Get ready for the onslaught.

[rgreg]

1 hour ago, alan_fincher said:

Snip....
In time, some of those people decide to become boat owners, and that may well not have happened without hire boating.

 

This is a significant benefit of hiring 

[Naughty Cal]

20 hours ago, BWM said:

I suspect that perception of the benefits and behaviour of hire boaters may depend on the area you come across them, on the stretch from Braunston to Hatton for instance the hirers i've encountered seem both competent and polite in general, but other areas-near London being one, you meet more stag groups with all the idiocy that is expected from them. 

You surely don't expect people to be sensible in a stag do?

[BWM]

1 minute ago, Naughty Cal said:

You surely don't expect people to be sensible in a stag do?

Not at all, but mounted on a torpedo shaped narrowboat is not the best way to encounter them! Unlike the other area I mentioned, which has a surprising number of Scandinavian crews which are polite, competent and always appear to be thoroughly enjoying the canal. 

[cuthound]

Since moving to a canalside house four years ago I have had ample opportunity to observe the behaviour of different types of boaters, as they pass my moored boat. 

The worst offenders are not typical hire boaters, indeed some private boaters fail to slow down more often than hire boats.

The speed record past my mooring is currently held by one of the royal navy boats operated by Calcutt.

Basically what I an trying to say it is the person steering, rather than the type of boat that determines how fast they pass. 

[john6767]

24 minutes ago, cuthound said:

The speed record past my mooring is currently held by one of the royal navy boats operated by Calcutt.

That is of course nothing more than a hire boat made available cheap to certain individuals, so you are saying your worst offender is a hire boat 

[system 4-50]

24 minutes ago, cuthound said:

Since moving to a canalside house four years ago I have had ample opportunity to observe the behaviour of different types of boaters, as they pass my moored boat. 

The worst offenders are not typical hire boaters, indeed some private boaters fail to slow down more often than hire boats.

The speed record past my mooring is currently held by one of the royal navy boats operated by Calcutt.

Basically what I an trying to say it is the person steering, rather than the type of boat that determines how fast they pass. 

I expect EOGs to have perfected mooring and need little in the way of slowing down unless there are particular local circumstances that require it.

[cuthound]

48 minutes ago, system 4-50 said:

I expect EOGs to have perfected mooring and need little in the way of slowing down unless there are particular local circumstances that require it.

The Calcutt navy boat left a breaking wash that covered the 1 metre wide paved area at the edge of my garden.

Even though I have 4 bollards, spaced so that i use fore and aft spring lines at both ends, boats travelling excessively fast suck the water from under my boat , causing it to ground and then bob up and down violently.

Short of getting CRT to dredge my mooring to a depth of 2 metres or more, i can see no way of mitigating against this. 

 

[system 4-50]

47 minutes ago, cuthound said:

The Calcutt navy boat left a breaking wash that covered the 1 metre wide paved area at the edge of my garden.

Even though I have 4 bollards, spaced so that i use fore and aft spring lines at both ends, boats travelling excessively fast suck the water from under my boat , causing it to ground and then bob up and down violently.

Short of getting CRT to dredge my mooring to a depth of 2 metres or more, i can see no way of mitigating against this. 

 

Wow! You need one of those large cast-iron canons, ready and primed!

[Grassman]

On 01/02/2018 at 08:13, alan_fincher said:

 

As an aside, I have been interested by canal-side pub owners & landlords telling me they get little trade from hire boats, because many choose to stock up at Tescos, and "party" at the boat, rather than go repeatedly to pubs, (also expensive, of course, if you have spent a fortune hiring the boat).  As the majority hirings are now no more than half a week, hirers often turn up with enough supplies for most of their hiring, and hence do not spend a lot in the areas they pass through.
 

I accept these are generalisations, and that many hirers with enough money in their pocket will have elaborate meals out every day, but it has been suggested to me that this is not the hire boat norm.

Over the many years we were hirers we usually had a pub meal at least once a day either lunch or evening because we saw it as part of our holiday and something we couldn't afford to do so much at home. It did help that we always shared the hire cost of the boat with friends or family, and that hiring wasn't as expensive as it is nowadays. Also, we weren't as obsessive about getting as far as we could so were happy to take our time and linger in places, including pubs.

Now we own and live aboard a boat we only eat out perhaps once a week when we are out cruising, partly because we are away for months rather than a week or two and it would be too costly, and also with our boat being our home we have everything on board we need anyway.

[Laurie Booth]

On 1/31/2018 at 14:21, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

I had a similar experience when I took a signwritten hire boat from Rugby down to Reading. A marked difference in a few people's attittude to me with one posh sounding woman on a shiny boat being bloody downright rude, bossing me about over how to work a lock.

But did she tell you about checking the state of your batteries

[Rustynuts66]

I take two annual holidays on different canals every year use a different pub every night for dinner and a drink or two  we may even stop for lunch too never had a landlord advise me to go away they welcome the trade and we also use all the local shops for all our supplies on route and they also welcome our hire boat trade 

[robtheplod]

We hired last year from Kate Boats and did the Warwick Ring. We met a few really nice people, but also a fair few grumpy, shouty people. I've not been shouted at on holiday before - and no, I wasn't doing anything wrong they just like to issue commands especially around locks. It didn't put me off and now looking at boat shares, so maybe if they see we are not a hire boat attitudes may be better?  I hope so as my wife got quite upset by some of the aggressiveness.

 

Some people may not like hirers, but they pay a lot into the system to keep the canals alive, as one really nice elder boater told us.

[Machpoint005]

Just now, robtheplod said:

We hired last year from Kate Boats and did the Warwick Ring. We met a few really nice people, but also a fair few grumpy, shouty people. I've not been shouted at on holiday before - and no, I wasn't doing anything wrong they just like to issue commands especially around locks. It didn't put me off and now looking at boat shares, so maybe if they see we are not a hire boat attitudes may be better?  I hope so as my wife got quite upset by some of the aggressiveness.

 

Some people may not like hirers, but they pay a lot into the system to keep the canals alive, as one really nice elder boater told us.

You get idiot boat owners, and idiot hirers.

You also get competent, experienced people on both private and hire boats.

[Athy]

5 minutes ago, robtheplod said:

 

 

Some people may not like hirers,

I wonder if none of those people have ever been beginners (and probably hirers) themselves.

[MtB]

1 minute ago, Athy said:

I wonder if none of those people have ever been beginners (and probably hirers) themselves.

 

There are quite a few people in this world who knew it all right from the start....

 

 

[Athy]

Just now, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

There are quite a few people in this world who knew it all right from the start....

 

 

Aye, but surely not everyone on the cut is Lancastrian.

[system 4-50]

The biggest earful I've ever got was "My boat is worth ten times yours so there is no way my husband could possibly have moored it badly" together with other colourful language.  It had fake rivets too.

[Athy]

1 minute ago, system 4-50 said:

The biggest earful I've ever got was "My boat is worth ten times yours so there is no way my husband could possibly have moored it badly" together with other colourful language.  It had fake rivets too.

What utter tosh. Aeroplanes are quite valuable, but people sometimes crash them.

[MtB]

29 minutes ago, Athy said:

Aye, but surely not everyone on the cut is Lancastrian.

 

Quite a few have egos the size of a planet though.....

 

(I blame the parents.)

[cuthound]

1 hour ago, robtheplod said:

We hired last year from Kate Boats and did the Warwick Ring. We met a few really nice people, but also a fair few grumpy, shouty people. I've not been shouted at on holiday before - and no, I wasn't doing anything wrong they just like to issue commands especially around locks. It didn't put me off and now looking at boat shares, so maybe if they see we are not a hire boat attitudes may be better?  I hope so as my wife got quite upset by some of the aggressiveness.

 

Some people may not like hirers, but they pay a lot into the system to keep the canals alive, as one really nice elder boater told us.

 

Have a greenie.

 

I've hired (1973-91), owned a share (2 boats 1992-2001 & 2002-13, and now own my boat (2014 to date).  

 

My boat is moored at the end of my garden (you will have passed it when you completed the Warwickshire Ring) so I have had the opportunity to observe the behaviour of many passing boaters.

 

There are many idiots using the canals,  hirers, shareboats, privately owned (hobby boaters and liveaboards), but they are greatly outnumbered by friendly boaters. 

[zenataomm]

My approach to those who shout at me is to calmly walk around to where they are, get within a couple of feet of them, smile and ask them to repeat themselves.

 

By removing the distance, being assertive and polite and then giving them the opportunity to repeat what they just said I find refocuses them somewhat.

[mrsmelly]

Went past Rose narrowboats and Clifton cruisers today all stacked up being polished ready for the off!!

[X Alan W]

On 31/01/2018 at 15:21, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

I had a similar experience when I took a signwritten hire boat from Rugby down to Reading. A marked difference in a few people's attittude to me with one posh sounding woman on a shiny boat being bloody downright rude, bossing me about over how to work a lock.

Iv'e had the same problem moving an ex hire boat bought by a mate  the "snotty owners see the name on the bat & judge it from there now how well or badly the boat  is being handled I received a broadside from some woman who said she was going to report the hire company for hiring out a boat to a single hander & wanted to be allowed to pass as I would most certainly hold them up on the Cheshire  locks As I had a limit on my time I wanted to get on as best I could so refused several more foul mouth fulls but I worked my way toward Sawley not seeing them again

[Richard T]

On 02/02/2018 at 16:07, system 4-50 said:

Wow! You need one of those large cast-iron canons, ready and primed!

There is a house for sale at Barrow on Soar which has mock canons made from drain pipes. It comes with an 80ft mooring - shame that the house is hideous or at least the inside is!!  https://www.newtonfallowell.co.uk/properties/10949527/sales

[Rickent]

1 hour ago, Richard T said:

There is a house for sale at Barrow on Soar which has mock canons made from drain pipes. It comes with an 80ft mooring - shame that the house is hideous or at least the inside is!!  https://www.newtonfallowell.co.uk/properties/10949527/sales

Has a nice swimming pool .