Loch Lomond Rant....

[K&S]

We have just returned from what started out as a pleasant afternoon trip on Loch Lomond.

Our first encounter with the Gistapo was at Luss Pier when looking for a space a ranger rib indicated to come over which we did on the assumption that we might be able to raft along side...
Ok, to be fair we didn’t have our license boards over the sides or in an easy to spot location.
So we take the telling off and agree to get it sorted before we visit again. but no invite to raft alongside so we wait for him to finish his lunch.........

Meanwhile, while this is going on there are jet bikes buzzing each other inshore, their are people throwing themselves off the pier with not buoyancy aids of wetsuits never mind the signs everywhere saying not to jump off the pier.....

Ok a coffee and a cake later I’m in a better frame of mind and we cast off.....


On our return to Balloch the is another ranger making a pigs ear of maneuvering the big Redbay ... this display of poor boat driving gets me going, so I depart in a hurry to get the car and trailer. On my return I find out that he has pulled my wife up about the blasted reg numbers again...
Just two mins before pulling my wife up a bowrider has almost reversed into me a Jet bike owner has just smashed ( i do mean smashed! ) the front of his jet bike in a collision with the boat in front. The Gistapo response ...... Nothing!

[alystra]

Yep! That's what a national park does for you. Better off on the salty stuff I think.

[SeaSkills]

In the interest of balance, let me add that my experience with the Ranger team has always been positive. Whenever I've dealt with them on the loch I've found them helpful, courteous, and fair. I don't imagine it's an easy job, especially having to deal day-by-day with the sort of boat-handling ineptitude that you observed during your own visit.

[chewy]

10kt speed limit on Windermere, how fast do the rangers go, fast as they like!

[Bigmuz7]

As far as I'm concerned .. the only time I would go to Loch Lomond is when its dull and damp , then its quieter, and I've only done that a few times, and that wasn't yesterday. When the weather is good, its like a magnet for dough balls, and muppets, who seem to think because its a loch, they cant kill themselves , which is a shame for those of us who take a responsible attitude which experience has given us, and that includes those permanently resident there, and have every right to enjoy a beautiful place .. but aye, its the briney for me I'm afraid

[biffer]

your response wasn't harsh enough, these people like telling off other people, you should have told him firmly without swearing your feelings in most cases there attidtude changes for the better, if they think they're going to get told off they leave you alone which, i guess is what the jet ski boys have done

[mdt]

Fairly standard for the “authority” to pick on the law abiding but technically illegal.

How many times have the police stopped the 45 year old doing 80mph on the Motorway in his 2 year old company Vectra and left the 18 year old to batter past in a knackered nova with no MOT, shot tyres, no insurance and only got a provisional licence?

Mr Vectra is only going to take 10 mins and one form to clock and is unlikely to give any hassle.
Mr Nova is going to take an hour and then 2 days back at the cop shop filling in paper work.

I have been to Loch Lomond, it was full of wide boys on jet skis and 1970’s fleches with towers of power on the back and the granny and the dog in the front. I got a talking to by the rangers for speeding as they where thinking I was in a slow zone, when they saw me 10 mins previously. I was not overly impressed with there tone.

I am sticking to the sea less hassle and more space, less goons, both on rangers boats and on jet skis.

[K&S]

Originally Posted by mdt

I have been to Loch Lomond, it was full of wide boys on jet skis and 1970’s fleches with towers of power on the back and the granny and the dog in the front. I got a talking to by the rangers for speeding as they where thinking I was in a slow zone, when they saw me 10 mins previously. I was not overly impressed with there tone.

I am sticking to the sea less hassle and more space, less goons, both on rangers boats and on jet skis.

LoL We saw a Fletcher with a tower of power and i was explaning that this was the set up to have many moons ago to my wife. Ahh, the stench of unburnt fuel and two stroke oil .....

To be honest we much prefer the sea but being only 25 mins up the road it is easy to talk yourself into going out for an afternoon coffe at Luss (wich incidentally is as weak as dish water )

SeaSkills - I hear what you are saing and have in the past found the rangers to be pleasant enough.

[IBWET]

Originally Posted by mdt

Fairly standard for the “authority” to pick on the law abiding but technically illegal.

How many times have the police stopped the 45 year old doing 80mph on the Motorway in his 2 year old company Vectra and left the 18 year old to batter past in a knackered nova with no MOT, shot tyres, no insurance and only got a provisional licence?

Mr Vectra is only going to take 10 mins and one form to clock and is unlikely to give any hassle.
Mr Nova is going to take an hour and then 2 days back at the cop shop filling in paper work.

I have been to Loch Lomond, it was full of wide boys on jet skis and 1970’s fleches with towers of power on the back and the granny and the dog in the front. I got a talking to by the rangers for speeding as they where thinking I was in a slow zone, when they saw me 10 mins previously. I was not overly impressed with there tone.

I am sticking to the sea less hassle and more space, less goons, both on rangers boats and on jet skis.

Prior to the park bylaws being passed, you could ski/wakeboard whatever over 25 sq miles of water. The main excuse for bringing these laws was down to one drunk bloke sitting in his boat stationary at night, being hit by another sober idiot going to fast and not looking where he was going...however it went down as drink related...draw your own conclusions.
So, one of the first rules they thought off was, designated area's for skiing; on the surface of it and obviously not skiers them selves and having taken 2-3 min to think about it a good idea ..now’ what happens, is instead of having all that open water to use and the chance's of contact with another boat being tiny, everyone (Fast boats, people in the water) cram into a relatively small area which bring the chances of an accident much closer, throw the fact that skiers look for offshore winds so naturally pick the same skiing area on one side of the Loch…..

Unfortunately on the loch, you have skiers and Power boaters who don't attend decision making meetings and fishermen who love decision making meetings.

[Poly]

My experience has generally been similar to SeaSkills. Polite, friendly and helpful. My only really negative experience fits with Bigmuz's comment - it was on a particularly busy day and I ballsed up recovering the boat (if I remember correctly I had disconnected the fuel tank and was running on the remains in the carbs - but it conked out as it had spent so long waiting for the guy in front so I paddled it on not very efficiently) which held everyone up - on that occassion I found them rude and rather unhelpful. The stupid comment from a ranger on the Balcony that "you shouldn't do it like that" was particularly constructive, and his mate on the pontoon was gurning about health and safety rules - still don't know what he was talking about.

K&S to be fair to them though - you weren't displaying your number plates - would you expect the police to ignore a car with no number plates? I expect the folk jumping off the pontoon aren't actually breaking any park byelaws; and the warning signs are technically advisory rather than compulsary - and in fairness to them NEDS have been jumping off there since long before they were called NEDS and its had remarkably little effect on improving the gene pool.

I think part of the problem is the Rangers don't really know what their role is (and therefore neither do we). Are they there to facilitate the publics use of the Nat. Park or to enforce the bye-laws? When most people treat them like traffic wardens - that encourages them to behave like traffic wardens.

[K&S]

Originally Posted by Polwart

K&S to be fair to them though - you weren't displaying your number plates - would you expect the police to ignore a car with no number plates?

Yes we did have them on display. (Read original post) they were stuck to the sides of the seats rather than on a board flogging against the tube! We dutifully took the telling off. The ranger who took our details at the slip didn’t have a problem with where they were positioned and allowed us to go onto the water. So there doesn’t seem to be equal standards does there?

That’s not really my gripe Polwart. I can reposition my numbers should I ever have to go back.
It’s with the lack of ability and blind eye approach to the policing of bylaws and control of safety at the launch and recover site, two points which are within their remit surely? That’s what bothers me the most!

[Poly]

Originally Posted by K&S

Yes we did have them on display. (Read original post) they were stuck to the sides of the seats rather than on a board flogging against the tube! We dutifully took the telling off. The ranger who took our details at the slip didn’t have a problem with where they were positioned and allowed us to go onto the water. So there doesn’t seem to be equal standards does there?

Sorry I read your post - as saying that you weren't displaying the numbers correctly - when you say stuck to the side of the seats: I guess from another boat they are probably obscured by your tubes? But I agree its not easy to find a practical solution which actually works on a boat travelling at speed, especially if you don't have an a frame.

Everyone hates being told they are in the wrong - and I suspect that is what got your back up. Of course you could vent your frustration at the NPA rather than here - and it might have some effect (although that will probably mean that next time you want to reverse you trailer down the slip you'll have to fill in a risk assessment first etc.) - sometimes it is may be better to pretend that the current system of controls is effective than invite the management to increase control!

[PeterM]

I fully agree with K&S feeling of double standards - I've never been to the place in question but feel that a lot of these type of situations are caused by having just a little bit of power & wanting to demonstate that fact to the easiest victim.

If there had been no numbers on show then maybe - but it reads as if there was a clear intention to do everything right - but then being picked up not once , but twice for in essence a meaningless ' offence ', while other just ignored everything ( including common sense) and were laft alone to cause what sounds like a far more dangerous scenario than not displaying some numbers !

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by mdt

Fairly standard for the “authority” to pick on the law abiding but technically illegal.

I know what you're trying to say, but isn't your statement an oxymoron?


jky

[chewy]

I think you know what he means.