Fishermans friend or fiend?!!

[penfold9763Participant @penfold9763]

[penfold9763Participant @penfold9763]

Am i the only person in Cornwall that can’t find anywhere to sail my boats? Last year i joined a boat club so i could get access to the reservoir they use only to get kicked off because my scale (battery powered) boats frightened the fish!! My boats are scale models so they don’t blast across the water at 600 knots but sail sedately or at there fastest 2 knots!! Why can we not use the same waters as the fishermen that moan about us? The guy that told me to leave said it was all down to how much money the boat club pays them that makes it either worth there while or not.

All i want is a simple bit of water anywhere in Cornwall to sail my boats but after sending emails out to every owner of a reservoir, lake or large pond i could find listed on the internet but all i got was nothing but negative replies. The reason given most was that fishermen and radio control boats do not mix!!

I love all aspects of radio control but i love my boats the best, i have 6 boats gathering dust because of this problem so please if you can help i’m desperate.

[Francis MacnaughtonParticipant @francismacnaughton39461]

Paul,

 

Are you anywhere near Helston? – that has a good boating pond.

 

Francis

[B BParticipant @bb42502]

This situation that you are facing is absolutely nonsense and rubbish. Most fishermen cast their lines far from the banks into “deeper” water. The electrically powered boats are quiet and you can hardly hear them. They do not pollute the waters and do not create noise pollution. As a matter of fact here in South Africa many fishermen use RC Bait Boats to take the baited lines far out into the lakes and dams. They drop off the bait at the same places and in so doing create feeding spots which attract the fish. If the boats would chase or scare off the fish then why are Baits boats so successful in this country???

Those fishermen are just being plain selfish and nasty. Their broken fishing lines actually cause so much harm to bird life when the birds become entangled. The baited hooks often catch fish on broken off lines and the fish is trapped and slowly dies on the entrapped lines. ANOTHER IMPORTANT FACT IS THAT FISH HAVE A MEMORY OF ABOUT THREE MINUTES. if a fish is frightened by a bird of prey or other preditor they move off and soon return to the very same spot a few minutes later. THE FISHERMENS ARGUMENTS HOLD NO REASON WHATSO EVER! THEY ARE THE ONES WHO SHOULD BE BANNED FROM THE WATERS.

[penfold9763Participant @penfold9763]

Your quite right BB but it still doesn’t alter the fact i’m being snubbed at all the waterways i have tried to use. I have been sailing my boats for well over 30yrs and it’s only the last couple i have been having this problem.

I was hoping to introduce my grandson to RC boating but again without a water source thats impossible. I can’t possibly be the only one in Cornwall (UK) with this problem, am i?

[penfold9763Participant @penfold9763]

Hi Francis no i’m up near Newquay but i have been to to Helston in the past to look at there boating lake but up until you mentioned it i had forgotten all about it!

Do you know if you need to be a member of a club to use the lake/pond?

[Ian GardnerParticipant @iangardner62867]

I think this is a shame- I have found anglers to be pretty intolerant of model and full size boating activities- even had fistfuls of maggots thrown into a canoe when I was out with my children. Unfortunately there are more of them than us and they are prepared to pay large amounts of money for their hobby- however I have also met some very nice anglers!

 

I have visited Helston and it is a nice lake- alhough when I went a couple of years ago it was choked with weed- I think that has been solved now.

 

Good luck with your search- it might be worth contacting SWAMBC if you haven’t already done so- they used to produce a booklet with all the South West clubs and descriptions of their waters.

 

Ian

[penfold9763Participant @penfold9763]

Hi Ian

I have emailed the SWAMBC and although it would be possible to use most of the lakes they take care of you have to join the prospective model boat clubs if there is one. This i will quite happily do and i will travel a fair distance for my hobby but again why do we have to join a club? Why can we not just turn up and launch our boats? I will be taking a trip down to Helston with hopes of a sail and joining a boat club if necessary though!

One thing i will tell you all is what i was told at Stithians reservoir in Cornwall when i asked if i could sail there prior to joining there model boat club. The chap i spoke to told me i had to wear waders have third party insurance in case one of my little boats caused some sort of damage and weirdest of all i would have to wear a lifejacket if i walked any further than 3ft into the water!!

What have people got against model boats? When i was a kid i loved watching people sail there boats and thats what got me into the hobby but 40yrs on something as definitely changed and not for the better!!

[Ian GardnerParticipant @iangardner62867]

Paul,

 

I know how it is. I used to sail a dinghy on Roadford lake but got fed up with being trammelled round with rules and regulations as to where I could go and what I could do. I got a snotty letter telling me I had gone where I shouldn’t one time- why they couldn’t have mentioned it at the time in a friendly manner I shall never understand.

 

I think organisations are so frightened of litigation that they do all they can to cover their a***s and it permeates through the whole of human endeavour now. You are certainly on a hiding to nothing with South West Lakes.

 

I was in contact with one gent on here who uses Roadford and tucks himself well away from the eyes of officialdom- there’s a road that leads into the lake the other side from the sailing club and there’s a carpark too. Still a fair way from you though.

 

I also understand that not everybody wants to be member of a club but I think subscriptions are relatively low still and it’s worth being a member just for the benefits it brings. I could be a member of several clubs for the sort of money people pay for the privilege of angling. Also, there is safety in numbers!

 

I often see pictures and videos of various model boat venues and envy them, and perhaps it would be good to have information about sailing waters on a site like this.

 

I think you are right, many aspects of life have changed and it is difficult for the lone modeller to function. My dream would be to have a large lake in my garden- but I never even buy a lottery ticket- so it will remain a dream!

 

Ian

 

 

[penfold9763Participant @penfold9763]

Hi Ian

Your so right on every thing you have said and yes i have also met the sort of person who should be locked up at some of the places i used to sail my boats!

At the moment i’m working on trying to get a section of Bude canal but again i’m up against red tape so still remain ever hopeful!

I will be looking into joining as many clubs as i can so i can carry on my hobby, i still have my cars and trucks and at the moment the old Davidstow airfield to play on!!

I’m in the middle of building another two boats (A Hooban Perkasa and a little rescue boat to sail out and retrieve broken down or stranded boats).

I do sell Radio control models as well so if anyone is interested email me and i will send you my websites url, boats are a bit scarce but we do have some fantastic cars, planes, tanks and choppers on offer.

Please check out my Facebook http://www.facebook.com/#!/penfold9763 page were you will find a link to photo’s of my models if your interested! (I also have a few things to say about the Tories so if your offended then don’t read them).

I will be scouring Cornwall and perhaps Devon for a lake to sail on and will keep this topic going if i find somewhere.

[penfold9763Participant @penfold9763]

Just to update this thread.

I have now been turned down for possible use of part of Bude canal with my boats,this time not just because of the fishermanproblem but apparently canoeists. Just what have we got to do to use waterways in Cornwall?

Is this a countrywide problem? and if so what can we do about it?

[B BParticipant @bb42502]

Well You Seem to have the same problems as we do in South Africa. In the 1980’s there was the Johannesburg Model Power Boat club which was situated at Emmarentia Dam. We would meet every second sunday at the lake. The space we utilised was a very small corner of the dam. Then there was a huge upsurge of canoeists and these selfish B—-s could not let have just the little corner of the dam. Their reason was that they needed this very tiny cornerof the dam to complete a set distance.

The end result is that the biggest model boat club was lost and the public was denied of seeing the beatifull work of the modelers and being entertained by something out of the ordinary.

Guys the only way we are going to keep our waters is that we should be building more operational models. Sink the canoeists and bombard the fishermen to hell.LOL

I do not think that we are putting our feet down hard enough and we are not negotiating long and hrd enough and this is why we are losing our waters.

[Ian GardnerParticipant @iangardner62867]

I have recently received the latest SWAMBC handbook and all South West club sailing waters are listed with map references. I notice that the water at Cadover Bridge on Dartmoor is now being used by a club.

 

I think it’s all down to money and numbers. Model boaters generally won’t / can’t pay the sort of money that anglers and canoeists are prepared to do and we are outnumbered by these activities- and they do seem to fight their corner agressively. The trouble is, if you can find a water that is clear, with good access and close parking… somebody else will be using it for something! You wouldn’t think it could be that difficult would you!?

 

Club membership is the best way to go. There are lots of clubs in the South West with sailing waters. Of course clubs that have had the energy and forsight to save, buy land and build a lake have the answer- but I suppose that needs people with vision, determination and support- rare qualities. I read in Model Boats of one club that had done that.

 

Keep looking.

[Ian GardnerParticipant @iangardner62867]

Sorry, senior moment. Only postcodes in SWAMBC handbook!

[penfold9763Participant @penfold9763]

Well fellow model boat lovers, i’ve not managed to use my boats at all this year because i just cannot find a place i can sail them. Is this the beginning of the end i wonder, will my fleet be dry docked for the near future? I really hope not, my next sailings will be on a river if i can find one that doesn’t have strong under currents or the proverbial fishermen sitting on the rather large butts upsetting our hobbies! Does anyone know of a suitable river or inlet or basicaly any water in Cornwall i can use?

[matt dcParticipant @mattdc32529]

Hi Penfold, I have recently bought an RC boat of the fast, noisy, Chinese variety and have had no problems sailing it on the dam end of Crowdy Reservoir. No fishermen. Only ever encountered a couple of dog walkers and one snorkellist whom I buzzed a few times and he soon left.

SWlakes' website says no activities of any kind take place at the reservoir, but it's a huge lake and very remote. Very slim chance of ever bumping into one of their bods I would say, in fact I have never met a SWlakes official at any of their lakes in many years of dog walking. So come up and try it out, closer than Bude for you, but make sure it's not too blowy as waves can be a problem on a windy day as it's quite exposed – see video below (not mine):

**LINK**

[penfold9763Participant @penfold9763]

Cheers Matt dc. Is Crowdy the one at Camelford?

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

I have had a similar problem when trying to sail my larger petrol powered models although the objections have also come from fellow model boaters who, for some obscure irrational reason think I will impart a detrimental effect on their enjoyment.

To overcome the problem of complaints I sail on the Bridgewater canal for which I hold a full size boat licence which I bought specifically so that I could sail my models.

With the licence I have the same rights to use the water as any barge owner or fisherman and I don't have to suffer the disapproving looks of fellow modellers.

Paul

[Andy HustlerParticipant @andyhustler32076]

Guys i reckon i must be very lucky to live in wales as we have the use of some very good lakes .Roath park in Cardif , the knap in Barry , Caerphilly castle moat , Tredegar house lake , boating lakes in Cwmbran , monmouth /brecon canal( not 100% about this ) margam park .These are all excellent lakes to use but my fave is the knap as it is quite shalow , on a bus route , great for me as i dont drive pl;us the fact there is a great burger van nearby which does an excellent coffee .

Andy from Cardif

[penfold9763Participant @penfold9763]

Hi Andy. Now that's just big headed!! lol

[Andy HustlerParticipant @andyhustler32076]

lucky i gues that we are lucky to have such a great number of such great lakes on our dorstep .

[matt dcParticipant @mattdc32529]

Yes it's a right turn for you off the A39 just after Camelford. Crowdy is on Bodmin Moor, about half a mile from Rough Tor.

[penfold9763Participant @penfold9763]

Ta thought so, i'm usually up on Davidstow with my cars and trucks and always looked across to the lake wondering if it was usable!

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