Stuck@Windsor.com...

boatone said:
As for suggesting the RUGs are the right place to tackle these issues, in the words of John McEnroe - you cannot be serious!
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Whenever I have attended RUG meetings they have always been very well attended. Since as I understood the RUGs were set up and financed by the Environment Agency and run by volunteers for the interchange of information I am somewhat surprised by your comment !
 
Without any locks, nobody would have a river!

Well they would, but you would barley be able to use a kayak on it unless it had been raining. That large deep thing we use our boats on would simply wash away without the locks holding things in place. Summer: No River, Winter: River.
 
No Regrets said:
Without any locks, nobody would have a river!
Well they would, but you would barley be able to use a kayak on it unless it had been raining. That large deep thing we use our boats on would simply wash away without the locks holding things in place. Summer: No River, Winter: River.
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It is the weirs that control the depths along the river, not the locks.
 
No Regrets said:
Without any locks, nobody would have a river!

Well they would, but you would barley be able to use a kayak on it unless it had been raining. That large deep thing we use our boats on would simply wash away without the locks holding things in place. Summer: No River, Winter: River.
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I agree, this whole money thing is a poor excuse when they can't even achieve the basics
 
534l4rk said:
Whenever I have attended RUG meetings they have always been very well attended. Since as I understood the RUGs were set up and financed by the Environment Agency and run by volunteers for the interchange of information I am somewhat surprised by your comment !
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Take a look at the EA RUGs website here: http://www.riverusergroups.co.uk and take note of the availability of agendas and minutes of meetings.
There are, notionally, 9 RUG groups each covering a stretch of the river from RUG 1 at the head down to RUG 8 which covers Bell Weir to Teddington plus RUG Tidal. However, RUGs 1 and 2 are combined as are RUGs 4 and 5 so there are actually only 7.
Whilst most groups have reasonably recent minutes available (i.e. since 2012) the latest publication on RUG 1-2 is October 2009 and for RUG 7 October 2006. There is no information at all for RUG Tidal and the only information that is EA specific is this last winters investment plan.
Read the "About" section of the website here: http://www.riverusergroups.co.uk/about and you will see an indication of the purpose of the RUGs which is to "bring together people with many different interests along the reaches which they cover, and know intimately. Issues are identified and solved through discussion with other groups and Environment Agency staff."
I only have personal experience of RUGs 7 and 8 and I would agree that RUG 8 is well attended and also seems to benefit from the regular attendance of senior EA staff. However, my experience of RUG 7 has been that any EA staff attending have been relatively junior and often unable to answer questions raised. Also I understand the EA expect RUGs to hold 3 meetings a year whereas RUG 7 only holds 2.
Regardless of the above the issues we face are generally river wide and rarely restricted to any one stretch of the river.
 
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No Regrets said:
Without any locks, nobody would have a river!

Well they would, but you would barley be able to use a kayak on it unless it had been raining. That large deep thing we use our boats on would simply wash away without the locks holding things in place. Summer: No River, Winter: River.
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Bring fun back to the Thames - reintroduce 'flash locks' :D
 
boatone said:
Regardless of the above the issues we face are generally river wide and rarely restricted to any one stretch of the river.
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My reference to RUG 7 was because this was where the posting incident referred. The RUG web site also gives e-mail contact each area. Perhaps the Environment Agency do not send senior management to RUG 7 as there is less interest shown by river users on that stretch for attending the meetings !
 
boatone said:
And where do you think the money comes from?
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US!

It certainly doesnt come from the other river users.

There is always a way, sell the patrol boats, sell the gold braided hats, sack Lord Smith and just keep the river running.

Now waiting for another pc answer....
 
apollo said:
US!
It certainly doesnt come from the other river users.
There is always a way, sell the patrol boats, sell the gold braided hats, sack Lord Smith and just keep the river running.
Now waiting for another pc answer....
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Assuming that the vast majority of river users are UK tax payers then all river users contribute through their taxes to the public/government funding of the river. We pay a significant additional contribution because we require much greater facilities, especially the lock keeping services.

Please note this answer is not "pc" as you so eloquently, and incorrectly, describe any reasoned argument I try to present.
 
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As soon as customers are paying them money to deliver something there is a contract be it real or implied. Especially when they are fining people that fail to pay.

They need to deliver that basic service.

Makes the Customer Charter a complete waste of ink on paper
 
I still like the anchoring idea, especially in Windsor - it would be chaos.

(PS Anytime you want a 7 page thread, just wake me up)
 
Must confess had this happened to me,would just have got the bits fixed and got on with it.Learning an expensive lesson to be very careful where i park next time.
To even consider blaming someone else or claiming from insurance co or even suing somebody would not even have crossed my mind once the swearing had subsided.
Difference between Thames boaters and rest of the known universe perhaps.:)
 
No Regrets said:
Hmmm...Moored up last night on the inside of the island at Windsor, no issues getting in or tying up, closely followed by a forumite friend.


Had a nice morning chilling and oiling my teak floor while the ladies went shopping.


So far, so good. Until we went to depart, whence we found we appeared to have stuck on the bottom! Darren was on outdrives, and alerted me to the fact, but being on shafts there was nothing much I could do, so gingerly snicked her into gear, the port side was fine, but the starboard was dinging a little bit. We managed to push the back out by using plenty of throttle on the outside engine, and turned, but our friend wasn't so lucky, and was stuck pretty well, to the point one outdrive wouldn't lift!

Four of us used lines to pull her forward, and eventually we managed to pull the stern out and turn her too.

Fifty Shades seems fine, no loss of thrust or vibrations, and I doubt the robust bronze props have any more than a few scuffs, but the outdrive equiped boat has one prop bent back on itself, and it totalled. Not a good weekend for either of us, as I suggested the mooring so feel a little guilty, and my mates got a bill or insurance claim :(

The river level appears to have dropped substantially during the night, as the water level against the bank certainly wasn't the same, and other people moored up also commented. We were both fine going in, but both stuck going out. I hope his insurance stumps up...

You learn something new every day eh? :confused:
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Why should your friend have a big bill?

Lift drive, remove prop, send for refurbishment, replace prop, lower drive, go boating.

We damage at least two sets of props a year (downside of boating where we do) so always carry a spare set. Takes half hour tops to change the props with the boat in the water.

Personally I wouldnt bother the insurers for such a minor claim. £50 per prop for a repair.
 
Open season on Thames Boaters...Everything you thought about them was true :)

I used to carry a spare set of props aboard,cannot remember a season when they were not swapped over.It was not unknown for the slightly less knackered first set of props to be put back on if the damage to the "spare" set was even worse.
Rare was the season that did not involve the props coming into contact with something or other.
Corse .... saved a fortune after buying a nice shaft driven boat.
Steeldevelopments profit must have collapsed :)
 
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Yes, remember those days too. DuoProp was the worst, the larger prop always caught it, the smaller one i never had to change or repair.

Now, with shafts and 24" props, would just dredge a route out.
 
oldgit said:
Must confess had this happened to me,would just have got the bits fixed and got on with it.Learning an expensive lesson to be very careful where i park next time.
To even consider blaming someone else or claiming from insurance co or even suing somebody would not even have crossed my mind once the swearing had subsided.
Difference between Thames boaters and rest of the known universe perhaps.:)
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I cound'nt agree more
 
Moxon got stuck on some bushes upstream of the Roundhouse last year. It was my fault for attempting a personal upstream beast :-).

The bushes (brambles?) scratched the boat and snapped the bloddy flag off.

Scratches remain but who can I write to about costs of replacement flag mount and mastic stuff?
 
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