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Do most people actually observe the speed limits on the canals?


Thomas C King

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1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Does anyone know the speed limit as you enter Lincoln via Brayford Pool ?

 

Just askin !

Depends if you want to count it as the Fossditch or the Witham?

 

From the start of the long term moorings to the entrance of the pool it is 3mph, which our boat struggles to do. Just in gear it is usually travelling at a shade over 3mph.

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1 hour ago, john6767 said:

I just checked where West Bridge is in Leicester, and it is by the Castle Gardens moorings, so it is only the rivers section that is 6mph, although some parts of the river are canalised.  The pure canal part, GU,  starts abouve the Lock by the football ground I think.

Nope, it's still the River Soar there, it doesnt become a true canal until after Kings Lock, Aylestone.

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4 hours ago, Tom Morgan said:

I downloaded an app that uses GPS to record MPH.  Using that, I soon got used to the engine revs needed to maintain that speed. I don't have a rev counter so I put a mark on my control lever housing to mark that speed and just used that as a very rough guide, making allowances for "wind assistance" or the opposite.  Now, of course eyesight alone is a reliable indicator. Generally, I like to cruise a bit slower than 4MPH, anyway. I slow right down for bridges and moored boats.  My boat's a GRP cruiser which pushes the water down, under and out the back, so it doesn't take much to cause quite a wake.  That's another visual guide I use.  As far as being on the receiving end is concerned, a light (2 tons) boat like mine doesn't half get bounced about when a big narrowboat speeds past!  

 

 

I use the Ullysse Speedometer app, set to "slow speed", when I feel the need to check my speed.

 

It shows the boat slowing when going through bridgeholes and shallow parts, of the canal system, so engine revs do not necessarily correlate to speed over the ground.

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5 hours ago, Athy said:

The limit is surely singular. As far as I know, there is only one rule, which is not to exceed 4 m.p.h. on any canal. As hardly any canal boats are fitted with speedometers, it's a hard one to observe, but most people at least attempt to.

My method is to imagine a person walking along the towpath beside our boat. If he's stepping out at a brisk walking pace, that's about 4 m.p.h.

There are very few places where we can get to 4mph one is just the Nantwich side of Barbridge before you get to Hurlstone Junction, this week we have been lucky to get to 3 mph

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4 hours ago, Rob-M said:

Not only do I pass moored boats slowly I decrease speed well in advance of them so I'm not drawing water from under their boat as I get close although someone will wanted to shout slow down at me last week.

 

As mentioned by Dave above I also slow for bridge 'oles to reduce the likelihood of picking up some rubbish on the blades.

 

General cruising speed I base on not creating a breaking wash, when I check distance traveled against time it usually works out about 3mph.

 

Completely agree with the post above.

 

Where I moor the canalside is particularly shallow, the depth decreases sharply towards the bridge and is just only about a foot deep just ahead of my boat. 

 

When people speed past, the water is drawn from under the boat and you can hear the hull scraping on the bottom despite the boat being moored with spring lines to 4 bollards.

 

 

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32 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

Yes people observe the 4mph limit for the simple reason that, as previously stated, it’s not really possible to hit 4mph on your average canal (G&S and some NE waterways excepted). If a narrowboat was passing you on the S Oxford at over 4mph I’m sure it would be up on hydrofoils!
 

There does seem to be a lot of moaning on here about other boats moving. I’m sure the same people pull into a lay-by off an A road and then moan about all the cars whizzing past at 60mph.

 

The canals are a transport network, not a linear picnic or housing park. If your boat moving as other boats pass offends you, I can recommend getting a house or caravan.
 

About 50% of the moored boats we pass are badly moored so as to maximise the rocking and surging - slack lines and lines at 90degrees for example. I will agree with you that it is harder to moor properly when on stakes as opposed to against piling or on rings, but on most canals, most of the time there is plenty of opportunity to avoid mooring on stakes.

 

I can’t remember the last time we were passed by a boat going unreasonably fast so I can only conclude that the plethora of people moaning about speeding boats passing, simply don’t know how to tie their boats up properly. We do always slow to tickover well before passing moored boats but with a Beta 43, a big prop and a deep draft we do still move a fair bit of water as we pass. But we have a very quiet engine so we hardly ever get shouted at! I’m sure if I put it into neutral and revved the engine up to 1500rpm there would be lots of people shouting!

See, I knew the worms would crawl out of the can!

 

Its like a red rag to a bull to some.

 

We are moored on 5' long scaffolding putlogs driven 4' into the clay 6'  back in the bank and they get torn out regularly. Fore and aft ropes at 45 degrees, no springs because they would rub the cabin corners at the back and the cratch at the front. A spring from the roof ring is a definite NoNo, would cause massive heeling.

Certainly the offending boats must be going too fast for the canal conditions.

TD'

 

 

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1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

According to my GPS my 'flat-land' hiking speed with a 32lb rucksack is a tad over 4mph, with a max of 5mph and a days moving average of normally 3.5+ mph

There is however another name for 5mph.....it's called jogging. I'm not sure just how accurate I'd take the GPS at walking speed, I've occasionally gone into woodland and lost the signal and when regaining it again the device just fills in the blanks, for me it gave a max speed of 8mph which I'm quite certain that I didn't get anywhere close to.

 

Comparing my boat speed to walkers on the river bank/towpath, on the Nene to Dog in a Doublet I was travelling way faster than any walker, coming along the winding bits of the Nene I was keeping pace with walkers and on shallow canals they go faster than I do, so probably 4.5 mph+, 3mph and 2 - 2.5 mph.

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6 hours ago, Thomas C King said:

This makes the boat rock and the 'safety pins' get a good tug. We are on the north bit of the Oxford canal at the moment, and previously we were around Braunston on the Grand Union.

 

Do you moor with a centre line? If a boat’s moored using a centre line then the boat will rock as another boat passes. 
As the boat is dragged/pulled away from the bank the centre snatches and causes the rocking. 

 


I don’t mind my boat moving a bit, I quite like it, reminds me I’m on the water and it wakes me up in the morning. 


I use chains rather than ‘safety pins’. 
They’re brilliant. 
I once had a pin rattle loose and haven’t used them since. 
 

Generally people are considerate but you get the odd numpty. 


 

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26 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

See, I knew the worms would crawl out of the can!

 

Its like a red rag to a bull to some.

 

We are moored on 5' long scaffolding putlogs driven 4' into the clay 6'  back in the bank and they get torn out regularly. Fore and aft ropes at 45 degrees, no springs because they would rub the cabin corners at the back and the cratch at the front. A spring from the roof ring is a definite NoNo, would cause massive heeling.

Certainly the offending boats must be going too fast for the canal conditions.

TD'

 

 

You don’t say where you moor (probably don’t want to, which is fair enough) so perhaps there is an issue with that particular stretch, eg boats coming off the Bridgewater (fast wide and deep) onto the T&M (slow, narrow and shallow).

 

However I take issue with your last sentence. The only certainty is that some of the passing boats are going too fast for the way your boat is moored. Whether that is because the boats are going too fast or because the way the boat is moored is incompatible with the canal, is uncertain.

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7 hours ago, dave moore said:

Slowing past moored boats seems to be a lost art these days, likewise slowing before entering bridgeholes. I’m afraid that the old courtesies, in the main, are long gone, though in the little boating I do these days I still maintain them. On many parts of the narrow system, I think you’d be hard put to reach 4mph anyway. I won’t go on.......

Not in my experience. Some speed by, but they always have, the majority still slow down when going past me when I'm moored up as far as I'm aware. I've not encountered any issues at bridge holes either, people are usually going slow enough to allow one or the other though first. 

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10 minutes ago, Rumsky said:

Not in my experience. Some speed by, but they always have, the majority still slow down when going past me when I'm moored up as far as I'm aware. I've not encountered any issues at bridge holes either, people are usually going slow enough to allow one or the other though first. 

I wasn’t referring to precedence to oncoming craft, rather that you will often get a quicker transit by slowing down, avoiding pushing a bank of water into a confined space, as well as lifting the stern to miss crap on the bottom. Much of my boating is on narrow canals, some of it on the BCN, where bridge holes are often known to contain nasties. Much has changed since I started as a kid in the 60s, only some of it for the better.

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A 60’ (I estimate) narrowboat just passed my moored boat within 2’ at such a gentle pace that it didn’t even disturb the meniscus (?) on a full glass of vodka. 
 

 

Black Prince hire boat. ?

Which reminds me: One boat this week passed so far away that they grounded on the other bank. 
 

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, nicknorman said:

You don’t say where you moor (probably don’t want to, which is fair enough) so perhaps there is an issue with that particular stretch, eg boats coming off the Bridgewater (fast wide and deep) onto the T&M (slow, narrow and shallow).

 

However I take issue with your last sentence. The only certainty is that some of the passing boats are going too fast for the way your boat is moored. Whether that is because the boats are going too fast or because the way the boat is moored is incompatible with the canal, is uncertain.

Well there are 14 boats moored here, all the same way, we can't all be stupid. 9 of us are long term life style boaters, definitely not stupid. 

Its the Shropshire Union canal.

TD'

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Just now, Tracy D'arth said:

Well there are 14 boats moored here, all the same way, we can't all be stupid. 9 of us are long term life style boaters, definitely not stupid. 

Its the Shropshire Union canal.

TD'

And yet the way your boat is moored vs the canal traffic, is causing you a problem. It would be stupid to think that you can somehow change the behaviour of other boaters. It would be intelligent to amend your moorings so they tolerated the normal range of passing boats.

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4 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

Thanks, I didn't know the New Junction Canal had a higher limit.

 

I knew the river navigations were faster.

 

Was the quote from memory? ;) 

 

 

The Tanker Exol Pride will easily do over 6 on there and on the rest of her run to Rotherham and back.

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1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

From my GPS readings I averaged  2.4 MPH today with a top speed of 32 MPH 

I haven't had anyone speed passed me this trip

Ah, it must have been you knocked the kettle off the hob then......

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I can't remember shouting at any passing boat last year to slow down but this afternoon we shouted at three boats ( all hire boats) on the straight bit near Willow Wren at the top of Stockton locks. All immediately reduced speed with their breaking wave then overtaking them. Maybe the hire companies have forgotten to tell them the norm is to slow down passing boats.

Its not the tying up that is a problem - but if you are cooking and getting a hot dish out the oven when the surge happens, then that is bad.

You know when a boat is doing 1400 to 1500 rpm and then slows to less than 1000 rpm.

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13 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

I can't remember shouting at any passing boat last year to slow down but this afternoon we shouted at three boats ( all hire boats) on the straight bit near Willow Wren at the top of Stockton locks. All immediately reduced speed with their breaking wave then overtaking them. Maybe the hire companies have forgotten to tell them the norm is to slow down passing boats.

Its not the tying up that is a problem - but if you are cooking and getting a hot dish out the oven when the surge happens, then that is bad.

You know when a boat is doing 1400 to 1500 rpm and then slows to less than 1000 rpm.

This happened to Tom while moored in Titmouse between Wroxham and Horning. He was kneeling frying his breakfast when the Hullabaloo's went past and he spilt the hot fat on the floor boards.

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29 minutes ago, bizzard said:

This happened to Tom while moored in Titmouse between Wroxham and Horning. He was kneeling frying his breakfast when the Hullabaloo's went past and he spilt the hot fat on the floor boards.

Not those Hullabaloo's again

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