Thump Thump Thump

[Hanzbebe]

Hey all, I am loving the quietness the canal brings but do you get used to the thumping against the bank where you are moored - whenever a boat goes past it doesn't feel very gentle - is it something you get used to? Dogs don't seem to like it either! Also realised how nosey people are!

[aread2]

1. Check your lines are tight enough.

2. Hang a fender or two between the hull and the side.

 

Yes. People are nosy. The ones who don't look are probably boaters.

[twbm]

I think you're about to get lots of advice on how to moor ...

 

 

I'll begin: Ropes at 45 degrees to boat, not 90, and put fenders or tyres down.

 

 

Edited to add: pipped at the post .

Edited July 26, 2014 by twbm

[Hawkmoth]

Usually if you moor properly the bumping is negligible. However in some places it's difficult due to the shallowness of the canal and the type of side you're moored against.

We find mooring at Stanley Ferry a bit noisy because the bank slopes and is stone. We can't then moor tight in to the side, and our bottom plate scrapesagainst the sloping side.

The cure is probably large tyres, but we don't have any.

Try some old go kart tyres down the side, and then moor tightly, using springs. That is ropes taken forward and backwards as well as the usual nearlys straight ones to pull you in.

If people being nosey bother you close the curtains. Or you could just wave at them, they're only jealous of our lifestyle.

Bob

ETA last sentence.

Edited July 26, 2014 by lyraboat

[pete.i]

1. Check your lines are tight enough.

2. Hang a fender or two between the hull and the side.

 

Yes. People are nosy. The ones who don't look are probably boaters.

Yeah right what planet are you living on. some boaters are just as nosey as some non boaters. I do realise you said "probably" even so that is not the way it came across and yes I am a boater probably as nosey as the next person.

[ptolemy lane]

ive got used to it over the years ;-)

[1st ade]

Also realised how nosey people are!

 

A long time ago we moored our (hire) boat at the Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port.

 

Part way through lunch we were interrupted by a childish treble voice piping up "Mummy! Mummy! There's people on this one!"

[nb Innisfree]

A couple of car wheels complete with tyres floating between hull and bank can be very effective.

[Geordie.narrowboat]

I know what the op means. We are moored and we often see boats going past too fast, the tighter the line, at about 45 degrees with a couple or more fenders does the trick save the loony ones.

 

I ignore them and just realise how lucky I am to enjoy my slow pace, feck to the speed merchants cos they have missed the real purpose of canals today.

[Hanzbebe]

Ropes are at 45

 

Have to get a few tyres - I think

People seem to be going past quite fast - I know there is some what look like abandoned boats nearby but still! Also the party boats gone by a few times in a few days. What a joy that was! NOT!

[Hawkmoth]

Ropes are at 45

 

Have to get a few tyres - I think

People seem to be going past quite fast - I know there is some what look like abandoned boats nearby but still! Also the party boats gone by a few times in a few days. What a joy that was! NOT!

Great idea if you feel you need them, but I do reckon they look scruffy on the top of boat when cruising. (snob)

Bob

edit for spelin

Edited July 26, 2014 by lyraboat

[Peter X]

Mooring: My limited experience of the subject plus what I've read on other topics is enough to tell me that fenders and tight enough lines are enough to eliminate thumping in most places, that there are some awkward banks where only tyres will fully solve the problem, and that if you moor on a river or worse still a tidal estuary it gets more complicated due to the need to allow for the potential rise or fall of the water level, especially if you're not on a pontoon. There are probably other existing topics which discuss the finer points of mooring techniques.

 

There are some very busy and very quiet places on the canals, and it's up to you to seek out the type of mooring spot you prefer, and to invest in curtains and maybe the odd strategically placed frosted glass window to give you the level of privacy you want.

Of course I would draw the line at someone putting their face up to a window to peer through a gap, or coming aboard uninvited, but if someone looks at a window while walking normally along the towpath I wouldn't feel entitled to complain.

 

Last year my brother and I were moored up at Stoke Bruerne briefly one busy afternoon, with the side hatch by the kitchen open, and quite a few of the people walking up and down the towpath were looking in at me making a cup of tea as they went by, but it didn't bother me at all, in a place like that you have to expect it really anyway. One woman was ever so apologetic when her son, aged about 5, put his head inside to take a better look, apparently somewhat surprised that a boat could have a proper kitchen on it.

[Guest]

Does it occur to anyone that people being 'nosey' are just in fact admiring your boat, we have sometimes invited 'nosey' kids on board (once confirmed as OK with parents) to have a look and they thought it was brilliant. (Our boat and being invited to have a peek inside)

 

I hope it left a much more positive impression of boaters than snootily closing the curtains on them as they tried to peer in......

Edited July 26, 2014 by The Dog House

[patty-ann]

I agree with DH, I feel that if boaters come across as friendly promotes good relationships.

Obviously super nosey people are a pain but no doubt they peer in windows as they walk down a street, maybe they are avid window shoppers.

​I admit to glancing into windows bit don't stare, just fascinated by boats. Love to see them.

[nb Innisfree]

We love it when little kids look inside, the look of wonderment on their faces is priceless.

[Pete & Helen]

Smile and wave, just part of the life. If someone is being inquisitive we normally invite them in to have a look or if cruising take them through a lock or two, I dont see them as being nosey just interested.

[mango]

Smile and wave, just part of the life. If someone is being inquisitive we normally invite them in to have a look or if cruising take them through a lock or two, I dont see them as being nosey just interested.

I have seen a boat called 'Smile and Wave'. I did.

[Wanted]

We had a couple peering into our boat once, the women was enthusiastically explains to her bloke 'they even have a kettle!'

 

I wonder what they think we do?

[Alan Saunders]

As we were descending a lock a ten year old gongoozler peered in and exclaimed "Look mum, they are having sausages for lunch!". I pointed out to the boy that it is considered impolite to stare into people's windows and even worse to admit his trangession by loudly describing to all and sundry what he saw. The plummy toned parents iratley attacked me, saying he had done nothing wrong and it was not my place to explain etiquette to their son.

 

OTOH, my wife and I stopped to admire a pot plant in the window of a 'next to the pavement' cottage in a town in France. Realising that our interest was intrusive we moved on. An old lady emerged and shouted at us, "Il est donc très beau. Je l'ai acheté sur le marché de Saint-Ettienne!" We hurried on but, a little later managed to translate what she had said; she was not annoyed, she was pleased that we admired her superb plant. What a pity that we did not have the courage to go back and converse with her despite our poor command of the language.

 

Some of us may not be used to living without a garden or, at least a courtyard, to separate us from the footpath. Net curtains are the traditional solution.

 

Others have advised how to moor your boat. On canals I get by with single lines bow and stern at 45º spread fore or aft. Even a long pound (e.g. 15 miles on the K&A) can rise or fall by several inches, according to rainfall and traffic, leaving your mooring lines too tight or too loose. Short pounds may vary much more, even be completely drained overnight. Tighten your mooring lines in the evening for a peaceful night, slacken them and add 'springs' for longer term mooring.

 

If my boat does not move when I step from side to side or when canoes pass or move a little fore and aft when a boat passes I have a problem - I am aground and it is going to take me a considerable effort to get away from this mooring.

 

HTH, Alan

[MyLady]

1. Check your lines are tight enough.

2. Hang a fender or two between the hull and the side.

 

Yes. People are nosy. The ones who don't look are probably boaters.

 

Tight moorings definitely help (but not enough if there's a shallow ledge by the bank).

 

And I'm a boater who's nosy - though I prefer 'curious' as a description - I want to know how others solve the problems of living on the boat. I wouldn't want to look through your bathroom porthole while you're using it, but I would like to see how you avoid our bathroom issues: a loo seat so high that it encourages constipation and a shower stall so small that I can't bend down to wash my legs & feet, or to rise my hair, without dripping on the floor outside the stall. Your cooking, heating and entertainment arrangements are also interesting - I may be able to improve Milady, or see what to l look for in my next boat (if that happens). I don't want to intrude - just interested in your solutions to problems we have in common.

 

I agree with other posts about both kids and adults - they may be so ignorant as to call Milady a "barge", but they're interested and if we can stimulate that interest and increase their goodwill to boaters and canals, that tickles my fancy...

 

Sometimes it's a nuisance, but it's far less annoying than gongoozlers who just stand and watch when another hand on a heavy lock gate, or swing bridge would be very useful (though we've had offers of help almost as often as not, so we take the rough with the smooth). Boating is fun, and we've learned to take our pleasure where we find it; there's much more good than bad!

 

Roger

Edited July 26, 2014 by MyLady

[MyLady]

<snip>

Also the party boats gone by a few times in a few days. What a joy that was! NOT!

 

Mind you, shore side parties can be even worse: at Saltaire someone was obviously having a party in the park, with the band in the open air! Luckily, they stopped playing before midnight - and I quite liked the reggae they were playing...

 

Roger

Edited July 26, 2014 by MyLady

[luctor et emergo]

If you want to know how others have fitted out their boats, there are magazines with pictures..

[MyLady]

If you want to know how others have fitted out their boats, there are magazines with pictures..

 

Sure, but pictures aren't 3-D. You must have noticed how misleading they are?

 

Roger

[Hanzbebe]

Sure, but pictures aren't 3-D. You must have noticed how misleading they are? Roger

Haha!

 

I added a few white fenders I found on the front of the boat, which don't need to be there really so added two to side where mooring and its cushioned it slightly.

 

I don't mind interested nosey - but I don't like arrogant nosey.

 

I hate rude people and so far runners are the worst followed by cyclists on the towpath.

Edited July 27, 2014 by Hanzbebe

[Naughty Cal]

Having lines tight isn't necessarily the best option.

 

We don't have ours tight but do utilise spring lines which reduce surging when boats pass. Also stops the boat banging into the bank.