Stupid Is As Stupid Does

[Cheesey69]

Hi,

Just witnessed two hire boats playing bumper boat while going down The Bure and to add to the horror, Children was crossing one boat to the other while under full power. 
mindless. 

[YnysMon]

I hope you reported the incident. 

[Chelsea14Ian]

No doubt  if a accident  happened, they would blame someone  other then themselves. I agree hope you reported them.

[BrundallNavy]

Yes we saw them there were actually 3 and they seemed to be racing each other, strangely they behaved as the Ranger came past. 
 

We also saw a picnic boat with a young lady and two small children onboard, the kids sat on the back with the feet in the water while the lady was trying to drive and prepare lunch for the kids whilst underway, all over the river and constantly hitting the bank..

[Ray]

It's particularly annoying when kids are involved, not only are they too young to appreciate the danger they are learning that it's OK.

Surely no one who takes a minute to stop and think would think that is how to handle a boat or enjoy a boat holiday come to that!

[Wussername]

It happens I'm afraid. 

Difficult to judge. Difficult to manage. Difficult to resolve.

I have a concern in that many people read the forums and decide, this is not for us!

These are isolated instances, they really are. 

I have met many holiday makers,  as an employee on a boat yard, as a visitor on a mooring. 

Without exception I cannot ever remember a negative holiday experience. 

Sure, this was over several years, so perhaps if I am honest there was a few who were not happy, not for them. But few are far between.

[BuffaloBill]

Sorry buddy but it not an exception! We witnessed this sort of thing on almost every trip out on our boat.

Parents allowing the kids to run around the decks, even crossing Breydon. We witnessed 2 boats playing Dodgems and hitting each other on purpose whilst passing Barnes one morning! I did ring their yard and informed the owners who found them and their holiday was terminated immediately.

We even got hit twice requiring major work and loss of use for us too.

This sort of thing is one reason we sold the boat after many years of ownership + hiring before that.

The Broads is no longer the tranquil "get away from it all" place that it used to be and should be and I've been coming since 1962.

Just my humble opinion of course.

[Vaughan]

58 minutes ago, BuffaloBill said:

The Broads is no longer the tranquil "get away from it all" place that it used to be and should be and I've been coming since 1962.

Whilst I agree with the sentiment of your post, I can't agree that behaviour in the 60s was better than now.  There were about 2000 hire boats then (rising to 3000 later) and there weren't any speed limits, except through the villages.  Most customers arrived by train and I would think around a third of them just wanted to get to Yarmouth Yacht Station as fast as possible!

There are only about 700 hire boats now against an upsurge of thousands of private boats.  So I suggest we private owners should think ourselves lucky, accept a bit of "high spirits" from the tourists who are supporting the area more financially than we are and (dare I suggest) keep our carping to within reasonable proportions.

[TheQ]

1 hour ago, BuffaloBill said:

 

The Broads is no longer the tranquil "get away from it all" place that it used to be and should be and I've been coming since 1962.

Just my humble opinion of course.

I suggest reading the Coot Club, written in 1934, hullabaloos back then...

[annv]

I some times wonder if there are two broads as the one i use has very Little to complane about except for beer prices. John

[DAVIDH]

1 hour ago, annv said:

I some times wonder if there are two broads as the one i use has very Little to complane about except for beer prices. John

And diesel prices. 

[Bikertov]

1 hour ago, DAVIDH said:

And diesel prices. 

And pump out prices ...

[MargeandParge]

I can only reply to Idiots, it's just like protecting your loved one in a super market car park. Either child or PRISE POSSESSION on wheels. 

Regards Marge and Parge 

[Andrewcook]

Why can the Hiring Day Boats, make them pay a Damage Deposit to say Fifty quid so they get it back when the Day Boats come back in one piece. As this might make the Idiots think twice about their antics on the River

[Ray]

I suspect it would mean a lot of people just wouldn't hire day boats under those terms Andrew, it could lose a lot of business!

[grendel]

5 hours ago, annv said:

I some times wonder if there are two broads as the one i use has very Little to complane about except for beer prices. John

same broads, different perceptions.

while its incidents like this that get all of the coverage in social media and the press, the fact is that nobody reports or comments abut the other 100 boats they passed that day where nothing like this was happening, and the boats were cruising by minding their own business.

we recently had someone complaining that all of the reports of boats aground on Breydon was putting people off coming to the broads, well reports of incidents like this are the same, if you just read the bad, you get totally the wrong picture of the area.

the truth is that incidents like this are few and far between, yet somehow are always reported and a big fuss made.

if you see such an incident, the best course of action is to report it to the Broads Authority or the boatyard, with any accompanying evidence - photographs etc, so it can be dealt with.

that way something will be done, merely reporting it on social media brings no benefits unless you also inform the BA or boatyard, social media wont stop it, social media cant remove that type of person from the hire boats. all social media can do is fan the flames of misguided responses and criticism.

worse still if the offenders are heading back for handover and the boat is named, by the time the social media report goes out, the boat may have changed hirers, now everyone is on the lookout for the boat, and unfortunate comments may be made that could ruin the new hirers holiday. 

(there is a reason why we have terms and conditions here, and that the no name and shame policy is so strictly enforced)

 

[CambridgeCabby]

The trouble today is , everyone has a video camera at hand , in the form of a smartphone , and they can upload the video or images instantly to a public platform which is viewed by thousands within a matter of hours .

I don’t think that the behaviour has worsened to any great degree (IMHO),sadly the nature of the beast seems to dictate that each and every misdemeanour that occurs is published whereas the thousands of “normal” boaters enjoying what we all also love about the Broads, and behave in a manner which doesn’t attract attention , goes unpublished .  

[Boatingman]

I have been hireing boats on the broads most years since 1964 recently a week on the southern broads and yesterday a day boat for the day on the upper thurne.  

Behaviour in general in my opinion is better than fifty years ago speeding is less as are the idiot boaters yes you still get them and always will.

The Broads are still a magical place and are enjoyed by so many 

Ray

 

[MrPlant]

On 04/07/2022 at 08:17, BuffaloBill said:

The Broads is no longer the tranquil "get away from it all" place that it used to be and should be and I've been coming since 1962.

 

November-March is, that's one of my favourite times on the broads

[Chelsea14Ian]

Mostly agree, however there seems to be pinch points re; bad behaviour.Our boat has been hit a number of times.Once causing £15000 worth of damage.

I will no longer put up with bad behaviour, to either BA or if a hire boat to the company.Okay I wont name the boat on SM, but unacceptable behaviour must not  be tolerated.Yes in the main things are okay and I always encourage people to visit,thats way I love living here now.

[jeffbroadslover]

When I read reports like this it makes me think of one very simple word..........RESPECT

People who do stupid things like this obviously have NO respect for anything or anyone.

They don't respect other people's property

They don't respect each other

They don't respect the environment and the damage they could be causing

They don't respect the other people who may have the task of sorting out the result of their actions

They do not deserve the opportunity to enjoy a place of peace and beauty that they have spent a lot of money to visit

I could go on but will leave it at that for now

Jeff

[rightsaidfred]

Having spent quite a bit of time afloat so far this year my experience has been that general behaviour has improved considerably including some all male groups whom we have enjoyed meeting, while there will always be some speeding has been far less noticable with the worst 2 instances being private boats.

If I can find fault at all it comes from the comments I have had from hirer's I have helped in regards to the handover procedure at a couple of yards, I have mentioned this to the rangers who are already aware of this so hopefully this will improve.

Fred

[Paul]

my God, it must be hell out there, I never realized how bad it had become. Thank heavens I now do my visiting in a big tin shed strung to the back of the Merc, I would be fearful for the safety of my wife and first born, not to mention all the other ankle biters were we to step aboard anything which floats 

I thought the 70s were bad with thousands of hire boats few with any kind of engine restriction all making a beeline for somewhere or another, 45-foot bathtubs giving a practical demonstration of displacement hull speeds and doing their best to change the laws of physics, or hydrodynamics or whatever, all whilst pumping their untreated effluent straight into the river. 

Moored three abreast at Yarmouth if you were lucky enough to get an outside berth you could play watch the floaters, I'll leave the rest to your imagination. I could never understand the hushed giggles when I asked mother what the pink jellyfish things were that came past every now and then.

As for peace and quiet, I don't remember much of that, by daytime at least. I remember washing in a bucket on deck with dad while mum and the girls used the bathroom and kitchen sink. Don't forget tha neck lad, and back on yer lugholes. I can still hear my father say. Breakfast was usually done soon after eight and we untied and waited for a gap in the constant train of boats coming down the river until eventually, a tiny gap appeared. You shut your eyes and went for it. I remember Breydon so think with boats you could walk from Yarmouth to Burgh Castle and not get your feet wet. 

There was just as much hullabalooism, I remember watching one family pass a baby from one boat to the other midway across Breydon as he needed a nappy swap. Playing catch between boats was commonplace and lifejackets were unheard of. I'm sure I'm not the only one to remember the snaked of beer cans tied to handrails all around the boat as a trophy of the sheer profligacy of the crew. 

And to think, today's broads are worse than that. Wow

[Troyboy]

It's threads like this that put me off buying another boat. We have just had a week on a hire boat and to be fair we had no issues but I did witness some very stupid behaviour by let's just say a same sex group on two boats. 

I love the northern broads but they do attract some idiots whereas the southern broads tend to be a bit more gentile. Still a wonderful place to be and as we all know there are some lovely quiet places to moor.

[PaulN]

1 hour ago, Troyboy said:

It's threads like this that put me off buying another boat. We have just had a week on a hire boat and to be fair we had no issues but I did witness some very stupid behaviour by let's just say a same sex group on two boats. 

I love the northern broads but they do attract some idiots whereas the southern broads tend to be a bit more gentile. Still a wonderful place to be and as we all know there are some lovely quiet places to moor.

No need to be put off buying another boat Troyboy, we moor on the North Broads and try and avoid any idiots, but the vast majority of hirer's, like yourself, are considerate and sensible. It is however crowded this time of year.

Having just returned from 4 weeks on our boat 90% of which we spent on the South Broads, I can confirm it's still quiet down there. So quiet in fact, that when we started the 45 minute trip up the Chet to Loddon at 9:30 in the morning, we thought we wouldn't get a mooring in the basin there as no boats had come the other way. However the reason was that when we arrived, there was only one other boat there!

I also find, that in general people on hire boats on the south broads, seem more experienced causing far less stress when mooring and departing next to us.

Pleased to hear you are still enjoying your Broads boating.