Narrow boats just a thought

Hopefully much that is posted on here is received in the spririt of good humour that is intended.
It cannot be to difficult to suggest that any boater travelling to a part of the watery world that is not there usual stamping ground get aquainted for the mores and generally accepted norms of the area.
My suggestion for a note in "Canal Boaters Monthly" would simply state.....
Please do not take up the entire length of any mooring or landing stage when it is possible to stick only the bit you need to get ashore alongside,leaving space for others.
Staines is a classic example. :)
....and how about NBs giving us a few hints as to what gets on there ***s
 
oldgit said:
Unfortunately no side decks to facilitate easy crossing of vessel.
Usually a fender the width of a supermarket budget sausage or none at all protecting your pristine immaculate shiney Gelcoat.
All deck furniture designed to fasten warps the thickness of thin cotton
A small verdant jungle on the roof to make standing on it as difficult as possible.
...and worse of all a plethora of poorly executed badly painted cartoons purporting to depict some mythical Avalon of barge existance when actually people actually suffered a short brutal and very hard life and would have given their eye teeth for a comfy warm dwelling ashore.. :):):)
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Simple answer, use your own fenders, spare ones of course, can't get the shiny fenders dirty with all that nasty blacking.

The roof garden is dealt with by a swift flick of the rope whilst trying to lasoo the roof vent to tie the bow line onto.

And tie up stern to stern so that you can get ashore across the r send.
 
Sometimes a narrow boat being on a mooring can be an advantage.

I exercised the "advantage rule" outside Tesco in Reading in august this year. I came through caversham lock downstream knowing that there would probably not be space to stop and shop at the tesco as it is generally full of that which shall not be named.

Anyway there was a narrow boat there which had a moor alongside sign. So I did. My boat is a relatively big (in upper Thames terms) barge.
Anyway, bloke on board was cool and it was easy to disembark the ladies across his stern deck (aka r send according to naughty cal) for shopping

The point being that his boat was my pontoon as my intention was to simply stop and shop.

I wouldn't be that keen to stay for a night or two beside someone else to be fair.
 
Outinthedinghy said:
Sometimes a narrow boat being on a mooring can be an advantage.

I exercised the "advantage rule" outside Tesco in Reading in august this year. I came through caversham lock downstream knowing that there would probably not be space to stop and shop at the tesco as it is generally full of that which shall not be named.

Anyway there was a narrow boat there which had a moor alongside sign. So I did. My boat is a relatively big (in upper Thames terms) barge.
Anyway, bloke on board was cool and it was easy to disembark the ladies across his stern deck (aka r send according to naughty cal) for shopping

The point being that his boat was my pontoon as my intention was to simply stop and shop.

I wouldn't be that keen to stay for a night or two beside someone else to be fair.
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Why would you not be keen to stop the night?
 
In Reading, there is a higher than average chance of someone untying your ropes in the middle of the night and drug dealers are often observed making deliveries to some of the boats.
One of the boats is a rave venue...
Unlike the usual collection of misfits and dropouts, I would say that some of those liveaboard owners have mental health issues(or perhaps it was just a bad drug delivery). Stayed there once, wouldn't do it again.
I could go on:rolleyes:
 
Can I just make another point about narrowboats and running engines in a lock.

In a narrow canal, it's normal not to tie your boat in a lock. It can't go sideways. So it's normal to keep the engine running and use it to maintain position so you neither hit the lock gates or get stuck on the cill.

Perhaps all that is needed it to politely tell a narrowboater used to the canals, that since you are tyeing your boat up to the bollards, there is no need to keep the engine running. It's probably nothing more sinister than they never thought there was a need to turn it off.
 
ProDave said:
Can I just make another point about narrowboats and running engines in a lock.

In a narrow canal, it's normal not to tie your boat in a lock. It can't go sideways. So it's normal to keep the engine running and use it to maintain position so you neither hit the lock gates or get stuck on the cill.

Perhaps all that is needed it to politely tell a narrowboater used to the canals, that since you are tyeing your boat up to the bollards, there is no need to keep the engine running. It's probably nothing more sinister than they never thought there was a need to turn it off.
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The only reason that you are required to turn your engine off in Thames locks is so that you can hear instructions from the lock keeper.
 
You may well be correct, but I've been in my tender in a lock with a boat who left his engines running and I was choking on it. You don't run car engines with the garage door down, the same applies in a lock. I think you have to be in a tender or a kayak to appreciate how nasty it is
 
Actionmat said:
You may well be correct, but I've been in my tender in a lock with a boat who left his engines running and I was choking on it. You don't run car engines with the garage door down, the same applies in a lock. I think you have to be in a tender or a kayak to appreciate how nasty it is
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You are familiar with the river, but in the canals it's quite normal to leave the engine running in the locks.
 
Can understand the need for silence in the lock just in case somebody starts shouting for help and any delay in shutting off sluices because keeper is struggling to hear anything over exhaust noise and radios for that matter.
Suspect that a gentle pop pop of canal boat exhaust is not much of a distraction compared to the row created by many large Fairline and Princess boats constructed without any method of silencing at all.
The noise from my own boat was terrible until we fitted a couple of very cheap inline waterlocks.
Anything that can restore a bit of tranquility to the river has got to be a good thing.
Best practice to me appeared to be in B1s little Hardy, which was whisper quiet.
 
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It's also a question of safety.

A line accidentally thrown over a throttle and pulled can make a right old mess, or at least a game of 'lock pinball'

Engines off in the lock, unless you have a starting issue ;-)
 
I always assumed shutting down engines in locks went back to the days when most power boats on the River had petrol engines.

Section 50(d) seems to suggest this is a consideration. Nowadays I doubt a lock keeper will be onto you for lighting a cigar but in the past it may well have been an offence !

(By the way thank you to capnfishy for the '93 byelaws link in the other thread )
 
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