Martins got it right ... In my case the gate was about 100 years old, wooden and had been lifted every year as far back as the BW crew could remember. When it happened I was engaged in conversation with the captain of NBWhisper and failed to heed the warning given by my grandson, wife, wife of the captain of NBWhisper. They obviously realized the situation but what did they know ;-} .... Makes for a very interesting story any road.
At 10:26 AM +0000 11/10/07, Martin Clark wrote: >Allan Cazaly wrote... >>How in the devil can anyone manage to lift a gate? Surely the metal >>(adjustable) collar around the neck of the top bearing would hold >>everything in place? is it due to *BASHING* the boat against the bottom >>gate as a lazy way of opening it? I can't understand anyone chancing >>the servere damage to boat or gate. > >We're talking about top gates here, not bottom gates. > >In the case, mentioned here recently, of an unpowered butty boat lifting >a gate on the Ashton Canal, the bow of the boat had slipped into a gap >between the gate and the metal balance beam. This was not noticed by the >crew and, as the water continued to rise in the lock, it started to push >the boat under. > >There were two forces in play here: the gate holding the boat down and >preventing it from rising with the rising water, and the force of >floatation, or whatever it is called, keeping the boat afloat. In this >instance, the second force won - the amount of force needed to push the >boat under was too great, and the gate fixing gave way. > >Had the gate fixing been stronger, the boat would have been sunk in the >lock, so perhaps the limited strength is a design feature? >-- >Martin Clark > >Internet Boaters' Database http://www.boaterweb.co.uk >Pennine Waterways Website http://www.penninewaterways.co.uk > > > > >Yahoo! Groups Links > > > -- Judy & Stan Voets, POB 103, San Geronimo, CA 94963 Tel: 415.488.0985 You may never know what results come from your action, But if you do nothing, there will be no results - Gandhi
