That is indeed the question.It is inevitable that if you use your boat for often enough and for long enough that at some point or another you will be frowned at, shouted at or generally abused for going, in the eyes of the aggressor, too fast passed their moored boat. It doesn’t matter how fast you are going it is too fast.
The one doing the shouting, is almost always the one amongst a line of moored boats who has rigged his lines at 90 degrees to the bank so that any boat going passed his will almost certainly cause his boat to surge backwards and forwards in an uncomfortable manner. They just never learn and seem to take great pleasure in shouting at others for their mistake or laziness.
It is generally accepted, on canals, that if you are creating a breaking wash then you are travelling too quickly. This rule doesn’t really work when on river navigations as you create more wash when travelling upstream as you are pushing a wall of water to make progress. Downstream you can travel much quicker with little wash. Those who moor on river navigations, as a rule, moor with much more care than canal dwellers, as a simple mistake or loose knot when mooring can result in the loss of the boat. Rivers often have strong currents and locks are more often than not accompanied by weirs so a slipped mooring can have disastrous results. You often find that river travellers are also not the ones who moan about others passing “too quickly”. River users are used to the flow of the water affecting the moored boats and also the wash from boats heading upstream.
There is no single answer to too fast or not too fast, but please moor your boats in an adequate fashion not just with two pieces of string at 90 degrees to the bank.
I live by the Thames and always see boats going too fast. It doesn't matter too much how you tie your boat up, it still moves around a lot if the boat going past creates a large amount of wash. The S23 is a sports cruiser, so would create a lot more wash than a narrow boat at the same speed. I think its important and considerate to look behind to check what wash you are creating. After all the boats that might be affected are normally of high value.
ReplyDeleteIt is also the resonsibility of the boat owner to ensure that their boat is tied up in a correct manner.
ReplyDeleteWe moor on a canal so the chance of boats passing extremely quickly isnt very high. Yet you still get people screaming about passing them too quickly when in effect had they tied their boat up a bit better there wouldnt have been an issue.