----- Original Message ----- From: "David Cragg" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2008 8:43 AM Subject: Re: [canals-list] Grand Union musings..
> The only wide locks I know that are offside ground first are the 6 on the > T&M east. A lockie told us - we having always done thenm the normal way - > we tried them and it seems to work. > > --- On Mon, 7/21/08, Steve Wood <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > From: Steve Wood <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [canals-list] Grand Union musings.. > To: [email protected] > Date: Monday, July 21, 2008, 10:43 PM > > > > > > > Brian Dominic wrote: >> We ARE talking ground paddles here, aren't we? > Haha yes I'm not that mad/brave! > > I've tried it quickly, slowly all variants and with the boat tied on a > tight middle line as I open the paddles and it always drifts across as > soon as I open the nearside paddle even a little bit. > > The sequence I ended up with was: > > Offside ground 2-3 turns > Nearside ground 1 1/2 turns > Wait till water is over the cill. > Offside ground all the way > Offside gate > Nearside ground > Nearside gate > > That keeps the boat on the near side but nothing else I've tried does. > Interestingly speaking to someone at Braunston last week I was told to > open offside first. I wonder if its related to the draught affecting the > water flows? Bream at rest draws 1ft9in at the front and 2ft9in at the > back. > > Steve > NB Bream > The rule of thumb on all the "candlesick gear" locks in this area is to use one gate, one paddle when not sharing a lock. The difference in time is minimal and offset by the saving in walking and paddle winding. When going uphill, the idea is to use the paddle on the same side as the boat. The water comes into the lock low down and some way from the head gates, passes under the boat, bounces off the far wall and holds the boat against the wall. If excess crew is available, then the other paddle can be raised once the boat has settled and the first paddle is right up. If sharing, both paddles can be raised at the same time, though as with a single boat (and indeed in any lock) paddles need to be brought up carefully to avoid throwing the boats about. It may be useful to know that each paddle takes 21ish turns to raise fully. Cheers Guy -- Guy Morgan First Light Services nb Virgo, WFB, Stockton, GU
