David Cragg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >They are not only trip hazards. On the T&M some locks on the Heartbreak side >have had a back bollard on the (more sensible) off side for years. To save >going forwards when coming up in the lock one year we tied on the this to hold >the boat in successive locks. It did but the boat movement in the lock and the >tension in the rope over the rough lock edge sawed through the rope in a few >locks and with a final twang, bang we rocketed to the front. Luckily the >flying rope ends did not hit anyone and nothing broke in the boat!
I would guess that when the lock was built that edge was made smooth (i.e. radiused) for this very reason. However, this mistake is not limited to the T&M. Some years ago I took the barge to the (top of the Medway. When we ascended Tonbridge lock, the movement of the barge while the lock was filling caused our rope to be sawed through by the absolutely precise right angle of the new concrete lock side. On the way back, a man came up to talk to us while we were in the lock. Turned out he was the engineer who had been responsible for the recent work on the lock, including the new concrete lockside. He said not a lot of boats came through the lock, so he was keen to know what we thought of the new work. We told him (politely). He expressed surprise, saying he hadn't been aware ropes could move along the lockside like that. A nice man. But I wondered how many other waterways works he was (going to be) responsible for, with apparently no boating experience at all. Adrian . Adrian Stott 07956-299966
