Going it alone ...

[huami]

I'm learning as I go along, no hurry, just reading lots of the wonderful pieces of information that I come across in this forum, so now for something different.

I would love to hear from others who are navigating the waters alone as I plan to do.
How is it?
What are the pitfalls?
How is it opening and closing lock gates alone?
Swing bridges and many more things that make life so exciting!
Are there people who may like to join a lone boater on their travels?

I was watching a video blog on YouTube where they showed a CRT notice advising boaters to send someone ahead as the canal was so narrow at this point and there was no possibility of passing another boat. As a lone boater what do you do?

Any information would be very appreciated …

Neil

[nicknorman]

A lot of people boat alone. It’s called single-handing. Which is odd, because most of these people have 2 hands!

 

Narrow locks aren’t a problem, you just need to get into a routine. Wide locks are slightly more difficult, well harder work, anyway. But at least in summer, you can often share with another boat which reduces the workload and helps to stop the boat moving around too much. Sharing locks can be a good social event too.

 

Some swing bridges can be awkward because the bridge operating controls are on the side opposite the landing stage. Quite a few of these have been modified to have a landing stage on the control side, but plenty haven’t. Makes it fairly awkward, but not impossible.

 

Narrows: you just have to go for it. If you encounter someone doing the same thing coming the other way, someone has to reverse. Not a disaster!

 

Anyway, in summary single handing is commonplace and no problem.

[Ray T]

This is a very useful little book.

 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Going-Alone-Colin-Edmondson/dp/B0036TZQC4/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=going+it+alone&qid=1572513908&sr=8-1

 

Also available from here: https://www.canalshop.co.uk/acatalog/books.html

[MtB]

12 minutes ago, Ray T said:

This is a very useful little book.

 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Going-Alone-Colin-Edmondson/dp/B0036TZQC4/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=going+it+alone&qid=1572513908&sr=8-1

 

Also available from here: https://www.canalshop.co.uk/acatalog/books.html

 

 

And mind-numbingly dull read. 

 

I bought it and could not get past about page 3, so big and complicated a meal he makes out of something so straightforward and easy!

 

 

[huami]

23 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

A lot of people boat alone. It’s called single-handing. Which is odd, because most of these people have 2 hands!

 

Narrow locks aren’t a problem, you just need to get into a routine. Wide locks are slightly more difficult, well harder work, anyway. But at least in summer, you can often share with another boat which reduces the workload and helps to stop the boat moving around too much. Sharing locks can be a good social event too.

 

Some swing bridges can be awkward because the bridge operating controls are on the side opposite the landing stage. Quite a few of these have been modified to have a landing stage on the control side, but plenty haven’t. Makes it fairly awkward, but not impossible.

 

Narrows: you just have to go for it. If you encounter someone doing the same thing coming the other way, someone has to reverse. Not a disaster!

 

Anyway, in summary single handing is commonplace and no problem.

Hi Nick or Norman? .... Thanks for your very positive reaction and thanks for signing off "single handing is commonplace and no problem". (I feel more relaxed now!)

 

Thanks again

Neil

[Hudds Lad]

i got the above book after i saw it recommended on here some time ago, im never alone (yet) on the boat, but im interested in the methods of working locks singlehanded because you just never know when someones going to twist an ankle or fall ill.

 

must agree a bit with MtB as well, its not the easiest read ?

Edited October 31, 2019 by Hudds Lad
respond to quicker posters

[Mike Tee]

The main thing when singlehanding is to take it slowly and try to think ahead - its bad enough having an 'incident' when with crew or if sharing a lock - out in the wilds on your own it can suddenly get very serious.

[MtB]

5 minutes ago, Mike Tee said:

The main thing when singlehanding is to take it slowly and try to think ahead - its bad enough having an 'incident' when with crew or if sharing a lock - out in the wilds on your own it can suddenly get very serious.

 

I agree. Single handing is no more difficult than boating mob-handed. Easier in many ways in fact. Its just that doing everything yourself, it all takes twice as long so forget setting 'distance travelled' goals, you will often fail to hit them and they encourage you to take risks.   

 

On safety, Tony Jones (another published author here) carries a whistle and a waterproof mobile phone when single-handing in bad weather/winter. 

 

 

 

[bizzard]

And abstain from playing with mobile phones and tablet thing while operating the boat. I'm sure like car accident  many accidents with boats especially at locks, sinkings ect is caused by this but nobody ever seems to admit it.

[Victor Vectis]

The centre rope is your friend.

 

(Provided you don't get it tangled around your prop)

[MtB]

2 minutes ago, Victor Vectis said:

The centre rope is your friend.

 

(Provided you don't get it tangled around your prop)

 

More accurately, it is ONLY your friend when long enough to be useful, which means it is also long enough to tangle in your prop. My advice is make damned sure you don't leave it trailing in the water, it's not difficult. 

 

Plenty on here advise cutting a centre line short enough to not reach the prop should you drop it in. This makes it too short to be really useful in my experience. The boaters who advise this presumably follow their own advice and have a stern line only 2ft 6in long.  

[bizzard]

5 minutes ago, Victor Vectis said:

The centre rope is your friend.

 

(Provided you don't get it tangled around your prop)

But only if the narrowboat has a steel top, if wooden or GRP then only bow and stern ropes can be used with two long bow ropes leading across the cabin top to te stern end and in easy grasp of the driver and can leap off with them.

[David Mack]

You will need a certain agility to work locks single handed. You will be using lock ladders to get to and from the boat in empty locks (and take a rope with you on the way up), you will need to get from one end of the boat to the other (either through the cabin, along the gunwale or over the roof) to get on or off in places where you can only get the bow into the bank, and it also helps if you can pull the boat by rope sometimes (to save the hassle of awkward boarding in some places).

[MtB]

2 minutes ago, bizzard said:

But only if the narrowboat has a steel top, if wooden or GRP then only bow and stern ropes can be used with two long bow ropes leading across the cabin top to te stern end and in easy grasp of the driver and can leap off with them.

 

 

That raises another point. When single handing in poor weather conditions NEVER, EVER leap anywhere. Get the boat close enough to step off with one hand for yourself, the other for the boat (or The Queen as the say in the RN, so I've heard). 

 

 

[David Mack]

5 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Plenty on here advise cutting a centre line short enough to not reach the prop should you drop it in. This makes it too short to be really useful in my experience. The boaters who advise this presumably follow their own advice and have a stern line only 2ft 6in long.  

 

My centre line is well short of the prop, but still long enough to control the boat in all but the deepest locks (e.g. Tuel Lane). But might not be the case for a shorter boat I suppose.

My stern line lives on the cabin slide except when in use, so is at minimal risk of reaching the prop, unlike those left lying on the stern deck or hanging from the tiller pin.

[bizzard]

2 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

More accurately, it is ONLY your friend when long enough to be useful, which means it is also long enough to tangle in your prop. My advice is make damned sure you don't leave it trailing in the water, it's not difficult. 

 

Plenty on here advise cutting a centre line short enough to not reach the prop should you drop it in. This makes it too short to be really useful in my experience. The boaters who advise this presumably follow their own advice and have a stern line only 2ft 6in long.  

Safest place to stow stern ropes is coiled up over the tiller arm forward of the pin so they can't slip off.  The shorter the boat the more chance the centre rope of fouling the prop because it has to remain about the same length as any length of boat to reach up to the lock sides. When finished with them just drape them safely along the cabin roof within the hand rails.

[MtB]

1 minute ago, David Mack said:

 

My centre line is well short of the prop, but still long enough to control the boat in all but the deepest locks (e.g. Tuel Lane). But might not be the case for a shorter boat I suppose.

My stern line lives on the cabin slide except when in use, so is at minimal risk of reaching the prop, unlike those left lying on the stern deck or hanging from the tiller pin.

 

There is never room on my cabin slide for the stern line. When single handing the slide is always populated with stuff like cups of tea, teapot, plates knives, butter dish, bread board, cheese dish, wine bottles, Nicholsons map books, laptop, mobile phone, charger etc etc. 

 

 

[Mad Harold]

11 minutes ago, bizzard said:

But only if the narrowboat has a steel top, if wooden or GRP then only bow and stern ropes can be used with two long bow ropes leading across the cabin top to te stern end and in easy grasp of the driver and can leap off with them.

My present boat is grp.I always boat alone (I smell and swear a lot) and my first job with this boat was to fit a cleat for a centreline.It's more than long enough to reach the prop,but a long centre line is very usefulI.

In narrow locks securing the centreline to a bollard if it's handy,or the lock ladder if not is usually adequate.In broad locks I throw the bow line onto the side and climb or step off holding the centreline and secure fore and centre.

Solo boating is fine,but take it slow and carefully as there may well be nobody around if you have an accident.

[Kendorr]

I was new to boating life 6 years ago, I'd never taken the helm, although I had been on a few canal holidays. So, I've only ever know boating single handed. You soon get into the routine and find the things that work for you and your boat. When coming in to moor, I always bring the stern in so I can easily step off, many people with crew bring the bow in for the crew to step off, just what you get used to.

Because I have a routine for locks and bridges which I've honed over the past years, I often find I'm pulling away from boats with crew, but if I'm feeling tired, I slow down and let them catch up as they inevitably help out.

Centre line as already said, I never step off without it in my hand, it's also long enough to reach the stern, but just short of reaching the prop. Also, my centre line is looped through the fixing point so one end is to port, the other end is to starboard, this saves getting off and finding the rope is on the wrong side, it also gives me a double length rope if I ever need it.

You'll soon find other things when you're out, first few times, have someone experienced to help and advise, then it's just you and the canal.

 

[MtB]

2 minutes ago, Kendorr said:

When coming in to moor, I always bring the stern in so I can easily step off, many people with crew bring the bow in for the crew to step off, just what you get used to.

 

Me too. In my experience it is possible to achieve any two of the following using just the engine before you alight: The bow on the bank, the stern on the bank, the boat stationary. Never all three together!

 

 

 

[Clodi]

If it's blowing a gale stay put, navigating a long narrow boat in high winds is difficult enough but when single-handed I would advise to stay-put. Also I recommend using anti-slip (fine sand) on the roof and a step-down at the stern. Without a crew, in a lock it's a lot easier to step onto the roof rather than use any steps set into the wall.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

More accurately, it is ONLY your friend when long enough to be useful, which means it is also long enough to tangle in your prop. My advice is make damned sure you don't leave it trailing in the water, it's not difficult. 

 

Plenty on here advise cutting a centre line short enough to not reach the prop should you drop it in. This makes it too short to be really useful in my experience. The boaters who advise this presumably follow their own advice and have a stern line only 2ft 6in long.  

My centre lines (I have two, one for either side as the centre line used to always be on the wrong side) is long enough to reach the back of the stern but not long enough to reach the propeller. It's also long enough to be useful!

 

It's about a foot short of the propeller so that makes it around 22ft long which for the past X years of living on the boat has proven to be plenty long enough to be useful.

Edited October 31, 2019 by NB Caelmiri

[Proper Charlie]

4 minutes ago, NB Caelmiri said:

My centre lines (I have two, one for either side as the centre line used to always be on the wrong side) is long enough to reach the back of the stern but not long enough to reach the propeller. It's also long enough to be useful!

Me too.

[huami]

WoW ... Thanks guyz ..... Some very interesting reading here. I do agree that safety is of the highest importance and especially when single handed. I read everyone's comments and appreciate all your replies.

Have a lovely day ...

Neil 

[cuthound]

2 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

 

And mind-numbingly dull read. 

 

I bought it and could not get past about page 3, so big and complicated a meal he makes out of something so straightforward and easy!

 

 

 

I agree. I bought it hoping to learn some new, possibly better techniques and was disappointed. The book is a collection of "statements of the bleeding obvious".