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Empty pound...


The Dreamer

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B, especially if its where empty pounds are known to regularly occur, such as Atherstone, Hillmorton, Braunston etc. 

I have done it many times, sometimes annoying people who have phoned CRT and think that nobody should do anything until rescue arrives.

Certainly in the Summer when starting early, I'm not going to sit waiting several hours for their 9am ish start.

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Ive mainly sorted myself.....did phone them when we found the whole of the Perry Barr flight dry a couple of years ago due to paddles being left up....decided that was a bit much for two of us and didnt fancy leaving the boat on its own....to be fair CRT were there in a an hour....phoned them at 8am on a Sunday....two really helpful guys on site just after 9...the four of us got it sorted pretty quick...they even refused cups of tea!

 

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25 minutes ago, Athy said:

Because boats could be left on the bottom and, if V-bottomed, they could heel right over, endangering the safety of people in them.

Boats shouldn’t be left unattended in short pounds, v bottomed or otherwise. You have to drain a lot of water from a long pound to put anyone on the bottom. If there’s someone on a boat nearby tell them your intentions and they’ll probably do it for you. 

Life is full of “could” problems but sometimes it’s just better to get on with it. 

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Thanks folks!

 

Over the years I have done both and have found that when I call, I have been asked if I am able/willing to run the water myself and when I just got on and do it myself, inevitably a CaRT bod turns up and tells me off!

 

 Today however offered a whole new dimension.  Coming up Rushall Flight, one of the short pounds had drained, so I ran from one, two locks up, that is a mile and a half long, a member of the public (not on a boat), seeing me open a top and a bottom paddle, told me that they were going to report me, and they did!  Anyhow, CaRT bods didn’t turn up until I was half a mile clear of the locks, so not quite sure what their views were...

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It depends! If there is a suitable long pound not more than a couple of locks up then I'll do it my self and then ring CRT to tell them I've done it. They do need to know so that they can replace the water you've used, even if it's from a 10 mile pound. I've never been told off for doing this.

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The only place I've phoned CaRT after running aground on a low pound was at the start of the HNC in Huddersfield. One of the locks you'd need to run water down from you can't get to as a boater unless by boat. Two of the boys in blue turned up and sorted it out for me, but a couple of hours to be on the move again.

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Bottom of the Wheelock flight was always empty of a morning. Never thought to do anthing but fill it up. If someone says they're going to report you, I'd just thank them and say it'll save you the trouble. CRT need to know about leaking pounds,not that they often do anything about it.

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Some times you have little choice, back in 2006 we didn't have a mobile with us.

Boat got stuck on the bottom, twice. Each time I paddled ashore and off to the next lock.

Yet, many of the other pounds were overflowing.

Rochdale BTW.

2006_1220Rochdale_Canal10160.JPG

2006_1220Rochdale_Canal10166.JPG

2006_1223Rochdale_Canal20043.JPG

Edited by Ray T
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1 hour ago, Athy said:

Because boats could be left on the bottom and, if V-bottomed, they could heel right over, endangering the safety of people in them.

There would be no point in taking water out of a pound above if it left that pound so shallow that a V bottomed boat could heel over! Anyway, has it ever happened in the entire history of the canals? I don’t think so, and pounds drain for other reasons than someone filling a lower pound.

I would always do it myself. The only time we’ve phoned CRT was when the lower pounds on the Northampton flight were empty. Difficult to run water down from anywhere other than the top, and that is a lot of locks to run water through.

 

Otherwise, what is the point in waiting for someone to come along and do something that one could easily do oneself. The only issue is to avoid creating too much flow, ie use just one paddle or 2 half paddles, to avoid washing too much silt into the lock / behind the gates etc.

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16 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

 The only issue is to avoid creating too much flow, ie use just one paddle or 2 half paddles, to avoid washing too much silt into the lock / behind the gates etc.

 

When running water through locks, fir5zt make sure all gates are closed, even if you found them open. Thst way you won't wash silt and debris onto the cill which could stop the gates closing properly. Also there"s then no chance of a gate slamming shut if flowing water gets behind it.

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26 minutes ago, David Mack said:

 

When running water through locks, fir5zt make sure all gates are closed, even if you found them open. Thst way you won't wash silt and debris onto the cill which could stop the gates closing properly. Also there"s then no chance of a gate slamming shut if flowing water gets behind it.

Yes agreed, should have mentioned that bit too.

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I set about running water down myself if I find an empty pound but I did once get a bit of a telling off from a CRT guy at Tardebigge for it. He was trying to blame a boater for leaving paddles open but I’m sure that wasn’t the reason for the loss of water. He didn’t want to listen that the reason I had drained a pound was to fill the one closer to me. He did head back up to the reservoir and let some water down though. I think the flight is walked at 0800 each morning to check water levels. I’ve experienced similar at Stockton too but that time the CRT employee was friendly. I also got delayed by empty pounds going back down Tardebigge at the end of that particular trip. I was following a hire boat and they did want CRT to sort it out which was fair enough.

 

JP

 

 

Edited by Captain Pegg
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2 hours ago, The Dreamer said:

Thanks folks!

 

Over the years I have done both and have found that when I call, I have been asked if I am able/willing to run the water myself and when I just got on and do it myself, inevitably a CaRT bod turns up and tells me off!

 

 Today however offered a whole new dimension.  Coming up Rushall Flight, one of the short pounds had drained, so I ran from one, two locks up, that is a mile and a half long, a member of the public (not on a boat), seeing me open a top and a bottom paddle, told me that they were going to report me, and they did!  Anyhow, CaRT bods didn’t turn up until I was half a mile clear of the locks, so not quite sure what their views were...

There is a lock on the lower part of the Rushall flight that had a severe leak in the lower gates last year. It was bad enough that you couldn’t open the lock up in advance when descending because the pound would drain. It might still be like that.

 

The long pound between the bottom seven and top two is known as the ‘mile pound’ because it is pretty much exactly a mile long. It also has - or at least had - a leak in the offside bank which flooded the gardens below the embankment above the lower lock and required a reduced level to be maintained. I’ve walked the pound to run water down through the top two locks and while doing that a resident of Longwood Boat Club came out to tell me I had to stop because boats were pulling on their moorings because I was emptying the pound. Reflecting that the pound in question is the entire Wolverhampton level I ignored him.

 

JP

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1 hour ago, nicknorman said:

I would always do it myself. The only time we’ve phoned CRT was when the lower pounds on the Northampton flight were empty. Difficult to run water down from anywhere other than the top, and that is a lot of locks to run water through.

We've descended that flight by putting the boat into a lock and then opening paddles both ends to fill the pound the boat is going into next from the one it's just left. This clearly only works when going down. Going up you have to find Leon and bung him some cash to go up the flight and run water down from the top.

 

We've also filled completely empty pounds on the BCN, including running water down the staircase to fill the pound at Brades. Any of the 453-473 flights have plenty of water available by definition. 

 

MP.

 

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I reached the top of Stockton at just before 5am one June morning, I could see pounds 2 and 3 were empty, so left boat running and started to let water down though the towpath side paddles. Once I had virtually filled pound 3 and the gates were open, I walked back up to find a bunch of Aussies in a boat closing the gates of the top lock and preparing to come down.

Luckily for me, they relented, let me in and we got to Warwick together, where I picked up another boat to go up Hatton, and then as it was so nearly, did Lapworth as well.....mooring up in Hockley Heath after the sun went down.

Next day got to Droitwich.

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38 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

If you don't fill your own pounds you need a handy Tawny owl to help out

FB_IMG_1579635711758.jpg

Tawny doesn’t need water to float; that’s how it’s won the Challenge twice. That is the aforementioned mile pound at Rushall unless I’m much mistaken.

 

JP

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3 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

Tawny doesn’t need water to float; that’s how it’s won the Challenge twice. That is the aforementioned mile pound at Rushall unless I’m much mistaken.

 

JP

Think so, I was ground solid in the centre channel and Tawny just floated past, even as the Tawny team let water down I was still scraping the bottom.

 

Oh and Richard stole my breakfast in payment 

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