Todays Boating

[Rich Griff 2Participant @richgriff2]

When I lived by the seaside I often though of r/c ING a plastic decoy duck, with a car windscreen washer system inside………to spray the many holiday makers with…..oh to be young again😁

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Thought about it…you can get some decent enough swans now of a good size, not too expensive.

Today: grey but brightening up somewhat??

Ashley

[Chris EParticipant @chrise]

Posted by Rich Griff 1 on 02/01/2021 22:26:11:

When I lived by the seaside I often though of r/c ING a plastic decoy duck, with a car windscreen washer system inside………to spray the many holiday makers with…..oh to be young again😁

We had a member who fitted a squirter to his model and the kids loved until running into the very small jet until one mother went spare demanding to know if the model carried pure water as the pond could contain all sorts of nasties. That was the end of that.

This was despite the fact that her child had moved into the water jet rather than the water jet had been aimed at the child.

[Richard BarnettParticipant @richardbarnett67129]

Many years ago one of our guys did a Canada goose with a working beak, people would try to feed it. Just for the crack he would pop a fag in it’s beak much to the consternation of all the people watching and puzzled children. Happy days, life was a lot simpler 30 years ago.

Ricky ye pirate 🏴‍☠️

[Richard BarnettParticipant @richardbarnett67129]

Sadly Chris these days there’s always someone analysing the crap out of something that’s a bit of harmless fun.

Ricky ye pirate 🏴‍☠️

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

But Richard…think of all those children traumatised by seeing a goose smoking!!

Ashley

[Richard BarnettParticipant @richardbarnett67129]

Different times Ashley, these young people can’t take a bit of fun nowadays have to blame someone for something that might never happen or get offended.

Ricky ye pirate 🏴‍☠️

[timgParticipant @timg12590]

Hi All

I don't post on here as often as I should…

Despite the cold weather to day I popped down to my local club pond only to find it frozen over , after breaking a hole at the edge ithe ce breaking could begin.

After two and a half's , four flat batteries I hadon't a quarter of the pond clear of Ice. I will try to post a few pics

Cheers Tim

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi All,

Yes Health & Safety plus Political Correctness is taking away all the fun !!

When I was a lad my favourite wood glue was Aerolite 306 with it's acid hardener, happy days

Regards Ray

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Just to throw a couple of thoughts into the mix.

Do we not think in all fairness gents that it can get too easy to look back through rose tinted glasses and try to apply our thinking from past times to today's very changed society? The trouble is that sometimes I think we can allow our rose tinted views to cloud common sense.

As an example when I first went to sea in 1977 every member of the ship's crew, around 43 of us, smoked. When I left the sea in 2016 it wasn't even allowed any more. I myself stopped around 25 years ago and I have no doubt in my mind that, had I not, I would not be here now. There is a lot of sensitivity nowadays around smoking and for very good reason. Many families still have memories of watching loved ones slowly and very painfully die as a result of smoking related illnesses. We are better informed nowadays and should learn from what information is available to us. Promoting smoking nowadays will almost certainly generate a negative response and while it is easy to get offended and blame the over protective snowflake culture for 'analysing the crap' the bottom line is that making humour out of smoking and trivialising it to kids would be seen by many as irresponsible.

As regards the pond water, again I suspect that the reaction of the mother was way over the top and guaranteed to get the backs up of all concerned however, we once had an analysis done of the water at my own pond and we were staggered at the levels of bacteria and parasites in the water. Hardly surprising when it is 50% duck and goose shit and rotting vegetation. Levels that can very easily cause serious and even life threatening illness in vulnerable people. Whether the kid ran into the water jet or not is completely irrelevant, it was obviously being sprayed onto a path where it was possible to come into contact with it. Again many would see that nowadays as irresponsible.

We are far better informed today than we have ever been so does it not make sense to use our heightened awareness to portray a more sensible image of us as model boaters to the watching public? Having worked in a ship's engine room all my life I have always seen humour as the glue that holds everything together but that doesn't mean reverting to doing anything that could be seen as irresponsible.

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Richard,

Yes all good points of which we are fully aware, It's only a bit of new year banter !!

Do you also remember the advertising/media pressure telling you which brands were the coolest to smoke !

No one is really saying the old days were actually any better

Regards Ray

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

I'm not sure if the water quality was cleaner back then but, as Richard says, it certainly isn't now with all the natural and man made pollution being poured into it. and from run off. There are plenty of instances of people becoming very sick from ingesting river or pond water. Plus of course today's kids have not been brought up like us older people who spent their childhoods messing about in streams and outdoors which helped build up immunity.

It's amazing just how many younger people have allergies of one sort or another these days.

Colin

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Posted by Ray Wood 2 on 04/01/2021 09:12:00:

Hi Richard,

Yes all good points of which we are fully aware, It's only a bit of new year banter !!

Do you also remember the advertising/media pressure telling you which brands were the coolest to smoke !

No one is really saying the old days were actually any better

Regards Ray

I still watch the old Hamlet adverts on Youtube now! I think they are about the best adverts we have ever created.

I only offer an alternative point of view Ray, particularly to anyone who might still see humour in smoking. We all remember the days when every guest on a prime time chat show had a cigarette in their hands and who didn't love watching Dave Allen with a cigarette in one hand and a whiskey (he was Irish!) in the other. I'm not so sure that using smoking as a means of generating humour works anymore and we as club members and model boaters want to encourage more youngsters to join us if possible. For that to happen I think we need to be perceived as responsible by the public.

[timgParticipant @timg12590]

Hi All

I tried to post yesterday but for some reason it didn't work, anyway not so much as today's boating it's about yesterday's boating for me.

I popped down to my local club pond only to find it frozen over, no great surprise really.

After breaking a hole in the ice at the edge i enjoyed two and a half hours of Ice breaking, four flat batteries later half the pond had been cleared. A few pics hopefully

Cheers

Tim

[Chris EParticipant @chrise]

Posted by Colin Bishop on 04/01/2021 10:22:27:

I'm not sure if the water quality was cleaner back then but, as Richard says, it certainly isn't now with all the natural and man made pollution being poured into it. and from run off. There are plenty of instances of people becoming very sick from ingesting river or pond water. Plus of course today's kids have not been brought up like us older people who spent their childhoods messing about in streams and outdoors which helped build up immunity.

It's amazing just how many younger people have allergies of one sort or another these days.

Colin

So that would make it unsafe for kids to bring their model boat to the park pond as they would inevitably get some water on their hands.

If ponds are seen as dangerous I can see the demands that they be filled in.

There are surely times in life when you just have to accept that life has dangers even if the no win no fee lawyers would not agree.

Edited By Chris E on 04/01/2021 14:18:53

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi All,

Lets not get carried away here, I fell in the pond right under at a straight running competition when I was 5 years old 60 years ago and again when I was 7 at BlackheathI subsequently learned to swim , I just loved running round the edge, and I'm still here

Regards Ray

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Posted by Chris E on 04/01/2021 14:17:35:

Posted by Colin Bishop on 04/01/2021 10:22:27:

I'm not sure if the water quality was cleaner back then but, as Richard says, it certainly isn't now with all the natural and man made pollution being poured into it. and from run off. There are plenty of instances of people becoming very sick from ingesting river or pond water. Plus of course today's kids have not been brought up like us older people who spent their childhoods messing about in streams and outdoors which helped build up immunity.

It's amazing just how many younger people have allergies of one sort or another these days.

Colin

So that would make it unsafe for kids to bring their model boat to the park pond as they would inevitably get some water on their hands.

If ponds are seen as dangerous I can see the demands that they be filled in.

There are surely times in life when you just have to accept that life has dangers even if the no win no fee lawyers would not agree.

Edited By Chris E on 04/01/2021 14:18:53

I would advocate to anyone that they have either sanitising hand wipes or a bottle of gel in their pocket if they are playing around with boats on open waters. Waters vary of course with larger lakes being significantly cleaner than a smaller enclosed pond in a public park. Long gone are the days when waters were kept clean, filtered and aerated by waterfalls or fountains, nowadays they are not even periodically cleaned out. Many of our club for some time now have had wipes or gel in their toolboxes or pockets and we have advocated their use for some time.

Just imagine taking your boat out of the water, getting your hands covered in water from the pond in the process and then picking up your sandwich or biscuit and eating it.

While I accept that life has dangers it is the sensible ones amongst us who take steps to reduce the risks to an acceptable level and keeps the lawyers out of the picture.

[Keith StothardParticipant @keithstothard46727]

There are some boring old f**ts on here. Best we all stay in bed for the rest of our lives in case we might enjoy ourselves, don't forget to sanitize yourselves from head to foot after reading this.

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

This is not a new subject. The MPBA has published advice for many years. You can see it here:

**LINK**

Just sensible precautions really, It doesn't have to stop you going model boating.

Colin

[Richard BarnettParticipant @richardbarnett67129]

Wow, opened a can of worms with this one! I was only reminiscing of ye olden days of 27mghz calling out what colour everyone’s on, brushed motors controlled by a Bob’s board, making up Ni cad packs from loose cells and the fact I had black hair then!

Ricky ye ancient pirate 🏴‍☠️

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Perhaps I should change Todays boating to `todays topic“?????

ANYWAY….the fishy is going really well and the possibly tricky body part has been mastered in a couple of hours hard graft at the bench. The head has been sculpted but the slow cure resin is living up to its name and after 24hrs is still a bit tacky. I have bought everything inside to get some warmth and by tomorrow morning it should be nice and hard (oo er vicar).

On the subject of ponds, as has been stated, ponds are full of muck and poo, even ones with no pollution. You should smell the muck I drag out of our garden pond!.

End of h&s discussion.

Ashley

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Ashley,

Is the fish able to actually jump out of the water ? as in the opening credits

Regards Ray

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Of course Ray, it will be following Stingray, obviously….

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

ho hum. 6 weeks or whatever tied to the jetty again. I shall have completed another 10 boats by then.

Likely we will have to miss the ice, but a bit of snow on our local park will suffice for Tup and Zis photo opportunities.

Ashley

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Look at it this way Ashley, what you save in petrol going to the pond can be spent in heating the workshop!

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