Another lot that appear not to be able to read

[LondonRascal]

I think it is pretty simple - boat goes aground on Breydon.

 

You have an additional waiver that is present upon arrival that the hirer must read and sign, it need not be long and it does not have to be complicated small print but should the boat end up on the mud on Breydon water it is the hirers responsibly to pay for its recovery 100%.  If this was to happen the boat would not be recovered until funds are  paid.

 

At the bottom of the form is a clear instructional guide on how to cross and the relevant months 'safe to cross' tide times nice and fool proof e.g. "Monday 12th August you can cross at 9:45am".

 

So one day you get call saying one of your boats s high and dry on Breydon, so relevant people go and make sure the boat is sound and not holed and you then ensure there are no immediate medical needs of the crew - once that has been ascertained they are give the paper work that breaks down the cost of getting the boat off the mud, a phone number and then say cheerio until such payment is made.

 

It has become too easy for small or large issues to be thought of as 'someone else's problem' and although a small percentage of visitors will literally not give  a damn, they are impacting the majority  who do care.

[JawsOrca]

As I mentioned I agree,  think it's fair to say; "You sit there and sort out your own recovery... It's your boat this week".. and a charge of £xx is due every day it's sitting there over the hire period.. 

 

I'm sure this would stand up in court and a judge would deem as fair.. There is no way the yard should pay for this.. 

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

It`s pretty clear what sort of people these were, with beer cans and food all over the floors etc, and their attitude to those that were tasked to get them to safety.  With this in mind, there should now be a "blacklist" of people like this, and when on that blacklist, they`re banned from hiring any boat anywhere in UK waters, both inland or coastal FOR LIFE.

 

Pussyfooting around with these morons achieves nothing, but hit them hard in the wallet, and bann them for life is the best way.

 

There is always the option of holding on to their car keys and tell them all to get the train home, then come and collect your car when the salvage costs are payed in full. Also, if they don`t pay in full within a given period, say 7 days, then the fleet operator should then have the rite to sell the car to recover said salvage costs.

 

There`s been hundreds of people who`ve made a simple error of judgement, and run aground, also other factors such as poor weather conditions, or a sudden lack of concentration. But most of the time, the hirers offer their apollogies and are extremely grateful to those that help them out. This bunch of to...rs just did`nt care for anybody, not to mention the safety of those who tried to help.

 

I certainly think Alphacraft had a good claim of criminal negligebce, and the crew being drunk in charge.

[JennyMorgan]

Stag party, says it all really. The remedy is simple, and obvious.

[Chelsea14Ian]

I do feel sorry for Paul,Alfacraft have had a bad run.from the posts above it seems clear that it was not a case of knowledge or judgement,but beer.I would go further then stopping there deposit,I would fine them for lost of earnings and cost of getting them aflot.Perhaps that will make poeple take more care.

 

 

ian

[Wehlau]

Inconsiderate idiots........

But every cloud has a silver lining  "Wehlau " has turned his picture around the right way, I can now remove my neck brace 

lol, got the wife to thank for that, amazed I managed to get pic on in first place, turning round was not an option

[Poggymale]

Saw the boat this afternoon and it's well over 100 meters away from the channel - just unbelievable . The owners of Alphacraft are lovely and I just hope things improve for them over the summer months and incidents like this don't happen to them again soon.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Polly]

I think the yard has a case to sue for criminal damage, I hope they do so.

[JanetAnne]

At least they managed to 'reunite' this drunken group with their cars....

 

Did we not finance a very nice shiny boat to patrol this area and make it safer? Seems to me there have been more boats stuck on the putty this year than ever! :naughty:

[Oddfellow]

Stag party, says it all really. The remedy is simple, and obvious.

We had three boats out on a stag this weekend and they seem to have behaved impecably. No boat used excessive amounts of fuel, were left clean and tidy and we received no complaints at all from other river users.

If it weren't for some of these parties, our business and others would be very different. Perhaps not even remotely viable. We all take risks in business, sometimes they don't work out.

I don't know which boat this is (though I can probably work it out) but there were complaints made about two Alphacfraft crews to Broads Beat and the Rangers over the weekend. I sincerely hope that there is a viable legal case against these people.

The data protection act effectively prevents blacklisting across the board as we are not allowed to share personal data easily. I do wonder if this kind of problem is a downside of using a booking agent

[LadyPatricia]

Morning Andy.

Surely something can be set up between hire yards similar to the pub watch system. If a person is barred from an establishment for violence / bad behaviour then ALL pubs in the local area are made aware. I used to work for a company fixing pub tills and in almost every office there was a poster with names and pictures of the individuals on the list.

Maybe it's something the authorities should look into.

[MauriceMynah]

It is the nature of single sex parties be they stag/hen trips or just "lads week out" for reasonably large quantities of alcohol; to be involved, twas ever thus.

 

There is little point in condemning this as it won't change however there is a point to ensuring that people know that they well be held responsible for their actions, and that it is spelled out to them that this means financially. as well as legally.

 

If the emergency services are called, the bill for any assistance rendered should be sent to the person responsible for hiring the boat. under no circumstances should the boatyard be involved at that stage.

 

Only claims for damage to the boat or other financial loss should be made by the boatyard. Those that can't be sorted on the return of the craft, could then be made AFTER the bill from the emergency service has been sent out. This would be pretty damning evidence should the matter go to court.

 

Andy has made it quite clear that refusing single sex parties isn't a good idea given that the vast majority of them are well behaved. Business should not be turned away just on the reputation of a small minority.

 

Banning people for any period, let alone life is also not an option. Suppose ten years ago a single 25 year old person misbehaved and was banned for life. He's now 35, married with a kid. Should he carry the results of one night of stupidity for ever? I think not.

[Labrador]

What they should have done when they were reunited with their cars was tip off the police, I'm think from the sound of it all the drivers would be over the limit.

[Hockham Admiral]

We had three boats out on a stag this weekend and they seem to have behaved impecably. No boat used excessive amounts of fuel, were left clean and tidy and we received no complaints at all from other river users.

 

 

Quite so, Andy.

 

Two of them were moored at Norwich YS about a couple of boat lengths away from us.... Yes, they did have a few cannies but quietly and sensibly from where we sat watching them (and the World) go by.

 

In fact when I walked past them they were very friendly, asked me how it was going and all smiled at my "Life doesn't get much better, does it?".   :grin:

 

I thought then that you were perhaps lucky to have such guys aboard and how we shouldn't tar everyone with the same brush...............

[Wonderwall]

There is huge difference between a crew running aground or damaging a boat through drunken negligence, and a small mistake or brief lack of concentration which both can have big consequences

" come to the broads but make a mistake and it could cost you thousands" is not a slogan high on the list of any operators.

As usual, the actions of a few effect so many others. But mistakes do happen in all walks of life and have to be accepted as a part it.

[JennyMorgan]

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/rescuers_warning_as_nine_men_on_stag_do_get_stranded_on_breydon_water_1_4130083

 

Having been in or on the Broads all my life, including working in the industry, I can only suggest that whilst the majority of stag parties may behave impeccably there are more than enough that don't. At one time, don't know about now, a number of yards, whose owners really cared for their boats, instructed Hoseasons to restrict lets from one sex parties. It isn't only about potential damage to boats but also to the image of the Broads. Over the years, since the advent of Facebook, it has become clear that some people don't and won't come to the Broads because of threat of 'lager louts'. The Broads is a family holiday destination, why damage that reputation? Does The Broads really need drunken louts, because that is how some people perceive boating on the Broads. Not exactly Faliraki but if the Broads wants to be the holiday destination of choice for readers of the Telegraph, for example, then it needs, in my opinion, to count the cost of stag parties. We have no way of knowing but I wonder how many potential lets have been lost due to the national coverage that this latest moronic event has received? 

[MauriceMynah]

I had an accident on my motorbike many years ago, It was my fault a lack of concentration at a bad moment.

 I still had a bill from the Ambulance service.

No difference as far as I see it.

[Matt]

At least they went home

[NorfolkNog]

Good picture nicked from Twitter

[NorfolkNog]

.......holiday terminated apparently - failure to navigate, or should that be read!

[NorfolkNog]

Sorry just crossed with Matt - perhaps mine could be deleted?

[dnks34]

Theres just no excuse for getting yourself into a situation like this requiring all these rescue resources because of stupidity, drunkeness and overall negligence

[JennyMorgan]

I wonder why the rescue services accessed the grounded boat from the main channel rather than from the river wall? 

[ExUserGone]

This lot turned up at the ferryhouse surlingham friday afternoon, other than needing some help with the ropes and mooring they were very well behaved and friendly, even bought beers for the guys that helped with the mooring, they were only hired for the weekend so not realy cut short.

[Oddfellow]

edit.....

 

The Broads is a family holiday destination, why damage that reputation?

 

 

The Broads is a public space used by the public. Trying to label it as anything else is unhelpful. On one hand, we have Hoseasons which still looks after bookings for the majority of boats here trying to become the Waitrose of holiday agencies and on the other, we have an economy that is still strugging to remain buoyant and people moaning that their quality of life is lower than before and that the cost of living is higher and that their wages aren't good enough. Should we prevent these people with less money who are more Tesco and Lidl access to our Waitrose alligned family destination?

 

What about these stags who have had a fabulous time bringing their families back in years to come? If they hadn't been here on a stag weekend, they might never know how good it is.

 

And, if the Broads is for families, Eastbourne must be for octogenarians. Where would this labelling stop?

 

Perhaps we should have border checks?

 

Or, perhaps we should let people live as they wish and punish them when they behave in a way that society as a whole has decided is unacceptable or when they break other rules and contracts.

 

So, perhaps this is an ideal. Sadly, the punishment in situations like this is rarely enough to discourage such behaviour; that is where we have gone wrong.