Miserable Canal Boat Owners

[saltyseadog]

Spent the last week doing the four counties ring - I have never seen & met so many sour faced, miserable gits in a week, and they were all canal boat owners & FISHERMEN. - the holiday makers I generally found to have smiles on their faces & were quite chatty & eager to exchange their experiences.

If I ever go on a canal boat holiday again I will keep a list of all boat names where I encounter these possesive weird people & have them named & shamed.

 

 

 

Note* Canal Boat Owners & Fishermen - you do not own the canals.

 

Is it too much trouble to

[blueprince]

Be kind, some of these poor souls haven't spoken to anyone for so long they may believe you're actually an hallucination. Speak slowly and kindly, ignore halting and confused speech, lure the unfortunate out with warm tea and alcohol, clearing the diesel fumes helps, though you may want to be cautious about suggesting that they leave the boat, as they symbioticly bond with them in the early stages, and believe they will die if they completley emerge from their "shell". Be prepared for long silences, while the lost one, variously, forgets what they're saying, mistakes you for someone else, carries on a conversation that started in the last century with god, or mistakes you for a tree.

 

On the other hand if you want to see, and hear, some activity, go past at 2.1mph.

[Christine]

On the other hand if you want to see, and hear, some activity, go past at 2.1mph.

 

 

 

I must say the anglers on the BCN last year were the friendliest that we had ever encountered.

 

I do love waving and saying a jolly 'hello' to each angler as we pass - p****s them off a treat.

[John Orentas]

Yes it is not easy to have much cheerie interaction with someone who deliberately turns his head and intently studies his hook in minute detail, I've always wondered what it is about those hooks.

 

The surly boaters were very much the exception in the old days but now have become common. They will turn their heads and investigate some very minor detail of their boat as they pass, always on the side away from you.

 

Is this 'don't make eye contact whatever you do' philosophy peculiar to the canals, I can't say that I have noticed it anywhere else.

Edited August 5, 2007 by John Orentas

[Nine of Hearts]

On the topic of fishermen on canals, what is it with the roach boys? I have noticed that these chaps generally leave it to the very last second as your approach before raising their exceedingly long sticks. I presume they're trying to maximize the time their hook's in the water, but how on earth they expect to land a fish when they catch it 2 feet in front of an advancing boat? Still, I always smile and say thank you.

[tomsk]

Spent the last week doing the four counties ring - I have never seen & met so many sour faced, miserable gits in a week, and they were all canal boat owners & FISHERMEN. - the holiday makers I generally found to have smiles on their faces & were quite chatty & eager to exchange their experiences.

If I ever go on a canal boat holiday again I will keep a list of all boat names where I encounter these possesive weird people & have them named & shamed.

Note* Canal Boat Owners & Fishermen - you do not own the canals.

 

Is it too much trouble to

 

 

How many of these miserablists had beards? 'Beards' seem to be grumpy and self-centered

[bottle]

How many of these miserablists had beards? 'Beards' seem to be grumpy and self-centered

 

 

Oih!!!!!! I represent that remark

[tomsk]

Oih!!!!!! I represent that remark

 

He He He!!!

[Hairy-Neil]

Oih!!!!!! I represent that remark

 

Me too!

[Chris J W]

How many of these miserablists had beards? 'Beards' seem to be grumpy and self-centered

 

Oi! I resent that remark too!

 

[ChrisPy]

and me ........................

[Stephen Sugg]

and me ........................

and me, but only a bit, mine is small and pointless, (but I had mine before Fernando Alonso had his)

[tillergirl]

I've never met a miserable boat owner yet !! Everyone we ever meet is so nice so relaxed. We were even sat talking to a couple waiting to go out of Keadby Lock on Friday - never met them before and we spent an hour talking to them and asking loads of questions (we'd just been to look at a boat). Never once did they appear to be fed up with us and we learnt loads. So on behalf of me and him I'd like to say thankyou to Ken and his wife from Strawberry Island and we hope you had a wonderful trip.

[Maverick]

After being unfortunate to come across 2 holiday hirers this weekend who were both doing it for the first time in boats that were far to large for someone without any experience, You can add my name to the miserable gits list if you like.

 

Its absolutely crazy that these idiots can be allowed onto the water in big steel boats when they havnt a clue how to handle them. Before anyone jumps in and says we all had to learn somehow I sugest if they are interested in boats then buy a plastic one and practice the fundamentals of the waterways first.

 

Groan over .... Well Almost, other boaters were Pi**ed off with em besides me so I'm quite happy to be a misserable git.

 

Hang all holiday hirers I say. Petition anyone?

[BigRoj]

Having just come back from Boston after a week afloat, the only miserable sods were in nbs doing the 'minute inspection of the tiller pin' routine, and then there were only half a dozen out of the 50 or so we passed. It was almost a snob thing, as in 'my boats longer than yours and more expensive'. Its a wonder they got under bridges with a nose that far in the air!!!!!

I could go on about the boat that pulled straight out in front of me from Burton Waters without looking, or all the boats on 48 and 72 hour moorings who had been there far longer, or the lack of hygene facilities at Newark etc.......but we had a wonderful time as usual and I know I'm not entirely blameless.

[Janet S]

Edited due to bad language.....

Edited August 5, 2007 by Janet S

[Kiwidad]

After being unfortunate to come across 2 holiday hirers this weekend who were both doing it for the first time in boats that were far to large for someone without any experience, You can add my name to the miserable gits list if you like.

 

Its absolutely crazy that these idiots can be allowed onto the water in big steel boats when they havnt a clue how to handle them. Before anyone jumps in and says we all had to learn somehow I sugest if they are interested in boats then buy a plastic one and practice the fundamentals of the waterways first.

 

Groan over .... Well Almost, other boaters were Pi**ed off with em besides me so I'm quite happy to be a misserable git.

 

Hang all holiday hirers I say. Petition anyone?

 

Well,

 

As a 'holiday hirer' I guess I had better take the opportunity to put my side of this discussion :

 

I hired a 70ft yellow boat for 3 weeks last July. Had the tuition in th afternoon, and was then let loose on you unsuspecting 'regulars'

 

The first couple of hours were terrifying, the boat was huge, and it took a while to get the hang of speeds and stopping distances, when to turn, and how to 'do the locks' without banging off the sides (all of them at first I confess! ).

But by the second day, I was feeling fairly comfortable, and by the fourth felt like I was doing a reasonable job, was able to enter and leave locks, most of the time without descaling the lock sides

 

The rest of the three weeks were great. I did the four counties ring, Llangollen and Caldon. Winded for the fun of it, practised reversing (Gulp, not so easy!), and had a fantastic time.

 

Most people were great, happy to chat, happy to offer advice (whether I asked for it or not ).

 

The only negatives were the continuous cries to 'slow down' from moored boats - I knew I was doing the slowest I could, whilst still maintaing forward momentum! slow down to much, and I lost the ability to steer! I had a GPS, so knew that if the throttle was in a certain position, I was doing just under 2mph, no wake, no problem????

 

It is my firm belief that the only reason the 'slow down' was being commanded (yes, it felt like that) was because I was in a bright yellow hire boat

 

I had fun, lots of fun - spent an inordinate amount of money in pubs (on food of course )

 

I will be back next year, doing the same thing, spending more money - how can that be a bad thing for the canal system? Why would you want to 'hang' me? I can not afford to buy my own boat yet, it is not practical to own one for a 6 week holiday every two years.

 

Why assume all hirers are idiots? I do not assume that all of you in your own boats are patronising grumpy old men (yes it was mostly men ) in fact most of you enhanced, rather than detracted from the experience. Especially the one 'gent' whoo got me when I had a slight hangover, and was feeling particularly grumpy myself!

 

He yelled at me to slow down, so I reversed back to his boat (very close, closer than I intended but he did not know that) parked just in front of him (neatly done in reverse, and a minor miracle (thanks big boss!), hopped off my boat stuck out my hand, introduced myself and asked him to show me the correct speed!

 

To his credit he was courteous enough to shake my hand, hop on board with the intention of doing just that.

 

Unfortunately for him, 70ft is bigger than his 57ft, and he found it a bit hard to steer, hitting another moored boat whilst showing me the 'correct speed' which read 3mph on my GPS!

 

Anyway, we parted friends? and maybe he learnt that we are not all blithering idiots!

 

Have fun, thats why we do it

[carlt]

Well said that man!

[Gary Stacey]

We travelled from the thames to west stockwith this summer via the grand union, nene, wash, witham, fossdyke and the trent. Seems that all the miserable boaters were on the grand union and all were in very shiny narrwoboats which probably dont move very far. The river sections of the journey were by far the most enjoyable.

[mayalld]

Well,

 

As a 'holiday hirer' I guess I had better take the opportunity to put my side of this discussion :

 

I hired a 70ft yellow boat for 3 weeks last July. Had the tuition in th afternoon, and was then let loose on you unsuspecting 'regulars'

 

The first couple of hours were terrifying, the boat was huge, and it took a while to get the hang of speeds and stopping distances, when to turn, and how to 'do the locks' without banging off the sides (all of them at first I confess! ).

But by the second day, I was feeling fairly comfortable, and by the fourth felt like I was doing a reasonable job, was able to enter and leave locks, most of the time without descaling the lock sides

 

The rest of the three weeks were great. I did the four counties ring, Llangollen and Caldon. Winded for the fun of it, practised reversing (Gulp, not so easy!), and had a fantastic time.

 

Most people were great, happy to chat, happy to offer advice (whether I asked for it or not ).

 

The only negatives were the continuous cries to 'slow down' from moored boats - I knew I was doing the slowest I could, whilst still maintaing forward momentum! slow down to much, and I lost the ability to steer! I had a GPS, so knew that if the throttle was in a certain position, I was doing just under 2mph, no wake, no problem????

 

It is my firm belief that the only reason the 'slow down' was being commanded (yes, it felt like that) was because I was in a bright yellow hire boat

 

I had fun, lots of fun - spent an inordinate amount of money in pubs (on food of course )

 

I will be back next year, doing the same thing, spending more money - how can that be a bad thing for the canal system? Why would you want to 'hang' me? I can not afford to buy my own boat yet, it is not practical to own one for a 6 week holiday every two years.

 

Why assume all hirers are idiots? I do not assume that all of you in your own boats are patronising grumpy old men (yes it was mostly men ) in fact most of you enhanced, rather than detracted from the experience. Especially the one 'gent' whoo got me when I had a slight hangover, and was feeling particularly grumpy myself!

 

He yelled at me to slow down, so I reversed back to his boat (very close, closer than I intended but he did not know that) parked just in front of him (neatly done in reverse, and a minor miracle (thanks big boss!), hopped off my boat stuck out my hand, introduced myself and asked him to show me the correct speed!

 

To his credit he was courteous enough to shake my hand, hop on board with the intention of doing just that.

 

Unfortunately for him, 70ft is bigger than his 57ft, and he found it a bit hard to steer, hitting another moored boat whilst showing me the 'correct speed' which read 3mph on my GPS!

 

Anyway, we parted friends? and maybe he learnt that we are not all blithering idiots!

 

Have fun, thats why we do it

Very well put.

 

The only point that I would come back on is the question of slowing past moored boats.

 

You say that had you slowed down any more, you would have lost the ability to steer, which implies that you were going faster than tickover, and would have been unable to steer at tickover.

 

I hope that you will accept that with more practice you will become able to steer better at tickover. As such, you were going faster than you might have.

 

The GPS speed isn't relevant. Just less than 2mph can be too fast (on some canals the maximum practical cruising speed is 2mph), and believing that your GPS tells you anything about how appropriate your speed is would be a mistake.

 

Likewise, the lack of wash. Wash isn't what causes boatgs to lurch at their moorings. A boat can be producing almost zero wash yet badly affect moored boats due to the draw from the passing boat.

 

Having said all that, you don't seem to fit the category of idiots who need to be put up against the wall, and I hope that you will be back for more trips. Just remember that like everything in life, you should never imagine that you have learned everything that there is to learn.

[Supermalc]

Having just come back from Boston after a week afloat, the only miserable sods were in nbs doing the 'minute inspection of the tiller pin' routine, and then there were only half a dozen out of the 50 or so we passed. It was almost a snob thing, as in 'my boats longer than yours and more expensive'. Its a wonder they got under bridges with a nose that far in the air!!!!!

I could go on about the boat that pulled straight out in front of me from Burton Waters without looking, or all the boats on 48 and 72 hour moorings who had been there far longer, or the lack of hygene facilities at Newark etc.......but we had a wonderful time as usual and I know I'm not entirely blameless.

 

I've now moved it......back at Southrey for a week. (That's a joke folk)

 

Met Roger in Lincoln, and again at Boston. I have to say he is one of the most sociable and helpful people I have met while boating. River was flowing quite fast at Boston as they were letting the water out, and he was the one jumping up to go and help everyone moor up. Roy was particularly grateful, as he has trouble selecting neutral on his boat, especially with the left engine.

[Kiwidad]

Very well put.

 

The only point that I would come back on is the question of slowing past moored boats.

 

You say that had you slowed down any more, you would have lost the ability to steer, which implies that you were going faster than tickover, and would have been unable to steer at tickover.

 

I hope that you will accept that with more practice you will become able to steer better at tickover. As such, you were going faster than you might have.

 

The GPS speed isn't relevant. Just less than 2mph can be too fast (on some canals the maximum practical cruising speed is 2mph), and believing that your GPS tells you anything about how appropriate your speed is would be a mistake.

 

Likewise, the lack of wash. Wash isn't what causes boatgs to lurch at their moorings. A boat can be producing almost zero wash yet badly affect moored boats due to the draw from the passing boat.

 

Having said all that, you don't seem to fit the category of idiots who need to be put up against the wall, and I hope that you will be back for more trips. Just remember that like everything in life, you should never imagine that you have learned everything that there is to learn.

 

You are quite right I certainly got better as time went by.

 

We all learn by experience, knowledge and experience are two different, and complimentary, things. I had the theory, but the experience is ongoing!!

 

I am not naive enough to believe I am even remotely competent after three weeks

 

But I did try my best to be as courteous, and follow as many rules, as I could. 99.9% of people respected that.

 

Like most things in life, it is the few that can spoil it for the rest of us.

 

I understand and accept that most of the problems on the cut are from novice hirers/users, but we all have to start somewhere, and I responded far better to polite education than abuse!! (of which there was very little)

 

I had a thoroughly enjoyable experience, can not wait to enjoy it again, and can not wait to own my own boat.

[Maverick]

Well,

 

As a 'holiday hirer' I guess I had better take the opportunity to put my side of this discussion :

 

I hired a 70ft yellow boat for 3 weeks last July. Had the tuition in th afternoon, and was then let loose on you unsuspecting 'regulars'

 

The first couple of hours were terrifying, the boat was huge, and it took a while to get the hang of speeds and stopping distances, when to turn, and how to 'do the locks' without banging off the sides (all of them at first I confess! ).

But by the second day, I was feeling fairly comfortable, and by the fourth felt like I was doing a reasonable job, was able to enter and leave locks, most of the time without descaling the lock sides

 

The rest of the three weeks were great. I did the four counties ring, Llangollen and Caldon. Winded for the fun of it, practised reversing (Gulp, not so easy!), and had a fantastic time.

 

Most people were great, happy to chat, happy to offer advice (whether I asked for it or not ).

 

The only negatives were the continuous cries to 'slow down' from moored boats - I knew I was doing the slowest I could, whilst still maintaing forward momentum! slow down to much, and I lost the ability to steer! I had a GPS, so knew that if the throttle was in a certain position, I was doing just under 2mph, no wake, no problem????

 

It is my firm belief that the only reason the 'slow down' was being commanded (yes, it felt like that) was because I was in a bright yellow hire boat

 

I had fun, lots of fun - spent an inordinate amount of money in pubs (on food of course )

 

I will be back next year, doing the same thing, spending more money - how can that be a bad thing for the canal system? Why would you want to 'hang' me? I can not afford to buy my own boat yet, it is not practical to own one for a 6 week holiday every two years.

 

Why assume all hirers are idiots? I do not assume that all of you in your own boats are patronising grumpy old men (yes it was mostly men ) in fact most of you enhanced, rather than detracted from the experience. Especially the one 'gent' whoo got me when I had a slight hangover, and was feeling particularly grumpy myself!

 

He yelled at me to slow down, so I reversed back to his boat (very close, closer than I intended but he did not know that) parked just in front of him (neatly done in reverse, and a minor miracle (thanks big boss!), hopped off my boat stuck out my hand, introduced myself and asked him to show me the correct speed!

 

To his credit he was courteous enough to shake my hand, hop on board with the intention of doing just that.

 

Unfortunately for him, 70ft is bigger than his 57ft, and he found it a bit hard to steer, hitting another moored boat whilst showing me the 'correct speed' which read 3mph on my GPS!

 

Anyway, we parted friends? and maybe he learnt that we are not all blithering idiots!

 

Have fun, thats why we do it

 

 

Have fun, thats why we do it Yes but in someone elses boat and many of the new hires are totally untrained in this and dont care who or what they hit.

 

To those who are competent I have no problem. Its the newcomers who should be made to pass a proper driving test with a reasonable amount of hours put in training. Why let them loose on us?

 

The holiday companies couldnt care cus there boats are insured. The hirer doesnt care cus its not their boat. Its us boat owners who have scrimped and saved to get where we are that have to suffer. Hang em bloody all I say. If you cant afford a boat you shouldnt be bloody boating.

 

All fur coat and no Knickers. I cant afford a Boing 747 but I dont expect British Airways to hire me one for a couple of weeks.

[Kiwidad]

Have fun, thats why we do it Yes but in someone elses boat and many of the new hires are totally untrained in this and dont care who or what they hit.

 

To those who are competent I have no problem. Its the newcomers who should be made to pass a proper driving test with a reasonable amount of hours put in training. Why let them loose on us?

 

The holiday companies couldnt care cus there boats are insured. The hirer doesnt care cus its not their boat. Its us boat owners who have scrimped and saved to get where we are that have to suffer. Hang em bloody all I say. If you cant afford a boat you shouldnt be bloody boating.

 

All fur coat and no Knickers. I cant afford a Boing 747 but I dont expect British Airways to hire me one for a couple of weeks.

 

 

Well, Well,

 

From that vitriolic reply I would suggest that you must have been the grumpy f**t who I shamed into 'showing ' me the correct tickover speed only for you to hit another boat!

 

Who decides if people are competent enough? You?

 

It is fairly obvious from your statement that you have never needed any assitance, obviously get everything right first time,

and are the only one who should be on the canal!

 

Do you walk on water as well?

[carlt]

Have fun, thats why we do it Yes but in someone elses boat and many of the new hires are totally untrained in this and dont care who or what they hit.

 

To those who are competent I have no problem. Its the newcomers who should be made to pass a proper driving test with a reasonable amount of hours put in training. Why let them loose on us?

 

The holiday companies couldnt care cus there boats are insured. The hirer doesnt care cus its not their boat. Its us boat owners who have scrimped and saved to get where we are that have to suffer. Hang em bloody all I say. If you cant afford a boat you shouldnt be bloody boating.

 

All fur coat and no Knickers. I cant afford a Boing 747 but I dont expect British Airways to hire me one for a couple of weeks.

 

On April 1st 2007 you wrote:

 

"Being a novice and greedy for all the news and info I can get I thought I would take a look. (sure the novelty will ware off in 10yrs or so)"

 

When did you suddenly become an expert?

 

The number of incidents causing actual damage, by hirers or boat owners, is neglible.

 

Did you take a test? Don't you have insurance?

 

I have seen very few incidents, over the years, which leads me to believe that a child can steer a narrow boat.

 

Maybe if you've seen plenty, in your short time boating, to make you this aggressive towards fellow boaters, it's not the hirers' helmsmanship you should be questioning?

Edited August 6, 2007 by carlt