Is it Me?

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Shot taken from our Antigua office......

You should see the boat they came off!

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We have an office in Antigua?????

How do I get a transfer /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Yup .....
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and sombody had better mention it to this geezer
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pompous, would leave the club, all for tradition but my boat is my way to de-stress from the rules and regulations, safety mad bureaucrats and the like. Some times the old boys network has its' advantages most times not and this smacks of old boys to me.
 
Best idea is to ship fenders as you approach the pontoon to raft against there boat at great speed,after there boat has softened the blow quote their rule : )
 
Excuse me! I have never run in to anyone's boat. Should some day tripper/hirer etc. run in to me then I would ever so politiely ask if they knew what they were doing, explain the rules concerning salvage and ask how they are going to explain the loss of their boat which will be about to befall them! But then those unpleasant sorts wouldn't be a Kevin or Gary who in my experience are true gentlemen. Perish the thought I should actually publish the names of undesireable here, but Kevin and Gary never!!!
 
When i first started boating i was invited to join a club . The idea seemed good , cheap bar with lots of people interested in boats so lots of advice and they seemed keen to have a carpenter (myself) as a member . Cheap mooring aswell .
I had been to the club a few times and not been blackballed by any other members so i was all ready to join up . When we left my friend mentioned to me that he had been asked to tell me that some of the other members may not like the fact that i wear a baseball cap . I decided there and then that i would rather pay the extra £500 a year for a mooring so i could do what i wanted , when i wanted on my own property .
If i had been asked to remove my cap i wouldnt have batted an eyelid and probably said sorry for not doing so (i would have pointed out that the old boy in the corner was wearing a hat ) but to ask my mate to tell me that someone else might not like what i was wearing .........
 
He wears a cap?

Who let him into the forum?....


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I seem to remember as a kid in the 70's doing this religiously and it was only hire boats or inexperienced types that didn't bother, nothing to do with Yacht clubs just that peeps were just proud of the appearance of their boats.



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Yes Chris your memory serves you well. In the 60s and before it was considered as having your petticoats showing to have fenders dangling. Fenders dangling would mark you as a hire boat or inexperienced.

I well remember Ken Humphry's system. This I first saw on a boat called Ferriha owned by Tom Willmott. I tried it myself but it only half worked for me; raising the fenders just meant a parallel line of fenders just below deck level.

Many things have gone by the board. Years ago no self respecting boat owner would wear a blazer because this marked one as crew, owners wore black buttons on a reefer. Deck shoes were never worn after 7pm and white trousers after 7pm would cause a club's commodore to have apoplexy. I am of course referring to Royal Yacht Clubs who set the standards for everyone else.

Go back even further and you have incidences like King George the 6th being expected to resign from the Royal Yacht Squadron because he had the temerity and utter gall to propose his mate for membership. The committee were horrified as his friend was a Grocer. . . Sir Thomas Lipton. Snobby? You bet it was, Prince Albert got turned down, they didn't want a foreigner in the club. This is why the Royal Victoria was founded.
 
I bow to your childhood memories Sir! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

In defense of the traditions and, to a lesser extent, the snobbery, it would be a shame to lose it for good.

Now you may find it strange that a loudmothed non-conformist like me would suggest this, but I do have some good reasons.

When you look out there in the real world, it's infested by hoody wearing yobs, aggressive drivers, bent politicians and queue jumping shoppers.

The River is far less advanced in it's social decay, and part of the reason is that the old guard are still trying to uphold the fine old traditions, some which appear a bit excessive to us nowadays, but the spirit of which is still in my humble opinion, still viable and desirable in every way.

I still stow my duster at sundown, form an orderly queue at locks and always thank the lockkeeper, for example, and wouldn't object to raising fenders if that was a club requirement.

I might object to blackballing foreigners and so on, as times have changed, but I think some of the custome need to be upheld, if only during certain periods, for example Sundays or Club events.

Under three years ago, I would not have been of the same opinion however, but have discovered that boating tradition is a fine and reputable one!

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I have only just trained my good lady how to get the bollard first time at the locks, /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif can't wait to tell her I think we should now bring the fenders in :-) Hope to see you soon Byron now we are that much closer to you
 
What is wrong with lifting fenders when under way? I think it is a good habit and makes your boat look much nicer. And a club reminding members is fine.
 
Nothing at all if you wish to do so, apart from making the boat look nicer is there or was there another reason for doing so? In my case with often just SWMBO and I with our youngest on board and fairly narrow side decks, this would not be the easiest thing for them to do.

I am all for tradition but it would take away some of the relaxtion with such short stretches between the locks be a trip hazard for the family
 
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