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Do you use your lines in locks?


Porcupine

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Hi,

I am new to narrowboating. Do you use your ropes in locks? Some people seem to use their engines to hold station while others prefer to use their centre ropes? I was wondering what you would recommend. Also - should I use fenders or not? 
Thanks very much, 

Matt 

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I only use lines in locks when single handing preferring to use the engine and carful movement of the lock paddles & sluices.

 

Fenders, no they should be lifted when you leave your mooring and put back down when you tie up again.

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18 minutes ago, Porcupine said:

Hi,

I am new to narrowboating. Do you use your ropes in locks? Some people seem to use their engines to hold station while others prefer to use their centre ropes? I was wondering what you would recommend. Also - should I use fenders or not? 
Thanks very much, 

Matt 

 

Two up we rarely used the lines in locks. Mrs HN became pretty adept at holding the boat on the throttle/morse control.

 

As to fenders, definitely lift in locks unless when in the very big broad locks on the North East waterways when there really is no need, one less thing to think about.

 

Doncaster town lock by example is a particularly tight squeeze.

 

 

 

 

IMG_1061.jpg

Edited by The Happy Nomad
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3 minutes ago, Porcupine said:

Hi,

I am new to narrowboating. Do you use your ropes in locks? Some people seem to use their engines to hold station while others prefer to use their centre ropes? I was wondering what you would recommend. Also - should I use fenders or not? 
Thanks very much, 

Matt 

You'll probably get a variety of advice on this one, I'll throw my penn'orth in and say no, never use fenders in locks, that's what your rubbing strakes are for. Fenders in a lock are just a PITA either they jam and trap the boat or they get ripped off and end up around someone else's prop.

 

As far as using ropes go, my own preference is to use the centre line to pull the boat as far into the lock as it will go (whether you are going up, or down) and then wrap the rope around a bollard  (never tie any knot!!) to hold it. When going up it means that when you open the side paddles the boat cannot shoot backwards (and then come forwards and ram the gate with momentum) and when going down it will mean that you should always be clear of the cill.

 

Other opinions will be available;)

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It depends greatly on what lock and what other boats are in with you. Personaly I dont use ropes in narrow locks but I sometimes do on the Trent or A and C for instance and most always on the Thames as they take umbrage if you dont.

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Depends on the size of the lock, if I am single handing, or with a crew, if there are lock keepers to help, how many other boats are in the lock and what sort they are.

DSCN9930.JPG.b3e8d1e71ebdf1b7fdfcc03d1f481a65.JPG

For example, Newark Town lock, river Trent April 2011. Centre line around a bollard. Going down, rather than up, so less turbulent, but I'm sharing it with a GRP boat and I'd not done many locks of this type, so cautious. Now, I probably wouldn't bother, unless there were more boats than this in the chamber. Almost ten years ago. Yikes!

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Single handing always use the centre line to control the boat.  With two of us it depends; narrow locks never us a rope, wide lock sometimes, paricilarly going up, and is If first boat in, the hold the boat to the side while the other boat comes in.  On big manned river locks, ropes front and rear. Thames locks the engine is off so you need to use ropes.

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Not sure if the length of boat makes a difference. I've got a 30ft boat on wide locks on the Ledds Liverpool. Going down is ok. Going up at first you are held to the side and can then be swung across the lock. I hadn't tied up before but will probably in future.

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It can be safe to tie off in locks.  For example if single handing on the Thames I sometimes tie off one line on a bollard (with a good long line to allow for rise and fall) and adjust the other one as necessary. Particularly useful in locks like Sandford where the water comes in through the floor and a centre line is not enough. 

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2 hours ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

It can be safe to tie off in locks.  For example if single handing on the Thames I sometimes tie off one line on a bollard (with a good long line to allow for rise and fall) and adjust the other one as necessary. Particularly useful in locks like Sandford where the water comes in through the floor and a centre line is not enough. 

always tie off in a lock when on my own.  If the boat moves too much, and the rope gets dragged into the lock, you have no control whatsoever. Going down, you need to be able either to get the thing back to the ladder so you can board, or pull it out. Going up, you need to stop it lurching into the front gates with venom, or breaking the rudder at the back.

Of course, much depends on boat length. Mine's 40 foot, so plenty of room for it to move in a lock. If it's a 70 foot working boat, it aint going anywhere so things are different.

The only real rule is do whatever you feel safe with. Listen to advice, think about it and the need for someone to be in control of both the lock and the boat, and decide what seems best to you. Experiment when you are certain it's safe to do so. And, preferably, when no-one is looking!

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Two ropes in Thames locks if a keeper is on duty (EA Requirement), also on Wey (NT requirement). Centre rope when single handing, in a wide lock the centre rope to keep the boat at the side until the second boat has entered then no ropes unless single handing. Again fenders only when mooring up for a time.

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And then there is the Great Ouse.

 

Engine off, ropes front and rear. Which means if Jeannette is up on the lockside I tie the stern off, give the bow thruster a quick burst to bring the bow hard against the lockside then rush through the boat and throw up the bow line then sit there holding keeping it taut until the lock is full.

 

Usually all the other boats are GRP and sometimes 3 abreast in the lock.

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4 minutes ago, pearley said:

And then there is the Great Ouse.

 

Engine off, ropes front and rear. Which means if Jeannette is up on the lockside I tie the stern off, give the bow thruster a quick burst to bring the bow hard against the lockside then rush through the boat and throw up the bow line then sit there holding keeping it taut until the lock is full.

 

Usually all the other boats are GRP and sometimes 3 abreast in the lock.

 

Indeed. I have packed two narrow boats and a widebeam into one of these locks, but can't find the photo.

DSCF8801.JPG

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Depends on the locks, can't use fenders on narrow locks anyway but a lot of wide locks are not very predictable and wind, water, rubbish steering and stuff can shift the boat all over the place. As for ropes and lines, again, locks are not always predictable, in a narrow lock if someone whips up a couple of paddles a bit sharpish you can go forwards or backwards at some speed and hit the gates so hard your teeth rattle. A 72` boat might not pick up much speed but a 40` boat will. One of he locks on the Bristol Avon had a hell of a draw and I really thought the rope might snap. On a narrowboat I usually just fling a centre line ashore even if its not wrapped round a bollard. No point in chucking the engine in and out of gear with lots of revs and smoke if all you need is a bit of rope. 

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Centreline downhill in widelock  so i can draw boat back to ladder. You must leave lots of slack, i dont tie it off just leave on lockside.

 

uphill on some oxford canal locks. With 55 ft boat you can seriously get pushed backwards and then drawn into cill. As there are few cill guards its a big bang.

( our stempost was split on last docking and its cast iron)

 

I was taught never be afraid to use a rope a shaft or a push to move the boat.

After all canals were not designed initially for powered boats

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