On 9/6/07, Sue Burchett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > As I have said before we travel at 2mph and slow down for moored boats. I > wouldn't say 3mph is slow on most canals.
Most working boatmen would disagree, and they would manage faster than that with two fully loaded boats! While many canals are not upto the condition they used to be, many are still capable of good speeds. We slow to about 2.4mph when passing boats which is fine as we have not had any complaints. 3 mph, however, is not fast on any open bit of canal. It is surprising how much more power it is to reach 3.5mph, and even harder to reach 4mph on a canal. Often 3.7-3.8 mph is completely different to trying to make 4 mph on a canal that would let you do them speeds. (This of course assumes the canal is capable of 4mph, some aren't and they wont let you go any faster no matter how many revvs you have on, the wash just gets bigger!). I agree that some boats manage to make higher speeds easier, the design of the swim and stern gear is important in this. Also the skill of the steerer has a bearing on this, stay in the middle of the volume of the water, not the surface - note that this is not even always the same as the deepest point of the canal, but shares the wash over both sides. The exception to this is where one side is piled, in which case I err to that side. (Sorry if I am telling you something you already know - its there for the benefit of other readers). You may think it is not worth going an extra .7 mph faster, but over 10 hours thats an extra 7 miles done! Of course it never works out like this, moored boats, locks etc get in the way but still... I'm not saying you should go faster than you want - the canals are there for enjoyment for all, the slow ones and the fast ones. So long as no-one intentionally obstructs someone elses enjoyment I have no problem. So if someone travelling faster comes up behind, please let them by (that goes for everybody). Even I've let people past me!!!! Cheers, Mike nb. Makenowashjustfriends -- Michael Askin http://shoestring_DOT_zapto_DOT_org/
