How are you supposed to come in to moor ?

[cuthound]

4 minutes ago, RLWP said:

Your boat is afraid of the sheep on the lawn

 

You know I never thought of that!

Next time I'll  try putting them on the towpath and see if that helps. ?

[cuthound]

5 minutes ago, RLWP said:

Also...

 

The wind across the cut will strike the side of your house, get diverted down, across the ground and against the side of your boat. As the house is up in the wind and your boat is sheltered, it's going to get blown out

 

Richard

 

Yes, it's annoying. Anywhere else I have a least a 50% chance of mooring so it looks like I know what I'm doing, but at home it always goes wrong. ?

[RLWP]

Just now, cuthound said:

 

Yes, it's annoying. Anywhere else I have a least a 50% chance of mooring so it looks like I know what I'm doing, but at home it always goes wrong. ?

move house

[MtB]

35 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

I get the stern close enough to step off then strap the centre line round a bollard to bring the boat in. 

 

When there is a bollard one doesn't even have to get off the boat!

 

Polish up your line-casting skills and just throw a line over it and pull the boat in....

 

 

[cuthound]

4 minutes ago, RLWP said:

move house

 

Whaaat, it's perfect for me. I'd rather get my bow thruster repaired and fit a stern thruster than move!

2 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

When there is a bollard one doesn't even have to get off the boat!

 

Polish up your line-casting skills and just throw a line over it and pull the boat in....

 

 

 

By the time I've got the rope anywhere near lassooing a bollard the boat is on the other side of the cut! ? 

[MtB]

1 minute ago, cuthound said:

By the time I've got the rope anywhere near lassooing a bollard the boat is on the other side of the cut! ? 

 

The casting of a line over a bollard on the bank is one of them things that is easy with an hour of practice. 

 

But it's 'all or nothing'. If you get it over the bollard it first throw, you look to the assembled crowd a thorough professional. Miss it, and you just look a right pillock for even trying!

 

 

[cuthound]

1 minute ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

The casting of a line over a bollard on the bank is one of them things that is easy with an hour of practice. 

 

But it's 'all or nothing'. If you get it over the bollard it first throw, you look to the assembled crowd a thorough professional. Miss it, and you just look a right pillock for even trying!

 

 

 

I know, I was speaking from experience. ?

[Bee]

3 hours ago, Justin Smith said:

How do you do that without sending the bow (and in fact the whole boat if you`re unlucky ! ) out ?

Because I am incredibly skilful. No, actually I just give it a few turns on the prop, that usually does it. We do our boating in France and sometimes the locks are really big, wide and deep. When we enter an empty lock, I have to tell my wife on the front deck with the rope which side and which bollard I am aiming for. Its always tricky to stop by the right one and sometimes we really, really, have to get it right if the lock is full of great big boats but sometimes, unbelievably, we do in fact mess it up, bounce off, and have to catch a bollard on the wrong side. Sometimes I do it absolutely perfectly and then find that some great big b****** has torn the bollard out leaving just the hole and nothing to tie to at all. Boating relaxing? Huh.

[Rob-M]

3 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

When there is a bollard one doesn't even have to get off the boat!

 

Polish up your line-casting skills and just throw a line over it and pull the boat in....

 

 

As long as no one is watching otherwise you will totally miss getting the line around the bollard.

[ditchcrawler]

3 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

The casting of a line over a bollard on the bank is one of them things that is easy with an hour of practice. 

 

But it's 'all or nothing'. If you get it over the bollard it first throw, you look to the assembled crowd a thorough professional. Miss it, and you just look a right pillock for even trying!

 

 

 

[Jess--]

6 hours ago, RLWP said:

For example, I brought a boat in to the side last week, neatly ended parallel to the bank and didn't have to touch it for five minutes even though it wasn't secured at all. There was a gentle wind blowing across the cut that moved and held the boat in place

 

Richard

I thought I had managed this a couple of years back after stopping perfectly against the side and stepping off to talk with some friends for a few minutes

 

20 minutes later the boat was exactly where I had stopped, but I found that it was actually still running at tickover in reverse gear and the only thing keeping the boat in place was the fact that it was aground.

[Tam & Di]

3 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

The casting of a line over a bollard on the bank is one of them things that is easy with an hour of practice.

 

 

But you do need a decent line as in Brian's photo, not a bit of twisted parcel twine. Also an adequate size eye on it.

Tam

[Chris Williams]

I honestly can't remember how I did it.  Perhaps being a Josher it just stayed wherever I put it.  

All very well using the current on a river, but if your boat is longer than the river is wide, it becomes much more interesting when going downstream.  Somehow you have to get the stern into the bank while frantically going astern.  Strong ropes help if there is anything to get them onto.

[RLWP]

13 minutes ago, Chris Williams said:

I honestly can't remember how I did it.  Perhaps being a Josher it just stayed wherever I put it.  

All very well using the current on a river, but if your boat is longer than the river is wide, it becomes much more interesting when going downstream.  Somehow you have to get the stern into the bank while frantically going astern.  Strong ropes help if there is anything to get them onto.

I find the best thing is to just develop your acting skills. Whatever it is that the boat is doing, just pretend that's what you intended to do

 

It works for most boat handling occasions

[MoominPapa]

9 hours ago, RLWP said:

I  I'm still trying to work out how to deal with the 'boat going forward and the stern out no matter what you do' conundrum 

 

The only sure-fire way is to only moor to floating or pole-supported pontoons, so that there's somewhere for the water to go. Many Thames lock laybys are ideal for this.

 

The other approach is to take advantage of the effect. I'm now pretty good at approaching lock landings at about 25 degrees and stopping with a good blast of reverse just as the bow touches and MoominMama steps off from there. The water from the braking goes down between the boat and the bank and moves the bow back to the middle, leaving the boat ready to go into the lock once the gates are open. With a deep boat, the stern never gets close to the side and stays floating. If I'm on my own I do the same thing and walk down the gunwale, picking up the centre rope as I pass. You have to be quick enough to get off before the bow moves out, and you need to pull the boat back in. If there are are bollards and enough room, leave the boat moving forwards slowly, take a turn around a bollard and that will stop the boat and pull i back in.

 

MP.

 

[matty40s]

8 hours ago, cuthound said:

 

Yes, it's annoying. Anywhere else I have a least a 50% chance of mooring so it looks like I know what I'm doing, but at home it always goes wrong. ?

If I have bollards to play with, I get the back end in, step off and pull the lever into reverse as I do. Centre line tight round bollard and let the boat pull itself in. No point working hard if the boat will do the work for you.

[howardang]

1 hour ago, matty40s said:

If I have bollards to play with, I get the back end in, step off and pull the lever into reverse as I do. Centre line tight round bollard and let the boat pull itself in. No point working hard if the boat will do the work for you.

If there is someone else available to kill the throttle if it all goes pear-shaped that may be fine but I wouldn't do this if you are single handed because of the many things that could go wrong leading to accidents or damage.  

 

Howard

[MtB]

1 hour ago, howardang said:

If there is someone else available to kill the throttle if it all goes pear-shaped that may be fine but I wouldn't do this if you are single handed because of the many things that could go wrong leading to accidents or damage.  

 

Howard

 

About the worst thing that could happen is the boat chugs off at 0.3mph backwards, across to the other side of the cut and Matty feels a bit of a plonker, Shirley!

 

 

 

[matty40s]

7 hours ago, howardang said:

If there is someone else available to kill the throttle if it all goes pear-shaped that may be fine but I wouldn't do this if you are single handed because of the many things that could go wrong leading to accidents or damage.  

 

Howard

Well I've been using this technique for years, and it hasnt failed me yet, the boat isnt on full throttle, its either on tick over or slightly over if windy.

[Rob-M]

I don't leave our boat in reverse and step off anymore after slipping on a coping stone and almost falling in the canal behind the boat. Lying on the edge with the boat approaching doing everything I could to roll over the other way and avoid falling in has made me decide no longer to be on the bank with the boat in gear.

[Sea Dog]

21 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

I don't leave our boat in reverse and step off anymore after slipping on a coping stone and almost falling in the canal behind the boat. Lying on the edge with the boat approaching doing everything I could to roll over the other way and avoid falling in has made me decide no longer to be on the bank with the boat in gear.

Yep - I also decided that any handling advantage gained by stepping on or off with the boat in gear was outweighed by the consequences of ending up in the water with the prop turning, however small the risk of that occurring might appear.  Your experience illustrates that the risk is real.

[howardang]

8 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

About the worst thing that could happen is the boat chugs off at 0.3mph backwards, across to the other side of the cut and Matty feels a bit of a plonker, Shirley!

 

 

 

Posts 45 & 46 is the reason why I don't think it a good idea.

 

Howard

[cuthound]

11 hours ago, matty40s said:

If I have bollards to play with, I get the back end in, step off and pull the lever into reverse as I do. Centre line tight round bollard and let the boat pull itself in. No point working hard if the boat will do the work for you.

 

I have bollards on my mooring and this technique can work when I'm mooring facing towards Fradley.

 

Unfortunately when facing the other way, the canal between the stern of my boat and the bridge rapidly gets shallow (only 1 foot deep just behind the boat), so the boat cannot reverse enough to tighten the rope.

[Wanderer Vagabond]

My own method which generally seems to work (wind, shallow water and crowds have been known to b*gger it up a treat however) is to come in at quite an angle bow first (obviously) and just before the bow is due to hit the bank steer it back out into the canal and cut the engine whilst the bow drifts out until the boat is pointing, stern first, towards the bank. Gentle reverse thrust and, unless it is very shallow, the stern heads towards the bank when I step off with the centre line. Push the stern to prevent it hitting the bank and, naturally, the bow will then come in as well.

[Ray T]