Any tips for a larger group greatly appreciated

[RustyAnchor]

Hello There

 

I am getting married in December and for my Stag weekend(for want of a better phrase!) I have decided to eschew the norm and do something I have wanted to do for a long time and embark on a weekend Barging trip with my friends.

All 20 of the closest friends and family I invited accepted straight away and appear to be very keen on the idea which is promising, now, we are a pretty respectful bunch and aged from early thirties to early sixties so aren’t going to be terrorising the waterways with our rambunctious behaviour!

My Best Man has looked into hiring 2 12-berth boats for a Friday, Saturday and Sunday in September from UK boat hire at about £100pp and they seem to be fine with this rather large all male group.

They recommended either the Gayton to Braunston & return trip or a Bradford on Avon to Bath & return as suitable for us. Initially I was leaning toward the Braunston trip as I live in bath and so though it would be nice to go somewhere different but having done a little research I have a feeling that stretch may be a little too quiet. We aren’t after clubs or anything like that but it may nice to have the stop in lively Bath for the Saturday night, I’m also conscious of the fact that we are a large group and may overwhelm some smaller unprepared establishments no matter how polite we are!

Also Most of my friends are from Bristol an so aren’t overly familiar with the pubs on this route so it will still feel like a trip away.

Any way thanks for bearing with me and wading through my waffle but basically I was just wondering if any of you had tips for us on where to stop, things we need to take, general tips on how to make sure our trip is a fun and safe one and basically tips on how to make sure we are not a pain for anyone else on the waterways.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Rusty

[classicstove]

You may like to look at the following website link below I run - all the pubs listed have telephone numbers so they should be able to advise if they can do food for you all

 

If you find anything has changed, I'll happily update the website to reflect current state

[canaldrifter]

In my days as a hire operator we wouldn't hire two boats to the same stag party. No matter what assurances we would have been given, the boats would end up 'racing' or someone getting hurt.

 

I've seen a lad who lost all the skin off his shin because he thought he could jump from the cabin top down on to sheet-piling... and missed. Another lad had his leg crushed because he dangled it over the bow of a boat coming alongside, and tried to fend off using his foot. And with another hirer there was a horrible beheading on the river Wey. That was a stag party who thought it would be a good idea to try to get under a non-navigable bridge arch.

 

By using the word 'barge' it is probable that you are inexperienced hirers. Nowt wrong with that, but please put safety first if you do go ahead with this. Make it your own rule that at least the steerers remain sober at all times.

 

Sorry to be so negative, but stag parties, group testosterone and boat hire is not a good mix.

 

Tone

[koukouvagia]

 

Sorry to be so negative, but stag parties, group testosterone and boat hire is not a good mix.

 

Tone

 

You beat me to it, Tone. I honestly don't think stag nights and boating go well together. Are any of the party familiar with narrow boating? You're probably upstanding, sober and sensible members of society, but I've seen lots of groups like this and they always seem like an accident waiting to happen. I've known the lock keeper at Cowroast come out of his cottage and padlock the lock because he thought the crew were a danger to themselves and others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

I think you should still go for it guys-your showing a degree of sense by coming on here and asking foe help and advice which is a good start - I can't recall somebody 'in charge' of organising a big group coming on here doing that for some time.

 

Not on canals but on the broads I have witnessed some pretty dangerous stuff 'jumping large gaps and from moving boat to boat moving boat as examples' while under the influence of booze - not clever and can lead to accidents.

 

If you are pretty confident you can enjoy a drink without somebody doing something utterly stupid then as I say go for it, you sound as I say sensible.

 

just let us know when and were you are going so we know which direction to sail in (ie the opposite one! )

 

:cheers:

[Keeping Up]

I think you are asking all the right questions Rusty, and in the right place. You should get some good advice here as well as a load of cr*p, you just need to work out how to separate one from another. I too generally dislike seeing large stag (or hen) parties as a group for the reasons people have given above, but you seem to be approaching it with the right attitude which makes a nice change.

 

The trip from Gayton to Braunston is a fairly quiet one. There is a canalside pub on the way (the Wharf at Bugbrooke) but they are quite large and may be able to accommodate you if you book ahead (they could be ideal for the Friday night oif you can get away from the boatyard with at least an hour and a half of daylight left). Weedon Bec has a few fairly large pubs and a couple of Chinese restaurants, and Braunston has a selection of pubs - but you won't find much exciting lively night-life anywhere.

[TimD]

I was once locking with a stag group on the K&A (they had 3 60+ft boats so we could double up with the odd boat).

they had a great time but were not at all boorish about things. They clearly took the canal boating side of things seriously.

 

I think you need to ask yourself a coulpe of questions.

Can you trust everyone not to get carried away with things such as not having a race to get through the locks as quickly as possible or go "water skiing" with the lifebelt tied on to the stern (I have seen this)?

Have at least a couple of your group been on a canal boat before? I know that for a holiday you need "no previous experience" but I can see a very large group of complete novices being a bit of a night mare. If no-one has then I suggest that you encourage a group of three or four to do a long weekend beforehand.

 

If you can answer yes to both of these then I'd say go for it.

[Matthew Dowson]

Someone needs to give a safety briefing before the off - so make everyone listen to the hire guy - or if you have an experienced boater let him do it.

 

1. Boats are 15-20 tons lumps of steel, they will crush things easily - keep hands and feet away from the side - no dangling when mooring or in locks

2. At the back is a propeller - a big mincing machine - which if its rotating and someone falls in near it it can suck them in and ... well end of story.

3. Never jump off a boat - you step off.

4. Be considerate to those people who have gone boating for a nice quiet time. Moor in he middle of nowhere if you want to sit on the roof drinking and telling stories at 2am. Loud music makes me want to move away from you.

5. If you crash into bridges cos you're going too fast and the helmsman is inexperienced they may be 200 years old and are irreplaceable, if enough people hit them and take chunks out of stonework it does them no good.

6. Go slow, especially past moored boats - the canal is no place to be in a hurry. If you have a wash hitting the banks you're going too fast, it will erode the banks.

7. Locks are places for the helmsman and those doing the paddles (lock gear) to stay alert and concentrate - take the boat home - don't sink it. Fill locks slowly, speed up by opening gate paddles fully when its half full.

8. Don't come up to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal - we like it nice and quiet.

9. Have fun, you never know you might like it.

Edited March 29, 2011 by Matthew Dowson

[sueb]

I think you are asking all the right questions Rusty, and in the right place. You should get some good advice here as well as a load of cr*p, you just need to work out how to separate one from another. I too generally dislike seeing large stag (or hen) parties as a group for the reasons people have given above, but you seem to be approaching it with the right attitude which makes a nice change.

 

The trip from Gayton to Braunston is a fairly quiet one. There is a canalside pub on the way (the Wharf at Bugbrooke) but they are quite large and may be able to accommodate you if you book ahead (they could be ideal for the Friday night oif you can get away from the boatyard with at least an hour and a half of daylight left). Weedon Bec has a few fairly large pubs and a couple of Chinese restaurants, and Braunston has a selection of pubs - but you won't find much exciting lively night-life anywhere.

Weedon has a very good Indian that could accommodate 20

Sue

[ditchcrawler]

Hello There

 

I am getting married in December and for my Stag weekend(for want of a better phrase!)

Rusty

I would suggest Bath as I moor in the Branston area

[Keeping Up]

I would suggest Bath as I moor in the Branston area

 

He's unlikely to get from Gayton to Branston and back in a weekend.

 

Braunston maybe - but not Branston.

[Albion]

He's unlikely to get from Gayton to Branston and back in a weekend.

 

Braunston maybe - but not Branston.

 

It's OK, Brian is just in a bit of a pickle.

Roger

[David Mack]

All 20 of the closest friends and family I invited accepted straight away....

 

My Best Man has looked into hiring 2 12-berth boats....

 

I hope you all get on well together and have good weather! Even a full length narrowboat is a pretty small space for 12 people!

 

I know this from a student trip many years ago when 11 of us squeezed into the cheapest hire boat we could find on the first week of the university Easter holidays. It snowed on the first day, and the only heater on board had about enough oomph to dry one wet glove! It snowed/sleeted/rained for most of the week, so many of our lot stayed inside the boat, where we kept falling over each other and everybody's bags etc.

 

The twelve berth we hired had 2 double beds and 8 singles. Fine as we were a mixed party, but are some of your (presumably all male) mates prepared to share a bed?

 

Hire boats have generally got better these days, but it might be worth seeing if you can take a look at your chosen boats before you commit.

 

David

[muddywaters]

Anglo Welsh cater for stag parties.

But you have to pay a refundable deposit on arrival at the base.