Harecastle tunnel - booking only passages

[Chris T]

Looks like booking with 48 hours notice is now required for all passages  rather than being able to turn up unbooked in the morning (in the Summer):

 

https://mandrillapp.com/track/click/10513099/canalrivertrust.org.uk?p=

[Rob-M]

I wonder how they will handle boaters that get delayed and arrive a day late or make quicker progress and arrive early.  I've previously booked a late slot but arrived before 12:00 and gone through.

[Arthur Marshall]

That's ridiculous.

[Alan de Enfield]

2 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

That's ridiculous.

 

 

 

[Arthur Marshall]

I can't see this working. The Hire fleets set off in the morning from the Macc, so they'd reach the tunnel the next day.

I presume it's to deter unlicenced boats, as they won't be able to access the online booking system. How to make life worse by water.

[PeterScott]

3 hours ago, Rob-M said:

I wonder how they will handle boaters that ... make quicker progress and arrive early.  I've previously booked a late slot but arrived before 12:00 and gone through.

"If you turn up earlier than your booked slot, the Tunnel Keepers will do their best to get you through.": from the C&RT notice linked above.

[Ronaldo47]

I could only access their site by putting my smart phone into landscape mode. It seems to say that a passage cannot be guaranteed unless you pre-book. It does say that the only way you can pre-book is on-line.

It does not say that you can't go through unless you pre-book.

 

Screenshot attached. 

 

Edited January 29 by Ronaldo47
Typos

[Rob-M]

If there are no bookings I wonder if there will be anyone there.  Last year when we arrived at 12:00 for a 14:00 booking the volunteer said we were the only booking so they could go home once we were through.

[Chris T]

This was my assumption, so if you turn up early, there may not even be anyone there. The tunnel keepers have previously warned us against mooring overnight at the Kidsgrove end too.

 

A few years ago we had to stay overnight at the Southern end because I had booked our passage for the following day by mistake. We arrived for the last afternoon slot as a boat had just gone into the tunnel and the tunnel keeper waved us on, thinking that we were another boat that had booked. Once he took our details and realised our booking was for the following day, he wouldn't let us go through and made us wait for the following morning. This was just after 'lockdown' and when I asked why we had to wait, he just said 'because of Covid'....

[Rob-M]

If I go through this year I might try making  bookings on different days in case I arrive sooner or later than expected, not sure if the booking system will let you do that.  If not I'll book the last slot of a day so I know there will still be someone there.

[Chris T]

2 pm seems very early for the last Southbound passage in Summer with longer days too.  Assuming they stick to the maximum 8 boats per passage, I would expect some slots to get fully booked. 

[gatekrash]

Last time we went through (summer just gone) we were the only boat booked through for the afternoon. When we arrived there were 2 hire boats moored up waiting to go through who hadn't booked. Despite the tunnel keeper being there waiting for us they'd been told that even though there was capacity, if we hadn't arrived for our booking they wouldn't have been allowed through and would have had to wait until 'free flow' the next day.

Edited January 29 by gatekrash
Autocorrect....

[David Mack]

11 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I can't see this working. The Hire fleets set off in the morning from the Macc, so they'd reach the tunnel the next day.

Do the Hire companies ask hirers which way they are going and book passage in advance?

[rogher]

I imagine that the booking system is to enable them to manage their time better. If you turn up unannounced whilst they're there, I'd expect them to allow you to join the queue. When no-one's booked, they can go home early, get up later, or tend to other things. Seems reasonable to me, especially out of season.

[Ken X]

1 hour ago, David Mack said:

Do the Hire companies ask hirers which way they are going and book passage in advance?

If I was planning to use the tunnel I would certainly be having a chat with the hire company re booking. 

 

I have arranged river or canal licenses with hire companies in the past, pre visit, and always found them to be very helpful in sorting out any necessary paperwork. 

[Arthur Marshall]

1 hour ago, rogher said:

I imagine that the booking system is to enable them to manage their time better. If you turn up unannounced whilst they're there, I'd expect them to allow you to join the queue. When no-one's booked, they can go home early, get up later, or tend to other things. Seems reasonable to me, especially out of season.

Yes, but this isn't out of season. It's been that way over winter for years, this is including summer. And there have been a few jobsworths there who have enjoyed throwing their weight about - one refused to allow you through with a damped but lit stove, one tried to tell me my horn wasn't loud enough.

[David Mack]

41 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

one refused to allow you through with a damped but lit stove,

What do the steamers do?

[Victor Vectis]

1 hour ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Yes, but this isn't out of season. It's been that way over winter for years, this is including summer. And there have been a few jobsworths there who have enjoyed throwing their weight about - one refused to allow you through with a damped but lit stove, one tried to tell me my horn wasn't loud enough.

Did you offer your trombone as an alternative?

😃

[Jen-in-Wellies]

9 minutes ago, Victor Vectis said:

Did you offer your trombone as an alternative?

😃

They are unhappy with blown horns. When I first went there, I had one and no electric horn fitted to the boat. They were worried that if overcome with fumes, I wouldn't have the puff to blow it. They lent me a compressed gas air horn for the passage. 

[IanD]

12 minutes ago, Victor Vectis said:

Did you offer your trombone as an alternative?

😃

Well they didn't like me playing a duet on the melodeon with a trumpet player on the boat behind*** a few years ago, when we got out he ranted on about being "unable to hear a horn in an emergency" -- completely ignoring the fact that we'd have heard it and stopped playing, plus we were the only two boats going through in that tranche... 😉

 

*** which was challenging to say the least, given the delay plus a reverberation time of several seconds... 😞 

Edited January 29 by IanD

[DShK]

And I was called a conspiracy theorist for suggesting, during the summer drought, that CRT may be experimenting with requiring bookings and "assistance"  to navigate the canals....

[Arthur Marshall]

It's not really a problem for me, as I always stop at the Lake before doing the tunnel next day going home, and my first outward journey just gets me to the bottom of the Macc, but this insistence on 48 hours notice, when stoppages are random and make planning impossible, is impractical for anyone trying to do a planned cruise. Yet it seems to be the coming thing for anything operated by CRT, though I suppose that, as most of these are currently bust anyway, it won't make a lot of teal difference.

Anyone sensible, planning (say) a summer fortnight's cruise, sets aside at least three weeks for it. Me, I plan a cruise at 4 hours chugging a day, check the time on CanalPlan, and then double it.

[Alway Swilby]

Booking 48 hrs in advance does spoil the spontaneity of boating. You know... when you wake up and it's raining or windy and you think "Nah, we'll stay put today and do the tunnel tomorrow". 

[cuthound]

5 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

They are unhappy with blown horns. When I first went there, I had one and no electric horn fitted to the boat. They were worried that if overcome with fumes, I wouldn't have the puff to blow it. They lent me a compressed gas air horn for the passage. 

 

I have a compressed air horn on DQ.

 

Once I blew it at a bridge on a blind bend and not hearing a reply, slowly proceeded.

 

There was a narrowboat waiting patiently for me, as I passed the steerer, he said "Oh it's a narrowboat, I was expecting an express train!"

 

[Cheese]

What is it about Harecastle compared to other tunnels that makes it need a booking system and vollies at all?  The current system seems more Victorian than 21st century.  

 

Couldn't a one-way system be controlled by lights?  Or a schedule that says you can enter only behind 00 and 15 minutes past every odd hour northbound  and even hour southbound? With the ventilation fans running on a sensor? And a profile gauge at each end.

 

Or even install low-light cctv and microphones that could be checked before entry to see if anyone is stuck.