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Hire boater basic training


nicknorman

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I always though hire bases gave at least basic training in working locks etc. But obviously not. Just arrived at Bearley lock above Edstone aqueduct, which really isn’t far from the Anglo Welsh base at Wootton Wawen, to find 2 hire boats just departed base, first lock and not a clue how to operate it. I said “don’t they give you any training in working locks?”. “No” was the answer. I said “oh well, presumably they sent you a video to watch or something”? “No” to that too. Same answers from both boats. So obviously I helped both through and tried to explain all the do’s and dont’s. But really, that shouldn’t be the responsibility of a member of the boating public that just happened to be there. I’ve always thought the WW base was very slack and uncaring about the canal, this has just reinforced that view. CRT really should be applying some level of supervision to hire operations to ensure they are giving at least some basic training other than “this is forwards gear” and “this is the tiller”.

Edited by nicknorman
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They certainly are supposed to be doing more than that, and in the past that base did meet you at the first lock to show how to do it.
I would suggest a message to the local CaRT office so that they can have a chat with them about it.

Mind you, I have found that you can try to tell "learners" lots of things, but how much actually sinks in is debateable. They are often more interested in getting away.

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6 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

I always though hire bases gave at least basic training in working locks etc. But obviously not. Just arrived at Bearley lock above Edstone aqueduct, which really isn’t far from the Anglo Welsh base at Wootton Wawen, to find 2 hire boats just departed base, first lock and not a clue how to operate it. I said “don’t they give you any training in working locks?”. “No” was the answer. I said “oh well, presumably they sent you a video to watch or something”? “No” to that too. Same answers from both boats. So obviously I helped both through and tried to explain all the do’s and dont’s. But really, that shouldn’t be the responsibility of a member of the boating public that just happened to be there. I’ve always thought the WW base was very slack and uncaring about the canal, this has just reinforced that view. CRT really should be applying some level of supervision to hire operations to ensure they are giving at least some basic training other than “this is forwards gear” and “this is the tiller”.

The hire company should, as part of their briefing,  make sure that a copy of the Boaters Handbook is on board and the hirer is aware of the contents which describes how to work locks. 

 

However, I have come across a first time boater who thought that the windlass - described as a lock key by the boatyard - actually unlocked the lock gates and was unclear how they opened after they were unlocked. Some people doing "showarounds" gabble through a set routine and use unfamiliar terms which are not explained to customers who are two keen to set off on their holiday. This is despite an initiative from a few years ago to improve briefings to hirers under an initiative from BMF and MCA.

 

 

Howard

 

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I grumped at a AW chappie as we passed the base. He said that of course they gave them lots of training, “It takes an hour”. I said “do you show them how to work a lock?” “No, the lock is too far away”. Well it is fractionally over a mile. They should do what other hire bases do and position a member of staff at the lock to meet the first-timers as they come past. But I guess they can’t be bothered.

Edited by nicknorman
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We had the same thing at that lock when we came up in May. 

 

I think the majority of hire bases don't do anymore then send people a video to watch, or perhaps a link to it online. I am not convinced that they don't do this but people just don't bother watching it.  If there is no lock that they can use then they should make people sit down an dwatch the video, or at lest go through it on a model.   Black Prince are another that seem to do nothing about lock training, they arrive at Calcutt top lock and say they were told to ask someone there how it works, great.

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All hire boat yards should be showing hirers how to work locks.  

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/business-and-trade/boating-business/starting-or-expanding-a-boating-business/self-drive-hire says:

 

Handover Procedure

You must prepare a detailed Handover Procedure which you must use each time you hire out the boat. It needs to cover the rules of navigation, how to use waterway structures such as locks and bridges, how to operate the boat safely and how to operate any equipment on the boat. It must contain a 24 hour Emergency Call Out service. British Marine produces a Hire Boat Handover Scheme which is incorporated into the Quality Accredited Boatyard scheme, please contact them for full details. 

 

 

 

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Nowadays there is often a USB stick in the telly with instructional videos for them to watch but who does that, they would rather have another beer/wine,  life is too short for education and consideration of others. How many of us have seen kids running round and getting into mischief whilst mum and dad look at their phones with their thumbs flashing a new massage into the world, watch an instructional video, when I can't be bothered to watch my children.

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You would think in these days of H&S and risk of litigation, hire bases would be more concerned than ever about handover procedures but I think it is worse now than ever before.  We have had many a similar experience ie crews who simply had no idea at all how to operate a lock or even that you have to pass port to port.

 

Fortunately there are no locks on the Lancaster canal where we are at the moment because the hire business seems to have boomed in recent years but there's all sorts of mayhem anyway because of the low water levels.

 

I wouldn't mind if the hire companies just gave their crews one simple instruction - tell oncoming boats at bridge holes if there is a boat behind.

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1 hour ago, nicknorman said:

I grumped at a AW chappie as we passed the base. He said that of course they gave them lots of training, “It takes an hour”. I said “do you show them how to work a lock?” “No, the lock is too far away”. Well it is fractionally over a mile. They should do what other hire bases do and position a member of staff at the lock to meet the first-timers as they come past. But I guess they can’t be bothered.

One thing that has always impressed me about Oxfordshire Narrowboats is that they do (unless the practice has changed) send the customers up through two locks as part of their handover.

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Our first hire was from Alvechurch some years ago. We were taken through the basics of lock operation but as we were heading for Stratford it wasn't practical for the company to take us through the practical demonstration. We were very pleased and grateful to be helped down the Lapworth flight by a very patient boater on our second day.

I think that might have been the year of the Boscastle flood - we were drenched by a torrential rainstorm on our way back 

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Let’s not forget anyone can buy a boat and set off without any form of training. 

 

At least most hire boaters I come across are open to being helped (unlike some so called ‘experienced’ boaters who get hung up on any hint of help). 

Edited by rowland al
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1 hour ago, Arthur Marshall said:

But wouldn't you expect someone paying a small fortune for their holiday to do a bit of research before they go? Maybe it's the same level of idiocy as those who go climbing mountains in shorts and the wrong shoes. People are, I'm afraid, weird. 

You would, but that is not always my experience of chatting to hirers.  When you ask where they are heading, often they have no idea where they are going or how many locks they are about to come accross.  Of course some are very well planned, know what they are doing and have done all the research, but not all that is for sure.

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54 minutes ago, rowland al said:

Let’s not forget anyone can buy a boat and set off without any form of training. 

 

At least most hire boaters I come across are open to being helped (unlike some so called ‘experienced’ boaters who get hung up on any hint of help). 

Very true!!

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A couple of weeks ago I was chatting to a guy on a hire boat in the same lock about this very subject. I asked him if he had received any training before taking his boat out from Wyvern. He looked a bit peeved before telling me, no.

 

He then went on to say he used to be a pilot on a Thames ferry for many years (not that that makes someone competent at skippering a long narrow boat into a lock as I discovered). 

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5 hours ago, john6767 said:

 Black Prince are another that seem to do nothing about lock training, they arrive at Calcutt top lock and say they were told to ask someone there how it works, great.

Black prince at Wigrams use a model to show one or two of the crew what to do at the lock....likely the guys who are steering it up to Calcutt, so no surprises the rest of the crew have no idea. BP do spend time on it but who is going to listen when all they want to do is get to the beer. 

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1 hour ago, rowland al said:

A couple of weeks ago I was chatting to a guy on a hire boat in the same lock about this very subject. I asked him if he had received any training before taking his boat out from Wyvern. He looked a bit peeved before telling me, no.

 

He then went on to say he used to be a pilot on a Thames ferry for many years (not that that makes someone competent at skippering a long narrow boat into a lock as I discovered). 

That description I'd find a bit odd. He was either skipper or crew on a Thames ferry or a pilot to bring other boats into port. A Pilot? on a Thames ferry? he'd never get the thing off the ground (water).:huh:

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A bit like the hire saling cruiser tacking, going from bank to bank up the river Bure on the Broads with the wind blowig from astern. When asked why, they said, ''We know this stretch, we had to tack up here  last year''.

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26 minutes ago, bizzard said:

A bit like the hire saling cruiser tacking, going from bank to bank up the river Bure on the Broads with the wind blowig from astern. When asked why, they said, ''We know this stretch, we had to tack up here  last year''.

Could have been worse, last year they may have had to get the quant pole out 

Phil 

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1 hour ago, bizzard said:

A bit like the hire saling cruiser tacking, going from bank to bank up the river Bure on the Broads with the wind blowig from astern. When asked why, they said, ''We know this stretch, we had to tack up here  last year''.

Tacking or gybing?

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7 hours ago, Dr Bob said:

Black prince at Wigrams use a model to show one or two of the crew what to do at the lock....likely the guys who are steering it up to Calcutt, so no surprises the rest of the crew have no idea. BP do spend time on it but who is going to listen when all they want to do is get to the beer. 

That makes sense, same issue with using a video, people just don’t take it in, and they have been overloaded with all the info about the boat as well.

 

The only way that works is to meet them at the first lock and help them through.  In the BP case if they are going that way it would be easy to do.  Similar to what happened to us the first time we hired, from Kate boats at Stockton, two of them met us at Calcutt bottom lock then one was on boat with me and one at lock side to help us up the first two, checked we were then OK and left us too it.

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11 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

But wouldn't you expect someone paying a small fortune for their holiday to do a bit of research before they go? Maybe it's the same level of idiocy as those who go climbing mountains in shorts and the wrong shoes. People are, I'm afraid, weird. 

I'd have thought they'd have done a bit of research too, there's plenty of advice on Youtube. 

 

Don't know what hire company the boat was from, but we were going up Buckby locks following a hire boat who's crew were leaving the paddles and gates open when they left the lock. Luckily the boat we were sharing the locks with had a bike, so one of crew went on ahead to 'explain' how that was considered bad manners! Think an explanation about locks, because of the sills, would be a priority lesson.

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12 hours ago, OldGoat said:

One thing that has always impressed me about Oxfordshire Narrowboats is that they do (unless the practice has changed) send the customers up through two locks as part of their handover.

They man two locks one north and one south of their base.

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