Posted by: "David Morris" if we don't, so we tend to go by the book on the grounds that if we left a paddle open, a gate open or a lock unlocked, someone would complain that we didn't know what we were doing and how did we know that the boat behind wasn't going to moor up somewhere. If we close everything, we get pinned with 'it would have been polite if...', so we generally take the path of least resistance.
My own practice, when involved with 'odd' boats has been, where possible, to talk to other boats we encounter to inform them of what we are doing - for example I did this while assisting with the Horseboating Society down Stoke Bruerne locks last w/e. In fact the decision was taken to motor-tow the butty past moored boats to avoid the risk of the tow-line sweeping stuff off the roof of moored boats, but at least they had the opportunity to express their views. Sean
