Back in 81 we turned our boat above the Anderton lift in a powerful wind
(which was strong enough to blow the plank off the top of the boat) . The boat
turned (or spun as we say) quite nicely - to the amazement of a BW crew who had
spent all morning trying to turn their boat. It seems that unlike them with
this wind we did the turn the wrong way round compared to the normal turnround
there. But, using this wind howling up the Weaver making 6 foot waves was the
right way!
Ray Butler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: It's Winding (as in hurricane)
because canny boaters used the wind where
they could to help turn the boat, adding to momentum, snatching the
fore-end around with the horse, shafting (bow-thrusters for the rest of us,
defined as someone at the sharp end pushing with a dirty great pole), etc.
As we all know, a contrary wind is an absolute b****r (especially when there
are other boats about, such as in the wharf basin at Market Drayton) even
when turning with the motor. A line onto the bank is de rigueur in these
circumstances )
There are some great pictures about (Barlows crew turning one boat of a pair
at the head of Wolvercote mill stream at Oxford (off Duke's Cut) to let them
steer in and out of the mill-stream to / from the University paper mills,
and some great accounts (In Hold On A Minute - Turning a pair breasted up in
one go in Brentford Dock, and in - I THINK - Maiden's trip, of a GUCCC
steerer winding on the Regent's , gingerly checking the depth with the cabin
shaft as the stern gets close to the towing path)
My favourite technique when winding a trip boat on the river Lee was to
push the upstream end out , letting the current catch it and bring it
downstream, and nipping to the other end, untying it and hauling it
upstream. No diesel and very little effort.
Ray Butler
Nb Owl
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
