real tidal surge.

[BruceinSanity]

Don't suppose it's 6 foot anymore, but George Pearson was right in his awful pun. He points out that it's a Cat Stevens canal:

 

 

The first cut is the deepest.

 

 

Coat.

 

(Tried to put a smiley in here but it didn't work, just got the broken link symbol.)