Is the Thames getting snooty?

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jez56uk

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Arriving at Cookham around 2000 on Saturday all the moorings upstream of bridge and the meadows were fully taken with a few boats rafting. We’re 10.5 metres and 8 tonnes of Dutch steel so suitable rafting partners need to be selected carefully.
Approaching a steel cruiser we were politely declined. Next candidate was a 13 metre Le Boat “Horizon” class with lots of attached fendering, moored on the Meadows; mindful that the crew may not be familiar with rafting, I approached slowly and politely requested to raft alongside. This was met with a firm NO as it “ruined their view” and we should have arrived earlier!!!! As a compromise I suggested we swap with us mooring bank-side and them rafting against us. This was also firmly declined despite their view being preserved and myself picking up the mooring fee.

Our saviour was the skipper of a large wide beam who observing two rejections promptly beckoned us over and enthusiastically helped us moor alongside. This was the start of a very enjoyable evening swapping stories.

I’ve been boating on the Thames and the south coast for many years and have never had any problems with rafting..In fact it’s standard practice for sailing yachts. Is the Thames getting snooty or was I just unlucky?
 
I've been boating of the Thames for 40+ years and I would say rafting is rare, except between boats that know each other.
Don't think its anything to do with being snooty, just that people like their own space, others may feel differently but thats the way I see it.

On the south coast I agree its completely different, nobody will turn a fellow sailor away to go back out to sea and potentialy hazardous conditions rather than let them raft. On the Thames there is no risk :)
 
Have offered to raft in past when strangers are obviously struggled to find a spot and in past moved a tad to squeeze someone in.Windsor being real hot spot.
Rafters frequently stop for short period until river bank space becomes clear later in evening when all the MDL adventurers beat the retreat and scuttle back to their usually just round the corner marina. :)
Needs to be something compatable with our plastic gin palace but have , with sufficent fenders, had a manky old tin can Pedro alongside more than once.
 
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oldgit said:
Have offered to raft in past when strangers are obviously struggled to find a spot and in past moved a tad to squeeze someone in.Windsor being real hot spot.
Rafters frequently stop for short period until river bank space becomes clear later in evening when all the MDL adventurers beat the retreat and scuttle back to their usually just round the corner marina. :)
Needs to be something compatable with our plastic gin palace but have , with sufficent fenders, had a manky old tin can Pedro alongside more than once.
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Oh - you are awful......

Look at him now - didn't he do well...
 
oldgit said:
...Err its a Broom ! with enuff electronics aboard to get Elon Musk interested,
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Err ... its not "just a Broom", it's Boatone's Broom ....... and actually quite light on elecktrickery., although my 12volt domestic regime would put many to shame.

Did you ever find the C-map chip you lost in a Windsor car park?

G'night.
 
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jez56uk said:
Approaching a steel cruiser we were politely declined. Next candidate was a 13 metre Le Boat “Horizon” class with lots of attached fendering, moored on the Meadows; mindful that the crew may not be familiar with rafting, I approached slowly and politely requested to raft alongside. This was met with a firm NO as it “ruined their view” and we should have arrived earlier!!!! As a compromise I suggested we swap with us mooring bank-side and them rafting against us. This was also firmly declined despite their view being preserved and myself picking up the mooring fee.
Our saviour was the skipper of a large wide beam who observing two rejections promptly beckoned us over and enthusiastically helped us moor alongside. This was the start of a very enjoyable evening swapping stories.
I’ve been boating on the Thames and the south coast for many years and have never had any problems with rafting..In fact it’s standard practice for sailing yachts. Is the Thames getting snooty or was I just unlucky?
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Hardly an adequate statistical sample to draw a conclusion of snootiness. More likely an unfortunate indication of the nature of modern society, perhaps?
Only two negative responses. One a hire boat presumably crewed by holiday makers rather than true Thames boaters. The other a steel cruiser (so hardly representative of the average AWB) and possibly a similar craft to your own?
As for the third, which brought sanctuary, a not uncommon example of a boater recognising and offering to help one of his own.

I'd say that was a pretty good result.

As a previous south coast boater used to rafting, I've always been surprised at the reticence of many Thames boaters. to do so. Surely the obvious way to increase mooring opportunities for everybody - and as your experience showed meet new folk and enjoy the river.
 
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boatone said:
Did you ever find the C-map chip you lost in a Windsor car park?

G'night.
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G,day sport !
....as it happens No.

....as it also happens have just fitted a "new to me " Raymarine plotter on the fly, have managed to source charts for foreign parts but still sadly lacking is chart for the Thames esturary
Should anybody have surplus one going cheap OG would make good use of it, especially with trip to the RCC Thames invasion due at months end.
Although many boats away in France and Holland should be 15 or so boats coming round.
 
mlines said:
I have a spare C-MAP SD-card for UK. It states SIMRAD/B+G on it but not sure how compatibility works
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thanks for reply, have deep suspicion that Simrad and Raymarine charts are very not compatable.
However can check because other system on board is ancient Simrad , with...a brand new Thames chart innit...
Going to bung Simrad chart in my Raymarine RL 80 CRCand see what happens !
Looks the same externally.
 
boatone said:
One a hire boat presumably crewed by holiday makers rather than true Thames boaters.
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Maybe - maybe not. Not everybody can afford to buy or run a family sized 'sleep aboard' boat. Some save hard all year to hire one for a week. Some like to do a week on the Thames, a week on the Canal Du Midi, etc.

Views like
boatone said:
... holiday makers rather than true Thames boaters.
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do tend to affirm the OP's question; "Is the Thames getting snooty?" as well as making uninformed assumptions about the SOB.

Mooring etiquette on the non-tidal Thames (we're rather more used to rafting down here on the tidal)* is perhaps more analogous to campsite etiquette where you don't share pitches than it is to coastal havens where the alternative is a rather more serious prospect.

*necessity - not because we're nicer :)
 
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You arrived at 20:00 on a Saturday night and expected a mooring? Seriously?
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