umpire111 Posted April 19, 2021 Report Share Posted April 19, 2021 Don’t suppose anyone going up the flight on Tuesday 20th April so we can double up. We are a double crewed 58ft nb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robtheplod Posted April 19, 2021 Report Share Posted April 19, 2021 Hang around at the bottom and wait for a Kates Boats? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john6767 Posted April 19, 2021 Report Share Posted April 19, 2021 11 minutes ago, robtheplod said: Hang around at the bottom and wait for a Kates Boats? You will probably not get one on a Tuesday! If you are on your own just use the gates and paddles on the towpath side. We find that most of the time it is easier on your own to be honest, too many don’t pull their weight. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umpire111 Posted April 19, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2021 34 minutes ago, robtheplod said: Hang around at the bottom and wait for a Kates Boats? When came past them all boats moored up and premises closed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 19, 2021 Report Share Posted April 19, 2021 7 minutes ago, umpire111 said: When came past them all boats moored up and premises closed According to the availability checker on their web site they opened on the 16th April, was it before that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BWM Posted April 19, 2021 Report Share Posted April 19, 2021 The volunteers on the flight are very helpful and attentive, so i wouldn't worry if you end up on your own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob-M Posted April 19, 2021 Report Share Posted April 19, 2021 12 minutes ago, BWM said: The volunteers on the flight are very helpful and attentive, so i wouldn't worry if you end up on your own. But you may have done most of the flight of going up before finding one as they tend to hang around the top by the welcome station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BWM Posted April 19, 2021 Report Share Posted April 19, 2021 2 minutes ago, Rob-M said: But you may have done most of the flight of going up before finding one as they tend to hang around the top by the welcome station. My experience has been that if more than one is available (most of the time), one stays at either end of the flight. They have a tea room at the bottom too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umpire111 Posted April 19, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2021 34 minutes ago, The Happy Nomad said: According to the availability checker on their web site they opened on the 16th April, was it before that? Yesterday 18th Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john6767 Posted April 19, 2021 Report Share Posted April 19, 2021 1 hour ago, BWM said: The volunteers on the flight are very helpful and attentive, so i wouldn't worry if you end up on your own. A very different experience to ours. Only ever seen them near the top of the flight, and even then they are not very interested in helping much. 1 hour ago, The Happy Nomad said: According to the availability checker on their web site they opened on the 16th April, was it before that? Generally the Warwick base is weekly hire, with Friday and Saturday turnaround I think. A short break from Warwick does not make sense, their short break boats go from the Stockton base. So any boats from Kate in Warwick this week will be well up the flight by now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie Booth Posted April 19, 2021 Report Share Posted April 19, 2021 2 hours ago, Rob-M said: But you may have done most of the flight of going up before finding one as they tend to hang around the top by the welcome station. Yes I agree, they are no help at all, in fact they are a nuisance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterG Posted April 19, 2021 Report Share Posted April 19, 2021 Last time we came down the flight all they did for us was to turn the set lock around in front of us and slow us down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alway Swilby Posted April 19, 2021 Report Share Posted April 19, 2021 Reminds me of the time on our share boat about to do Hatton for the first time. We moored overnight at the top of the flight and next morning we waited a couple of hours for a lock buddie but no boats came. So we resigned ourselves to doing the flight alone. Just as we were entering the top lock we spotted an ABC hireboat heading our way. On board were six burley firefighters on their annual canal boat holiday. We wizzed down the flight in about 2 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robtheplod Posted April 19, 2021 Report Share Posted April 19, 2021 (edited) Our very first experience with locks were the Hatton flight! We hired a boat out of Kates Boats for the week and did the Warwick ring clockwise in 2017. We met a lovely chap sat at the bottom of the flight waiting a few days for his friends to help him with the flight. He agreed to help us if we took him up, He was a solo boater and we had two strapping lads on lock duty! He gave us so much advice and was lovely to us - gave us so much more info than the frankly useless tuition by a chap from Kate Boats. Never really knew his name but we seem in hindsight to think he may have been called Keith for some reason? His boat was grey and i don't recall a name on it, Would be lovely to know if he really was called Keith - anyone recognise the boat (on the left below??). He said we were a bit of a shambles, but by the time we reached the top we looked quite professional! Edited April 19, 2021 by robtheplod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keeping Up Posted April 19, 2021 Report Share Posted April 19, 2021 Our first encounter with Hatton was in 1969, on a Wyvern Shipping hire-boat. After climbing 19 of them we found there was a stoppage because of a broken paddle so we had to turn around and go all the way back down again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sea Dog Posted April 19, 2021 Report Share Posted April 19, 2021 37 minutes ago, robtheplod said: Would be lovely to know if he really was called Keith - anyone recognise the boat (on the left below??) Someone must - not every Tom, Dick or Keith has four tunnel lights! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Pegg Posted April 19, 2021 Report Share Posted April 19, 2021 (edited) I’ve been through Hatton in one direction or the other for each of the past four years and can’t recall getting any assistance from volockies. The most recent transit was last October starting at 1400 going uphill and they were long gone before I got to the thick of the flight. A couple of years ago I was ascending Tardebigge with two good volockies assisting and one of them happened to mention he was from Warwick and originally volunteered at Hatton but choose to go further afield because he thought they were somewhat up themselves at Hatton. Edited April 19, 2021 by Captain Pegg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dixi188 Posted April 20, 2021 Report Share Posted April 20, 2021 Going up or down Hatton with another boat, I find the best way is to rope the two boats together then you only need one steerer and it's quicker between locks. Same at Stockton. Some folk worry about it until they try it. Can't do that on Caen Hill on the K&A though as the gates are too narrow. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Lewis Posted April 20, 2021 Report Share Posted April 20, 2021 6 hours ago, dixi188 said: Going up or down Hatton with another boat, I find the best way is to rope the two boats together then you only need one steerer and it's quicker between locks. Same at Stockton. Some folk worry about it until they try it. Can't do that on Caen Hill on the K&A though as the gates are too narrow. ?? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty40s Posted April 20, 2021 Report Share Posted April 20, 2021 1 minute ago, Tim Lewis said: ?? There is one lock half way down that is too narrow for 2 boats to enter, descend and exit together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roland elsdon Posted April 20, 2021 Report Share Posted April 20, 2021 That lock on the caen hill flight could do with rebuilding to say 7’6”. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchcrawler Posted April 20, 2021 Report Share Posted April 20, 2021 8 hours ago, matty40s said: There is one lock half way down that is too narrow for 2 boats to enter, descend and exit together. Thats what the Volockie told me, but I forgot which one he said and with a hire boat alongside did the lot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john6767 Posted April 20, 2021 Report Share Posted April 20, 2021 Anyway, the OP is going to be up the flight by now. How did it go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Brightley Posted April 20, 2021 Report Share Posted April 20, 2021 On 19/04/2021 at 09:48, Rob-M said: But you may have done most of the flight of going up before finding one as they tend to hang around the top by the welcome station. Exactly my experience too. They stay as close to the cafe as possible ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roland elsdon Posted April 20, 2021 Report Share Posted April 20, 2021 Why would you stay near the cafe. Rude and highly offensive place. It was better as a sanitary station. Certainly more usefull. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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