"jhar1945" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
>I have just returned from a fortnight's cruise from Anderton to
>Chester and then on the river Weaver (may post a small report later).
>However whilst ascending Northgate locks in Chester (a wide staircase)
>I was gently takien to task by a local BW man who said I was doing it
>wrong.
>The scene was that a crew of 3 (one of whom was 91 and so was kept
>well out of the way) and then self and wife. Wife was operating
>paddles and I was holding boat on ropes (round bollards naturally). BW
>man told me I should have been on the boat holding it still with the
>engine (this is one narrow boat in a wide lock)- I'm afraid I carried
>on holding the boat with ropes whilst the lock was filled gently,
>Discuss.
>John H
"sean neill"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>Locks were designed for boats to be held in place by ropes and working
>boaters tended to use ropes much more than do modern boaters -
>horseboats can't use engines! Using ropes uses less fuel, causes less
>pollution and doesn't risk eroding the lock structure as much as running
>the engine.
>
>Sean
When I started (narrow) boating, I never used ropes in locks. I
thought to do so was sissy.
As time went on, I realised that doing so seemed to make life easier,
and I started using strapping posts (going downhill) whenever I
encountered them. Most locks didn't have them any more, though.
I came more and more towards Sean's opinion.
However, I still seldom used ropes when locking uphill.
When I got a barge, I tried not using ropes again, as it didn't bang
from side to side too much. But I found that no matter where I parked
it in the locks, it would surge backwards and forwards even if I
opened the paddles quite slowly.
I started using one rope (from a stern bollard on board forward to one
on the lockside) to hold the barge against the top sill. However, if
the lock had a significant sill (as some Lee ones do), it would still
surge one the bow rode over it, and bang the top gates irresponsibly.
So now I still use the rope leading forward, but also one from the
same bollard on board back to one on the bank. Works a treat, and is
quick to appy. As the movement of the water in the lock has
substantially slowed down by the time the lock is half full, I can
take the ropes off then with no surging, and be ready to go as soon as
the lock is completely full. No delays.
One the Lee, this is especially easy, as the locks have some nifty
right-angle shaped hooks set into the chamber walls, pointing up. I
throw a loop over one near the bottom gates, and tie it to the barge's
stern bollard. When the water rises, the loop just pulls off the
hook, as it was designed to.
Steve Wood <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>I suspect that you would have more chance of holding the boat on the
>rope if you were standing on board (pulley action and all that) which
>may be what he was getting at, but I can't say I ever use ropes in
>narrow locks and I've no recent experience in wide locks at all so I'm
>just speaking theoretically.
In France you are required to use ropes going up or down. You always
work from on board. You slip one rope over a bollard near the top
gates when going downhill, let the barge run forward a bit , then tie
the rope off on the barge's stern bollard. The running forward leaves
enough rope to allow for the drop as the lock empties (although you
have to be rather careful in the not-infrequent locks which are very
deep).
Going up, you have to use one rope back from the stern, and one
forward from the bow, with the loops over the bollards on the
lockside. It is really worth learning how to throw a loop over a
bollard (which I haven't yet mastered), and to flick it off later
(which is much easier) without having to go ashore. You can use a
rope with the loop on an on-board bollard, around the lockside one,
and held around one on board, but it adds a lot of rope to the game
which seems rather to get in the way.
>On the right way theme I always push gates open with the boat and
>partially raise a top paddle before closing the bottom gates when
>single-handing uphill (boat is left in forward gear.) Are either of
>these practices "correct?"
You bet. But not on powered gates or those opened with mechanisms (as
opposed to by pushing on a balance beam)! The eclusiers get very
excited (rightly) if you try it in France, where hardly any gates have
balance beams.
Adrian
Adrian Stott
07956-299966
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