First volockie irritation of the year.

[nicknorman]

35 minutes ago, roland elsdon said:

Like you care?  After the age of 40 i stopped giving a flying pink pig about what others think of me

I’ll have you know I am very delicate!

[rusty69]

8 minutes ago, billS said:

...or perhaps they should be handcuffed to a post by the lock. If a boater requires their assistance, then he can release them using the CRT key.

 

Leaving a volly uncuffed could then become as sinful as leaving the paddles up when leaving the lock.

 

 

 

 

That would only give rise to a new phenomenon. The volunteer volockie unlocker. 

[Jerra]

17 minutes ago, Midnight said:

You would work it. It would just either be full if going down or empty if going up.

Which has taken away a lot of the working of the lock for me.     As I have said before I told one volockie I am on the canal because I like working the locks expecting him to take the hint.   No he didn't his reply was that is why that is why I volunteer and he continued working the lock for me.

 

I get the feeling many volockies are like that they enjoy working the locks and would rather take away your enjoyment than lose theirs.

 

 

[Momac]

Volunteer lock keepers are not free issue.  They may be unpaid but they are supplied with some clothing and presumably safety footwear. They are supplied with some training. They have to be managed just the same as any employee. In fact the management costs are probably quite high as the volunteers may well be part timers.

If volunteer lock keepers are more trouble than help and not wanted at certain locks why not suggest to C&RT that they should be abolished? It would save C&RT a lot of time and expense.

The volunteer lock keepers on the R.Trent below Nottingham are most welcome. There were a few mistakes in the early days but on the whole they have become no different to paid employees.

[nicknorman]

9 minutes ago, MartynG said:

Volunteer lock keepers are not free issue.  They may be unpaid but they are supplied with some clothing and presumably safety footwear. They are supplied with some training. They have to be managed just the same as any employee. In fact the management costs are probably quite high as the volunteers may well be part timers.

If volunteer lock keepers are more trouble than help and not wanted at certain locks why not suggest to C&RT that they should be abolished? It would save C&RT a lot of time and expense.

The volunteer lock keepers on the R.Trent below Nottingham are most welcome. There were a few mistakes in the early days but on the whole they have become no different to paid employees.

One has to bear in mind that a key benefit to CRT for having volockies at honey pot lock sites, is to raise public awareness of who CRT is and what they do. “Helping” boaters is a side effect of the primary goal.

[cuthound]

3 hours ago, nicknorman said:

Yeabut they will still stand there tutting at one’s every perceived mis-action and pointing out to the gongoozlers how awful boaters are.

 

In which case carrying a loud hailer to explain to the onlookers (and volockie if he is capable of listening) exactly why you are doing each step might help. ?

[Victor Vectis]

1 hour ago, MartynG said:

The volunteer lock keepers on the R.Trent below Nottingham are most welcome. There were a few mistakes in the early days but on the whole they have become no different to paid employees.

Tell that to the pair of clowns who were working Stoke Lock when we last came upriver.

 

The lock was showing a green light but they closed the gates as we were about to go through them!

We tied up on the lock landing and challenged the male of the pair, who said "Oh, is it still green?"

 

If that wasn't bad enough when we did go in he started to fill the lock before we were tied up. No final "Everything OK?" check.

 

Not fit to run a blouse club, to use a phrase of my late father.

[Rob-M]

2 hours ago, aracer said:

Which would result in some of those who most need help not getting it.

I don't understand that response as if they really needed help they would ring and book and guarantee having assistance where as now they must take put luck as to whether there will be volunteers or not.

[Momac]

9 minutes ago, Victor Vectis said:

Tell that to the pair of clowns who were working Stoke Lock when we last came upriver.

 

The lock was showing a green light but they closed the gates as we were about to go through them!

We tied up on the lock landing and challenged the male of the pair, who said "Oh, is it still green?"

 

If that wasn't bad enough when we did go in he started to fill the lock before we were tied up. No final "Everything OK?" check.

 

Not fit to run a blouse club, to use a phrase of my late father.

 

There were a number of incidents just like that  a few years ago but I must say that the first such report I have heard recently. 

[Rob-M]

Well for the first time I encountered volunteers on Farmer's Bridge, one of them helped a boat down the whole flight then as we were coming up the bottom lock he asked Mrs-M if we would like assistance, she said yes and he asked her what he could help with so she said closing gates. Mrs-M set the lock in front and I worked the boat through each lock and the volunteer closed all the gates and lowered the paddles, at no point did he interfere in raising paddles or comment on what I was doing other than to ask why I took the centre line and put a loop round the top gate. He didn't even tell me off when I lowered paddles by hand. An all round good experience today.

The volunteer was new this year so maybe he has had better training.

[aracer]

4 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

I don't understand that response as if they really needed help they would ring and book and guarantee having assistance where as now they must take put luck as to whether there will be volunteers or not.

In order to do that they'd have to know that they needed assistance and know how to ring up and book.

2 hours ago, Jerra said:

Which has taken away a lot of the working of the lock for me.

I'm guessing you also find it irritating when you meet a boat coming the other way? Presumably you'd also prefer the gates to be closed by the crew of a boat leaving the lock you're waiting to enter? ?

[Victor Vectis]

17 minutes ago, MartynG said:

 

There were a number of incidents just like that  a few years ago but I must say that the first such report I have heard recently. 

It was May last year.

 

I emailed a full and frank email to the waterways manager, can't remember his name.

His response was that the couple concerned would be spoken to and offered retraining if necessary.

[Rob-M]

4 minutes ago, aracer said:

In order to do that they'd have to know that they needed assistance and know how to ring up and book.

I'm guessing you also find it irritating when you meet a boat coming the other way? Presumably you'd also prefer the gates to be closed by the crew of a boat leaving the lock you're waiting to enter? ?

You said those that needed help the most so surely they would know they needed help. If there was a number to book then it would be publicised like the number for booking any of the other CRT operations that need booking, it isn't rocket science.

[nicknorman]

15 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

Well for the first time I encountered volunteers on Farmer's Bridge, one of them helped a boat down the whole flight then as we were coming up the bottom lock he asked Mrs-M if we would like assistance, she said yes and he asked her what he could help with so she said closing gates. Mrs-M set the lock in front and I worked the boat through each lock and the volunteer closed all the gates and lowered the paddles, at no point did he interfere in raising paddles or comment on what I was doing other than to ask why I took the centre line and put a loop round the top gate. He didn't even tell me off when I lowered paddles by hand. An all round good experience today.

The volunteer was new this year so maybe he has had better training.

This is how it should be! Pity it isn’t like that very often.

[aracer]

3 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

You said those that needed help the most so surely they would know they needed help. If there was a number to book then it would be publicised like the number for booking any of the other CRT operations that need booking, it isn't rocket science.

On the contrary, I'd expect some of those who need help not to be aware of that. I don't know any of those numbers and I live on board and have done lots of boating. More to the point, whilst I'm sure I could find the numbers (eventually...) for that I'd need to know what services CRT offers which I could book... There is also the question of how much in advance you'd need to book.

 

You need to have a think about which boaters are most likely to need assistance.

[john6767]

5 hours ago, mayalld said:

You acquiesced to their actions.

 

They have absolutely zero authority to require the lock to be done in a particular way. They have absolutely zero authority to even touch the lock without seeking your permission.

 

If they didn't ask for permission, and you said nothing, you accepted the situation. You could have said "excuse me, I do not require your assistance, please leave the lock to me"

That is true, but as we know it is not how it always works, they go ahead and do stuff without your permission, it’s not easy in practice to stop them always and sometimes easier to let it go.

[Momac]

1 hour ago, Victor Vectis said:

It was May last year.

 

I emailed a full and frank email to the waterways manager, can't remember his name.

His response was that the couple concerned would be spoken to and offered retraining if necessary.

There are at least two husband and wife teams (I am presuming they are married but may not be) and they have been okay, in fact better than okay . 

You may have caught them early days of their experience, or perhaps they are no longer involved  . Your experience does indicate the initial training is lacking. 

 

I  have self operated the non tidal locks on many occasions  from the beginning of my experience on the Trent and never had any issues . I don't see any particular complexity in it but it seems all too easy to get it wrong if brain is not engaged on the job.

 

 

[Chris Williams]

1 hour ago, john6767 said:

it’s not easy in practice to stop them

Take their windlass away and throw it over the lock.  "Mum, the nasty man took my toy"

[Arthur Marshall]

Had a helpful one on the Bosley flight last week. two walking up the locks, saw me coming down, opened a paddle and the gates.  Mind you, then they carried on walking back to the top where the tea is (and the other two lockies), leaving me to do the next six on my own...

[ditchcrawler]

6 hours ago, Midnight said:

... if CaRT instructed them not to help with locking a boat unless asked but to help by setting locks ready they would still get to play locks and nobody would object to them being in charge of a lock not yet in use.

Funny the one I was chatting to last week, a lady who was fine by the way, one of her grumbles was some boaters see a Volockie and don't even attempt to get off their boat. Maybe the should stand back a bit, they would soon see which boaters were struggling like the couple on Tardebigge where the Volockie took them all the way down

[ditchcrawler]

3 hours ago, aracer said:

On the contrary, I'd expect some of those who need help not to be aware of that. I don't know any of those numbers and I live on board and have done lots of boating. More to the point, whilst I'm sure I could find the numbers (eventually...) for that I'd need to know what services CRT offers which I could book... There is also the question of how much in advance you'd need to book.

 

You need to have a think about which boaters are most likely to need assistance.

Well the couple when they reached Tardebigge where not fit enough to draw the ground paddles, My wife who does most of the locking struggled with some of them with a long throw windlass

[pearley]

6 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Funny the one I was chatting to last week, a lady who was fine by the way, one of her grumbles was some boaters see a Volockie and don't even attempt to get off their boat. Maybe the should stand back a bit, they would soon see which boaters were struggling like the couple on Tardebigge where the Volockie took them all the way down

When we came down Newlay 3 Rise last week with another well crewed boat, I got off and did one side whilst the volunteer did the other. He thanked me for helping, rather loudly. At the next 3 Rise the other crew got off and helped too.

[TheBiscuits]

20 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

some boaters see a Volockie and don't even attempt to get off their boat.

It's also amazing how many "singlehanders" who book the assistance on Wigan flight seem to magically grow an extra crew member at the next lock going down or at the next flight going up ... and most of them don't seem that keen on getting off their boat to open/close gates or paddles when they could.

 

It's also noticeable that many of the disabled boaters who book the same assistance willingly steer and their crewmate helps with the locks.

[Jerra]

4 hours ago, aracer said:

I'm guessing you also find it irritating when you meet a boat coming the other way? Presumably you'd also prefer the gates to be closed by the crew of a boat leaving the lock you're waiting to enter? ?

You are if I may say so being more than a little silly.  Other people enjoying their boating is fine what I don't want is people deliberately reducing my enjoyment when they aren't boating.

[Wanderer Vagabond]

Just out of curiosity, with all of this talk of unwanted help being given; there have been a number of occasions when travelling up or down a flight of locks and being aware of a boat coming up or down behind me, when I've finished in the lock I open a paddle to prepare the lock for this following boat (unless I pass or see someone coming from the opposite direction). Foolishly I thought that this was being helpful, should I now stop doing this?