Trent tidal locks

[BoatinglifeupNorth]

2 minutes ago, wandering said:

It was manned. I went up. I was advised that it’s now too late to get further to Newark as the lockie was off. Cromwell was fine, he knew of my arrival from Torksey. 

You don’t need a Lock keeper to get through Nether lock, you can self operate if not manned. As with all the locks to Nottingham, they’re normally manned by CaRT through the working day and self operated when not, in most cases.

[pearley]

1 hour ago, BoatinglifeupNorth said:

You don’t need a Lock keeper to get through Nether lock, you can self operate if not manned. As with all the locks to Nottingham, they’re normally manned by CaRT through the working day and self operated when not, in most cases.

Although Town lock can be a pain if dropping a crew member off.

[BoatinglifeupNorth]

23 minutes ago, pearley said:

Although Town lock can be a pain if dropping a crew member off.

 Always a pain having crew, thats why I’m single handed😊

[Naughty Cal]

1 hour ago, pearley said:

Although Town lock can be a pain if dropping a crew member off.

Is it?

 

We always dropped off at the low section of wall by the park and walked across the bridge. 

5 hours ago, wandering said:

My speedometer said 4/5 miles per hour. Arrived at Cromwell after 4 hours and 45 minutes so couldn’t continue to Newark as lockie had clocked off. Took 3 hours to get there so quite the difference. Don’t believe I was going that slow but I was against the water and I was navigating into the wind. 

You don't need a lockie to get through Nether Lock. It can be user operated much like the rest of the non tidal locks.

 

In fact it's probably quicker to lock through yourself. The volunteers air very much on the side of caution when letting the water in and take an age to fill the locks!

[wandering]

3 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

Is it?

 

We always dropped off at the low section of wall by the park and walked across the bridge. 

You don't need a lockie to get through Nether Lock. It can be user operated much like the rest of the non tidal locks.

 

In fact it's probably quicker to lock through yourself. The volunteers air very much on the side of caution when letting the water in and take an age to fill the locks!

Good to know for next time! 👍🏻

[Mike Todd]

On 13/08/2023 at 15:09, Naughty Cal said:

Is it?

 

We always dropped off at the low section of wall by the park and walked across the bridge. 

You don't need a lockie to get through Nether Lock. It can be user operated much like the rest of the non tidal locks.

 

In fact it's probably quicker to lock through yourself. The volunteers air very much on the side of caution when letting the water in and take an age to fill the locks!

Do the volunteers have to use public power settings? 

[Naughty Cal]

18 hours ago, Mike Todd said:

Do the volunteers have to use public power settings? 

Not sure. But even on public use those locks can fill a damn sight quicker than the volunteers do them.

[Mike Todd]

On 15/08/2023 at 13:20, Naughty Cal said:

Not sure. But even on public use those locks can fill a damn sight quicker than the volunteers do them.

Time from start to finish I can understand but filling? What extra are you putting in to the chamber, if I dare ask?

 

How can anyone alter the rate of fill, boater,  vollie or staff?

[Momac]

 

The boater operated controls fitted at Nether are quite restrictive as they let you open a paddle so far then you have to wait . The system was changed a couple of years ago in a response to abuse causing frequent damage to hydraulics.

I would say the lock keeper has greater flexibility over the controls  but as I have not used the lock keepers controls I don't know that for sure.

 

Its always going to be easier and quicker if a lock keeper is on duty compared to doing it yourself.  If there is a lock  keeper on and there has been vhf contact the chances are the lock will be ready for you .  Or if the lock is in use at least you know that when you arrive .

[BoatinglifeupNorth]

28 minutes ago, Mike Todd said:

Time from start to finish I can understand but filling? What extra are you putting in to the chamber, if I dare ask?

 

How can anyone alter the rate of fill, boater,  vollie or staff?

What I've seen when the Tanker goes through the large electric locks, the operative in the tower opens the sluices a lot quicker to save time, non of the controlled stages when done from the keyed outside console. There must be an override system to raise the sluices by finger button faster or slower.  Maybe they are more cautious on the Trent locks and raise them slower when manned.

[Momac]

32 minutes ago, BoatinglifeupNorth said:

  Maybe they are more cautious on the Trent locks and raise them slower when manned.

If you are the only boat in and  keep to the back of the lock and have ropes on bow and stern  the lock keeper can let it rip faster. 

[BoatinglifeupNorth]

7 minutes ago, MartynG said:

If you are the only boat in and  keep to the back of the lock and have ropes on bow and stern  the lock keeper can let it rip faster. 

I’ve never looked for them on the outside consoles on the Trent big locks, do they have an override square key housing on the side. The ones where the Tanker runs has what I call a Castle key square on the side, apparently it will override the staged sluice rise and open the sluices full straight away. These were used by the larger commercial boats when they went through the locks to save time. Maybe the Trent locks aren’t fitted with anything like this, as no commercials running that way.

Edited August 16, 2023 by BoatinglifeupNorth

[wandering]

16 minutes ago, MartynG said:

If you are the only boat in and  keep to the back of the lock and have ropes on bow and stern  the lock keeper can let it rip faster. 

Yeah, when with others we go quite slow up and down the locks, today I was alone and the rush of water coming out the locks was immense. Quite enjoyed the thrill. 

1 hour ago, MartynG said:

 

The boater operated controls fitted at Nether are quite restrictive as they let you open a paddle so far then you have to wait . The system was changed a couple of years ago in a response to abuse causing frequent damage to hydraulics.

I would say the lock keeper has greater flexibility over the controls  but as I have not used the lock keepers controls I don't know that for sure.

 

Its always going to be easier and quicker if a lock keeper is on duty compared to doing it yourself.  If there is a lock  keeper on and there has been vhf contact the chances are the lock will be ready for you .  Or if the lock is in use at least you know that when you arrive .

Yes lockie confirmed today that the controls in their little huts are much more forgiving and let you go a bit wild with them versus public controls. 

[Iain_S]

Some years ago we went through Cromwell when the river was pretty busy. There were so many boats that the full chamber was used. Lockie obviously thought, "lock twice the usual size, so need to let water in twice as fast."

It was quite exciting, and did show up the inadvisability of using just a centre line to secure a narrowboat!

[LadyG]

2 hours ago, Iain_S said:

Some years ago we went through Cromwell when the river was pretty busy. There were so many boats that the full chamber was used. Lockie obviously thought, "lock twice the usual size, so need to let water in twice as fast."

It was quite exciting, and did show up the inadvisability of using just a centre line to secure a narrowboat!

I've done a transit through the Crinan Canal on several occasions, but yachts have proper strong points, blocks, ropes and strong crew, so removed from an OAP hanging on to a centreline at the wrong angle and with no purchase. Hanging on to a bit of rope attached to a seventeen tonne boat is not the same.

[haggis]

Cromwell lock is a lot bigger than any on the Crinan ! You could probably  get 3 narrow boats side by side and at least 4 end to end when the full length is being used. It wasn't us holding a boat on just the centre line ( with the guy standing on the roof !!) But I had great difficulty holding the bow rope to keep the boat from swinging out as the water coming into the lock was just beside our boat. The lock is usually operated quite gently but not in this case ! 

[Jon57]

4 hours ago, Iain_S said:

Some years ago we went through Cromwell when the river was pretty busy. There were so many boats that the full chamber was used. Lockie obviously thought, "lock twice the usual size, so need to let water in twice as fast."

It was quite exciting, and did show up the inadvisability of using just a centre line to secure a narrowboat!

Same happened to us. The other half couldn't hold the bow line. Had to blow the horn to alert the lockie before we crashed into a plastic cruiser. They weren't very pleased to say the least. 😕

[Momac]

It is possible to  put your rope around the slider and  back to a cleat on your boat . Not tied off necessarily but taken around the cleat sufficiently such that the strain is taken by the rope and not by your arms. Just keep an eye on the rope around the slider to see it isn't snagged..

 

 

[haggis]

6 minutes ago, MartynG said:

It is possible to  put your rope around the slider and  back to a cleat on your boat . Not tied off necessarily but taken around the cleat sufficiently such that the strain is taken by the rope and not by your arms. Just keep an eye on the rope around the slider to see it isn't snagged..

 

 

Yes, I would have done that if I had realised that the lock was going to be filled so quickly 😄.  Now, I tend to do that as a matter of course in operated locks. Not going to have my arms pulled out of my sockets twice ! 

Edited August 17, 2023 by haggis

[TheBiscuits]

5 minutes ago, MartynG said:

It is possible to  put your rope around the slider and  back to a cleat on your boat . Not tied off necessarily but taken around the cleat sufficiently such that the strain is taken by the rope and not by your arms. Just keep an eye on the rope around the slider to see it isn't snagged..

 

 

 

1 minute ago, haggis said:

Yes, I would have done that if I had realised that the lock was going to be filled so quickly 😄.  Now, I tend to do that as a matter of course in operated locks. Not going to have my arms pulled out of my dockets twice ! 

 

It always irritates me when I see people stood next to a perfectly good bollard or ring struggling to hold their boat on a line.  Pick a windy day near a lock and you'll see nearly all boaters do this. 

 

I get odd looks when I stick a turn round a bollard and stand there holding the line with my thumb and one finger for long enough to prove the point before tying up and wandering up to the lock to sort out the chaos help the other boaters.

[IanD]

1 hour ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

It always irritates me when I see people stood next to a perfectly good bollard or ring struggling to hold their boat on a line.  Pick a windy day near a lock and you'll see nearly all boaters do this. 

 

I get odd looks when I stick a turn round a bollard and stand there holding the line with my thumb and one finger for long enough to prove the point before tying up and wandering up to the lock to sort out the chaos help the other boaters.

 

Don't follow the advice of a well-meaning idiot and put two turns round it "to make it easier to hold" though... 😉

[TheBiscuits]

1 hour ago, IanD said:

 

Don't follow the advice of a well-meaning idiot and put two turns round it "to make it easier to hold" though... 😉

 

Put them the correct way round and they shouldn't bind.  

 

Still need watching though, and I'm aware you nearly came unstuck once when one of your crew was given that advice by the aforementioned idiot.

 

I wouldn't do in a lock without leaving more slack than the maximum possible rise though!