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Boat sunk in Poolstock lock


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1 minute ago, Nut said:

so from reading these incidents for the last  3 years you need to be nudging forward in a lock? cannot wait to take the helmsmen/helmswoman/transgender  course

I always ride the gates, up and down

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not sure how leaky those particular locks are but there are some on the Huddersfield Narrow where if you go in too slow you end up stuck or caught on the top cill before you've even had chance to shut the gate as the short pound and level in the lock empty so fast out of leaking bottom gates. Several instances of this over the last few years.

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54 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I always ride the gates, up and down

Having watched while a friend got the front of my boat stuck on the gate at Chester, riding the gate going up, and nearly sank it, I don't. Always seemed like an accident waiting to happen, however many people claim it to be both traditional and safe. 

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1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

I always ride the gates, up and down

I do on narrow locks (when considered safe), but definitely not on some L&L locks.

2 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Having watched while a friend got the front of my boat stuck on the gate at Chester, riding the gate going up, and nearly sank it, I don't. Always seemed like an accident waiting to happen, however many people claim it to be both traditional and safe. 

Yes, discretion at all times.

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We ride up the top gates too and I am always standing beside the paddles watching in case we get caught up. A quick hand signal if I think it might happen and Iain moves the boat back a bit. 

 

haggis

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Sometimes narrow boats in wide locks going uphill find things to hook fenders and things under. Usually ok in narrow locks though. Its funny though, I never do that in French locks, just put a line from the fore end to a bollard and run the engine ahead, maybe next time I steer something on the G.U. or somewhere I'll try that and see if it works.

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37 minutes ago, Bee said:

Sometimes narrow boats in wide locks going uphill find things to hook fenders and things under. Usually ok in narrow locks though. Its funny though, I never do that in French locks, just put a line from the fore end to a bollard and run the engine ahead, maybe next time I steer something on the G.U. or somewhere I'll try that and see if it works.

I have done that on the Avon

 

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4 hours ago, catweasel said:

The locks at Poolstock are on the short side, so people can be caught out in them.

They are 71x15 feet.

 

The cilled boat was under 45 feet, and sank after sunset last night.  It might be time to start padlocking them overnight again.

 

Refloated today and moved off.

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3 hours ago, matty40s said:

not sure how leaky those particular locks are but there are some on the Huddersfield Narrow where if you go in too slow you end up stuck or caught on the top cill before you've even had chance to shut the gate as the short pound and level in the lock empty so fast out of leaking bottom gates. Several instances of this over the last few years.

Not bad at all.  Poolstock top had new gates installed in 2017/18.  It caused havoc because the leaks through the top lock were the only reason the central pound used to keep in water due to the leakage through the bottom lock!

 

I call rushing to get through locks after sunset ...

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3 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

I always ride the gates, up and down

 

2 hours ago, catweasel said:

I do on narrow locks (when considered safe), but definitely not on some L&L locks.

On the L&L, always ride the tail gates, but watch out for bolts put in backwards.

 

Riding the head gates is a recipe for disaster!

 

This is a totally different canal to those easy skinny ones.

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16 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

They are 71x15 feet.

 

The cilled boat was under 45 feet, and sank after sunset last night.  It might be time to start padlocking them overnight again.

 

Refloated today and moved off.

I'm surprised by that, we have done Poolstock many times and not found them particularly tight, just a bit horrible. Should be doing them again late April (if the canal doesn't burst) so will have a good look.  CRT say its 72 foot which must mean at least 74 ?, but then again they say the K&A is 72 foot which it most certainly isn't.

 

...............Dave

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23 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

On the L&L, always ride the tail gates, but watch out for bolts put in backwards.

 

Riding the head gates is a recipe for disaster!

 

This is a totally different canal to those easy skinny ones.

Explain please.... I always like to learn new stuff, and whats your advice for the Rochdale?. We often sit diagonal in wide locks but this does have some extra risks, especially with the extra gate recesses on the Rochdale.

 

................Dave

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1 hour ago, dmr said:

Explain please.... I always like to learn new stuff, and whats your advice for the Rochdale?. We often sit diagonal in wide locks but this does have some extra risks, especially with the extra gate recesses on the Rochdale.

 

................Dave

Nothing complicated - just stay as far from the head gates as you can, so slide the bow fender down the tailgates and slide the stern fender up the tailgates.  We don't faff for ages with paddles - they are either up or down.

 

Admittedly with Vox being 70' long you might struggle with this in 62' locks! :D

 

The only concern we have is bolts in backwards - the big coachbolts used to always be put in with the round head inside the gate and the thread and nut on the outside, but that is not always the case these days.  [Insert rant about contractors who don't play with boats here.]  Some of them now protrude an inch or so into the lock and can snag your buttons.

 

The Rochdale we just treat like the L&L but with an extra 10 feet to play with.  I always try to avoid diagonals on the Northern canals - there is a lot of subsidence round here, so lots of ledges you can get snagged on if you are touching both lock chamber walls. 

 

I find a very long line helpful if we are a single boat in a broad lock going up - tied on the bow, around a bollard or two and back down to the steerer.  It saves a lot of diesel revving backwards and forwards, and gives good control of the nose against water flows, but we usually use the paddle flow to pin the boat to one side or the other in the lock anyway.

 

 

On 03/03/2019 at 23:23, dmr said:

we have done Poolstock many times and not found them particularly tight, just a bit horrible. Should be doing them again late April

Give us a shout when you come up this way - we are in Wigan dry dock at the end of April and a friend is in the week after us into early May, so we can show you the good beer while you are passing.

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On 03/03/2019 at 20:39, Arthur Marshall said:

Having watched while a friend got the front of my boat stuck on the gate at Chester, riding the gate going up, and nearly sank it, I don't. Always seemed like an accident waiting to happen, however many people claim it to be both traditional and safe. 

I agree. Being on a 56ft boat I seldom find myself in the situation where I need to have the bow near any gates. 

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