--- In [email protected], "Steve Haywood" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > It would be so sad if they stopped installing them. They're so useful for > singlehanders like me, and what it more, I discover from this list that > they're useful too for tripping incompetent boaters into locks. > Does that include bollards on narrow locks Steve? I do quite a bit of singlehanding myself (around a month's cruising on my own each year and quite often when cruising with my other half who suffers from lymphodema which quite often leaves her unable to steer the boat let alone handle locks) and I have never used a bollard in a narrow lock - I just nudge the boat on the forward gate and gently leave the engine in gear). Just curious.... For the record I did experience an example of how the H&S reports that initiated this load of bollards fall short of perfection. At a lock on the Leicester Branch of the GU I took the boat and found I had to climb up a ladder that was swathed with Defra Rash (the dreaded orange netting); fortunately there was literally a helping hand available. One of the crew that were installing bollards held the wobbly, semi-detached hand rail steady. I venture to suggest that a situation like this would not have occurred with the old system where lock keepers/lengthsmen were at the centre of any work on their local patch. Cheers Will
