River Etiquette

[Movic]

Moaning time now ...........

Ok yes I know its the silly season, but having spent the past two weeks on Movic I found myself spending most of it South as it is so much quieter .Despite my home yard being in Horning I simply cant stand the plague of day boats each day mainly from Wroxham. I accept there are some very responsible day boaters out there, but my god there are many many poor ones who quite simply couldn't careless about the rivers or Broads, probably because they are not coming back. Either they are travelling at brake neck speed, past moored boats or trying to undertake e you again at some inappropriate speed. Yes the BA Ranger sticks out his lollipop to slow them down, but no sooner as they are out of site on goes the throttle again, they might as well stick two fingers up. Maybe on the spot fines or something ? is that possible ?

Ever been moored on Salhouse spit before hand back day in Wroxham? You getting shaken from your bed  with the boat bouncing on its moorings at 7.30 with the Wroxham fleets returning at silly speeds because they want to get away first !     WELL GO BACK THE NIGHT BEFORE THEN !!!!!

Then there is the mooring scramble each day. A point in question was when I managed to moor at the Bridge Inn at Acle. I had managed to moor on the mooring nearest the bridge, between the Arrows and leaving the emergency ladder clear. As Movic is 42ft it meant realistically only a small boat would to able to moor in front us. That didn't appear to deter the 35ft bath tub from Richardson's who decided he was going to moor in front us. Attempt No 1 saw him crash into the side of our boat, much to the embarrassment of his wife holding the mooring line, but absolutely no word of an apology from either. We pushed them off, only for him to turn and come again ! He yet again crashed into our boat. I polity told him he is not going to be able to moor there, but absolutely no response or apology and we pushed them off thinking , foolishly as it turned out , that he would give up. Amazingly he came again, crashed into the side of my boat yet again but this time managed to get a line with himself ashore on the concrete under the bridge, shouting orders at his wife to steer the boat. My patients now was wearing very very thin, but still managed a polite comment and informed him he was unable to moor there. " Who are you the F@@@ mooring Police " he shouted.

No I replied you cant moor there as

1. your are outside of the safe mooring area as noted by the bloody great sign with the arrows on  

2. you are blocking the emergency ladder which clearly states "keep Clear "

3. and call me picky here, but you have bugger all to moor your boat to !

With that he shot off under the bridge rammed the bank near the shop and somehow managed to moor up his boat.

Luckily the fenders had done their job so real damage that I could find anyway

Meal in the Bridge and next day and hot foot it across Braydon to South side. So much calmer. Perhaps its me getting old, but river etiquette appears to be getting worse.  People get things wrong I accept that, But going flat out through a village or past moored boats is not getting things wrong , its ignorant , simple . Crashing into the same moored boat three times with no apology or accepting advice is again plain ignorant.

I am sure the hire yards tell these people how to behave on the river etc, but the message doesn't get through to some and spoiling the experience for many. What the answer is I Don't know, better policing ?       God I'm turning into Victor Mlidrew 

 

[ExSurveyor]

Sadly the South can suffer the same problems,  dodgem day boats and the frantic dash to Norwich,  having a riverside mooring can be challenging,  you soon know when Breydon crossing time is because a few hours later every oxygen thief on a boat hurtles past a few feet away sending all the moored boats rocking and rolling.  Out of all the miles of the Yare only perhaps half a mile has moored boats,  is it really going to make these halfwits late for party Central.  

The only blessing is that there are considerably less of them south and natural selection gives some time to consider their actions whilst sitting on the mud of Breydon.  

Tomorrow I will be double moored on the upper Medway for the weekend and I can guarantee 99% of boats will slow down to pass but then there are no pubs or clubs around and only 17 miles of River.

Nobody rushes around here,  

[Chelsea14Ian]

Yes it often  happens mainly  on the north  but also on the south.If I was you I would have reported  them to  the yard

Ian

[Bound2Please]

Why is it that no one complains about the private boats that are the worst culprits at speeding that I come across?. Is it that they have special dispensation to allow them to speed?. Come on its just snobbery always blaming hired boats for every thing.

Charlie (off his soap box now)

[Hockham Admiral]

Here's one who DOES, Charlie. Brundall to Bramerton is a particularly bad stretch of river of a weekend for the Gin Palace & Small Speedboat Brigade.

If they're making a "Titanic" bow wake I even make a point of taking an obvious camera pic as they pass by, instead of my usual wave.

What I might then do I do privately because I respect the "No name & shame" culture we try to foster here.

[Poppy]

21 minutes ago, Hockham Admiral said:

Here's one who DOES, Charlie. Brundall to Bramerton is a particularly bad stretch of river of a weekend for the Gin Palace & Small Speedboat Brigade.

If they're making a "Titanic" bow wake I even make a point of taking an obvious camera pic as they pass by, instead of my usual wave.

What I might then do I do privately because I respect the "No name & shame" culture we try to foster here.

Perhaps there's a place for a 'name and shame' thread - to appease the moaners.

[JennyMorgan]

Charlie, pig ignorance is as prevalent amongst private boats as it is amongst hire boats. What baffles me about private boats, some costing hundreds of thousands, is that some owners make absolutely no effort whatsoever to learn how to handle their boats or master the practice and etiquette of boating.

[Poppy]

Agreed JM. It's seemingly a type of arrogance . " Look at my wad, you plebs! "

[charlesa]

I come well out of season and usually keep to the Hickling side of Potter !!

A touch restricting but then I am a bit odd !

[JennyMorgan]

2 minutes ago, Poppy said:

Agreed JM. It's seemingly a type of arrogance . " Look at my wad, you plebs! "

At least us mere plebs don't tend to flash our minimal wads with decidedly ugly boats! There are some real beauties out there, Princess for example, even I would like one of them, but of late some incredibly ugly boats have appeared at Oulton Broad's Yacht Station. 

[kfurbank]

Was at Reedham Wednesday when a 27ft twin engine private boat left the quay. He was facing up river and as he left he immediately gave it lots of welly with one engine to turn the boat around which meant he was directing he's wash directly onto the beam of the boats nearest him, making them rock all over the place. The only saving grace was that he quickly throttled back and then got caught in he's own wash on their beam which had them rolling violently, promptly dumping his wife on her backside, who had been attending to the ropes on the bow.

I don't think there's much I could have said that would be worse than the talking too I'm sure he would have received from his wife

[Poppy]

There's one on the Northern rivers (a triple decked Broom 42) that would struggle to get under Acle Bridge. As for Vauxhall - not a CHANCE !  Twin engined and very big ones by the sound of them, that on tick over ( all it is allowet to have any chance of getting down to speed limits) emit clouds of black smoke!

[Wonderwall]

If being on the broads riled me as much as it appears to rile some on here , I simply would stop coming, or get another pastime or go somewhere else.

Cars on the road speed, bad driving is common in all forms of transport. Some people in restaraunts are loud, some kids are poorly behaved, some staff in all walks of life are rude. Geez, even some family members annoy me. 

However most people in life are decent , polite and law abiding. My point is , if you let these people spoil your enjoyment then they really are winning and effecting your life. 

If only too many day boats and people going a bit fast on the river and on the wrong side were my biggest concerns. 

[Baitrunner]

I was looking at the Barnes Brinkcraft web cam in the week and it did look very busy up there with day boats. But then the yards have to make some money so the more they hire out the better for them.

I purposely try and avoid the school holidays wherever we go as you know it will be mental and I am afraid it will only get worse as people care less and less about others.

I do recall when we hired a canal boat we were told by the yard to slow down when passing moored boats, which we did. From a whopping 3mph to something between 0-3mph. And bloody great and relaxing it was too. Difference was there were untold places to moor if you couldn't get outside a pub. The flight to be first on your next mooring will never get any better.

[smellyloo]

1 hour ago, Poppy said:

Perhaps there's a place for a 'name and shame' thread - to appease the moaners.

Or maybe a Busy Body revealed thread where the "curtain twitching busy bodies" can be revealed partaking in their favourite passtime ...... poking their nose in.

[Gracie]

Do you know I have just had a hot drink and sat  reading this thread, I would give an arm and a leg to be on the Broads this very moment or indeed, anytime soon. I would love to be able to call over to a speeder (private or hire) to slow down and turn to im indoors and say "Honestly some people", that is my point, it IS just some people, the majority of boaters I have met over the years be it private or hire have been jolly nice people, on holiday, having a pint in a pub, fishing etc, generally having a good time and treating our lovely Broads as if they owned them.

We really should get things into perspective and remember that people thinking of hiring or buying a boat surf the internet for information and most probably read up on the forums for said info, to read some of the things that are moaned about over and over again could well put people off of 'having a go on a boat' which in mine and thousands of other peoples minds is the best holiday you could possibly ever have

I have seen bad behaviour (private and hire) a few times but what I've also seen (which nobody ever seems to write about) is some pretty smashing people who would go way above and beyond to help anyone having a problem mooring or tying ropes etc.

For me the worst culprits I have seen for lack of respect and a couldn't care less attitude is the day boaters, they are on a boat for just a few hours and are going to get their money's worth, maybe a good idea for the hire yards to spout a few rules to day boaters about how to behave and leave the thousands of us who love and respect the Broads and everyone else using them to go on our merry way and have a holiday of a lifetime. Any newbies reading this just remember A LITTLE BIT OF COMMON SENSE AND A WHOLE LOT OF RESPECT FOR OTHERS will go a long way into enjoying your time on the Broads

Happy boating everyone

Grace

 

[Poppy]

46 minutes ago, smellyloo said:

Or maybe a Busy Body revealed thread where the "curtain twitching busy bodies" can be revealed partaking in their favourite passtime ...... poking their nose in.

We could start with those who had a moan about 'jokes'......

[Baitrunner]

Poppy, I think they were just moaning about your jokes!!

[Movic]

My thread wasn't  intended to suggest that all poor behavior was reserved just for the Hire fleets. Equally I witnessed some private boats causing all manor of problems with their wash as they pass by. However, I have to say I have never been rammed yet on a mooring by one, but no doubt that day will come too !

These were my experiences over the past two weeks and i tend to agree with Grace that the day boats are the worse culprits of all. Now I love the Broads, every damn part of it, I respect It , and get very frustrated when people do not seem to offer the same level of respect to its environment.I want you to be part of it, share it , enjoy what I enjoy admire its beauty.

Day boats are part of that experience too , they are part of the industry that makes the whole experience fascinating and enjoyable. A few however, have " a don,t care less attitude" How can anyone cruise through Horning flat out leaving small boats and sailing boats flying up in the air in their wash and think that,s "OK" is beyond me, but they do 

Maybe the yards need to take a bit more responsibility for the actions of their customers, be a bit more proactive in getting the message home.

As for private boats who act selfish and irresponsible, you deserve everything to be thrown at you.

[imtamping2]

53 minutes ago, Poppy said:

We could start with those who had a moan about 'jokes'......

Poppy, you must be joking.................. or are you it's hard to tell these days......................

[Poppy]

1 minute ago, imtamping2 said:

Poppy, you must be joking.................. or are you it's hard to tell these days......................

Not joking there......

But I am fed up with people, in general, being over the top PC and taking offence at just about everything !

Humour! If you don't like it, have a quiet little 'tut' and move on!

[Hylander]

Talking of day boats.   A few years back step daughter brought home her latest and they hired a day boat and asked us along.   I wasnt that keen but we went.  Prince Charming takes over the helm and it was full throttle immediately.  I can assure you that he was told immediately that you do not navigate at full speed and to calm down.     I am sure he just thought we were party poopers.

[Hylander]

11 hours ago, psychicsurveyor said:

The only blessing is that there are considerably less of them south and natural selection gives some time to consider their actions whilst sitting on the mud of Breydon.

I did chuckle at your comment.

[Gracie]

"Humour! If you don't like it, have a quiet little 'tut' and move on!"

"Tut"

Grace

p,s Well said Pops

[Bound2Please]

4 minutes ago, Gracie said:

"Humour! If you don't like it, have a quiet little 'tut' and move on!"

"Tut"

Grace

p,s Well said Pops

TUT

Charlie