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single handed boating lock mate remote control

colin1325

By colin1325
in Boat Handling

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Sir Nibble Veteran II

Sir Nibble

Posted
Posted
This is another of those topics that comes up regularly every year or so, in my view it is not a good idea to promote it.. It is one thing for the odd 'Wesley' to come up with a system and get himself in the Waterways press but to attempt to market a system for anyone to fit to their boats borders on the foolhardy (there are a lot of people that can't drive their boat when they are standing on the back of it).

 

The thing is, that it is very easy to do and getting easier every year, you can buy all the bits you need over the counter. One thing is certain, the first time some idiot buys one and has a prang they will be quite rightly banned overnight.

 

http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php...art=#entry57746

I agree with this entirely. This should be a good way to get a lock to yourself, I certainly wouldn't want to be anywhere near it. Humans are not perfect, and nor is anything they have created. Sooner or later this thing WOULD fail and people could be injured. Should ban it now!

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blackrose Veteran II

blackrose

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I think after the first lock i would ask them if they would like you to get out of the lock as quickly as possible.

 

If they say Yes, they have just given you permission to blast off out of the lock and not close the gates or paddles :cheers:

Simon.

 

Well, I think on both of those occasions once I was out of the first lock I let them go ahead.

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Chris J W Influencer

Chris J W

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There is an inherent danger in going up a lock using a centre line for control, as Chris J W recently found out. Roof fitted eyes for centrelines are often very weak and if this breaks while you are slowing the boat down using a bollard you may well get it coming towards you very fast - you are likely to be in line with it. Non elastic rope will reduce the potential for injury.

 

I can certainly attest to that! Make sure you've got a REALLY good fitted eye - having a pound lump of steel headed towards you that's promptly stopped by your arm is not a fun part of boating.

 

Still, I did learn the hardway to i) double check you're out of gear and ii) try and stay (as much as you can) out of the line of strain.

 

But don't let that put you off - doing a lock singled handed is reasonably easy once you get the hang of it. If possible see if you can watch someone else do it as they talk you through the How and Why they are doing it that way.

 

(Oh, and you'll soon get much fitter as you get the art of bow hauling her in and out!)

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Sir Nibble Veteran II

Sir Nibble

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- doing a lock singled handed is reasonably easy once you get the hang of it. If possible see if you can watch someone else do it as they talk you through the How and Why they are doing it that way.

 

(Oh, and you'll soon get much fitter as you get the art of bow hauling her in and out!)

 

Mind you, climbing up and down ladders somewhere like Bath deep lock is a bit fraught!

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Maffi Rising Star

Maffi

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Posted (edited)
The thing is, that it is very easy to do and getting easier every year, you can buy all the bits you need over the counter. One thing is certain, the first time some idiot buys one and has a prang they will be quite rightly banned overnight.

 

What a good idea might as well ban cars aeroplanes and even bicycles . . . . . NOT!

 

Mind you, climbing up and down ladders somewhere like Bath deep lock is a bit fraught!

 

It is not difficult to do Bath deep lock single handed without going into the lock. It just requires a longer rope.

Edited by Maffi
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Sir Nibble Veteran II

Sir Nibble

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What a good idea might as well ban cars aeroplanes and even bicycles . . . . . NOT!

It is not difficult to do Bath deep lock single handed without going into the lock. It just requires a longer rope.

 

Yes. I just don't like to see the boat banging about down there like a pea in a whistle 'cos I've not properly secured it.

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blackrose Veteran II

blackrose

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Use a long bow rope.

 

Surely then the stern will swing out? Also I'd need a 20m bow rope that I'd have to try to flick from one side of the superstructure to the other and that's bound to get messy.

 

I know one guy who links bow & stern ropes but personally I think it's an awkward method.

 

I'm thinking of putting a couple of these on my roof either side of the eye that's already there, and using them all in conjunction on my centre rope. http://www.proboat.co.uk/item.asp?dep=1&am...0&cat_id=33

 

My boat's about 30 tonnes but the biggest of those eyes have a M24 thread and a 12 tonne breaking strain so they should be fine (my 22mm multiplait rope's only 6 tonne breaking strain). It's unlikely they'd all snap but if one did it would still be attached to the rope and it wouldn't go anywhere.

Edited by blackrose
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blackrose Veteran II

blackrose

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. Why is it a problem if the stern swings out? Just get to the back using the gunnels (which is what they are for) or the roof.

 

It's a problem because by the time you've got to the stern your boat could be right across the canal or river, especially if it's windy or there's any current. Lovely for other boats coming up behind you! Why on earth would you want the stern to swing out in the first place if it doesn't need to? That just shows a lack of control.

 

If you're single handed and you've just stepped off your boat onto the bank you want to be able to control the boat without either the bow or stern swinging out. That's what centre ropes are for.

Edited by blackrose
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bristol & argo Collaborator

bristol & argo

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It's a problem because by the time you've got to the stern your boat could be right across the canal or river, especially if it's windy or there's any current. Lovely for other boats coming up behind you! Why on earth would you want the stern to swing out in the first place if it doesn't need to? That just shows a lack of control.

 

If you're single handed and you've just stepped off your boat onto the bank you want to be able to control the boat without either the bow or stern swinging out. That's what centre ropes are for.

 

I guess it's probably different if it's busy, and/or you can't see if a lock is occupied but..

 

Going down hill, (lock needs setting)

 

Stop boat with back end close to bollard, step off and loosley tie stern to bollard, front drifting merrily.

 

Set lock, and the flow of water brings the boat alongside, open gates, walk back to boats.

Boats will have drifted out some, untie stern, push out to straighten up and drive into lock.

 

Going uphill, get off at and tie up bow, flow of water will push boats alongside.

 

 

Thinking about it again, it helps to have boats long enough that when the loose end is blown to the other side of the cut, the boats less than 45 degrees to where you want to end up.

 

Simon.

 

Edit to add,

 

whats wrong with the boat being all the way across the cut, people do that infront of us seemingly all the time.

Edited by bristol & argo
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magnetman Veteran II

magnetman

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Posted

I once saw someone tie the centre line (attached to the roof not gunnel level) to the last bollard below a deep gu lock then empty the lock. The boat tipped over so far i could see the underside of the counter. Not very professional looking.

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John Orentas Veteran II

John Orentas

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I once saw someone tie the centre line (attached to the roof not gunnel level) to the last bollard below a deep gu lock then empty the lock. The boat tipped over so far i could see the underside of the counter. Not very professional looking.

 

 

 

Centre lines though invaluable for boat handling do have that adverse effect in lots of applications, much of the wingeing about boats being rocked about on their moorings is often a result of misguided people mooring up using that high level centre line. It is inevitable that the boat will be pulled over, sometimes quite dramatically when another boat passes by.

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carlt Veteran II

carlt

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I was cycling down the towpath at Claydon, about ten years ago when I met a centreline tied to a tree, fortunately at chest height rather than neck.

 

Nobody stirred in the boat, despite repeated knocking (telly and lights were on).

 

I'm not sure how they moored back up, after I'd left because all their ropes were coiled over my shoulder and everything else on their roof was in the canal.

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carlt Veteran II

carlt

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:)

 

Never drive ride at a speed greater than that would enable you stop safely in an emergency. :)

 

At night suitable lighting should be used so a to facilitate, the seeing of where you are going. :D

Sorry but I was cycling slowly (probably why I wasn't seriously hurt) and I had lights on. :(

 

I didn't see a mooring line stretched across the towpath because, as with most most cycle lights, the towpath was illuminated, not the air 5' above it. :D

 

I wasn't expecting some moron to stretch a rope across the towpath. I was on the south Oxford, so I was looking out for potholes. :cheers:

 

If I'd seen the 'emergency', I would have been able to stop. :closedeyes:

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