HELP ME-I'M A NEWBIE

[Tony Brooks]

No, but when a questioner appears to make a pratt of themselves and it gets humour (be it questionable) made at their expense I would hope they realised why it happened and not "have a go" at those people.

 

It must be very daunting when contemplating entering a new area fro the first time but surely it pays to do some basic research first. Not just jump in and ask questions that are not well formed and gradually change. I found the start of this thread all but impossible to understand because the OP did not seem to know what he wanted. There are vast free resources open to him on the internet, not all of good quality, plus paid for written resources that are likely to be of better quality. Basic research is needed so the questions asked are ones that are sensible and can be answered. This did nit appear to have been done in this case.

[MtB]

Athy your right. I'll go away and sneak back with an alternative account and leave this thread to be toyed with.

 

 

You'll be outed pretty quickly, given your combative style!

[Athy]

 

 

 

It must be very daunting when contemplating entering a new area fro the first time but surely it pays to do some basic research first.

 

Yes indeed.

Where would most people carry out such basic research nowadays? On the internet, probably.

So, new boy looks at his search engine and finds "Canal World". That looks relevant to his search. Part of the site's synopsis reads "Ask any questions about boating on here".

So, that's what he's doing. Please do not castigate him for doing what the site invited him to do.

[RLWP]

Athy your right. I'll go away and sneak back with an alternative account and leave this thread to be toyed with.

 

The moderators are pretty hot on shutting duplicate accounts, don't try this

 

Take a deep breath and try again. We may be a bit rough and ready here, we are also pretty forgiving

 

Richard

[Athy]

 

 

 

We may be a bit rough and ready here,

Mmm, speak for yourself, dear boy.

 

we are also pretty

Ah, that's more like it.

[system 4-50]

So, (I like so's), we occasionally have people who come on here who are completely ignorant about boats on canals and who have discovered them for the first time, and are "genuine". All well and good. They are usually made very welcome.

We also get:

1. Dilettantes who have chanced upon the subject whilst trawling the web and who are fantasizing. These typically start off with "I'm starting to save up for..." and have done no searching on the web.

2. Children who are playing at being adults.

3. People with no interest in boats who just want to join in the community of the forum, often lonely people.

4. Asserters, who want to expound why their view of a particular boating aspect is right despite a very low take-up by the boating community. They may or may not have a boat.

5. People out of their minds on interesting substances.

6. Boaters floating on alcohol.

7. Previous forum members who have misbehaved. Some of them take the trouble to use new mac addresses and some don't. [i'm assuming these are still relevant.]

8. Many other wierdo's, some deserving a good response, some not.

 

No, I'm not going to provide statistics on the above.

 

This forum normally gives a new OP a few posts to demonstrate which camp heshe falls into and then responds accordingly. Occasional mistakes are made but I think we get it right most of the time.

[ditchcrawler]

 

I am happy to have learned what I have so far.

Can anybody tell me anything about the kind of electrics and batteries I should think about?

They will already be on the boat when you buy it, You will need to ask the surveyor if they are any good. If the boat has been unused for a bit expect to buy new batteries quite soon.

[Athy]

A very well thought-out and, dare one say, system-atic post from S-450. I'm sure that you can't provide statistics on each category because such statistics would be well nigh impossible to compile. However, to take your categories one by one...

1) Yes indeed, and some of these become boat owners. Last month we met just such a couple, Bristolians who had never even hired a boat before, but who had bought a narrowboat three weeks previously and were taking it back down West. This category should not be dismissed out of hand.

2) Have you any evidence of this (I assume you mean in calendar years? If you're referring to mental years, aye they crop up from time to time).

3) Possibly - perhaps they deserve warmth and sympathy.

4) Yes, probably when they have been slung out of another site for being too forthright/ domineering/ boring. Should be discouraged.

5) Yes, and they surely include regular members of CWF (one of whom, to my surprise, told me face to face "I'm quite a pot-head", which I assumed to mean a user of marijuana/ ganja/ call it what you will.)

6) See 5. Let him who is without sin, etc.

7) Yes, should be discouraged and/ or ignored - unless, of course, you feel that censure of their alleged misbehaviour was unjustified.

8) They can be interesting, can't they, but most don't stay very long before wandering off to be weird elsewhere.

 

As I see it, only a small minority of all these bods are rectal pains. I suspect that many, perhaps even a majority of, CWF members can identify with at least one of your categories.

Edited September 30, 2016 by Athy

[Bettie Boo]

So, (I like so's), we occasionally have people who come on here who are completely ignorant about boats on canals and who have discovered them for the first time, and are "genuine". All well and good. They are usually made very welcome.

We also get:

1. Dilettantes who have chanced upon the subject whilst trawling the web and who are fantasizing. These typically start off with "I'm starting to save up for..." and have done no searching on the web.

2. Children who are playing at being adults.

3. People with no interest in boats who just want to join in the community of the forum, often lonely people.

4. Asserters, who want to expound why their view of a particular boating aspect is right despite a very low take-up by the boating community. They may or may not have a boat.

5. People out of their minds on interesting substances.

6. Boaters floating on alcohol.

7. Previous forum members who have misbehaved. Some of them take the trouble to use new mac addresses and some don't. [i'm assuming these are still relevant.]

8. Many other wierdo's, some deserving a good response, some not.

 

No, I'm not going to provide statistics on the above.

 

This forum normally gives a new OP a few posts to demonstrate which camp heshe falls into and then responds accordingly. Occasional mistakes are made but I think we get it right most of the time.

 

 

Not sure which of the above would best apply to us when we first joined, but from my point of view, I was asking relevant questions to our situation and at best was receiving more than a fair amount of ridicule in responses I received. Apart from Starcoaster and a couple of others who tried to steer me in the right direction & provided very useful links so I could educate myself.

 

3 years on and I've stuck with the forum as I appreciate how much you can learn just by reading the different threads - I try to only offer advice to novices if I have personal experience on the topic / question they are seeking answers to.

 

Sometimes novices do come across the "wrong" way, but in most cases I give them the benefit of doubt as I clearly remember how I was made to feel when I first joined.

[Tam & Di]

3. I have no license. I want to buy the boat and then take a crash course.

 

 

As has been said, in the UK there is no requirement for a driving licence for pleasure boats. But if you are the novice you say and wish to continuously cruise (i.e. at least every 14 days) then a crash avoidance course would be better.

 

Who knows - doing a course would give you experience that might help inform you re what type/size boat you would suit you, and alternatively might save you a lot of money by finding boating is not what you expected. Hiring is another way of entry - at least you can bounce a hireboat about while a complete novice and not worry too much about any damage (but do try not to hit other boats).

Tam

Edited September 30, 2016 by Tam & Di

[magpie patrick]

Yes indeed.

Where would most people carry out such basic research nowadays? On the internet, probably.

So, new boy looks at his search engine and finds "Canal World". That looks relevant to his search. Part of the site's synopsis reads "Ask any questions about boating on here".

So, that's what he's doing. Please do not castigate him for doing what the site invited him to do.

 

That's how I ended up on here ten years ago, a lot of helpful answers as to how to unblock the pumpout end of a pumpout loo

 

Patrick

[Tony Brooks]

 

What exactly are you here for? What do you think information technology is for? Forums are for tuition not drama!

 

Once again what looks like a basic misunderstanding and bordering on rudeness.

 

You are right that information technology is useable for research but there are far more internet resources than forums. Have you look at build blogs? have you look at the blogs of those continuously cruising or living on their boats? Have you looked at the Boat Safety Scheme website and downloaded the guides? Have you look at all the other websites that provide information.

 

Forums or to give them their full name DISCUSSION forums are where people with a common interest come together to discuss things. The discussions may help, hinder or annoy you but that is what they do.

 

THEY ARE NOT THE ONLY INTERNET RESOURCE.

[Athy]

 

That's how I ended up on here ten years ago, a lot of helpful answers as to how to unblock the pumpout end of a pumpout loo

 

Patrick

...a fair percentage of which, I suspect, advised you to get a cassette model instead.

[Paul C]

So, (I like so's), we occasionally have people who come on here who are completely ignorant about boats on canals and who have discovered them for the first time, and are "genuine". All well and good. They are usually made very welcome.

We also get:

1. Dilettantes who have chanced upon the subject whilst trawling the web and who are fantasizing. These typically start off with "I'm starting to save up for..." and have done no searching on the web.

2. Children who are playing at being adults.

3. People with no interest in boats who just want to join in the community of the forum, often lonely people.

4. Asserters, who want to expound why their view of a particular boating aspect is right despite a very low take-up by the boating community. They may or may not have a boat.

5. People out of their minds on interesting substances.

6. Boaters floating on alcohol.

7. Previous forum members who have misbehaved. Some of them take the trouble to use new mac addresses and some don't. [i'm assuming these are still relevant.]

8. Many other wierdo's, some deserving a good response, some not.

 

No, I'm not going to provide statistics on the above.

 

This forum normally gives a new OP a few posts to demonstrate which camp heshe falls into and then responds accordingly. Occasional mistakes are made but I think we get it right most of the time.

 

Recently there is another group, although you could probably put them into one of the other groups. There has been a sizeable minority of troublemakers who for various reasons got themselves banned from this forum; joined another canal boating forum, then set up one or more sock puppet accounts and start posting on here again. With the demise of IP addresses as an effective form of identifying anyone online (it was never brilliant anyway) and a throwaway email address, its not too complicated to do. Of course, our OP may not be one of these.

[David Mack]

 

What exactly are you here for? What do you think information technology is for? Forums are for tuition not drama!

Forums like this are for whatever the forum members want to discuss (within the rules). Any tuition is purely incidental. If that is want you want, use a search engine of your choice to find a more tuition-oriented website.

Edited September 30, 2016 by David Mack

[Phil Ambrose]

 

Recently there is another group, although you could probably put them into one of the other groups. There has been a sizeable minority of troublemakers who for various reasons got themselves banned from this forum; joined another canal boating forum, then set up one or more sock puppet accounts and start posting on here again. With the demise of IP addresses as an effective form of identifying anyone online (it was never brilliant anyway) and a throwaway email address, its not too complicated to do. Of course, our OP may not be one of these.

Rubbish. You have no idea about the cull only the misconceptions you choose to perpetuate.

Phil