how many thames forum members own narrow or wide beam canal boats?

rebellion said:
Personally, I have found that canal boaters are much more polite than cruisers, especially when I'm coaching younger rowers, despite being much more difficult to stop if one of the kids do something wrong.

Once I had four crews going round a canal boat, and one decided the best option was to go on the inside of the guy (they were only 2-3 sessions in and new to the river after all). After bracing myself for a tirade of abuse, he just turned to me, shrugged his shoulders and laughed!
Here lies proof that canal boaters are human too, No Regrets. :P

When I was a Sea Scout we used to rent out a canal boat for a weekend. Not really suited to 6-7 scouts and leaders, but we had fun all the same, and it was more relaxing than a river cruiser.

Sorry for the pretty acidic reception Cereal Tiller, some of the guys on this forum will jump at any chance to hijack a thread and start ranting about the subject. I'm sure many of the canal boaters on this forum have been scared off the thread already!
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well said rebellion.

haveing read similar rants on the subject of rowers,i cannot comprehend why they are seen as a problem,i have had to manoevre around rowing craft on many occasions.

whether driving a tug,passenger boat or narrowboat it has never been anything other than a minor inconvenience.

the river thames is, after all ,a beautiful waterway to be enjoyed by everyone?
 
cereal tiller said:
the river thames is, after all ,a beautiful waterway to be enjoyed by everyone?
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Quite so, and PAID FOR by everyone fairly?

My gripe with the rowers is they DONT pay their fair share!

Also agree with all sentiments of narrowboaters, I think folks main gripe is the moorings problem.
As we end up paying more and more for a licence, fast approaching £1000 a year, finding all the moorings full and nobody doubling up is a little annoying..
 
sturmvogel190a said:
.
As an asside anyone else up at Goring 2 weeks ago see a certain cruiser used for rehabilitating servicmen come screaming back up the reach piloted by some who had taken aboard to much happy juice bounce every boat on said wall around and then slam into the bridge instead of making the lock?? They all then rushed below deck leaving just one on top steering .....if it wasn`t so dangerous it would have been fyunny face Steve.
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Nope......but I did almost get side-swiped by them a couple of months ago
as we headed upstream past Shiplake College.

Lovely broad reach of river but they were trying to pass me by short-cutting the approaching bend.......only to find a boat heading down-stream right at them. As they lurched out of the way we had a lovely rock about in the wake as they missed us by about a metre. SWMBO had a delightful look on her face:rolleyes:

In fairness, the chap at the helm was clearly shaken, embarrased and profusely apologetic.

Given my own poor standards at times (still a newbie ending my first season) I felt inclined to chuckle.....no harm done, just some hurt pride and a lesson for me on cutting blind corners :D
 
No I have a nice shiny yogurt pot! Which many people would also say is inappropriate for the Thames as it's an American sports cruiser with a big engine. it's my choice and I like it :D

We rented a NB once on the Wey with a few friends for a long weekend. I just found it too narrow and it felt cramped. However that is my personal opinion :)

It's our first season on the Thames and I have met some lovely people on NBs and cruisers, I have also met some idiots on both types of boats!

There's space for everyone.... as long as they behave themselves. :eek:
 
To answer the original question No, not the best choice for the Thames, that would probably be a Freeman 22, Seamaster27/30 etc.. everything else is probably too big, too high, overpowered, unstable, poor deck layout, shore power dependant, over equiped etc, etc..... but does it really matter as long as it floats

The best thing about the Thames is the variety of different boats you see on it.
 
The best thing about the Thames is the variety of different boats you see on it.

Yep +1 for that we also have a small open boat for fishing and a couple of canoes ,All adds a bit of variety Steve
 
apollo said:
Quite so, and PAID FOR by everyone fairly?

My gripe with the rowers is they DONT pay their fair share!

Also agree with all sentiments of narrowboaters, I think folks main gripe is the moorings problem.
As we end up paying more and more for a licence, fast approaching £1000 a year, finding all the moorings full and nobody doubling up is a little annoying..
Click to expand...

At least the rowers dont use moorings!! :D:D
 
They did when we were heading back from the ATYC rally!!

Hogging around 60 feet, just a couple of poxy rowing boats with chavs eating lunch and lobbing the leftovers overboard.

'Special needs' brats... :confused:
 
Rowing boats nevertheless.

I didn't stop and ask for their credentials...:D

Am I not allowed to tarnish 'em all with the same brush any more then :(
 
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