Hillmorton

[dogless]

What about:

 

MISERABLE GIT ONBOARD.

STAY AWAY.

 

Rog

[matty40s]

" FINCHERS BOAT "

 

?

[rusty69]

8 hours ago, matty40s said:

" FINCHERS BOAT "

 

?

You may think that Matty. I couldn't possibly comment! 

[canalboat]

Coroner: So, you are an official lock-keeper volunteering to help boaters through canal locks

Volunteer: Yes Sir.

Coroner: Can you state why you just stood by and did nothing as this man drowned?

Volunteer:  Our strict instructions are NOT under any circumstance to offer to help any boater flying that flag.

[BruceinSanity]

4 hours ago, canalboat said:

Coroner: So, you are an official lock-keeper volunteering to help boaters through canal locks

Volunteer: Yes Sir.

Coroner: Can you state why you just stood by and did nothing as this man drowned?

Volunteer:  Our strict instructions are NOT under any circumstance to offer to help any boater flying that flag.

“Myself, the wife, the mother-in-law
went down to the Limehouse Quay
The Mother-in-law got out in a boat
for a sailor she would be
She hadn't been gone a quarter-an-hour
before we hears a shout
My Mother-in-Law's in the water
and there she's splashing about

She shouts "Help! I cannot swim"
Titty-fa-la, titty-fa-lay
I said "Now's your time to learn!"
Titty-fa-la, titty-fa-lay
My wife she says "You hound,
You'll never watch her drowned ?"
I said "I'll shut me bloody eyes!"
Titty-fa-la, titty-fa-lay

The Single Bolinder Song: http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/folk-song-lyrics/Single_Bolinder.htm

[roland elsdon]

So crt you have official volunteer locks at locks x and y . However not at lock z. Could you please explain why you deemed users need responsible oversight at x and y , but not at z , where the user drowned ,which  to all intent and purpose exposes the user to the same hazard?

 

sorry no parking tea hut or book exchange, oh that explains all.

[Arthur Marshall]

56 minutes ago, roland elsdon said:

So crt you have official volunteer locks at locks x and y . However not at lock z. Could you please explain why you deemed users need responsible oversight at x and y , but not at z , where the user drowned ,which  to all intent and purpose exposes the user to the same hazard?

 

sorry no parking tea hut or book exchange, oh that explains all.

I don't know if they do now, but certainly at one time they were allocated a lock and told to stay at it.  I would imagine they'd be at x and y but not a z because they only had 2 volunteers.

Personally, as an ageing singlehander with a bad back and an occasional dodgy leg, I'm always glad to see them, and also happily accept any help offered by friendly boaters coming the other way.  It's very rare these days anyone winds you up too fast or doesn't ask if you're ready - the only ones who got anything wrong this last trip were a couple of excited kids off a hire boat who  wound the gate paddle up first.  Caused me no problem but might have done them on a bigger boat on their way home and were glad to be so advised!

[Nightwatch]

On 21/08/2018 at 17:37, nicknorman said:

How about “Pith off, shorty”

Talking of Pith. Saw a boat the other day where the two blokes onboard were wearing Pith Helmets. Looked good.

[dogless]

People volunteer, that is freely give up their own time, to offer assistance to passing boats, and carry out simple maintenance (painting, litter picking) at locks they are happy to visit.

The process is as much about people getting out, meeting friends and mixing with those of similar mind, as it is about navigation.

Of course folk want to be with others, not stuck on their own.

Of course they want breaks, cups of tea, and socialization.

Why would they not, it's their free time.

I wouldn't have thought this was too difficult to grasp.

Rog

 

[MtB]

4 minutes ago, dogless said:

People volunteer, that is freely give up their own time, to offer assistance to passing boats, and carry out simple maintenance (painting, litter picking) at locks they are happy to visit.

The process is as much about people getting out, meeting friends and mixing with those of similar mind, as it is about navigation.

Of course folk want to be with others, not stuck on their own.

Of course they want breaks, cups of tea, and socialization.

Why would they not, it's their free time.

I wouldn't have thought this was too difficult to grasp.

Rog

 

 

 

Of course its not difficult to grasp.  But a bit of honesty would not go amiss either.

 

Vollies are there for their own benefit, not ours. As you say, they want the benefits you list and to play with the historic lock gear etc. To pretend they are turning out purely for the benefit of us boaters out of the goodness of their hearts is a little disingenuous.

 

Its fine with me if they want to come out and play on the canals but to expect us boaters to be grateful for their sacrifice (as CRT and one or two posters here seem to), is going a bit far. We boaters like to work the locks too but we also carry the primary responsibility for the safety of our boats. If we mess up, we lose our boat. If a volly messes up, we lose our boat. Can you really not see the inherent problem with this? Is it any surprise some of us get a bit twitchy when a volly of unknown ability wants to involve himself or herself with our lock passages?

[rowland al]

29 minutes ago, dogless said:

People volunteer, that is freely give up their own time, to offer assistance to passing boats, and carry out simple maintenance (painting, litter picking) at locks they are happy to visit.

The process is as much about people getting out, meeting friends and mixing with those of similar mind, as it is about navigation.

Of course folk want to be with others, not stuck on their own.

Of course they want breaks, cups of tea, and socialization.

Why would they not, it's their free time.

I wouldn't have thought this was too difficult to grasp.

Rog

 

 

Sorry Rog but I think you have this all wrong. Boaters pay good money to go boating. They’ve worked hard all their lives to own a classic boat.

 

No, no, those who do things for free should be made to suffer.

 

In all seriousness. I admire anyone who takes an interest in the canals. We need as many people on board as possible if we are to put a halt to this tide of closures due to lack of maintenence. The last thing we should be doing is making people feel unwelcome. 

 

As I said before, if as a skipper, you are prepared to take control and be observant in high risk situations, the risk of harm is greatly reduced. 

Edited August 22, 2018 by rowland al

[Jim Riley]

2 hours ago, Nightwatch said:

Talking of Pith. Saw a boat the other day where the two blokes onboard were wearing Pith Helmets. Looked good.

Were they well Pithed? 

[Nick D]

 

 

3 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

 

Of course its not difficult to grasp.  But a bit of honesty would not go amiss either.

 

Vollies are there for their own benefit, not ours. As you say, they want the benefits you list and to play with the historic lock gear etc. To pretend they are turning out purely for the benefit of us boaters out of the goodness of their hearts is a little disingenuous.

 

Its fine with me if they want to come out and play on the canals but to expect us boaters to be grateful for their sacrifice (as CRT and one or two posters here seem to), is going a bit far. We boaters like to work the locks too but we also carry the primary responsibility for the safety of our boats. If we mess up, we lose our boat. If a volly messes up, we lose our boat. Can you really not see the inherent problem with this? Is it any surprise some of us get a bit twitchy when a volly of unknown ability wants to involve himself or herself with our lock passages?

As both a boater and a volunteer I find your response highly patronising.  My wife and I have been boating as hirers and owners for  many years and have always been pleased to come across paid or volunteer lock keepers on our travels. When I retired last year, I thought it would be good to 'give something back' and help other boaters in the same position as us. Yes, I enjoy it and yes there is a social aspect to giving up my well earned spare time but this is not the main reason I volunteer.  As I have said in a previous post on this thread, I have never come across anyone who does not appreciate help, but if you are ever on the L&L when I am on duty, I will be more than happy to let you manage the tricky, stiff and leaky double locks on your own so that I can enjoy a lukewarm cup of coffee in the cold and damp lock keepers pod.

Edited August 22, 2018 by Nick D

[nikvah]

"happy to let you manage the tricky, stiff and leaky double locks on your own so that I can enjoy a lukewarm cup of coffee in the cold and damp lock keepers pod." Nick D

 

Lock keepers pod? You're lucky, I volunteer on the Avon and I've only got a steel container for the lawn mower and a flask.

[MtB]

8 hours ago, Nick D said:

but if you are ever on the L&L when I am on duty, I will be more than happy to let you manage the tricky, stiff and leaky double locks on your own so that I can enjoy a lukewarm cup of coffee in the cold and damp lock keepers pod.

 

By Jove I think you’re finally getting it. Thank you!! 

[cuthound]

15 hours ago, Nightwatch said:

Talking of Pith. Saw a boat the other day where the two blokes onboard were wearing Pith Helmets. Looked good.

 Unusual To meet two miners, both with a lisp ?

[dogless]

Mike's a difficult man to ignore but you'll find it's worth the effort

Rog

[canalboat]

10 minutes ago, dogless said:

Mike's a difficult man to ignore but you'll find it's worth the effort

Rog

Love it Rog, Love it.

[Mike Todd]

We came down Hillmorton today. We arrived late morning to join a q with five boats ahead of us. At the top lock there was a notice with names and photos of the two volunteers in duty today. (In view of some comments made earlier, I do not feel it appropriate to give either their names or their gender) After 50 minutes we reached the front of the queue. At that point there were three boats in the next pound. However as we came down that q was resolved.

 

Only one lock of each pair was in use, the other was chained and locked and marked with tape. I did not spot any explanation.

 

One volunteer was at the middle lock. My impression was that the volunteer was waiting to be asked to help rather than offering it. The volunteer opened a bottom paddle only two notches and declined to lift it further on the grounds that it was too stiff until the lock was at least half empty. My 'crew' opened the other one fully straight away.

 

The other volunteer was at the bottom lock and did help to bring a preceding boat up and then ourselves down. Again there was no tendency to take over responsibility from us and we were asked if we wanted help.

 

Unlike our experience earlier in the week at Foxton and Watford,  the volunteers here are not involved in regulating traffic and only help with lock operation.

 

If may be a case of seeing what was not there, but I did get a sense that both volunteers were treading very carefully. They did not look as if they were enjoying their task, unlike those at F and W.

 

As far as I could see, the delays were not the consequence of volunteer action but more the slowness of most of the boaters and the alternate lock closures. There was a high proportion of hirers and less experienced boaters who would stop and think about what to do next after each step. Everyone took the delay as part of being on a busy canal and There was no ill feeling that i could see.

[nicknorman]

We came down Wilmcote flight today. Initially rather slow going due to a single-handing lady 2 boats in front, with a long and deep drafted boat. She was perfectly competent but with the locks all against her, inevitably quite a bit slower than us. The first 3 locks are close together and I was able to help her a bit without totally abandoning Jeff and our own boat. With the lady having disappeared around the corner onto the “main flight”, a volockie approached to help us. I suggested he might be better used helping the lady but he said his colleague was already doing that. And yes, she rapidly rattled off into the distance with assistance. Meanwhile we were on the main flight with the tightly packed locks and short pounds. I suggested to the volockie that he drained the lock for us whilst I went ahead to close the bottom gate on the next one and fill it, and that he should wait to start draining until I had started to fill the lower lock in order to avoid water going over the bywash, which he did. And so for the next several locks we had a really good system going. He and I just got on with it without any need to decide who the Captain was etc.

 

i say all this because that is what we found today. On a few other occasions we have found volockies bossy and/or incompetent. I guess they are just like boaters, some are pretty good and some are pretty bad with most being somewhere in the middle!

[Athy]

On 19/08/2018 at 13:10, canalboat said:

I needed to change the word "from" to the word "for" in what I printed above but I can not now see any way to edit it other than clicking on "quote" and altering it here.. Can one of the ultra intelligent folk on here tell me how to edit please?

Now done.

[Jennifer McM]

On 22/08/2018 at 17:42, Nightwatch said:

Talking of Pith. Saw a boat the other day where the two blokes onboard were wearing Pith Helmets. Looked good.

Could they be the same guys we saw at Braunston yesterday? 

[Athy]

On 21/08/2018 at 15:18, alan_fincher said:

k.

 

There were three volunteer lock keepers at the single lock at Stenson on the T&M just now, which given there is currently only maybe a boat an hour seems distinct overkill.

Perhaps two were new volunteers and the other one was training them at a location which would not be too hectic.

[MtB]

7 minutes ago, Athy said:

Perhaps two were new volunteers and the other one was training them at a location which would not be too hectic.

 

In which case it would have been helpful to have warned boaters their boats were being used for training some as-yet-unskilled trainees. Perhaps by using a marker pen to write “TRAINEE” on each of the trainee’s foreheads

Edited August 24, 2018 by Mike the Boilerman

[alan_fincher]

46 minutes ago, Athy said:

Perhaps two were new volunteers and the other one was training them at a location which would not be too hectic.

Certainly not the impression given.  I got the impression it might be a group of friends who like doing it together, but I don't know.

 

Another experience from the T&M yesterday at the lock at Fradley junction......................

 

There was a single volunteer, and whilst no big issue with him, he first tried to close the lock onto the stern fenders before the boat was fully into the lock.  Then because Cath was drawing a top paddle, he simultaneously opened the one on the other side.  Despite the boat resting on the gate, and being in ahead gear, it was flushed back, and then rode forwards again to give the gate a hefty slap.  There was no great problem with that, other than the volunteer then gave me a most disapproving look, like it should not have happened.  Had our usual practice been followed, orf opening one top paddle then crossing to open the other, the pause between the two means it wouldn't have done!  Both the minor niggles in the otherwise smooth operation of the lock were as a result of actions of the volunteer.