Getting off a lee bank, against the wind

[Francis Herne]

9 hours ago, magnetman said:

There is a risk of prop fouling when reversing and springing off a starn line if the water is shallow. clickety click on the prop. 

 

Also if it is excessively windy and you are reversing the rudder can be put at risk depending on construction of the canal bank. 

 

It does work but if the Boat is light, which it seems to be, it could do unpredictable things. 

 

I would look after the rudder and starn gear on an aluminium narrow Boat very carefully.

 

I would find it preferable on balance with this particular Boat to get the back end into deep water as early as possible rather than encouraging it to get into shallower water. 

Also I think the Sea Otters have square starns not rounded anyway.

 

I have a conventionally-steered Sea Otter.

 

None of that is a particular concern in my experience - being very shallow-drafted with a tiny prop, almost all water on the towpath side is "deep" (excepting the Shroppie shelf in places) and picking up debris from the bottom (as opposed to floating weed/debris, all too often) is rare. The boat overall is so light there's not much momentum at low speeds to cause damage.

 

For whatever reason getting off the bank has never been a memorable issue for me. Push the bow off, walk back, go. I suppose the centre cockpit adds a few seconds' more shuffling to get to the helm.

Once I think I cheated and used the bow thruster. Yes, they built a 4-ton 30ft boat with a bow thruster - I don't know why and pretty much never use it...

 

Beware of sudden crosswinds in built-up areas. I've got a bit of a dent in the hull side from being blown at quite an alarming speed sideways onto the Sherborne Wharf footbridge. Slow past moored boats toward the bridge hole, suddenly boat going laterally (with no change in heading) faster than ahead. I put more power on but it was too late to miss the corner.

 

I hope the grapnel idea is a joke...

Edited December 18, 2023 by Francis Herne

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, Mike Todd said:

Go into fwd gear and turn the steering to push the stern out into the deeper water.  Then go hard astern with opposite or straight steering until bow is free. You often have to take tte stern much further out than you first think. On most canas no ropes are needed as the reeds hold the bow enough to turn out.

In my experience of strong crosswinds, it can work out fine up to that point. But as soon as you take off the astern power and go to forward, the boat is blown back onto the bank before you have built up enough forward speed to be able to steer against the wind.

[Rob-M]

10 minutes ago, David Mack said:

In my experience of strong crosswinds, it can work out fine up to that point. But as soon as you take off the astern power and go to forward, the boat is blown back onto the bank before you have built up enough forward speed to be able to steer against the wind.

I've had that issue when single handing and getting caught by the wind.  Eventually I used the reverse back in to tree lined section to get shelter from the wind and was then able to off the bank.

[magnetman]

I once got pinned against the bank above Oxford on the Thames. 57x12ft barge. Bit awkward. I ended up reversing away and swinging the Boat to point the opposite direction, motored 5 minutes down the River then turned again in a better spot and came past the windy bit under power a few minutes later. 

 

Might be an option with a short Boat if the canal is wide enough to turn in. 

Edited December 18, 2023 by magnetman

[Mike Todd]

6 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

I very much doubt that will work on steel or concrete piling, especially if it has a waling bar. I think a number of potential solutions are needed, depending upon the situations.

Hence my proviso. OTOH, there are few times when we come across such smooth banks . . . 

4 hours ago, David Mack said:

In my experience of strong crosswinds, it can work out fine up to that point. But as soon as you take off the astern power and go to forward, the boat is blown back onto the bank before you have built up enough forward speed to be able to steer against the wind.

That was why I noted that at times you have to take the stern out much further than you imagine necessary.

Edited December 18, 2023 by Mike Todd

[Mad Harold]

Grab the roof rail fairly well forrard, shove of with your foot, scuttle quickly to the helm.

[IanD]

Just now, Mad Harold said:

Grab the roof rail fairly well forrard, shove of with your foot, scuttle quickly to the helm.

Or grab the roof rail fairly well forrard, shove off with your foot, fall into the water as the boat moves away and then get squashed by the boat as it blows back towards the bank... 😞

[Dav and Pen]

With a clothed up camping boat I got pinned against the side above Shardlow and as the OP is finding out I couldn’t get the bows off far enough before getting back to steer away. The solution was to get the passengers (scouts)to push the boat shaft on the bow stud and walk along until we came to a bridge.

The reversing with a stern spring was the favoured method of getting the bow of the Dutch barge out of tight moorings and as we used a loop over the bollard it was easy to flick the rope off, if it was a shallow side we drove the bows against a forward spring until the stern was out in the stream clear of any other boats .

[magnetman]

On 17/12/2023 at 15:42, magnetman said:

 I'm pretty sure pieces of wood were used to get the bows out on horse drawn Boats if pinned.

 

Basically a suitable bough with a fork in it from a nearby tree with the fork end lashed to the front mooring point and the other end jammed in the canal bank at an angle going forwards from the Boat.

 

Then you go forwards and the wooden bough levers the front of the Boat away from the side. 

 

This could be particularly good fun if a stout sapling were used. One could get a sort of pole-vault effect where the Boat is catapulted away from the side. 

 

Like a tiger trap. 

[David Mack]

2 hours ago, Mike Todd said:

 

That was why I noted that at times you have to take the stern out much further than you imagine necessary.

And that only works if the stern doesn't reach the other bank of the canal first.

[Mad Harold]

7 hours ago, IanD said:

Or grab the roof rail fairly well forrard, shove off with your foot, fall into the water as the boat moves away and then get squashed by the boat as it blows back towards the bank... 😞

No Ian, you don' t let go of the roof rail untill you are safely ensconsed on the gunwale.

Always keep one hand on the rail moving your other hand along while sidestepping back along the gunwale.

Have used this method for five years or so and have not got my feet wet yet.

I am reasonably fit for my age, so that helps.

My boat had proper tubular roof rails that you could get a good grip on.Not those silly ledges.

Edited December 18, 2023 by Mad Harold

[Bacchus]

A good friend of mine got pinned on in his sailboat at Gunwharf Quay one New Year’s. He needed to get away and luckily saw four divers on a RIB.

“I need a tug,” he hollered across to them, and before the New Year was twelve hours old, he’d been pulled off by four men wearing rubber.

 

A salutary lesson. You never know what’s around the corner.

 

[ditchcrawler]

I have only been in this situation once on the Thames and there was nothing substantial to push off so I just stayed

[IanD]

11 hours ago, Mad Harold said:

No Ian, you don' t let go of the roof rail untill you are safely ensconsed on the gunwale.

Always keep one hand on the rail moving your other hand along while sidestepping back along the gunwale.

Have used this method for five years or so and have not got my feet wet yet.

I am reasonably fit for my age, so that helps.

My boat had proper tubular roof rails that you could get a good grip on.Not those silly ledges.

It *was* a joke, you know? 😉

[Willonaboat]

Being as we've now established the boat is light weight, shallow draught and (from the photo posted) relatively high windage - the worst of everything in windy conditions, I would definitely stay put until the wind abated. Otherwise despite my exceptional boat handling skills ( 🤣 ) there's a reasonable chance of finding oneself in the embarrasing predicament of being inadvertantly pinned to the bank again (or worse, another boat). And you just know there would be an audience to watch. Avoid the embarrassment, put the kettle on and stay put.

 

[max campbell]

Thanks all for your input, nice to see such a variety of responses.

 

She is light, but with the water ballast weighs about 4.5T, which is more than twice as much as our last boat! She's far more directionally stable and carries more way than I'm used to.

 

Springing the stern out and reversing is almost a non-starter, as the bow gets blown onto the shore. I'm also very aware of nursing the stern gear, and the consequent dangers of spring the bow out. When we bought the boat a couple of months ago, we knew that there was no effective cutlass bearing, and that the prop and the rudder were bent! We didn't know it also needed a new shaft (hence wear to the cutlass bearing) and gearbox! - all of which is now satisfactorily fettled, c/o Calcutt boats.

 

Poling, or a line to the weather shore if circumstances permit, seem favourite, but a will bear the grapnel in mind - it might pull out using the doubled line.😜

[Scholar Gypsy]

On 18/12/2023 at 09:17, magnetman said:

A cable tie of the right strength could work as the weak link. 

 

 

Maybe a great big fan on the front of the Boat mounted athwartships would help. 

 

Its a terrible thought but this little Sea Otter wants a bowprop. 

 

Facebook (I think) sent me an item recently about one of the early US aircraft carriers.  They had a load of planes lined up and tied down, facing to starboard (on the bows) and to port (on the stern), and then ran the engines and the boat span nicely. Of course I can't find it now, when it might be useful.

My only other tip - which worked for me a few years when pinned in Whitttlesea, was to push the bows over to the other bank, and get the bow stuck in the helpfully provided gloopy shallows. The boat stayed put for long enough for me to get to the other end and then motor off.  An occasion where shallow water is helpful! A cable tie around a convenient tree might have worked....