Canoes and weirs ,garden sheds and collecting donations

[Momac]

At the weekend I watched three people  in canoes intentionally go over the weir at Gunthorpe (River Trent , Nottinghamshire) . It's a fairly substantial weir.

To my surprise they did not die. 

Is going over weirs in canoes  normal practice or were they simply three suicidal idiots ?

 

Also couldn't help notice  a large floating garden shed , apparently with no engine, on the water point immediately above  Gunthorpe Lock . It was there at least the 28 hours or so we  were there - with no one about . I have noticed one other garden shed on the river although being not very old it looks okay so presume floating garden sheds are becoming  popular. However  mooring on a water point surely is not acceptable?  It did inconvenience one boat passing upstream.

 

C&RT people  were in evidence , lock keepers of course but also  a fella collecting donations from the non boating public . I await my cut of the takings as it was in part looking at the boats and watching them going through the lock that attracts said public to this location.

 

It was a busy weekend !

[zenataomm]

People have short memories when lessons are to be learned from tragedies

[Wanderer Vagabond]

I'm not a canoeist but I think you'll find they go over far bigger things than some poky little weir:

 

 

[ditchcrawler]

Watched them going over some on the Thames

[Alan de Enfield]

11 minutes ago, MartynG said:

Is going over weirs in canoes  normal practice or were they simply three suicidal idiots ?

Quite normal - just watch them going down the Slalom course and out onto the river at Holme Pierrepont

 

[mrsmelly]

13 minutes ago, MartynG said:

At the weekend I watched three people  in canoes intentionally go over the weir at Gunthorpe (River Trent , Nottinghamshire) . It's a fairly substantial weir.

To my surprise they did not die. 

Is going over weirs in canoes  normal practice or were they simply three suicidal idiots ?

 

Also couldn't help notice  a large floating garden shed , apparently with no engine, on the water point immediately above  Gunthorpe Lock . It was there at least the 28 hours or so we  were there - with no one about . I have noticed one other garden shed on the river although being not very old it looks okay so presume floating garden sheds are becoming  popular. However  mooring on a water point surely is not acceptable?  It did inconvenience one boat passing upstream.

 

C&RT people  were in evidence , lock keepers of course but also  a fella collecting donations from the non boating public . I await my cut of the takings as it was in part looking at the boats and watching them going through the lock that attracts said public to this location.

 

It was a busy weekend !

Martyn that is nowt. That is stupid but believe it or not people ride pedal cycles on roads amongst forty ton trucks, buses and cars! Now that is truly stupid. Go to any a and e department and you will find them full of athletes, sports people and cyclists. 

[Wanderer Vagabond]

4 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Martyn that is nowt. That is stupid but believe it or not people ride pedal cycles on roads amongst forty ton trucks, buses and cars! Now that is truly stupid. Go to any a and e department and you will find them full of athletes, sports people and cyclists. 

And of course no one has ever been killed on a narrow boat, have they? Life is a risk and no-one yet has been known to get out of it alive

[mrsmelly]

1 minute ago, Wanderer Vagabond said:

And of course no one has ever been killed on a narrow boat, have they? Life is a risk and no-one yet has been known to get out of it alive

This is true but it depends on your view of risk. There are far more cyclists than narrow boaters but I would put money on there being a higher percentage of cyclist deaths pro rata. Only a cyclist would not agree on its stupidity on today's roads ? 

[Wanderer Vagabond]

2 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

This is true but it depends on your view of risk. There are far more cyclists than narrow boaters but I would put money on there being a higher percentage of cyclist deaths pro rata. Only a cyclist would not agree on its stupidity on today's roads ? 

Well for safety we need to stop pedestrians going anywhere near roads as well, don't we? Whereas pedestrians contributed 25% of those killed on the roads, cyclists contributed a whopping 6%. Of course the most dangerous place in inside the vehicle, obviously, since they made up 46% of deaths, but that is the price you pay for travelling in your car, isn't it?

 

Since most traffic I see is travelling at walking pace anyway, (when passing the M6 in my boat, I was going faster than the traffic!!) where lies the risk?

[mrsmelly]

Just now, Wanderer Vagabond said:

Well for safety we need to stop pedestrians going anywhere near roads as well, don't we? Whereas pedestrians contributed 25% of those killed on the roads, cyclists contributed a whopping 6%. Of course the most dangerous place in inside the vehicle, obviously, since they made up 46% of deaths, but that is the price you pay for travelling in your car, isn't it?

 

Since most traffic I see is travelling at walking pace anyway, (when passing the M6 in my boat, I was going faster than the traffic!!) where lies the risk?

You know better than to quote statistics and percentages they are a nonsense as well you know which is why I oft quote the drunk driving one ? Keep on peddling.

[ditchcrawler]

1 minute ago, mrsmelly said:

You know better than to quote statistics and percentages they are a nonsense as well you know which is why I oft quote the drunk driving one ? Keep on peddling.

Peddling or paddling?

[Wanderer Vagabond]

3 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

You know better than to quote statistics and percentages they are a nonsense as well you know which is why I oft quote the drunk driving one ? Keep on peddling.

After 60 years of relatively incident free riding I why would I stop, particularly as it is far quicker than sitting in some poky tin can on four wheels.?

Edited September 3, 2018 by Wanderer Vagabond

[mrsmelly]

1 minute ago, Wanderer Vagabond said:

After 60 years of relatively incident free riding I why would I stop, particularly as it is far quicker than sitting in some poky tin can on four wheels.?

It's only quicker in towns and cities. I popped up to Jockland yesterday now that would have taken yonks on a pedal cycle. Anyway you keep at it as its good excercise innitt.

[NickF]

6 minutes ago, Wanderer Vagabond said:

After 60 years of relatively incident free riding I why would I stop, particularly as it is far quicker than sitting in some poky tin can on four wheels.?

60 years incident free......that means statistically you are due ......stop cycling now!

 

And yes my little avatar or icon is me going over a weir on the Medway    ... the weir has a section designed for kayaks! 

[Ray T]

Found this http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/16603388.boatbuilding-on-the-ouse-more-photos-of-tommy-airs-and-his-boats/#gallery0  , a historical precedent for sheds on waterways:

 

Edited September 3, 2018 by Ray T

[Momac]

5 hours ago, Ray T said:

Found this http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/16603388.boatbuilding-on-the-ouse-more-photos-of-tommy-airs-and-his-boats/#gallery0  , a historical precedent for sheds on waterways:

 

That is a fairly good comparison with the shed at Gunthorpe ......... but imagine upvc windows added in.

The boat alongside it  looks nice.

[Momac]

7 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Quite normal - just watch them going down the Slalom course and out onto the river at Holme Pierrepont

 

But do you see people go down it in a canoe .

Inflatable boats with and instructor  - yes 

Thost little kyak things which are sealed up with a spraydeck thingy (sorry I don't know the correct terms) - yes . even then i assume you have to be trained first before being allowed down the course.

The canoes going over Gunthorpe were sliding over the concrete which could have ripped through their boats .

Also  lets not forget the people who  died at Cromwell. 

 

 

 

 

 

[roland elsdon]

7 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

Martyn that is nowt. That is stupid but believe it or not people ride pedal cycles on roads amongst forty ton trucks, buses and cars! Now that is truly stupid. Go to any a and e department and you will find them full of athletes, sports people and cyclists. 

Go to an emergeny department or mental health unit and see the nurses and drs smoking their heads off outside. They know what the future holds...

[roland elsdon]

In colmar france looking at canal. Mr s melly would hate it,full of cyclists mostly smoking.

saw one today fag in mouth getting on his bike, having put his canoe on the roof of his car. 

[Wanderer Vagabond]

9 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

You know better than to quote statistics and percentages they are a nonsense as well you know which is why I oft quote the drunk driving one ? Keep on peddling.

Of course once you discount all statistics, which you do, you no longer have any basis whatsover to claim that cycling is in any way dangerous, do you?

[Naughty Cal]

Floating sheds seem to be becoming a lot more popular. Several have sprung up on the Fossdyke.

 

In fact the Fossdyke has become a magnet for scrap boats of all descriptions of late 

 

 

[Hudds Lad]

9 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

Go to any a and e department and you will find them full of athletes, sports people and cyclists. 

Having recently spent a good chunk of a weekend in our local A&E due to the wife's appendix calling it quits, I can tell you they are mostly full of old people let down by a broken care system, children with worried parents, a good chunk of people who don't know their own alcohol limits, a couple of addicts who have run out of prescription drugs, and a shitload of excellent caring staff hampered by a working method that means no department seems to pass info to the next. Sorry to say I saw nobody in lycra or looking like they'd been engaged in sport/exercise. No sheds either

[Clodi]

14 hours ago, Wanderer Vagabond said:

And of course no one has ever been killed on a narrow boat, have they? Life is a risk and no-one yet has been known to get out of it alive

Unfortunately some poor Biggs fell off the back in one of the tunnels and died as a result a couple of years back

[Boater Sam]

Quite a few people have died on narrowboats, of drink and drugs, old age, hyperthermia, gun shot, etc.

And several have died after dropping off narrowboats. 

But none by going over weirs or riding bikes inside or round the deck.

[max's son]

Its not just canoes that shoot weirs barges and narrowboats try (Diglis and Bevere on the Severn)

The best weir I ever shot was the fish ladder at Linton on Ouse