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Encouraging Canoes - Is This A Good Idea?


nine9feet

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Following on from an earlier announcement of plans to "invest £1 million in improving the city's canal network to boost health and tourism", "Stoke-on-Trent City Council and its partners have created a 20-mile route providing paddlers with a unique perspective of the Trent & Mersey and Caldon canals"

Story at http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/8203-20-mile-canoe-heritage-trail-is-launched-in-stoke-on-trent/story-29705624-detail/story.html

 

I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand the more people can be encouraged to use the canals and towpaths, the better the chances for the network to survive. However, my experience of inexperienced canoeists over the years is that there is an accident waiting to happen.

 

Is this fear warranted?

 

Only you can tell if your fear is warranted.

If the risk is real then nothing will be done until there is an accident.

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I think the Council need to work with CRT to trim back vegetation on a few corners but otherwise I think it is a fantastic idea.

 

We were on the Medway earlier this year, yes the kayaks and canoes at times are pretty scary especially when they are racing but it was so great to see so many people enjoying the river. Even the some narrowboaters tried it!

r_medway-11jun16-175.jpg

 

A nice photo of Gertrude / Andy.

 

I've never had any serious problems with canoes. More challenging are the punts in the middle of Cambridge - powered boats only allowed in the winter - some of whom are rather new to that mode of transport. I had a lookout on the bows, with walkie talkie, and took 45 minutes to cover a mile. Great fun.

 

img_3293.jpg

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Yes, it is perhaps surprising that one has not been introduced (thinks: would I pass?)

I believe that in France it's still the case that hire-boaters don't have to pass a test to use the canals and rivers (we certainly haven't had to on the four occasions that we've hired over there), but owner-drivers do. The French are known as logical people, but this has always seemed arse-about-face to me. Perhaps one of our overseas correspondents could comment.

 

It's called pragmatism - they have a thriving hire boat industry to listen to. But the hire company must instruct each hirer and issue a temporary licence - obviously if they have someone unable to drive the boat they'd refuse to let him hire it rolleyes.gif

 

 

Has anyone actually ever heard of a collision between a narrowboat and a canoe?

 

One of our 30m coasting ships was coming empty down the Thames at Barnes and a lad in a kayak suddenly decided to cut across in front of it. He rolled under the fore end and eventually reappeared at the stern - our son was Master and had taken the ship out of gear instantly. The canoist was shaken but lived to tell the tale. Luckily for him but also extremely luckily for our son. The lad had a minder who was supposed to be looking after him, but most significantly there was a police boat which had seen the whole incident. They immediately radiod to our son to tell him he was in no way to blame and there was nothing he could have done - I can only imagine what our son would have been put through otherwise.

 

So it's not exactly narrowboat and canoe on a small canal, but salutary nevertheless. I'm certainly a bit edgy whenever we pass canoes in our barge.

Power boats give way to sail boats - remember if a yacht is under engine it is a power boat!

 

But a canoes don't have sails??? So what is it classed as.

Self powered.

 

They come between powered craft and sailed craft in the who-gives-way-to-who regs.

 

However there are also rules that give priority to deep draughted craft in a restricted channel, and that might apply on a canal

Edited by Tam & Di
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I have a hard enough time avoiding the canal bank sad.png

What next! Swan shaped pedaloes, u-boats, unicycles !

Grrrr I blame someone or another someone

 

i fancy a swan pedalo, bit dear at £3800 quid new for a 4 seater though.

 

Be fun with an outboard on it, bugger pedaling :)

https://www.gumtree.com/p/boats-kayaks-jet-skis/swan-converted-power-boat/1170884916

 

that's what i'm talking about!!

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It's called pragmatism - they have a thriving hire boat industry to listen to. But the hire company must instruct each hirer and issue a temporary licence - obviously if they have someone unable to drive the boat they'd refuse to let him hire it rolleyes.gif

 

 

 

Ah yes, that fits neatly into the French way of doing things. Certainly we had paperwork to fill in each time we hired from Locaboat, but they never actually told us that it included or constituted a temporary licence.

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I have a hard enough time avoiding the canal bank sad.png

What next! Swan shaped pedaloes, u-boats, unicycles !

Grrrr I blame someone or another someone

You get to dodge swan shaped pedalos as well as rowing boats on the Avon at Stratford. As one of the trip boat steerers said to me as we entered the reach from the lock "welcome to hell.... smile.png "

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OK, so we're newbies. Today on the shallow Ashby we passed several moored boats, passing on tick-over. A canoeist was in front coming towards us, and was sandwiched between us and the moored boats. He could have nipped in between two moored boats while we passed, but he didn't, he kept on canoeing, clowting moored boats and us with his paddles as he passed. We couldn't get out of the way, as already we were well over to the right and scraping the bottom of the canal.

 

Common sense needs to reign, but common sense from who's perspective?

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Common sense needs to reign, but common sense from who's perspective?

Common sense should be, as its name suggests, common to all concerned. If I see canoeists heading for our boat in a tight spot (there is a canoe club near our Cropredy mooring), I honk and call out "Canoeists, wait there!" or "Canoeists, pass on the right!" or whatever instruction may be appropriate. It rarely fails, and everyone stays safe. Strangely enough, 2 weeks ago it almost didn't work, but with a narrowboat, not a canoe: a bloody fool on a n/b called Yarra ignored my instruction to "Wait there!" and would have clouted us sideways if we hadn't taken quick action.

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Hire one

 

http://warwickboats.co.uk/

Your link doesn't have an outboard propelled swan?

 

I think it would be ace, imagine gliding by a Harold Shipman lookalike on board a swan, it would be epic :)

 

We missed a pair similar to these on eBay a few years back

http://www.jjamusements.com/bumper-boats/

 

Minimum number of craft has to be two to make it fun, it would also keep the nervous sewer tube skipper's happy as you are unlikely to come to much harm bouncing off their 20 ton of uncontrollable Boat :)

 

Used to have them at Wickstead Park when I was a kid, sadly they are long gone :(

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Yes, it is perhaps surprising that one has not been introduced (thinks: would I pass?)

I believe that in France it's still the case that hire-boaters don't have to pass a test to use the canals and rivers (we certainly haven't had to on the four occasions that we've hired over there), but owner-drivers do. The French are known as logical people, but this has always seemed arse-about-face to me. Perhaps one of our overseas correspondents could comment.

Its because it is logical. If you needed to pass a test you wouldn't go to France and hire a boat so the hire business would go belly up. I think you will find very few hirers are French. No one cares if the private market dies because there is no big money in it

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Its because it is logical. If you needed to pass a test you wouldn't go to France and hire a boat so the hire business would go belly up. I think you will find very few hirers are French. No one cares if the private market dies because there is no big money in it

Your comment is perceptive - but I still find it strange that (often inexperienced) hirers are not tested whereas (often experienced) private owners are.

Certainly we've noticed other overseas nationals on French hire boats (German and Dutch seem to be plentiful) but we have met French ones too.

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