Last week someone wrote derogatory comments about us on a forum.

What happened?
A few months back, two complete strangers told us we were not qualified to offer our new boat training service. They’d garnered this lofty view from our personal website and holiday snaps! Politely we explained our professional qualifications and experience on email, even though we didn’t have to.

It seems that wasn’t enough. So last week they voiced their concerns publicly. Others didn’t like our strong ‘come-back’. I wonder how many times they’d let someone do this to them before retaliating – twice was enough for us!

The blind
What these people didn’t see was the reams of private supportive messages that clogged our email. People who wouldn’t write publicly as they didn’t want to be ‘next’ on the target list (some had, disturbingly, already been there).

In droves, people said that this is exactly why they didn’t partake in this site any more.

The result?
Well, they say, there is no such thing as bad press and now having been on the end of it – I can attest to that!

• People with fantastic websites are now linking our websites to theirs – providing us with tonnes of free advertising
• Enquiries are up
• Book sales have spiked
• With over 300 hits on both our websites in just a few hours, Google algorithms love this – it’s a great boost!

Apology
We asked for an apology. A few people on the forum have apologised privately. The instigator has not, but that’s okay. Not because of the extra business, sales and wonderful new connections and friends we’ve made – it’s okay because they’ve shown their true colours.

In summary
I wouldn’t want to wish this experience on anyone. Initially we felt alone and bullied. But the enormous private (and some public) support was a soothing balm and a real eye-opener.

It makes you think
During our years of teaching commercial maritime and working internationally on all kinds of boats (yes, barges on canals too – sigh). We’ve learned a lot:

• A broad experience is imperative – it’s about having the ability to adapt to every situation
• Claiming that one-niche experience is a complete experience, is a dangerous mistake
• We don’t know everything, only a fool would admit that!
• You never stop learning, once you think you know it all you are a danger
• We all have knowledge to impart

Win an Ebook
Our website was criticised too – here it is www.bargetraining.com tell us what you think – CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is always welcome. A free ebook (choice out of three) goes to the most crazy, funny amusing or helpful comment.

Website WIP – but here’s more info:
We’ll list a few more details on our website soon – it is a Work In Progress – but in the meantime here are a few more high-lights of our experience:

As well as the European Canals (on our boats, on commercial boats, on other people’s boat  – recreationally and commercially) we have also traversed the following inland waterways/canals and rivers (and hundred’s of associated locks):
New York State Canal System
The Canadian Heritage Canals
Lake Okeechobee Waterway
Trent Severn Watery
Rideau Canal
Erie Canal
Potomac
St Lawrence Canal
Sanitary Canal
St Lawrence Seaway
The Mississippi River
The Ohio River
The Illinois River
TenTombigee
Cumberland River
Tennessee River
Lake Okeechobee Waterway
Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway
Hudson River
The Great Lakes
Missouri River
The Nile
Rivers in PNG, Borneo, Australia, Ecuador, Panama, Asia, Morocco… and on it goes…

Here’s some pics – these are mostly holiday and travel snaps, most of our professional pictures are stored away at home in Australia.

If you want more information about us just drop us a line, telephone us, call around for a chat – the kettle’s always on.