What happened to common decency?

So when can I use a generator?

We hall be at Henley for the Rewind Festival this weekend on Fawley Meadows and will probably have two to three nights there. I have no particular worries about my batteries but the most annoying thing about staying put for more than a day is running out of hot water.

The boat has a calorifier with an immersion. The water runs cold over night which is a pain, particulrly for washing up and shaving. I was thinking about hiring a small generator having seen an earlier post on the subject, just to give us a tank of hot water each day and might even think about buying one if it works ok. One of my concerns is the inevitable noise and irritation to others, especially as the moorings are likely to be pretty packed. This thread has just increased my concerns about being seen as anti social.

I would have thought that running the generator any time between, say, 10am and 5pm would be ok, but I would be grateful for advice.
 
Don't worry about the noise, the music doesn't stop until 10:45pm and then there are fireworks. Plus the silent disco goes on until 1am, the music may be silent but a few hundred people singing along to two different 80s tracks with headphones on is not! :)
 
We have noticed this year certainly that there are a lot more people running their engines/gennies for a lot longer. It isnt a problem associated just with the Thames. A few weeks ago we moored in one of our favourite spots for a couple of nights. When we arriver there was another boat (it was a narrowboat but that is byond the point) When we arrived they had their engine running but turned it off a 9pm, not a problem. The next morning they started the bloody thing up again at 7am and it was running for most of the day. What is wrong with these people?
 
we sail on salt water but suffer similar problems with genny's when sharing mooring pontoons. Have you ever noticed how the user of the genny, when challenged, apparently can't hear it running? I haven't got great hearing (my wife is bored with repeating everything she says!) but in an otherwise silent idyllic mooring a generator sounds like an express train to me. Even the inboard (and below water exhaust type) generators which are said to be silent are not really in the aforementioned idyllic still evening. And running an engine to generate power is an environmental disaster. We've gone solar panels for power (totally self sufficient in an English summer) and an Eberspacher hot water heater for hot water. I won't run the engine for battery charging/water heating. We have 600AH of battery power and can last four days without the need for any charging at all. It's possible though it does cost money. What price peace and quiet though?
 
One of the problems with nb's is that they can't hear it but you can; one moored behind me at Abingdon the other week, the "wrong way round" ie facing downstream. So his stern was next to my stern, and whilst we were sitting next to his engine running he was 60' away at the other end.
 
Most go to relax and enjoy the peace and tranquilty that the river offers, a genny left rattling away long into the dusk is the worse offender.
Even those onboard jobs can be a nuisance,venting oily diesel fumes into the night.
Fine when you are parked in bay somewhere offshore in Spain,but not next to me at Windsor.
 
Last edited:
Top