Bob Wood wrote: > In a flight and with no other boats around, consider working two or > three locks at the same time. You can be emptying a second, and > perhaps a third, lock whilst your boat is rising in the first. Try to > have the gates of the next lock open before you exit a lock, so as to > avoid having to tie-up in the intervening pound.
Be very very careful if you do this, as if the boat or rope gets trapped/wedged things can rapidly turn disastrous and you may not be around to see it or be close enough to rescue the situation. I've had a centre rope get wedged under the metal plate of a badly fitting lock ladder on the Braunston flight before now. Fortunately I saw it happen and was able to avert a disaster. Most of the time the locks are just too far apart for it to be worthwhile. The time wasted in walking twice the distance between the locks wipes out the time saved by preparing the next lock. It's only in flights like Farmer's Bridge that the time saving is worth the effort. Terry Streeter NB Arun - Wendover Arm
