Miserable Canal Boat Owners

[StoneHenge]

I think a lot does depend on the hire company as well. The one we went with when we went on our very first boating holiday actually came on the boat with us for a few bridges to make sure we could line up to go through them and move around bends etc then jumped off at the next bridge and left us to is after the instruction period, checks, then moving the boat.

 

I don't think there needs to be tests. We do want to keep boats on the waterways, as I for one don't want them dwindling away and giving anyone an excuse to get rid of us boaters all together. I've just discovered this wonderful lifestyle, I would like to live out my days doing it too.

 

Unfortunately with the best will in the world, and the best tuition, you are always going to get some numpty who thinks they know it all and will toddle off after not listening to the hire company's advice and then cause havoc, and really what should then be done is to make the penalties for littering, or causing problems, anti social behaviour etc more severe so if you get some idiot who bumps around, or at speed etc and is reported the hire companies can do more than just take the boat off them and take their deposits etc.

[boatchad]

I am just back from my 2 week summer fix [not hire boat] round the 4 counties, had a great trip and met loads of great and interesting characters which for me is one of the main attractions of the canals. Unfortunately I also met a couple of complete and utter abusive tossers who steamed passed me pulling all 3 mooring pins out and then gave verbal abuse when I pointed out their mistake, forcing me to leave the table and my breakfast and go out in the pouring rain to resecure my boat. This tosser was NOT a hirer but a private boat owner who apparently was a self appointed boating expert, you know the type!

 

Later in the trip on 2 separate occasions at locks more self appointed Rosie and Jim bedecked boat owning tossers, shut lock gates and whipped up the paddles as hire boats approached locks that I had left open for them, and once as I approached a lock a hirer had left for me. This hirer was in fact someone who is a liveaboard of several years who was hiring to explore a new cruising area and had far more experience and boating savvy than the Rosie and Jerk.

 

I also met 2 brand new boat owners who had just taken delivery of boats and set off on their travels, one with very, very little experience and one with none at all, he had never even stepped foot on a canal boat of any sort! To be fair both were receptive to advice and keen to learn as in my experience are most hirers.

 

One R&J owner had a rant about how a hirer had collided with him whilst he was moored near a hire base and in his oppinion all hirers should be banned from the system. It then transpired that he was moored on the end of a line at a very busy junction outside a hire base, which I would suggest is asking for trouble and the last place anyone with half a brain would moor.

 

 

To summarise, on my trip I met lots of great and interesting people both hirers and private owners and some complete tossers, none of which were hirers. I have been a boater on the sea, rivers and canals, in dinghies, yachts, cruisers and narrowboats for about 50 years now so I have the benefit of experience but I am also prepared and expect to learn something new every time I go out in a boat.

[Webchem]

Thank you for sharing your experiences Boatchad- just goes to show that all life is out there!

 

I love the expression R&J owner - much more polite than 'Shiny boat brigade'.

 

As a regular hirer I am looking forward to the day the mortgage is paid (10 years ish), become an R&J with all the privileges, cut owning and misery rights that clearly come with this!

 

In the meantime, I will be cheerful and smile and wave at all the happy and miserable people I will meet. I will train my 4 and 7 year olds to be so cute that you have to smile, and hopefully everyone will have a nice day as a result!

 

Happy days!

 

Edited August 7, 2007 by Webchem

[purplehaze]

To summarise, on my trip I met lots of great and interesting people both hirers and private owners and some complete tossers, none of which were hirers. I have been a boater on the sea, rivers and canals, in dinghies, yachts, cruisers and narrowboats for about 50 years now so I have the benefit of experience but I am also prepared and expect to learn something new every time I go out in a boat.

 

Here Here!! Am I alone in being sick and tired of 'hirers' being lumped together as a group who are useless boaters and a curse to the inland waterways?

 

We have hired for over 20 years and love the canals, yes we have made mistakes in the past as any novice/learner will do whether they hire or own their boat. We have receved helpful advice from owners and hirers in the past and we have helped others too.

 

Julie

[Machpoint005]

Here Here!! Am I alone in being sick and tired of 'hirers' being lumped together as a group who are useless boaters and a curse to the inland waterways?

 

We have hired for over 20 years and love the canals, yes we have made mistakes in the past as any novice/learner will do whether they hire or own their boat. We have received helpful advice from owners and hirers in the past and we have helped others too.

 

Julie

Well said, Julie. If it were not for the hire fleets, I beg to suggest that large sections of the network would have died off by now. The hire firms have some clout with BW, and you meet some fascinating people on hire boats.

 

To give just one small example, I've met people from the States, Canada, South Africa, Spain, Aus, NZ all on hire boats, and if it were not for the general friendliness of canal users I wouldn't have conversed with any of them. Long may it so continue.

 

Ian

[Graham Blott]

Have just returned from a five week cruise. Had two "incidents" in all that time.

 

1. Was roundly abused by a fisherman who was fishing from a lock landing at the foot of a lock on the T&M because I had the effrontery to pull up to the lock landing in order to let my crew off. Apologised to him but was assured that I was the selfish git who single-handedly gave boaters a bad name and that I had ruined his entire day. Pity, next time I'll try and make it his entire life.

 

2. At Sutton Stop lock. As my wife started to open the bottom gate to let me in, another boater decided to raise the top paddles so that they could steal the lock. Apparantly they had come past all the moored boats on the North Oxford at Sutton Stop at some speed and then ignored the two boats waiting to come down the lock as well as us. Was this some inexperienced hirer who had obviosuly never had any tuition. No it damn well wasn't. A middle aged couple on a private boat.

 

Personally I always try to acknowledge anyone (owner, hirer or angler) that I come across. And yes, I will offer advice where I see hirers obviously struggling - and if they tell me to pXXs off - so be it. But it hasn't happened yet.

 

Unlike some of the forum members I am not above making the odd mistake myself - but I am still learning having only been associated with waterways for about 36 years.

 

So, Kiwidad, let me apologise to you on behalf of the (minority) of boat owners who are intolerant and standoffish. We all ocassionally meet them. Best to just let them get on with it - they are probably happy in their own way.

[Hairy-Neil]

18. Challenger Stealth Hire

 

Yeah, whats that all about????? We saw one out on the Shroppie this week........Its hardly stealth with STEALTH HIRE emblazoned on the cabin side.....

[Hairy-Neil]

I've seen boating from all sides having steered a range of boats in my 28 years on the cut. Cruisers, older run down narrowboats, posh new narrowboats, hire boats, trip boats (12 seats), old working boats both motors and butties, loaded and empty.

 

There's even split categorys in this working boat hierarchy depending if you're on a boat that's owned privately, charitable trust or BW's heritage fleet.......

 

I have at times skipped from one to the other on a daily basis and have even met the same people coming the other direction that have treated me differently because I have moved down a peg or three in their eyes....

[tidal]

I think that given the comments on here, when i do get back on the system again I shall just smile ruefully shrug my shoulders and point to the ruddy great flag I plan to have emblazoned across the bows and cabin sides of my boat (see avatar) as I will probably be the one motoring diagonally down the cut clanging off bridgeholes..........(Mind you I thought that this was the way it was supposed to be done judging by many of the boaters I have met )

 

Isn't that why most nbs are made of steel?

 

 

 

Btw I am heading up the hierarchy before I even start

 

I already have a beard an oily sweater and a flat cap

Do I get extra points for a red neckerchief? :lol

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll get my coat shall I ?

[oasistoo]

I have to jump in and with my tongue firmly in cheek defend myself and fellow owners in Ownerships All the owners I know in the scheme are polite helpful and pretty experienced! But I am sure we have a range of the other type as well!

 

The only reason we personaly use the share route to get and stay afloat is that both my wife and I run small companies and our time is not our own! So if we did buy a boat it would probably at the moment join the hoards of boats mouldering from lack of use.

 

In the years I have been boating I have met the full range of owners on the full range of boats qouted in the check list and with skills and personalities (or Not) to match.

 

We all make mistakes and have bad days so i now just shrug and remind myself that 'such is life'

[howardang]

I have to jump in and with my tongue firmly in cheek defend myself and fellow owners in Ownerships All the owners I know in the scheme are polite helpful and pretty experienced! But I am sure we have a range of the other type as well!

 

The only reason we personaly use the share route to get and stay afloat is that both my wife and I run small companies and our time is not our own! So if we did buy a boat it would probably at the moment join the hoards of boats mouldering from lack of use.

 

In the years I have been boating I have met the full range of owners on the full range of boats qouted in the check list and with skills and personalities (or Not) to match.

 

We all make mistakes and have bad days so i now just shrug and remind myself that 'such is life'

Thanks for putting in a good word for Ownerships owners. Like you I have met many of them and the vast majority have a background of hiring, some for many years. There are well over 1000 owners involved in the scheme now so it is inevitable that the range of experience is extremely varied. I have yet to come across one who hasn't had prior experience before buying a share.

 

Howard Anguish

[David Schweizer]

Thanks for putting in a good word for Ownerships owners. Like you I have met many of them and the vast majority have a background of hiring, some for many years. There are well over 1000 owners involved in the scheme now so it is inevitable that the range of experience is extremely varied. I have yet to come across one who hasn't had prior experience before buying a share.

 

Howard Anguish

I have nothing against boat share schemes, and most of the people I have met have been extreemly friendly and pleasant. There is just one thing about them which really bugs me, they seem to have a fixation about cleaning the boat.

 

My permitted mooring is very close to a yard which is the base for about 12 of these boats, and Friday is the exchange day. Every Thursday they all turn up and moor either side of me on the towpath, and each boat spends the next two or three hours hoovering, beating out carpets, washing the roof, etc. As each boat arrives this activity continues all afternoon and well into the evening, then there is the frequent tooing and froing with suitcases, bikes and plastic sacks full of washing etc. and cars moving backwards and forwards (parking in my parking space). This all makes any time spent on our boat far from relaxing, and we try to avoid visiting the boat on a Thursday.

 

As I have said I have nothing against the people involved, i just wish that the Yards which take on these schemes had enough space to actually moor the boats, rather than impose the turnaround activity on the rest of us.

Edited August 17, 2007 by David Schweizer

[saltyseadog]

Hairy Neal : I've hired one of their boats, they operate out of Market Drayton & have a mixture of Hire & Time Shared Boats. The hire boats are black in colour & the time shared type boats are blue. From the outside they do look different from the run of the mill hire boats with their highly polished laquered paintwork & brass chimney - but inside are no different from the rest. I think the one we hired was coming to the end of it's working life, but surprisingly the cost of hire for peak season was quite reasonable when compared to the rest such as Kate, Middlewich, Rose, Napton & Alvechurch Boats. I would definately hire one off them again but would be a bit more choosey on which boat I would hire.

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah, whats that all about????? We saw one out on the Shroppie this week........Its hardly stealth with STEALTH HIRE emblazoned on the cabin side.....

[cugsey]

I have nothing against boat share schemes, and most of the people I have met have been extreemly friendly and pleasant. There is just one thing about them which really bugs me, they seem to have a fixation about cleaning the boat.

 

My permitted mooring is very close to a yard which is the base for about 12 of these boats, and Friday is the exchange day. Every Thursday they all turn up and moor either side of me on the towpath, and each boat spends the next two or three hours hoovering, beating out carpets, washing the roof, etc. As each boat arrives this activity continues all afternoon and well into the evening, then there is the frequent tooing and froing with suitcases, bikes and plastic sacks full of washing etc. and cars moving backwards and forwards (parking in my parking space). This all makes any time spent on our boat far from relaxing, and we try to avoid visiting the boat on a Thursday.

 

As I have said I have nothing against the people involved, i just wish that the Yards which take on these schemes had enough space to actually moor the boats, rather than impose the turnaround activity on the rest of us.

 

an example of 'miserable canal boat owner'

[Hairy-Neil]

Hairy Neal : I've hired one of their boats, they operate out of Market Drayton & have a mixture of Hire & Time Shared Boats. The hire boats are black in colour & the time shared type boats are blue. From the outside they do look different from the run of the mill hire boats with their highly polished laquered paintwork & brass chimney - but inside are no different from the rest.

 

They are not new, purpose built for hire, boats then? .......Perhaps they are the older boats that have been cascaded down from the shared owner scheme......I guess the oldest will be circa 15 years old by now and ready for replacement. Perhaps its a way of squeezing a bit more profit from them before they are retired altogether.

 

Interestingly the Challenger company originated with hire boats, and swapped to the quality end of the shared owner market when that became the trend.

 

By my understanding of it the point of 'stealth hire' was for you to hire a boat so that the ordinary man in the street (on the cut) thinks it was privately owned. That is sort of the point with most of the shared owner schemes too, though Challenger boats I have seen have all carried the company's corporate image and even a fleet number.

 

Ownerships boats, though never branded as such afaik, mostly stand out a mile because the boat's name starts with either an 'O' or 'S' They are also from what I've seen, far more battered about than the average private boat, much like your average hire boat. It follows that a boat having 8 owners will see at least 8 times the usage and pick up 8 times the wear and tear.....

[cugsey]

just to expand this tread a little further as well as miserable boaters

have you blokes also noticed another canal boat phenomenon, sorry girls got to say it, mods move this to the pub

UGLY CANALBOAT WOMEN

you know the type long grey hair with dodgy centre part,

and as my former care worker would say 'big boned' a 'pie shifter' the sort that could lapse into a coma if not kept regularly supplied with pastry based products

and all this waffling on about what equipment should you put into you 2007 new build rcd qualified boat should at least include a mirror and some lippy for your woman

so is it just me or are there any fit ones out near you

or am i just unlucky

all the females boaters near me look as if theyve got off the last bus to hebden bridge

[Hairy-Neil]

It must be something in the water.....I put on half a stone on my recent 2 week break.....

[Barry]

just to expand this tread a little further as well as miserable boaters

have you blokes also noticed another canal boat phenomenon, sorry girls got to say it, mods move this to the pub

UGLY CANALBOAT WOMEN

you know the type long grey hair with dodgy centre part,

and as my former care worker would say 'big boned' a 'pie shifter' the sort that could lapse into a coma if not kept regularly supplied with pastry based products

and all this waffling on about what equipment should you put into you 2007 new build rcd qualified boat should at least include a mirror and some lippy for your woman

so is it just me or are there any fit ones out near you

or am i just unlucky

all the females boaters near me look as if theyve got off the last bus to hebden bridge

 

Strewth........

[Janet S]

Cugsey, as my dear departed mum used to say, "If you can't say something nice about someone, then don't say anything".

 

I suggest you take that on board, as your last few posts on this and several other threads have added nothing to the forum apart from trying to cause discord where there was none.

 

Perhaps you should go back to your former care worker and ask for a life, as you seem to be missing one....

 

Janet

[adam1uk]

Ownerships boats, though never branded as such afaik, mostly stand out a mile because the boat's name starts with either an 'O' or 'S'

 

The O and S thing stopped in 2000. The boats are still quite easy to spot when you know what you're looking for - but my experience so far is that most people don't!

[David Schweizer]

just to expand this tread a little further as well as miserable boaters have you blokes also noticed another canal boat phenomenon, sorry girls got to say it, mods move this to the pubUGLY CANALBOAT WOMENyou know the type long grey hair with dodgy centre part,and as my former care worker would say 'big boned' a 'pie shifter' the sort that could lapse into a coma if not kept regularly supplied with pastry based productsand all this waffling on about what equipment should you put into you 2007 new build rcd qualified boat should at least include a mirror and some lippy for your womanso is it just me or are there any fit ones out near youor am i just unluckyall the females boaters near me look as if theyve got off the last bus to hebden bridge

 

What are you on about? You suggest that I am miserable and then you make a statement like that. A lot of men on boats would not win any prizes in a beauty contest, (just look at my avatar). Anyway it does not matter what someone looks like, are they nice people? that's what matters, unless you have a different agenda to most of us.

Edited August 18, 2007 by David Schweizer

[fuzzyduck]

I have to jump in and with my tongue firmly in cheek defend myself and fellow owners in Ownerships All the owners I know in the scheme are polite helpful and pretty experienced! But I am sure we have a range of the other type as well!

 

 

I'm sure you're all great people. but that doesn't affect your position in the pecking order.

 

1. Owners of Shiny new narrowboats. (based in marinas)

2. Owners of Shiny new narrowboats. (moored on linear moorings)

3. Owners of Shiny new narrowboats. (Continuous cruisers)

4. Owners of older narrowboats. (based in marinas)

5. Owners of older narrowboats. (moored on linear moorings)

6. Owners of older narrowboats. (Continuous cruisers)

7. Floating gypsies.

8. Owners of GRP (based in marinas)

9. Owners of GRP (moored on linear moorings)

10. Owners of GRP (Continuous cruisers)

11. Hirers

12. Eugene Baston

13. Owners of Imitation working boats. (based in marinas)

14. Owners of Imitation working boats. (moored on linear moorings)

15. Owners of Imitation working boats. (Continuous cruisers)

16. Ownerships and similar

17. Canaltime

18. Challenger

19. Challenger Stealth Hire

20. Day boats

21. Canoes

22. BW Launches

23. Birmingham Mattresses

24. Blow up dinghy from Argos, during a heatwave in the school holidays.

25. River Lee sofabeds/mattresses etc.......

 

We are still to slot in owners of genuine ex working boats steel, and wood

owners of wooden cruisers etc

and those rare owners of the few converted ships lifeboats that still exist.

Edited August 18, 2007 by fuzzyduck

[Supermalc]

just to expand this tread a little further as well as miserable boaters have you blokes also noticed another canal boat phenomenon, sorry girls got to say it, mods move this to the pubUGLY CANALBOAT WOMENyou know the type long grey hair with dodgy centre part,and as my former care worker would say 'big boned' a 'pie shifter' the sort that could lapse into a coma if not kept regularly supplied with pastry based productsand all this waffling on about what equipment should you put into you 2007 new build rcd qualified boat should at least include a mirror and some lippy for your womanso is it just me or are there any fit ones out near youor am i just unluckyall the females boaters near me look as if theyve got off the last bus to hebden bridge

 

You've obviously not read my 'who are we' post then

 

I'm sure you're all great people. but that doesn't affect your position in the pecking order.

 

1. Owners of Shiny new narrowboats. (based in marinas)

2. Owners of Shiny new narrowboats. (moored on linear moorings)

3. Owners of Shiny new narrowboats. (Continuous cruisers)

4. Owners of older narrowboats. (based in marinas)

5. Owners of older narrowboats. (moored on linear moorings)

6. Owners of older narrowboats. (Continuous cruisers)

7. Floating gypsies.

8. Owners of GRP (based in marinas)

9. Owners of GRP (moored on linear moorings)

10. Owners of GRP (Continuous cruisers)

11. Hirers

12. Eugene Baston

13. Owners of Imitation working boats. (based in marinas)

14. Owners of Imitation working boats. (moored on linear moorings)

15. Owners of Imitation working boats. (Continuous cruisers)

16. Ownerships and similar

17. Canaltime

18. Challenger

19. Challenger Stealth Hire

20. Day boats

21. Canoes

22. BW Launches

23. Birmingham Mattresses

24. Blow up dinghy from Argos, during a heatwave in the school holidays.

25. River Lee sofabeds/mattresses etc.......

 

We are still to slot in owners of genuine ex working boats steel, and woodowners of wooden cruisers etc

 

and those rare owners of the few converted ships lifeboats that still exist.

Flippin eck Al......that's a bit tempting

0. Owners of small Mahogany clinker boats.

 

 

 

 

 

1. Owners of Shiny new narrowboats. (based in marinas)

2. Owners of Shiny new narrowboats. (moored on linear moorings)

3. Owners of Shiny new narrowboats. (Continuous cruisers)

4. Owners of older narrowboats. (based in marinas)

5. Owners of older narrowboats. (moored on linear moorings)

6. Owners of older narrowboats. (Continuous cruisers)

7. Floating gypsies.

8. Owners of GRP (based in marinas)

9. Owners of GRP (moored on linear moorings)

10. Owners of GRP (Continuous cruisers)

11. Hirers

12. Eugene Baston

13. Owners of Imitation working boats. (based in marinas)

14. Owners of Imitation working boats. (moored on linear moorings)

15. Owners of Imitation working boats. (Continuous cruisers)

16. Ownerships and similar

17. Canaltime

18. Challenger

19. Challenger Stealth Hire

20. Day boats

21. Canoes

22. BW Launches

23. Birmingham Mattresses

24. Blow up dinghy from Argos, during a heatwave in the school holidays.

25. River Lee sofabeds/mattresses etc.......

Edited August 18, 2007 by Supermalc

[cugsey]

come on boys give us some back upyou know i,m rightdont get me wrong there is a place for everyone look at carol on big brotheri hope that she wins get this thread to the publighten up

What are you on about? You suggest that I am miserable and then you make a statement like that. A lot of men on boats would not win any prizes in a beauty contest, (just look at my avatar). Anyway it does not matter what someone looks like, are they nice people? that's what matters, unless you have a different agenda to most of us.

no i am not suggesting you are miserable i am telling you that you are miserable how dare anyone on a time share disturb your thursdays and park in your spec hanging is too good for them Edited August 18, 2007 by cugsey

[cugsey]

You've obviously not read my 'who are we' post then :

 

malc sorry pal have just read that post

i take everything i said back

Edited August 18, 2007 by cugsey