What s a boater?

[Guest]

Not much use though is it? you define one term out of context (imo) and produce a simple definition so hopeless that begs the further question to clarify your definition as in - what does "who boats" mean?

Who said the definition had to be 'useful'

 

We were asked for one I gave one.

 

I quite like puddlejumpers definition, neat and to the point.

Edited August 17, 2013 by The Dog House

[mark99]

Who said the definition had to be 'useful'

 

We were asked for one I gave one.

What you gave Doghouse, imo of course, was a very usefull example of a good circular definition.

Edited August 17, 2013 by mark99

[billS]

An inland waterways boater is a user of a boat on inland waterways. That's it. If we try to qualify the term any further we start creating divisions.

[Guest]

What you gave Doghouse, imo of course, was a very usefull example of a good circular definition.

It could be said you are over complicating something that was at the outset a very simple question.

An inland waterways boater is a user of a boat on inland waterways. That's it. If we try to qualify the term any further we start creating divisions.

Precisely.

Edited August 17, 2013 by The Dog House

[JamesWoolcock]

So allegedly,here it is:

 

Charles Edwin Boater 1838 -1903

 

Hatmaker, born in Whitechapel, London. In the early 1860's he introduced the flat crown straw hat, inspired by seamen's headgear, that bears his name. Success did not come quickly, mainly because Boater started his sales campaign among the deeply conservative London working class. But once the style had been taken up by young public schoolboys it rapidly established itself, enjoying a vogue that lasted until the 1920's and is still revived from time to time.

 

Source and quoted from: "Stipple Wink & Gusset. The Great Originals Who Gave Their Names to History.

Author: James Cochrane

Published by Century

ISBN 0-7126-5573-5

 

Now you have it?

 

James

Edited August 18, 2013 by JamesWoolcock

[bassplayer]

I think a boater is anyone who uses a boat. That could be a boat owner (who actially uses the boat), hire boater, live aboard, canoeist, someone in a rubber dingy, yacht...actually leads me onto another question....what's the definition of a boat? I hope CRT count the number of boat users and not just the number of boats when they draw statistical conclusions..,

[Naughty Cal]

I think the word "CART" in the original post was a clue to the definition required.

So I am a boater when I'm in CRT waterways but what am I when I'm on the coast or waterways controlled by other authorities?

[Guest]

I think a boater is anyone who uses a boat. That could be a boat owner (who actially uses the boat), hire boater, live aboard, canoeist, someone in a rubber dingy, yacht...actually leads me onto another question....what's the definition of a boat? I hope CRT count the number of boat users and not just the number of boats when they draw statistical conclusions..,

 

I think that was a point being made in the other thread - there might be 35k licensed boats on the system but a lot of those will have more than one 'boater' on board. Ours normally has 2 as a minimum (three if you count the dog!).

 

And I guess they have no real way of accurately counting all the other 'boaters' who boat on the system because a lot of them (like some of the ones you referred to) are not required to have any sort of licence or registration with CRT. Any stats on those will be a pure 'finger in the air job' I would say, the same as the 10 million 'users' of the system, where on earth dos that figure come from?

[Ray T]

To pick up on a point that both TDH and NC made. I think that the term "boater" only refers to those who use a boat on inland canals. ( not including canoes, inflatables etc.)

 

I have sailed dinghy's and offshore yachts for some considerable years and never heard the word "boater" used in either of these contexts. with Dinghy's I always used the expression "Dinghy Sailor". offshore - "offshore sailor" or "Snotty Yottie".

 

I have sailed on the Norfolk broads, a long time ago but searching the grey cells again I am sure I never heard the term "boater".

 

Power boats sailors, users, never having lived in that world I no not what they are referred to. Yachtsmen, there's another term, often refer to big power boats as "Gin Palaces".

 

Also we have "speedboats" and "Jet ski's", apart from some expletives, what are the users of these called?

 

Moving on we now have the "Roman Abramovich" type Motor Yacht. What do they refer to themselves as, in nautical terms? I doubt "boaters".

Edited August 18, 2013 by Ray T

[Jerra]

To try to start off the "what is a boat" line the dictionary says

 

Noun

A small vessel propelled on water by oars, sails, or an engine.

Verb

Travel or go in a boat for pleasure: "they boated through fjords"; "she likes to go boating.".

[bassplayer]

To try to start off the "what is a boat" line the dictionary says

 

 

Noun

 

 

A small vessel propelled on water...

It's the 'small' bit I was wondering about. Is there a defined point where a boat becomes a ship?

[RLWP]

The OP's title simply asked 'what is a boater?'

 

And his post didn't exclude people who boat offshore.....

 

Yes, you are right.

 

And I'd like to find a word to describe the people of this forum using the inland waterways of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Trying to represent a group that includes The Dog House and Panamax ships is both impossible and unnecessary

 

So, please stop being NORTY!

 

Richard

Are members of this forum who haven't got boats boaters or are they excluded?

 

I think they are boaters. One of the best, most experienced and skilful narrowboat handlers that I know doesn't own a boat. He's also a forum member

 

Richard

My take on the query is that boaters use their boats in different ways, but the common theme is that they have chosen the inland waterways as a way of experiencing nature, history, relaxation and feel an affinity with the setting.

 

In other words I think it's the setting that defines us not the boat in particular.

 

Nice!

 

Richard

Edited August 18, 2013 by RLWP

[Jerra]

It's the 'small' bit I was wondering about. Is there a defined point where a boat becomes a ship?

How long is a piece of string?

 

Again the dictionary says

 

Noun

A vessel larger than a boat for transporting people or goods by sea.

Verb

Transport (goods or people) on a ship: "the soldiers were shipped home".

 

So sea seems to be the operative word.

[RLWP]

So I am a boater when I'm in CRT waterways but what am I when I'm on the coast or waterways controlled by other authorities?

 

For the context of what I'm trying to get my head around, you're included as a valuable representative of a different group of boaters that can easily get forgotten

 

Richard

[Jerra]

 

For the context of what I'm trying to get my head around, you're included as a valuable representative of a different group of boaters that can easily get forgotten

 

Richard

Surely for the purposes of talking to CRT they are boaters, would CRT actually be interested in what they do when not on their water?

[RLWP]

Surely for the purposes of talking to CRT they are boaters, would CRT actually be interested in what they do when not on their water?

 

No, they wouldn't. Naughty Cal is a very different boat to Tawny Owl

 

Richard

[FadeToScarlet]

It's the 'small' bit I was wondering about. Is there a defined point where a boat becomes a ship?

A ship carries a boat or some boats.

[bassplayer]

How long is a piece of string?

 

Again the dictionary says

 

 

Noun

 

 

A vessel larger than a boat for transporting people or goods by sea.

 

 

 

 

 

Verb

 

 

Transport (goods or people) on a ship: "the soldiers were shipped home".

 

 

 

 

So sea seems to be the operative word.

So a ship on the Manchester Ship canal stops becoming a ship and becomes a boat. That's the funny thing about dictionary definitions, there is often still ambiguity, it's all in the subjective mind in the end.

[Jerra]

 

No, they wouldn't. Naughty Cal is a very different boat to Tawny Owl

 

Richard

What makes Naughty Cal so different from the other non narrow boats which spend all their time on CRT waters?

[RLWP]

What makes Naughty Cal so different from the other non narrow boats which spend all their time on CRT waters?

 

She is represented on this forum. We have very few owners of non-clonecraft narrowboats who participate here

 

Richard

[Mick and Maggie]

its easy.... You all know what a gongoozler is, so boaters must be everyone else!

[Jerra]

 

She is represented on this forum. We have very few owners of non-clonecraft narrowboats who participate here

 

Richard

However that doesn't make the boat intrinsically different to other non narrow boats. It makes the use and the crew different perhaps. Also I seem to read quite a few post which mention their boat making it clear it isn't a narrow boat.

 

My point being, surely there isn't so much that a non narrow boat would want/need when cruising inland water ways that differs from what a narrow boat would want/need. Is there?

[RLWP]

My point being, surely there isn't so much that a non narrow boat would want/need when cruising inland water ways that differs from what a narrow boat would want/need. Is there?

 

My point is that the posts made by Naughty Cal are very different to those from Midlands or London based boaters. I find them a useful reminder that not all canals and boats are the same as my local canal or boat

 

Richard

[NigelMoore]

 

It's the 'small' bit I was wondering about. Is there a defined point where a boat becomes a ship?

 

 

Legally speaking, the definition is even vaguer than the dictionary quotes would suggest. A famous recent case decided a jet-ski wasn’t a ‘ship’ for the purposes of the Merchant Shipping Act, but it’s a controversial finding. The critical point did not have to do with size, but with the old chestnut of purpose [whether for navigation or just for fun].

 

http://webjcli.ncl.ac.uk/2006/issue2/grant2.html

[howardang]

Legally speaking, the definition is even vaguer than the dictionary quotes would suggest. A famous recent case decided a jet-ski wasn’t a ‘ship’ for the purposes of the Merchant Shipping Act, but it’s a controversial finding. The critical point did not have to do with size, but with the old chestnut of purpose [whether for navigation or just for fun].

 

http://webjcli.ncl.ac.uk/2006/issue2/grant2.html

Whenever I'm asked about the difference between a boat and a ship, I say that a ship can carry a boat but a boat can't carry a ship!

A complication is the traditional use of the term boat which traditionally submariners have always used when speaking about submarines of any size.

 

Howard