Travelling on the Thames and then the canals, you can't help noticing what different worlds they are. For a start there's the people on the boats. There's them and there's us.
Them: smart casual dress in a nautical flavour. Couples in matching blue windcheaters and deck shoes. Boats called Silver Dawn or Summer Daze, white (occasionally a blue hull allowed) and with sleek, sporty lines completely ruined by the huge festoons of balloon like fenders to stop them being scratched, or worse still crushed by the likes of "us". They look down on "us" from a great height as their engines burble along. It seems their boats have about three stories. One for the oily bits, hermetically sealed and out of sight. One for the living quarters, and a top bit with off white leather seats for steering and viewing the posh houses lining the Royal River. Of course they are sheltered from the weather by a roof. In locks "they" have to undergo a lot of palaver because their boats have curvy sides and can't sit alongside the wall properly. The front ropes seem to be upstairs, and the back ones down stairs, so there seems to be a lot of clambering about.
Us: We have no leather seats. We have to stand up all day holding a stick to steer the boat. If it rains we get wet. Our boats don't burble, they chug, and we go a lot slower, making virtually no wash as we pitch and toss in their wake. It is clear that they regard us with a mixture of slight distaste, some pity and a not inconsiderable amount of fear. Distaste because we carry stuff on our roof and we are not of one class and our canals (which they cannot access) have supermarket trolleys and plastic bags in them. Pity because our boats are like lorries compared with their limo's. Fear because in a coming together of our boat and theirs, we would chug away unscathed and they would sink. Occasionally we speak to them in locks and they find out we're nice enough, but they wouldn't want their daughters to marry us.
How strange then that we too should feel superior. They go out for the weekend. We go on a voyage. We can live on our boats. We can choose our boat's livery. And we can go anywhere and wear anything.
HERBIE! Journeys on our narrowboat and the trials and tribulations of maintaining her.
8 comments:
Excellent post, which had me laughing out loud!
I do remember being told very clearly by one of 'them' how dangerous canals were as you had to work the locks yourself... I think I wandered off at that point.
At the London Boatshow a few years ago Richard went and sat in one of 'them's' boats - he wondered why 'them' kept trying to run into us on the river - turns out 'them's' steerer can't see anything less that 100 yards away!
See, 'them' is blind in so many ways - give me a narrowboat any day!
Sue, nb Indigo Dream
ps. Rich brother in law has a yacht - much discussion on what brand of clothes to buy. Narrowboat planning involved discussing which brand of decent loo and shower - guess which craft Richard's sister prefers!!!
So,so true! I loved the Thames for lots of reasons, but to gently cruise into a lock, neatly tie up using a lighterman's throw, and then wait while They arrived in a flurry of spilled drinks, swearing and failed attempts to moor was such fun! Teehee
Amy
The thing that does get to me about the cruisers is the incompetence factor. You sometimes see these little old ladies who are at least 105, clambering effortlessly up onto the front deck, casually flicking a wrist whilst chatting to her mate and perfectly hitting the bollard every time. I would prefer if their rope skills were as bad as ours.
Richard
Reminds me of that sketch, "I look down in him because I am upper class"!
We have the Dutch versions over here, and they regard us barge types in much the same way :)
You had me chuckling... and then I realized that you'd think I'm "one of THEM." Does it help that M/V Rhapsody is a pretty ship, an elderly vessel with experienced and capable senior citizens as crew? Probably not.
We're still shoreside folks for two more days, and then we're off for our alternate liveaboard life in NW waters. No narrowboats in sight in B.C. and Alaska... too bad.
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