Is mine big enough?

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Boat nameboard that is. Are minimum sizes of lettering (boat names on sides, stern, lifebuoys etcet) stipulated for Thames users? Any relaxation for a Visitors' Permit?

I see that CEVNI requires letters 10cm high, IMHO disproportionate for my 8m boat.
 

boatone

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Thames Reg Form says 3" for boats between 20 and 30 feet long.

Dunno what size your lettering is now but most unlikely anyone will challenge it for a visitors licence. They will give you some stickers you need to show on each side and at stern.
 

DWT

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A friend of mine brought her narrowboat up the Kennet & Avon and down the Thames to London a couple of years ago. She checked the regulations and had a nameboard made up to hang over the stern.

I cannot recall having seen a similar arrangement on any other narrow boats so it seems the authorities just ignore the requirement
 

landlockedpirate

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Took our inflatable for a ride up the Thames this summer, spent loads of time having correctly sized name plates made and then working out a way to stick them on.

When we went to register for the day, the lock keeper (Abingdon) told us that visitor boats dont need the name because the registration number they give you for the day is the means of identification.

So for visiting boats no need for special size of name or indeed a name at all. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
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I have measured mine - they're only 1.5" so perhaps an increase would be a good idea. But to the EEC's spec of 4"???

DON'T tell me that officialdom is lax over there, I fear the worst!

Joining the Thames is one thing, but I would starting at Teddington. Anyone any experience of their attitude to ships that pass?
 

Captain Coochie

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I used to be moored at Twickenham so a trip past Teddington was often a cruise for the weekend . Name , address , boat name and size on a form was it . Oh plus your money .
No checks on BSS or insurance /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
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[ QUOTE ]
Oh do stop worrying

[/ QUOTE ]

Apart from the fact that it's in my nature . . . and it's a long way to go from here to find I'm personna non grata (or has my reputaion preceded me?) . . .and the fact that 1.5" nameboards are a bit tiddly anyway . . . I AM worried about bloody-minded officials when I go up to Paris or Amsterdam, for example.

Any peeps on this forum been that far and can comment?
 

boatone

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I am confused ! /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

You asked about the Thames. How have we now moved to Amsterdam or Paris?

The advice you were give re the Thames and a visitors licence was sound. I am a Thames based boater and regularly move between Teddington and Oxford as well as downstream to London. If you want to obey the letter of the law for the non tidal Thames above Teddington then it is 3" but as a visitor it doesnt matter as they will issue you with visitors licence stickers. Not sure there even is a regulation size for a boat your size on the PLA tideway.

Amsterdam and Paris I know nothing about - well not when it comes to boat identification marks.
 
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[ QUOTE ]
How have we now moved to Amsterdam or Paris?

[/ QUOTE ]

The initial post mentioned both Thames AND CEVNI Regs (could this buffoon be about to upgrade his ICC to European waterways you ask . . .). I AM very grateful for advice (oft repeated) about the laid-back attitude of UK lock-keepers. But if I'm about to replace the nameboards I might as well get it right!

Are you suggesting that this isn't the forum to enquire? And I was about to ask for recommended firms supplying this item as I had great difficulty finding anyone (which is why they've ended up as rather bijou.)

Over to you - again!
 

boatone

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Well it seems to me that the sensible thing to do is to comply with the most demanding regs for the areas you might want to visit.
You say CEVNI requires 4" but you didnt seem to like that cos you feel its too big for the size of your boat.
You keep mentioning nameboards but most peeps these days get vinyl lettering cut by local signwriters and apply them as a strip - quick, looks good (and you can get a wide range of letter styles) and reasonably economical.

I bet you cant find anyone on these forums that ever had a problem with the size of their names though /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

apollo

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Only issues I ever heard of were obscuring the one at the stern with the tender hanging down on davits. Hence having to hang a sign over the tender.

However the old gits that always complained have mostly retired now.
 

byron

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Can I suggest you get a set of three name boards made up that exceeds the wildest requirements anywhere. Store them in a Locker and if some officious dingleberry jobsworth gets arsey you just clip them on your rails.
 

TrueBlue

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Re: Is mine big enough? - probably

A "source close to EA" recently told me that they had given up ticking people off for not following boat name sineage - or indeed not having a name at all - it causes too much hassle internally.

However, it makes sense to display a name on the vessel and its tender just so a lock keeper can warn you that you're about to sink / get caught up on the lock furniture and so on. As to size methinks they'll not be too penickety.

The "old gits" may have been a pain (but if you make your number with them the attitude rapidly changes), but the replacements don't care that much and passing through a lock is becoming less of a pleasure season-by-season. I miss the lectures on NOT using the bollards to stop my boat from the (now retired) keeper at Shiplake, or the tips on river-craft from Chris C-S.

Modern society has lost most of its courtesies, but The River retains some if its own. Passing the time of day with the lock keeper, thanking him for pushing the buttons, helping with loading the lock when there is a queue all helps to make the experience more pleasurable for everyone. I also make a point of waving and and exchanging banter with all and sundry. Sometimes this is appreciated; sometimes not - but there you go.

I'm sure in myself that a lot of current day social troubles are due to the fact that everyone is anonymous with the result that peeps feel undervalued and the sight of a boater in a silly (battered) hat causes amusement and may even cheer up someone who feels "down".

I may be overstating it but does anyone agree with my general rant?
 
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