A load of rowlocks

[trev]

This happened earlier this year and I have been dwelling on it for some time - expert opinions please !

Passing up through Henley a couple of weeks before regatta, and hence having to use the portion of river begrudged to non-oarsmen on the North bank. I was pottering along at less than normal river speed and overtaken by a single scull, the occupant of which proceeded to give me a load of verbals about not getting out of his way and making him 'row though my ****ing wash'.
I had 'er indoors with me so had to show some restraint, and pointed out to the berk that no-one had MADE him row through my wash and if he had waited a couple of minutes I would have been gone and he would have had the river to himself, and anyway as the overtaking vessel wasn't HE the one to oblige ?
But since then I've been wondering - does rule 13 (colregs) apply on the upper Thames, and if not what is the ruling on overtaking vessels? Are oarsmen made aware that courtesy is strongly promoted among river users or don't they really care?
Also do the speed limits apply to their coaching launches ? They seem to tear around with total disregard to moored vessels.
Please don't get me wrong on this - Ive nothing against oarsmen (or women) per se- I just want to be sure of my facts next time one of the sh8tfaced ignorant b8stards comes by again !


Trev

 

[ccscott49]

The colregs don't seem to apply to dinghy racing "safety" boats either! Its the old thing, they think they have rights over everybody! Because they are rowing etc. Ignorant git! Swearing aswell, you could have had young children etc aboard, I think I might have followed that guy and had a not do quiet word in his ear, out of earshot!! and sight!

 

[bedouin]

Re: Without wanting to be too pedantic

Colregs don't apply at Henley at all.

 

[ccscott49]

Re: Without wanting to be too pedantic

I do believe he knew that, river byelaws probably do, come on thames types, probably get more info on the motor boat forum, lots of thames types on there.

 

[Twister_Ken]

How about a pink response?

"Frightfully sorry big boy, afraid the sight of your rippling muscles had me spellbound. Fancy a bit of slap and tickle later?"

He'll disappear faster than Redgrave on a gold medal run.

 

[Guest]

Sympathise immensely: scullers are a bit like coach drivers: think they own the place and have no idea at all! Question is do they have a place on the net? Find their forum and give them the b8ll8cking they deserve.

Incidentally, and harking back to the days when NRA were trying to penalise bigger boats on the river by charging penal licence fees, I have a wonderful photograph of an eight taking up much of Boulters: on what basis is their permit calculated?

 

[ccscott49]

NRA, national rifle association? might come in handy!

 

[pugwash]

Tidal Thames is chaos

Don't expect the rule of the road to mean anything. I scull on the tidewater upstream of Hammersmith and sail my boat on the coast at weekends. They are different worlds. I have yet to meet anybody in either of the two rowing clubs to which I have belonged who knows (or wants to know) the significance of a single or double blast on a whistle. For that matter, I had two encounters under a bridge last summer with the same sightseeing launch loaded with passengers which clearly had a non-functioning whistle. This was more than made-up for, I can tell you, by the explosion of verbals that issued from the skipper's commentary system. In terms of rules of the road, he was as much in the wrong as I was. The problem for a sculler/rower is that once you get steam up, nothing else counts. There is much that motor boats could do to lessen the wash problem, but most of the problem is in fact caused by the coaches' own Zodiacs. In other words, it's every man for himself and leave the road rules to the AA.