Going slow

[Top cat]

I tend to travel slowly but I have no problem with letting quicker boats past. However I prefer the boat behind to come right up and show a wish to pass - they need not say anything, just come up quickly to a boat's length behind me. What drives me mad is people who hover a hundred yards back for miles.

 

That said, when it comes to locks, I prefer to get through them efficiently and without wasted effort or time. I get tense if someone in front of me is slow, not because of the delay but because they are doing something sloppily, they are not organised.

 

I realise that this says more about me than the other boater but that's just the way it is.

 

Frank.

Frank

 

Let me apologise in advance, if I come up to a boat that is going only slightly slower than I want to then I'm likely to hover 100 yards or so back, I'm quite content back there and really don't want to cause offence nor can I be bothered to pass. If however I do want to pass I will get close enough so we can communicate on the best way to do it.

 

T C

 

Top Cat

[Wanderer Vagabond]

 

I tend to travel slowly but I have no problem with letting quicker boats past. However I prefer the boat behind to come right up and show a wish to pass - they need not say anything, just come up quickly to a boat's length behind me. What drives me mad is people who hover a hundred yards back for miles.

 

That said, when it comes to locks, I prefer to get through them efficiently and without wasted effort or time. I get tense if someone in front of me is slow, not because of the delay but because they are doing something sloppily, they are not organised.

 

I realise that this says more about me than the other boater but that's just the way it is.

 

Frank.

 

 

Frank

 

Let me apologise in advance, if I come up to a boat that is going only slightly slower than I want to then I'm likely to hover 100 yards or so back, I'm quite content back there and really don't want to cause offence nor can I be bothered to pass. If however I do want to pass I will get close enough so we can communicate on the best way to do it.

 

T C

 

Top Cat

Have to say TC, I'm rather with you on this one. The only boats that bother me are the one's that are going so slowly that I cannot run my engine slow enough to stay back. If there is a boat ahead of me that is just going slower than my preferred speed (about 1600rpm) then I will just slow down and stay back, probably about 200 yards. Overtaking is such a PITA that I can't be bothered unless absolutely forced to, so I'll be another boat 'hovering' 100 to 200 yards behind setting my engine speed top match the speed of the boat in front and quite content to follow.

 

As far as locks go I'm equally chilled, as far as I'm concerned the guy in front of me has the lock and can operate it however he wants. I'll perhaps wander up and see if he/she wants any assistance and give any required, but if not then I'll just wait until they've finished. I do have a pet hate however, it is those who are in such a rush that they fill/empty the lock, open the gate then all jump back aboard leaving the lock gates open and the paddles up, sheer idleness

[ditchcrawler]

If someone is doing less than half a mile per hour less than me I just drop back

[Wanderer Vagabond]

If someone is doing less than half a mile per hour less than me I just drop back

What do you do with the one's doing more that half a mile per hour less than you??

[ditchcrawler]

What do you do with the one's doing more that half a mile per hour less than you??

I pull closer to them and hope they let me pass, I have had a couple of occasions where this hasn't happened. One was steam powered towing a butty. and one I took great delight on passing when they ran on the mud. some I have just had to grin and bare it.

[Horace42]

 

Appropriate Sound Signals (now the arguments about the applicability of the Col-regs)

"Dot" = short blast

"Bar" = long blast

 

Well thanks for that.I did ask. But no thanks. It is all too complicated, Especially if having to 'unlearn' 'left' 'right' and 'backwards'.

Unless these horn signals are made mandatory to learn by heart, and a condition of license, or hiring, they will serve no useful purpose if I am the only one who knows them.

A boat dawdling in front, and seeing my approach, but not waving me through, suggests a lack of basic boating knowledge or etiquette, and almost certainly will not have the faintest idea of what the horn signals mean - although I can guess they would be interpreted as "Get out of the way".

The best suggestion worth promoting (if they don't see you) is a discreet 'toot' on the horn and hand signals. Then to move over.

But which way I am not sure if there is a 'rule' for this. Myself, I move over to the towpath to let a faster boat pass.

But this has to be learned and accepted as routine by all - particularly newcomers when boat hiring.

[frahkn]

 

 

Have to say TC, I'm rather with you on this one. The only boats that bother me are the one's that are going so slowly that I cannot run my engine slow enough to stay back. If there is a boat ahead of me that is just going slower than my preferred speed (about 1600rpm) then I will just slow down and stay back, probably about 200 yards. Overtaking is such a PITA that I can't be bothered unless absolutely forced to, so I'll be another boat 'hovering' 100 to 200 yards behind setting my engine speed top match the speed of the boat in front and quite content to follow.

 

As far as locks go I'm equally chilled, as far as I'm concerned the guy in front of me has the lock and can operate it however he wants. I'll perhaps wander up and see if he/she wants any assistance and give any required, but if not then I'll just wait until they've finished. I do have a pet hate however, it is those who are in such a rush that they fill/empty the lock, open the gate then all jump back aboard leaving the lock gates open and the paddles up, sheer idleness

 

I know, it's me that's crazy but that's how it is.

 

If a boat is hovering 100 yards behind for long I will find a place to pull in and hold mine on the centre rope till it passes - I just can't deal with boats up my a.....

 

Similarly with locks, I realise it's me but I have great difficulty coping with what I see as stupidity - pissing around rather than dealing with the situation effectively.

 

As I said, it's me but I am far too old for psychiatric help now - I never say a word to these people, of course they are entitled to behave as they wish - I just fume inside.

 

Frank.

[Phil Ambrose]

Unlearn left and right? using left or right is always open to " your left or my left etc, however the port side of a boat is always the same side irrespective of which way you are facing, ditto starboard and for that reason I for one always use these terms.

Phil

Edited April 16, 2016 by Phil Ambrose

[Horace42]

Unlearn left and right? using left or right is always open to " your left or my left etc, however the port side of a boat is always the same side irrespective of which way you are facing, ditto starboard and for that reason I for one always use these terms.

Phil

I quite agree. But the novice wont learn that for the week they're on the hire boat, and it seems we need hand signals to indicate direction from a distance. A good old fashioned outstretched left or right hand signal usually is not taken wrongly - from ahead or behind.

Particularly when passing head-on and you get 'caught' on the wrong side of the canal (like reversing when giving way at bridge holes) and can't manoeuvre in the space to pass port to port,

[ditchcrawler]

 

I know, it's me that's crazy but that's how it is.

 

If a boat is hovering 100 yards behind for long I will find a place to pull in and hold mine on the centre rope till it passes - I just can't deal with boats up my a.....

 

Similarly with locks, I realise it's me but I have great difficulty coping with what I see as stupidity - pissing around rather than dealing with the situation effectively.

 

As I said, it's me but I am far too old for psychiatric help now - I never say a word to these people, of course they are entitled to behave as they wish - I just fume inside.

 

Frank.

Join the club

[David Mack]

it seems we need hand signals to indicate direction from a distance. A good old fashioned outstretched left or right hand signal usually is not taken wrongly - from ahead or behind.

But does a clear handsignal for left indicate that you are going to the left, or that you want the other chap to go to your left?

Edited April 16, 2016 by David Mack

[Wanderer Vagabond]

I quite agree. But the novice wont learn that for the week they're on the hire boat, and it seems we need hand signals to indicate direction from a distance. A good old fashioned outstretched left or right hand signal usually is not taken wrongly - from ahead or behind.

Particularly when passing head-on and you get 'caught' on the wrong side of the canal (like reversing when giving way at bridge holes) and can't manoeuvre in the space to pass port to port,

My favourite was the oncoming boat with a woman in the cratch area (out of sight of the helm) waving her right hand to me and the helm himself waving his left . My response was along the lines of "I think I'll wait here for him to come past, whichever side he is going to come past on ". Speaking to them as they passed it seems the woman was indicating that I should pass on the side she was waving to and the helm was indicating what side he was going to pass on, no real confusion there then

[Woodsy]

But does a clear handsignal for left indicate that you are going to the left, or that you want the other chap to go to your left?

Or that they are pointing out something on the left, that could be misinterpreted as a 'clear hand signal' for the direction you or they will /should go?

Edited April 17, 2016 by Woodsy

[nicknorman]

Personally I think you should only ever indicate what you intend to do, you are not empowered to tell anyone else what to do. The only exception to that being to wave somebody past, an "instruction" they can comply with or not as they choose.

[dave moore]

On the rare occasion that I've used a hand signal to another boater, I've always pointed to myself and the boat to indicate what my intention are if different from the norm. Thus far, I've not been misinterpreted.

 

Dave

[Horace42]

Or that they are pointing out something on the left, that could be misinterpreted as a 'clear hand signal' for the direction you or they will /should go?

...or they might be checking to see if it raining, or reaching to pick flowers, or hoping a kingfisher might perch on it - the mind boggles at the possible meanings of a hand signal....in my case......in the circumstances prevailing at the time...my left hand straight out with flat palm means I am going left.....the other boat can please themselves what they make of it.

With a bit of luck they might guess what my signal meant when they see my boat move to my left.

[RLWP]

On the rare occasion that I've used a hand signal to another boater, I've always pointed to myself and the boat to indicate what my intention are if different from the norm. Thus far, I've not been misinterpreted.

 

Dave

 

Same for me.

 

Richard

[Horace42]

 

Same for me.

 

Richard

Ditto

[Athy]

On the rare occasion that I've used a hand signal to another boater, I've always pointed to myself and the boat to indicate what my intention are if different from the norm. Thus far, I've not been misinterpreted.

 

Dave

I've occasionally used hand signals which could not be misinterpreted, but usually after an inconsiderate boater has disappeared round the next bend. I certainly wasn't pointing to myself, either.

[Laurie Booth]

If a car is heading towards you and indicating that it is turning, how many people on this forum think the car is telling you which way you should turn?

[Dalesman]

...or they might be checking to see if it raining, or reaching to pick flowers, or hoping a kingfisher might perch on it - the mind boggles at the possible meanings of a hand signal....in my case......in the circumstances prevailing at the time...my left hand straight out with flat palm means I am going left.....the other boat can please themselves what they make of it.

With a bit of luck they might guess what my signal meant when they see my boat move to my left.

What is wrong with sound signals..?

[cuthound]

What is wrong with sound signals..?

The vast majority of other boaters simply do not know what they mean.

[Dalesman]

The vast majority of other boaters simply do not know what they mean.

Well its time they learned. not hard is it, there are only 4 main signals. Instead of all this hand signal lark.

[cereal tiller]

Well its time they learned. not hard is it, there are only 4 main signals. Instead of all this hand signal lark.

Agreed,from Passenger boat and Tug experience the rule was :Always use sound signals to indicate your course and intentions so that when attending the Inquest you were obviously navigating in a proper fashion"

 

CT

Edited April 17, 2016 by cereal tiller

[cuthound]

Well its time they learned. not hard is it, there are only 4 main signals. Instead of all this hand signal lark.

No its not hard, I use a card with the sound symbols on it to remind me of the lesser used ones.

 

Don't forget the majority of canal users are probably hirers with no interest in it, and as there is no penalty for not using them there is no incentive for anyone to learn them.

 

If insurance companies refused to pay out unless the correct sound signals had been used, then it might be a different matter.