BOATING ETIQUETTE

 

Our Tiller Pin

As we have now winded and are retracing our journey to Trent Lock, I don’t really want to bore you with all the places I have already written about in the last couple of blogs. So I am going to try and explain some of the do’s and don't s of boating.

But first I will tell you about our time in Rugeley. We found good moorings near the Tesco Superstore, and was pleased to see that a new Aldi had opened nearby, this made shopping very easy. The town also has good selection of shops.

Of course we visited a few pubs. Wetherspoons, the Plaza a lovely old cinema which has been tastefully renovated. The Vine, a real ale pub with its own brewery, as you can imagine the Captain was a happy bunny. Then we called in at the Albion, a bit of a sports bar but it was ok.

https://www.facebook.com/thevineinnbrewery/?locale=en_GB

We left Rugeley and had to cruise about a mile before we could wind (turn round) and headed off to spend the night at the Plum Pudding. With moorings right outside its easy to visit, but we never had until this time. A large impressive building which give the impression of a posh gastro pub, but it has a very family friendly vibe once inside. I got chatting to a couple at the bar and found we had friends in common, they owned a steam roller, and a number of miniature steam engines, and because they attend the local steam rallies they knew my friend Andrew, who has a miniature showman’s engine called Alison, I worked with him at Denby. It was lovely to meet them but I never got their names.

Andrew's Steam Engine

Because of the very hot weather forecast, we got up early next day and did the 8 locks through Fradley junction, and into Alrewas were we stayed for a couple of days, we tried a meal at the Crown and it was lovely.

Next day we aimed to moor at Barton Turns after putting water in, but the moorings were full so we pushed onto Branston Water.

Now what happened at Tattenhill lock is why this blog is called ‘Boating Etiquette’.

There is an unwritten, but widely acknowledge rule, that you do not moor on lock landings for any reason apart from operating the lock (unless its an absolute emergency). These area’s before and after a lock usually have bollards, and most have signs which say ‘mooring for lock operation only’. They ensure that boaters can get off their boats safely to set the lock before using it, and get back on after using it, and are particually important for people boating alone.

As we approached Tattenhill we could see a boat moored on the lock landing, but no one was setting the lock, strange. As we got closer we could see that the reason for this, was the couple on the boat were washing or polishing the side of the boat, this in our opinion is a big no no, it also meant that the Captain couldn’t pull in to let me off safely. There was a narrowing just before the lock which would allow me to jump ship, but that’s not the point. If a boat had been coming up the lock we would have had big problems.

Usually we wouldn’t call someone out, but this obvious break in etiquette needed addressing, and as we came to the side of them I asked the woman if they knew it was a lock landing, and the women said ’Yes’ and continued polishing, so I pointed out that they shouldn’t really be moored there. It didn’t go down well, the Captain addressed the man (I wont call him a gentleman) and got a mouthful of loud abuse for his troubles. I managed to get off at the narrow bit and headed off to set the lock thinking that was then end of it. But then the man approached the Captain, swearing, yelling, and generally being unpleasant. I didn’t hear much of what was said, but he was so loud a young man came out of the house on the lock to see what was going off. I explained that we had called them out for mooring on the lock landing to polish their boat, and that the boater wasn’t happy about it. The young man hung about enjoying the spectacle the man was making of himself.

My Captain handled the situation like the gentleman that he is, never resorted to swearing or shouting just pointing out how wrong it was on so many levels. Eventually the lock was ready and he went back to polishing his boat and we continued on to Branston Waters for the night. He did end up mooring a couple of boats behind us, and this is were he should have polished his boat, not on the lock landing.

So that is one piece of boating etiquette which most boaters know about and respect. Another which is not so widely accepted, is not leaving git gaps when mooring in busy places. The number of times we have cruised down a row of moored boats, and worked out that if everyone had moored closer together, there would be room for more boats to get in and enjoy whatever the area had to offer. Its just common sense and decency to me, but some just don’t seem to get it.

Coming up to the lock landing, see the bollards

Another, cruising slowly past moored boats, the reason for this is that going fast past moored boats makes them rock and can cause accidents, say if some one was cooking and the boat rocked causing something hot to spill. The problem here is that each boats tick over speed, and the steers perception of how fast they are going can differ greatly. But going to fast is going to get you yelled at eventually. Now I will say, some people expect you to almost go by so slowly you would have to be out of gear to comply. Its finding a happy medium between the moored and moving boats.

Back to locks, if you get to a lock that is not ready for you, and there is a boat approaching that could use the lock, its very bad etiquette to start setting the lock in your favour, its also bad for water conservation. The friendly thing to do is open the gates and welcome the boat into the lock and help lock it through. Occasionally its a snap judgement as to whose lock it actually is, and you don’t always make the right call, but that’s life and most boaters are understanding.

Last one, and its about running your engine to provide power or hot water when moored. This is allowed between the hours of 8am to 8pm, this protects other boaters and canal side homes from noise and exhaust fumes. This is not a guideline but is part of your license agreement with CRT.

Well hope you have enjoyed this lesson on boating etiquette. We are now moored in Burton for a few days before heading down to Trent Lock, and hopefully our assisted passage up the Erewash to Langley Mill for our blacking at the beginning of September.

17 miles, 13 locks and 1 canal.