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Cruising when the water is frozen

Andrew C

By Andrew C
in General Boating

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manxmike Proficient

manxmike

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Posted

To be honest I don't think it matters if the canal is frozen or not, some people will object to a moving boat whatever. I fondly remember moving past a moored boat when the side hatch opened, a child poked his head out and gave me a foul mouthful, basically objecting to my speed (tickover). His parents were sitting on the bank taking in the summer sun and I complimented them on the education they had given their son in the use of english. Last I heard was them shouting at the lad.

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agg221 Rising Star

agg221

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Posted (edited)

I do not own the copyright on the photograph below but I hope @max's son doesn't mind me posting it here in this context. The photograph was taken by Max Sinclair in March 1963, on the towpath at Darlaston by James' Bridge during a lunch break. It is an incredibly lucky chance that it exists and is known - chance that Max was there just at the time the ice boat was passing, chance that he had his camera with him and chance that I spotted it in Waterways World on someone's coffee table, following which I got in touch with Max and we pieced together what it actually shows.

 

What it shows, so far as I can tell, is the very last occasion that an iceboat was taken out by company staff for the express purpose of breaking the ice to enable the passage of boats. The records from the time indicate that the ice boats were taken out in December 1962 when the canal first froze, but by Christmas, all attempts at keeping passage clear were abandoned and freight was collected and went by road. This was the big freeze of 1962/63 and the ice did not begin to thaw until March, by which point traffic had necessarily moved to the roads, never to return. However, families who lived on the boats were still stuck, so unofficially, once the ice was thin enough, the ice boats were run once more to allow the trapped boats to get home. By sheer luck it appears that the photograph below shows one of these runs. Coincidentally, this with the other two associated photographs are also the only ones I am aware of showing ice breaking in colour.

 

Horses had already begun to be in short supply by the 1930s, with the BCN Company minuting that they no longer had sufficient horses, a fact which they addressed by hiring from companies such as T & S Element and by trials with motorised icebreaking tugs. These were largely successful, but the surviving fleet of horse boats still needed to be used, so trials were run with towpath tractors and push tugs, as seen here. The tug in this photograph is Walsall and the ice boat is Samson, originally built by the BCN as North Star and sold to the Stourbridge in 1904. It came back to Bradley for repairs during WW2 and never returned, eventually being patched up and returned to service along the Walsall. This is probably the last time it ever worked in service.

 

Alec

 

 

image.png.c8ff15291bd378d421b5797996b3a23f.png

Edited by agg221
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blackrose Veteran II

blackrose

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I just had a conversation with my marina operator who said that he didn't want boats moving in the marina as it could damage his pontoon floats. I hadn't thought of that one. They're made of polystyrene blocks with a thin skin of cement. The ice here's an inch thick so I suppose it could puncture the cement skin. I wouldn't move anyway but I expect some people here are desperate for a pump out. 

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Alan de Enfield Veteran II

Alan de Enfield

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11 minutes ago, blackrose said:

I just had a conversation with my marina operator who said that he didn't want boats moving in the marina as it could damage his pontoon floats. I hadn't thought of that one. They're made of polystyrene blocks with a thin skin of cement. The ice here's an inch thick so I suppose it could puncture the cement skin. I wouldn't move anyway but I expect some people here are desperate for a pump out. 

 

Good old two-loos !! (but yes he has to move to get to you)

 

 

 

Two Loos Lautrec b.jpg

Two Loos Lautrec.jpg

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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Alan de Enfield Veteran II

Alan de Enfield

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40 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

I can't think of many worse jobs on the waterways than running a pump out boat. 🤮

 

Our local Cesspit emptying company is called "Cesspool Sid", but is more locally known as "Septic Sid" - not really any different to pumping out boats.

 

He was well known for his funny number plates ("Loo Two" and "Turd Taxi") and his witty adverts in the local paper which read:

 

"Cesspool Sid is my name,

Emptying cesspools is my game,  

When you're full and overflowing,

Send for Sid and he gets you going,

Cesspool Sid is still about,

So let him come and clean you out!".

 

For me it would be worse going down into the sewers and having to clear huge 'back-ups' of fat mountains, S**t and sanitary products, now, that is 'hands on'.

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Sea Dog Veteran II

Sea DogDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, blackrose said:

I just had a conversation with my marina operator who said that he didn't want boats moving in the marina as it could damage his pontoon floats. I hadn't thought of that one. They're made of polystyrene blocks with a thin skin of cement. The ice here's an inch thick so I suppose it could puncture the cement skin. I wouldn't move anyway but I expect some people here are desperate for a pump out. 

I wonder if they really are that fragile (if so he's under specified for the UK climate) or if it's an over reaction? Seems odd to me.

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MtB Veteran II

MtBDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted
50 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

I wonder if they really are that fragile (if so he's under specified for the UK climate) or if it's an over reaction? Seems odd to me.

 

I'd have thought so too. Any marina floats that can't cope with some UK winter ice being pushed at them would seem unfit for purpose. 

 

 

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PaulJ Experienced

PaulJ

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Posted
37 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

I wonder if they really are that fragile (if so he's under specified for the UK climate) or if it's an over reaction? Seems odd to me.

Theyre not as far as I know. Ive repaired and fitted a fair few and never seen or heard of ice damage. There must be thousands of them in use around the country,both inland and on the coast where they bounce about a bit.

They dont like being dropped or rammed by a forklift much though.

The concrete mix they use on them is also  mixed with glass strands to give it more strength.

 

 

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blackrose Veteran II

blackrose

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Posted
3 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

I wonder if they really are that fragile (if so he's under specified for the UK climate) or if it's an over reaction? Seems odd to me.

 

Having lived on floating pontoons at a couple of marinas I can understand his reaction as they're brand new pontoons. He's just looking after his investment.

 

Most of the floats I've seen under the pontoons at older marinas have large chunks of the cement that have come away exposing the polystyrene. They still work but they're waterlogged. The pontoons here are pretty high spec with wide concrete walkways - the best I've seen on the inland waterways, so i assume the floats are similarly specified. 

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blackrose Veteran II

blackrose

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, MtB said:

 

I'd have thought so too. Any marina floats that can't cope with some UK winter ice being pushed at them would seem unfit for purpose. 

 

 

Possibly, but then how thick would the cement skin on pontoon floats need to be to make them fit for purpose for a UK winter? Ice can easily freeze to 2" thick and you'd need something very substantial possibly reinforced to cope with that being pushed into it. Cement by itself has relatively poor tensile or 3 point bending strength.

 

2 hours ago, PaulJ said:

Theyre not as far as I know. Ive repaired and fitted a fair few and never seen or heard of ice damage. There must be thousands of them in use around the country,both inland and on the coast where they bounce about a bit.

They dont like being dropped or rammed by a forklift much though.

The concrete mix they use on them is also  mixed with glass strands to give it more strength.

 

So what sort of damage are you repairing and how do you know it wasn't caused by ice?

 

Anyway, perhaps he's being overly cautious but they're his pontoons and his marina so his rules. I'm happy to follow them as I don't want or need to move in ice.

 

Edited by blackrose
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matty40s Veteran II

matty40s

Posted
Posted
On 17/12/2022 at 09:04, blackrose said:

I just had a conversation with my marina operator who said that he didn't want boats moving in the marina as it could damage his pontoon floats. I hadn't thought of that one. They're made of polystyrene blocks with a thin skin of cement. The ice here's an inch thick so I suppose it could puncture the cement skin. I wouldn't move anyway but I expect some people here are desperate for a pump out. 

Heyford Fields has banned all boat movements until the ice has gone. Proper fixed pontoons,  not floating.

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pearley Veteran

pearley

Posted
Posted
On 17/12/2022 at 09:15, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Good old two-loos !! (but yes he has to move to get to you)

 

 

 

Two Loos Lautrec b.jpg

Two Loos Lautrec.jpg

I suspect that is the original Two Loos Lautrec that was in use at Anderton Marina when we hired there in 1979 and 1980, long before Alvechurch took over.

Could be like Triggers Broom, 2 new tanks and 5 vacuum pumps.

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