narrowboatworld

Looking at some of the contributions to this thread I'd say we really do need to "show 'em how it's done" Tone

PS nice to meet you last week.

The stickers are available at the locks or from the EA.

I have it on good authority that the registration pack for all boats attending the IWA Festival at Beale Park also contains one of the stickers.

It works both ways. At Lechlade, Mapledurham and at Goring I have seen rows of cruisers all moored about 30ft apart, obviously deliberately to maintain some privacy and  also to keep the narrowboats away.

The real problem is the 'sod you Jack, I'm all right' attitude in modern society that is now creeping into the boating world,  particularly amongst posh cruiser owners and owners of bespoke extremely over-specified brand new narrowboats, I might add.

If boats moored stern on there would be room for all. The answer is for the EA to provide some adequate mooring facilities against floating finger pontoons in honeypot locations as in Ireland on the Shannon Erne. They might not own the bank, but they own the water and it's wide enough.

We wouldn't mind coughing up a reasonable overnight mooring fee for that,  especially if some power is laid on. Much better than shelling out for a mooring overnight at a lock mooring in the middle of nowhere.

'But who will pay for them?'  is the inevitable question.

Privatise them is one answer.

I still have my 'Welcome, Moor Alongside,' sticker displayed, though nobody ever does. Perhaps my boat is too scruffy for them because I spend my time cruising instead of polishing it, or maybe it's the dog.

I suppose it could even be me!

My personal solution to mooring problems is to moor where nobody else wants to!

Tone

Yes, you have very much misunderstood and some elements of your response smack of the very problem I am describing.

Far from having a 'lets kick the NB's off the Thames' attitude I have had articles published welcoming their presence and enjoyment of the river. However, it is not the relatively small number of Thames registered NB's which create the bottlenecks during the peak summer months (paradoxically, being part of the NB fraternity, they seem to elicit more co-operation from other NB's).

The EA and Local Authorities are clearly not able to resolve the issue. The number of moorings is limited and, and, unlike the canals, the towpath is not in the ownership of the river itself, so it is up to those of us that use the river to try and mutually inprove the situation where we can.

I am well aware that local conditions may well be unsuitable - as an example the new risers installed at Wallingford Town Quay are clearly dangerous if an NB gets its side decks trapped when the level rises. Boat designs also frequently preclude easy rafting.

However, when I make a polite request to permit me to raft alongside or move up to make a bit more space I do not expect meet a flat refusal or, worse still, be verbally abused and told to **** off, both of which happen often enough for me to be reluctant to even ask.

To be fair, there are some pretty angsty cruiser owners as well but it is the large numbers of NB's and their considerable length which have exacerbated the problem for for us 'resident' boaters, the more so this year with the IWA Festival at Beale Park.

When traveling in company with another boat I will, in popular locations, often choose to raft alongside the other and leave space for those who come later. In fact, as a deeper draft cruiser, being a little further from the bank often enables me to stay afloat as many mooring areas are too shallow.

My post was not abrasive in any way, but your response to it was. Instead of assuming I'm out to get you, how about answering the reasonable questions I posed, please?

Well, it seems that quite a few of you have no objections to rafting up when its busy, but how do we get this attitude into wider circulation on the non tidal Thames?

Here's a common scenario on some Thames moorings I have visited recently.

Mooring line largely taken up by narrow boats in line , some with quite large spaces (10 feet + ) between them. Popular spot so would be nice if more boats could manage to moor but its not going to happen unless later arrivals breast up to the narrow boats, or the narrow boats already there shuffle around/breast up/shove up.

How to make this happen?  Polite request from recent arrival seems most likely course of action but you would not believe how many times I have been met with a flat refusal - even when just asking boats to move up and create more space. In a few isolated instances I have been told to 'go away' very impolitely.

Is there any way we can persuade you guys to raft up as a matter of course in busy/popular moorings - even though there may seem to be plenty of space when you arrive?

Would shared mooring fees for rafted boats help? Would clearer guidance from the EA help - perhaps even a condition of  the granting of a licence being an acceptance that breasting up is expected in busy periods/locations?

Ideas genuinely welcomed .......

That is brilliant!

I want one!

Tone

Fully supportive of breasting up on ppopular moorings (Although I nteserve the right to be seriously grumpy about engines / generators / loud music / rowdy parties to which I'm not invited are run alongside)

My best sign seen this year was handwritted in the window of a boat moored near the top of Hurleston.

"Master Boaters slow down passing moorings. Master Baters don't"

I have yet to find one of those EA signs but when on crowded moorings (unless the EA/local authority notice says otherwise - and some do) I always indicate to someone that seems to be looking for a mooring that they are welcome to moor alongside and tell the large cruisers they can exit over my roof & gas box if its easier.  I also tell the smaller ones to tie off to my hand rails so they are well positioned to get ashore.  However on both the Thames and Severn I have had the odd occasion where it was perfectly clear the boat was looking for a mooring but they would not raft up to a narrowboat - why I have no idea.

I would not raft up on a cruiser because I know what 15 tons of boat can do to some of the toy mooring cleats fitted to cruisers today. In a similar vein I would be extremely annoyed if a large barge decided to come alongside without my permission  and tie off to my T studs without also putting his own lines ashore. One must expect idiot behaviour and as a pratt in a high speed boat broke one of my mooring lines at 01.00 (not 13.00!) on the Thames last week I would not want my boat to be subject to the strain of a heavy barge along side.

I come to the Thames every second year and each year it becomes more and more noticeable that there are fewer and fewer cruisers using the river and more and more EA registered narrowboats about. I have never know the river to be so quiet as this year. A single boat in Romney lock at noon on a late July day would have been unheard off  even a few years ago. In fact coming from Brentford we would have been the only boat in several locks if it had not been for other narrowboats that had come up on the same tide.

My message to Thames boaters is "use it of loose it". I am sure that if visiting narrowboats had not kept moving craft numbers up a bit the whole of the Thames bar perhaps Teddington would have DIY locking and with the new mechanisations I suggest it will not be long before its reality. Already the EA lock at Blakes on the Kennet is effectively self service for much of the time.

Tony Brooks

I am heartened (somewhat) to read this here.

I have for many moons now been advocating the 'moor alongside' philosophy on the YBW Thames Forum as well as when out and about on the river, but with very limited success.

As a one-time coastal sailor I was well used to rafting up - in fact it was, and still is, impossible to vist many places around the Solent without having to do so.

The Thames has an extreme shortage of mooring space at popular locations and insisting on one's own private patch (particularly with x feet in front and behind) is IMHO yet another manifestation of antisocial behaviour.

Much of the perceived friction between the native cruisers and visiting NB's is that you guys take up so much space being so long and all, and yet you seem to us to be so perfectly designed to raft up when its busy and the river is usually wide enough to support it with causing obstruction.

With the IWA Festival at Beale Park again this year and some 600 or so of your lean machines expected you will forgive us for not feeling exactly ecstatic about our mooring chances for the next few weeks !

May I also say that as a cruiser owner (dutch steel) with a 4' draft I am more than happy to moor alongside a narrow boat - its a bit like having my own private  landing stage with the deeper water several feet out from the bank!

Maybe we'll more together sometime, and show 'em how its done. I'll put the kettle on.

Tone

Hey Tone

Judging by the number of views this post has had and the ratio of supportive responses, it looks like just you and I have one of these signs.

Sign of the times perhaps?

These were issued by the EA on the Thames couple of years or so ago. I still have one on my boat.

Tone

Reading Victor's latest item 'Keep Away' reminded me of the best sign I ever saw. It was at Torksey on N.B. Wandering Snail (now cruising Holland & Belgium) it read "You are welcome to moor alongside".

Needless to say I now have my own similar sign which I display when on crowded moorings and will do so again this summer despite 'Midnight' getting a new paint job.