Does the 8 KPH speed limit not apply after sundown?

[DogsBody]

Moored at Henley and have noticed that 2/3 rds if not more of the boats going past since the 80's festival finished have clearly been speeding, some probably doing twice the speed limit, both commercial and private vessels.

I'm no saint but speeding past boats moored in shallow water late at night? Come on guys, show some respect for others.

 

[byron]

Rather like licenses, they don't apply after dark. Which is why so many Live Aboards only move then.

 

[apollo]

Moored at Henley and have noticed that 2/3 rds if not more of the boats going past since the 80's festival finished have clearly been speeding, some probably doing twice the speed limit, both commercial and private vessels.

I'm no saint but speeding past boats moored in shallow water late at night? Come on guys, show some respect for others.

Welcome to our world, same every Saturday!!!

And the patrol boats remain tied up at Hambledon, they may as well sell them if they are not going to use them..

 

[boatone]

And the patrol boats remain tied up at Hambledon, they may as well sell them if they are not going to use them..

Reading the 2009/10 Annual Report for the Thames (sad, I know) one of the most glaring statistics I noticed showed that there was less than 1 Inspection patrol by launch PER DAY for the whole of the river twixt Lechlade and Teddington. Half of those were in the winter quarters.

There is another section which declares an increased level of enforcement activity - somehow these two details - few patrols but greater enforcement - don't add up.

There's now an 'incident report' form on my ' Meanderings' site if you feel so inclined.

Incidentally. have you ever seen an Inspector out on patrol actually moor the launch at a busy mooring spot and go walk about looking for licence infringements etc? They seem to stop at locks and have a natter with the lockies but I rarely see them engaging with the punters - mind you, I rarely see them at all !

The fishery guys have a real purge from time to time and approach every single fisherman in a stretch.

 

[oldgit]

"Not sure you are ever going to stop it."

You can imagine the scenerio,it is getting dark out there on the river several locks between you and your finger berth,all of them just about to lose the lockie and go on half power ,there will be that 100 mile drive back home via the M whatever and Mrs Thames Boater has got to get back and sort all the stuff for the husband/kids foray into the wonderful world of Monday !
Plus the looming prospect of meeting that bloke you had a row with yesterday about jumpimg lock que back at marina and its rather breezy crosswind
No pressure !

 

[boatone]

Moored at Henley and have noticed that 2/3 rds if not more of the boats going past since the 80's festival finished have clearly been speeding, some probably doing twice the speed limit, both commercial and private vessels.

I'm no saint but speeding past boats moored in shallow water late at night? Come on guys, show some respect for others.

Presumably there was a significant police presence shoreside?

 

[Doolittle]

Speeding boats...

It is a lot worse this year. I've no idea why but there is a veritable race from and to Penton Marina and the lock with boats closely bunched. Slow boats are conspicuous by their rarity!

 

[byron]

In reality a vessel at night appears to be going faster than during the day.

 

[DogsBody]

Welcome to our world, same every Saturday!!!

And the patrol boats remain tied up at Hambledon, they may as well sell them if they are not going to use them..

Well I guess we can't expect the patrol boats to be out and about around midnight can we, they'd expect overtime (rightly so). Having said that, they do (did?) for the Henley Regatta / Music Festival and if the 80's rewind thing continues to grow, maybe they should think about it also as it does generate a lot of extra river traffic.

Only wants one of these speeding boats, captained by a possibly merry skipper to hit someone / something and could be nasty.

 

[DogsBody]

Reading the 2009/10 Annual Report for the Thames (sad, I know) one of the most glaring statistics I noticed showed that there was less than 1 Inspection patrol by launch PER DAY for the whole of the river twixt Lechlade and Teddington. Half of those were in the winter quarters.

There is another section which declares an increased level of enforcement activity - somehow these two details - few patrols but greater enforcement - don't add up.

Well the patrol boat for Sunday was in the Marlow area when I spotted them on my way down.

Incidentally. have you ever seen an Inspector out on patrol actually moor the launch at a busy mooring spot and go walk about looking for licence infringements etc? They seem to stop at locks and have a natter with the lockies but I rarely see them engaging with the punters - mind you, I rarely see them at all !

No but I've seen them talking to / helping lock keepers several times.

 

[DogsBody]

Presumably there was a significant police presence shoreside?

Didn't actually go to the festival myself but don't recall seeing any Police presence from my mooring opposite Phyliss Court.

 

[DogsBody]

In reality a vessel at night appears to be going faster than during the day.

They may well do but being dark doesn't mysteriously create extra wash (which, as I understand it is the main reason for the low speed limit anyway). I'd have had to be going at a very brisk walk / jog to keep up with some of what was going past...

 

[Brayman]

EA launch CHESS was patroling on Saturday of the Rewind, they were on duty until 30 minutes after midnight as they rescued and towed a broken down dayboat back to its moorings opposite the park. I don't think they were offered a tip either.

A few boats were flying back upstream after the fireworks but not that many, maybe some of them just went back to their Henley morrings above where Dogsbody was moored.

 

[DWT]

We were moored between Marsh and Shiplake locks at saw quite a few boats coming back up river after dark. Some did seem to be going fast, but only a couple made any wash above normal. I suspect the perception of speed after dark is based more on the sound of the engines than anything visual.

What was of more concern was the two or three small boats coming past without any sort of lights showing at all.

 

[Brayman]

What was of more concern was the two or three small boats coming past without any sort of lights showing at all.

Yes, we heard them too!

 

[nickcred]

Did Not

Experience it on Saturday as was safely tucked up in the Marina overnight

But have noticed that in the last two years the speed/wash of boats seems to have got considerably worse. We have had a good few incidents this year of boats racing past and worst waving happily at us as we attempt to stop liquid slopping out of cups and glasses.

 

[oldgit]

FTS*

Just a thought.
Lets say half a dozen boats leave a lock,a typical all sorts mixture such as you get on the Thames and all designed with different jobs in mind.Take a classic Thames motor yacht with displacement hull and perhaps a Dutch steel rust bucket designed with similar idea in mind,wether 1k or flat out at 10k virtually no difference in wake.
Then we have your average "fibreglass brick" fly Gin place 500 hp and designed to live in The Solent and only ever expected to do 5 knots when it has broken down or just after it has hit the finger berth.
In between you will have small stuff that was really built able only to go in a straight line on the plane.
They leave the lock at the designated FTS* and proceed to the next lock all travelling at the same velocity but creating wildly differing wash.
This speed tends by osmosis to become your standard speed and is used where ever you go,some will not notice your passing if in one sort of boat,if in another type everybody will certainly know about it.
As a for instance when on Legacy at any speed vitually nothing happens wash wise ,when on a certain largish Fairline belonging to a aquaintance, at anything over a knot or three a virtual mountain of water appears.
So displacement Good and ...flybridge cruisers,get back down on the sea where you belong.

FTS*(Fixed Thames Speed) Byelaw 42a. Thou shalt not under any circumstances....
A sort of bit too fast dash between this and the next lock in order to prevent anybody getting past you and getting into the next lock before you.Preferably only allowing only about 12" between you and the stern(back bit) of the boat in front.

 

[boatone]

Just a thought.

SNIP SNIP SNIP

FTS*(Fixed Thames Speed) Byelaw 42a. Thou shalt not under any circumstances....
A sort of bit too fast dash between this and the next lock in order to prevent anybody getting past you and getting into the next lock before you.Preferably only allowing only about 12" between you and the stern(back bit) of the boat in front.

Nice bit of descriptive prose, Fred,....... but what exactly is the 'thought' you would like us to recognise and appreciate?

If you are suggesting that a FTS is a nonsense and that wash (or the absence of wash) is the only reliable criteria for judging suitable speed on the river, then I agree with you.

In an earlier post I suggested pantomimes and 'Look Behind You' as a suitably snappy slogan but do you really think that will lead to some sudden shift of attitude amongst the "sod you I'm going to get to the next lock first" brigade?

AT Hurley Lock earlier this year (why is it always Hurley???) I witnessed a truly amazing display of confrontational aggression twixt two 'mature' (i.e. getting on a bit - not mentally stable) because one had overtaken the other on the way down from Hambledon and rocked the others boat with his wash which exceeded the others comfort zone.

A couple of weekends ago, I left Cookham as the first boat out of a full lock - at least 8 boats - and deliberately set my speed at 4.3 knots - exactly 8kms per hour. Long before I reached the Boulters I was tail end charlie but I stuck with the same speed all the way down the stretch. When I arrived at Boulters ALL the others were waiting for the lock together with others that were already queuing. Result .... I failed to get the next lock.

Come on, admit it, we are wasting our time. The reasonable people of this world are second class citizens behind all the other inconsiderate b*st*rds and there seems to be precious little we can do about it.

Less than one inspector patrol per day for the whole length of the river says it all - have a ball guys. No-one is likely to catch you and if joe public complains you can always give us two fingers and scream a few obscenities at us - just to make sure you ruin our enjoyment, you understand..........

 

[oldgit]

Marine M25 ?

Boaters on the Thames always appeared in such a tearing hurry.We became adept at either making very sure we were last into the lock or nipping to one side if first out.
However this did prove to be a bit of a challenge due to a reluctance to come past by other boaters,we assume this was due to incomphension that any body would willingly give up their grid position in the race to next lock and confused them completely.
What would be the objection to reducing speed limit to 2/3 knots to eliminate wash completely ?

 

[boatone]

What would be the objection to reducing speed limit to 2/3 knots to eliminate wash completely ?

Two thirds of a knot is inadequate for maintaining steerage except on all but the finest vessels - like mine

WATCH YOUR WASH - you know it makes sense.

Some prat in a 40 foot + flybridge thingy went creaming past at Windsor recently - SLOW DOWN some of us shouted - all we got was two fingers and a stupid grin. Then several boats, including mine, started banging the bottom as the wash reached the bank.