Stag & Hen Debate, Again!

[Chelsea14Ian]

I  do not wish to see same sex ,stags or hens banned from the broad.Have fun and banter by all means,just respect others.When it gets out of hand it needs to be dealt with.Stuart is correct Norwich weekends is sometimes  like the wild  west,most groups do respect  others.Sadly it is the few that give the rest a bad name.If I saw something that was unacceptable  I would report. 

[grendel]

at my mates wedding where I was best man and designated driver - he was fortunate that my van 'did not have enough petrol' to make it to London, as one of the chaps had the keys to Nelsons column, instead he had the obligatory picture with a rose taken in the privacy of the pub garden.

whilst stag do's are expected to have a few moments, it does seem that that particular one went a bit further than some.

[C.Ricko]

half way through the season where there are between 30 and 80 single sex/young groups are out every week, 

this was bad behaviour but the reporting is terrible and although people have to have something to chat about its no different to the last 40 years, I actually think we see less problems than 10 years ago due to the procedures in place. 

 

 

[kfurbank]

Perhaps the answer is not to ban such parties, but too make one member of the party fully responsible for the party. Perhaps by fitting a breathalyser ignition interlock and making it a condition of hire that at least one member of the party has to remain sober and responsible. If they get drunk as well then no one will be able to start the boat engine and at least the trouble is restricted to one spot until they are sober. Heavy penalties for late return of the boat.

[Bound2Please]

Talk about Stag and Hen prejudice

Charlie

[Gracie]

What qualifies as a Stag and a Hen party.........Two Brothers and their Dad, gay couples, Mum, Sisters and Daughters...........All very much entitled to a boating holiday together, where should the line be drawn and who do we discriminate against???

It's going to happen and to my mind the only way of dealing with it is to take away their boats and send them home

To ban particular groups from a Broads holiday is a slippery slope and totally wrong in my opinion

Grace

[kfurbank]

Why not? If no one is sober then the boat stays where it is. They do it with cars in America.

[Vaughan]

17 minutes ago, Jonzo said:

Can you see that being a feasible solution?

As I understand it, when this took place, the boat was moored up!

[kfurbank]

The point being that if the boat cannot be moved, the trouble makers will have to stay where they are until dealt with by the authorities, rather than moving on and creating havoc elsewhere.

[Martino]

I had the misfortune of mooring next to a stag party once and it was pure madness. They even had 2 shopping trolleys on top of the boat.

[Bound2Please]

Sorry but this really reeks of discrimination to all same sex parties the way its going. Are people so against people enjoying themselves?. Or is this an age related thing to discriminate against all same sex parties. When as WildFuz (Stuart) says all same sex parties are chatted to to pre departure. The minority are im sure dealt with appropriately, If its not kids, its rag n stick, if not them, its fisherman, if not them its all hire boats........ Get a life people live n let live.

Or is it that a fair few people aren't happy themselves unless they have some thing or some one to moan about for the least little thing that doesn't suit them?????????????????

Charlie

[kfurbank]

The one thing that really gets my goat, is people moaning about people moaning.

[addicted]

Nobody has the right to enjoy themselves at someone else's expense. Unfortunately there is a faction out there whose pleasure is the displeasure of others. Couch it in Whatever terms you like "high spirits"being only young once" it adds up to the same thing - unacceptable! And if your holiday is being marred by this type of behaviour you have every right and cause to complain and you shouldn't be condemned for doing so. There's an unfortunate trend at the moment of punishing the victim it's not right! Rant over,

 

 

 

Carole

[rightsaidfred]

I have to say that this is not a Broads problem but a society one, yes as in all walks there are those that do not care about others and behave in an unacceptable manner regardless, in my experience they are a minority and not representative of any specific age, gender or other groupings, it basically stems from the PC attitudes of the last 40 years  that insisted on rewarding instead of punishing bad behaviour and wont change till we reintroduce discipline and respect into our schools etc.

As for an answer the only ones that can make a significant change of attitude is the CPS and Judiciary  treating anti social behaviour with far more seriousness than they do at present and handing out stiffer penalties, you cant blame the Police or any other authority or business when they don't receive any backing from higher up the chain.

Fred

 

 

 

[Oddfellow]

The Editor of the EDP needs firing. 

From a company based in Norwich and publishing papers and magazines that purport to support tourism, this is not a shot in the arm but a shot in the foot. It was a monumentally stupid story to run in itself, to put it on the front page yelling "hello Sun, Times, Mail ET AL, look at us" was unforgivable.

There is absolutely no benefit to ANYONE from publishing this story about a very isolated incident; the kind of which happens regularly in many party areas of many city centres. 

The amount of negative publicity this has generated is amazing and the Broads will suffer for it if families are made to believe that it is becoming a no-go area.  

Stupid, Stupid, Stupid. 

 

   

[Oddfellow]

17 hours ago, C.Ricko said:

half way through the season where there are between 30 and 80 single sex/young groups are out every week, 

this was bad behaviour but the reporting is terrible and although people have to have something to chat about its no different to the last 40 years, I actually think we see less problems than 10 years ago due to the procedures in place. 

 

 

Clive is absolutely right. The problem is no worse now than ever before, but we get to hear about it easier so it sounds like it's a growing issue; as an operator, I can tell you that that is not my experience either. What is a growing issue is intolerance of bad behaviour by people who read about it rather than experience it.

I don't condone bad behaviour by any party and I can assure you that we have more trouble with some families than we have ever had with same-sex parties. 

 

[JennyMorgan]

Andy, I agree with your post re the potential that families will regard the Broads as a no go area. That is and always has been a problem. I visit other forums and often do I see comments about being put off the Broads by the yobbery that is part and parcel of the Broads. It might only be an occasional problem but it continually lingers and I have long suspected that whilst in financial terms yards are prepared to tolerate the yob element more is lost than is gained. It might take a year or two for the industry to adjust to a zero tolerance attitude in regards to likely anti social groups but in the long run I'm absolutely convinced that it would pay dividends. People need to have confidence that their holiday will not be ruined by extreme anti social behaviour, at the moment it's being portrayed as a high risk factor.  We are lucky down South, we rarely see it but on the North Rivers it does appear to be a problem. 

Your comments re the EDP, spot on.

[Chelsea14Ian]

I think you have it spot on,each year we come across stages and hens often.For the most part there is just light hearty fun.For sure if they over step the mark,it must be dealt with.Newspapers and the press have a duty to get a balance. Sadly they go over the top.

[JennyMorgan]

Perhaps more blame should be aimed at the pub concerned rather the boat yards, at least in this case. Continuing to serve folk who have clearly had two over the eight is not being responsible. 

[LizG]

What slightly amused us was the fact that the pub in question used to have a ban on all male parties

[Vaughan]

I am sorry folks, but this is the same old discussion that has been going on for the whole of my living memory. My father had two eight berth boats and a six berth, which he hired out at Easter in "end of season" condition, so that all the lads' weeks up from London on the train could bash them about without too much worry. He would then haul them out between then and Whitsun to paint them up nice, ready for the rest of the season's more discerning customers. I'm not joking - it's true.

Members of the public are responsible in law for their behaviour in public, wherever that may be. You simply cannot expect a boatyard to be responsible for this, or to police it. Boatyards cannot choose their customers. They need every one of them, to stay in business.

Just look again at what Clive has posted. Between 30 to 80 single sex groups per week so far this season - and that is groups, not just boats. How many of those have got their name in the papers?

Will this put people off the Broads? I have never seen any evidence to show that it ever has.

[grendel]

I have always said that news media always has to go worse than ever before, just to maintain the readership, I was discussing this with a work colleague, and she asked were there no news sites that just reported good news - I did a search and it came up with a report that a news site reported only good news for one day and their readership dropped by 2/3.

bad news sells, the trouble is they have to find worse news to keep selling, and thus the self perpetuating spiral they drag themselves into, where each report has to be the worst thing ever. and now one paper reports it, and then the major players see it as a good report, but exaggerate its impact, and edit it to make it sound worse for their readers.

[Vaughan]

I have just been thinking. I can count somewhere over 40 years in the hire boat business.

In that time, I have only had to refuse a boat to a customer three times. Once was at Hearts when I was about 16, and I just could not teach these customers how to sail, despite spending all afternoon with them. The solution was to take the mast out and let them have a week on the auxiliary engine.

The other two were families who made such a fuss about what they saw as wrong with the boat when they arrived that in the end I had to say there was nothing more I could do for them; the boat was as described in the brochure so I would refund all their money and they could go home. Both times, this "brought them up with a round turn" and they accepted their boats. They both went on to have great holidays and one family became valued regulars.

I have never had to refuse a boat to single sex parties and only once do I remember having any trouble with them. That was on the Thames.

Perhaps this might help put things in proportion?

 

[LizG]

My observations over the years are that sometimes the day boats are the worst culprits - with male or all female parties hiring perhaps more than one boat, taking 'a bit of drink' on board and stopping at the local pubs during the day (as opposed to over night) and rushing alongside each other and driving faster than they should.  They are a danger to themselves and a danger to others. 

One of my daughter's is herself helping to plan a friend's hen party weekend and the idea of a trip to Norwich with a day boat trip is being considered - and I wouldn't want to say 'oh no you can't do that - they have been banned!'

I suspect some of the budget airlines have considerably more trouble with groups going to (and coming back from )foreign cities for a cheap boozy weekend..............

[imtamping2]

Too many saints ..........with a few sinners........

It Happens , its not nice , but who will cast the first stone.....

Papers/reporters  = sensationalism ,exaggeration   and sometimes dare I say it some are even economical with the truth.