single handed mooring in the wind

[londonron]

when my friend uses her boat in calm waters she is fine.

in high winds or fast flowing waters she is worried that if the current takes the front of the boat out into the stream that she will not be able to hold it.

 

does anyone have any advice for her apart from get onto a canal.

 

i was thinking that she needs advice on diferant ways to tie up to allow her control of front and rear lines at the same time. so she can have the confidence to untie in a slight current and be in her wheelhouse ready to go.

 

it is a 50 foot dutch barge with good rails all round to use,

[howardang]

when my friend uses her boat in calm waters she is fine.

in high winds or fast flowing waters she is worried that if the current takes the front of the boat out into the stream that she will not be able to hold it.

 

does anyone have any advice for her apart from get onto a canal.

 

i was thinking that she needs advice on diferant ways to tie up to allow her control of front and rear lines at the same time. so she can have the confidence to untie in a slight current and be in her wheelhouse ready to go.

 

it is a 50 foot dutch barge with good rails all round to use,

Sorry to sound negative but it is difficult to teach boat handling on a discussion board. Has she got someone who can show her the rudiments on board her boat? Failing that, she should take a course in boat handling - there are many to choose from. However, if she is unsure of how to moor in the conditions you describe , surely she shouldn't be moving the boat in the first place!

 

Howard

[bristol & argo]

when my friend uses her boat in calm waters she is fine.

in high winds or fast flowing waters she is worried that if the current takes the front of the boat out into the stream that she will not be able to hold it.

 

does anyone have any advice for her apart from get onto a canal.

 

i was thinking that she needs advice on diferant ways to tie up to allow her control of front and rear lines at the same time. so she can have the confidence to untie in a slight current and be in her wheelhouse ready to go.

 

it is a 50 foot dutch barge with good rails all round to use,

 

Does she have 'barge style' side bollards or a good strong gunnel level centre fixing to take a short handling line?

 

There is a book about barge handling (i can't remember the details) that explains how to use the engine and various lines to achieve certain results.

 

basically, if you can get the centre handling line fixed ashore (a hook fixed to it is uesfull as it is quick to hook on piling or to a ring or round a bollard back on itself), you can then motor ahead and the boat will pull it'self alongside <thats why it has to be strong and at gunnel level>.

then you get time to set bow and stern lines while the boat holds it'self in.

 

Learning to do this takes ALOT of practice and awareness of what could happen if it starts to go wrong.

 

Simon.

[blackrose]

when my friend uses her boat in calm waters she is fine.

in high winds or fast flowing waters she is worried that if the current takes the front of the boat out into the stream that she will not be able to hold it.

 

does anyone have any advice for her apart from get onto a canal.

 

i was thinking that she needs advice on diferant ways to tie up to allow her control of front and rear lines at the same time. so she can have the confidence to untie in a slight current and be in her wheelhouse ready to go.

 

it is a 50 foot dutch barge with good rails all round to use,

 

My advice is not to take the boat out in high winds or fast flowing waters (unless you happen to be travelling with the tide on a tidal passage and that requires some experience). In the main, narrowboats and barges are underpowered, hydrodynamically inefficient vessels and are not designed to be taken out in adverse conditions. I'm reasonably experienced but I don't take my boat out in the conditions you describe and personally I think it is foolhardy for anyone of limited experience to do so.

 

There is a book about barge handling (i can't remember the details) that explains how to use the engine and various lines to achieve certain results.

 

If it's the one I'm thinking of it's 'A Guide to Motor Barge Handling' by Edward Burrell. Expensive for what it is, but highly recommended.

Edited April 17, 2008 by blackrose

[GSer]

Just my humble opinion, but when singlehanding, I find a "centre" rope fixed at two points approx a third of the boat length apart,very handy. The length is adjusted so that when the centre rope is attached at both ends, the belly of the rope just reaches the stern end of the cabin top.

 

When moving other peoples narrow boats I wonder how they manage without one.

 

Paul

[Liam]

Does she have 'barge style' side bollards or a good strong gunnel level centre fixing to take a short handling line?

 

There is a book about barge handling (i can't remember the details) that explains how to use the engine and various lines to achieve certain results.

 

basically, if you can get the centre handling line fixed ashore (a hook fixed to it is uesfull as it is quick to hook on piling or to a ring or round a bollard back on itself), you can then motor ahead and the boat will pull it'self alongside <thats why it has to be strong and at gunnel level>.

then you get time to set bow and stern lines while the boat holds it'self in.

 

Learning to do this takes ALOT of practice and awareness of what could happen if it starts to go wrong.

 

Simon.

 

A very good tip... I used this a couple of weeks ago, for the first proper time. We have no easy access to our moorings, so to get both car and boat near to each other we take it over to the "other" towpath side where we can load up. As we only stop for 10 minutes there's no point in putting any more than the centre rope on. On this particular day it was very windy, so I came up, in tickover, stepped off and then used the centre rope around a ring to slow the boat, and then finally stop it with it ticking over in ahead gear. It kept the whole boat snug against the side.

 

It also works OK in wide locks whilst sharing... if you're the first in sometimes the person you're sharing with isn't the quickest so you can use this to keep yourself against the lock wall whilst they enter.

 

I for one will definately make more use of this.

[RobinJ]

when my friend uses her boat in calm waters she is fine.

in high winds or fast flowing waters she is worried that if the current takes the front of the boat out into the stream that she will not be able to hold it.

does anyone have any advice for her apart from get onto a canal.

i was thinking that she needs advice on diferant ways to tie up to allow her control of front and rear lines at the same time. so she can have the confidence to untie in a slight current and be in her wheelhouse ready to go.

it is a 50 foot dutch barge with good rails all round to use,

My advice would be not go out in those sorts of conditions on your own!

There should be no major problem with deep water and plenty of manouvring space controlling the boat, but mooring you would need to be clear on what the wind and current are doing (and the wind may be veering).

In situations where the wind is blowing you onto a pontoon or mooring this is a little easier, but if the current and wind is pushing you off it is likely to be extremely hairy and you really need someone at the helm and someone on the bow with the rope!

Technique is to secure the end you can't control first while facing into the current or wind or both.

Can also be expensive in fenders and paint!

[Machpoint005]

Does she have 'barge style' side bollards?

 

Sounds like someone I know!

 

(one arm in the sleeve already)

 

Ian

[BlueStringPudding]

To quote a certain mole, a windy day is God's reason for inventing beer.

 

Leave the boat where it is, shrug your shoulders, and open a tinny.

 

Kev and I live by that rule and we're only on the canal!

 

[saltysplash]

A very good tip... I used this a couple of weeks ago, for the first proper time. We have no easy access to our moorings, so to get both car and boat near to each other we take it over to the "other" towpath side where we can load up. As we only stop for 10 minutes there's no point in putting any more than the centre rope on. On this particular day it was very windy, so I came up, in tickover, stepped off and then used the centre rope around a ring to slow the boat, and then finally stop it with it ticking over in ahead gear. It kept the whole boat snug against the side.

 

It also works OK in wide locks whilst sharing... if you're the first in sometimes the person you're sharing with isn't the quickest so you can use this to keep yourself against the lock wall whilst they enter.

 

I for one will definately make more use of this.

 

This is a very simple and easy manouvre. Helps if you have Cleats at gunnel level of course but we used it evrytime we came into moor against our pontoon on the Medway where the tide and wind can do very odd things sometimes.

 

Get that centre Spring on first and you drive or reverse onto it. It'll hold the boat there all day (till the tide turns ) allowing you plenty of time to sort out your Bow and Stern lines.

Springs on a centre Cleat would also be very handy to prevent that forward and backward movement when boats pass while your moored up.

 

Not sure how easy it would be to have em retro fitted but i am toying with the idea

[PaulG]

when my friend uses her boat in calm waters she is fine.

in high winds or fast flowing waters she is worried that if the current takes the front of the boat out into the stream that she will not be able to hold it.

 

does anyone have any advice for her apart from get onto a canal.

 

i was thinking that she needs advice on diferant ways to tie up to allow her control of front and rear lines at the same time. so she can have the confidence to untie in a slight current and be in her wheelhouse ready to go.

 

it is a 50 foot dutch barge with good rails all round to use,

My advice to your friend would be not to singlehand in these conditions unless she has to.

 

 

I took this picture as we passed through Cadbury lock on the Upper Avon in July last year when there was a bit of "fresh" in the river. The skipper in the narrowboat was singlehanded and the current swung the bows of the boat out into the stream and started to capsize it.

 

He got his hand badly crushed trying to get his mooring line off the bollard and ended up in Coventry hospital. The boat, as you can see, sank anyway.

[Chris Pink]

The skipper in the narrowboat was singlehanded and the current swung the bows of the boat out into the stream and started to capsize it.

 

Strangely I mentioned the dangers of relying on centre lines attached to the roof for exactly those reasons and got shot down in flames.

 

Life, eh?

 

poor boggert.

[PaulG]

Strangely I mentioned the dangers of relying on centre lines attached to the roof for exactly those reasons and got shot down in flames.

 

Life, eh?

 

poor boggert.

 

I don't think that anyone who uses the rivers regularly (waits for incoming) would have done that, Chris. Bow and stern rope for me, unless I'm on still water.

 

Once you've seen some poor sod's blood all over the lock landing you learn a little more caution.

[Chris Pink]

Bow and stern rope for me, unless I'm on still water.

 

Once you've seen some poor sod's blood all over the lock landing you learn a little more caution.

 

As pointed out earlier in the thread, its the gunnel height of the post that is important, single handed, although you are recommended to moor bows to the stream, taking a stern rope to a mooring bollard whilst facing downstream is a handy procedure in a tight spot as you don't have to move far to do it. Once the upstream end is secure, the other won't go far.

 

and of course the reverse when letting go, downstream end first.

 

Caution is indeed the single-handed watchword, I am always cautious to the point of wussy when on my own.

Edited April 17, 2008 by Chris Pink

[blackrose]

Strangely I mentioned the dangers of relying on centre lines attached to the roof for exactly those reasons and got shot down in flames.

 

I don't think I shot you down in flames Chris, I simply disagreed with you and said that the centre eye on my boat would snap before it capsized (neither of which would be enjoyable outcomes of course). The difference is that the boat in the picture is a narrowboat which will roll and capsize far easier than a 12' widebeam which is what we were talking about in the other thread.

 

Nevertheless, I wouldn't use a centre rope in those conditions anyway, whether it was attached to the roof or at gunwhale height, because if I had any trouble getting it on a bollard I wouldn't be able to hold the boat. I'd step off the boat with a stern rope if going downstream or a bow rope if I was mooring bow upstream.

 

To tell the truth, I doubt I'd even go out single handed in those conditions - I'm what they call a fair weather sailor.

Edited April 17, 2008 by blackrose

[Chickadee]

My advice to your friend would be not to singlehand in these conditions unless she has to.

 

 

I took this picture as we passed through Cadbury lock on the Upper Avon in July last year when there was a bit of "fresh" in the river. The skipper in the narrowboat was singlehanded and the current swung the bows of the boat out into the stream and started to capsize it.

 

He got his hand badly crushed trying to get his mooring line off the bollard and ended up in Coventry hospital. The boat, as you can see, sank anyway.

 

Aghhh why did i have to see that. I was already nervous about doing the river tomrrow now its twice as bad!

I will have a good co pilot but still.

[Chris Pink]

I don't think I shot you down in flames Chris, I simply disagreed with you and said that the centre eye on my boat would snap before it capsized (neither of which would be enjoyable outcomes of course). The difference is that the boat in the picture is a narrowboat which will roll and capsize far easier than a 12' widebeam which is what we were talking about in the other thread.

 

Nevertheless, I wouldn't use a centre rope in those conditions anyway, whether it was attached to the roof or at gunwhale height, because if I had any trouble getting it on a bollard I wouldn't be able to hold the boat. I'd step off the boat with a stern rope if going downstream or a bow rope if I was mooring bow upstream.

 

To tell the truth, I doubt I'd even go out single handed in those conditions - I'm what they call a fair weather sailor.

 

Maybe i exaggerated slightly Mike, "we agreed to differ" if you like, though i still think to rely on a 1" piece of metal snapping before your lowest holes go under is a bit......

 

but your procedure outlined above is exactly right.

 

we agree!! o frabjous day.

 

The message behind the picture above is that these things happen so fast, you use the centre rope without thinking it through, the rope gets too tight to release, the mooring knot jams, by the time you've got a knife or axe the boat is broadside and starting to roll.

 

You should be OK, Chickadee, not much rain about recently, are you going down the Severn? The state of the tide at Gloucester is the only danger, sometimes the springs come over the weir and the river runs fast. Ring Gloucester tell them your ETA and ask.

Edited April 18, 2008 by Chris Pink

[magnetman]

Its worth carrying one of those lock knives with the serrated edge when boating in moving water, they cut through rope very quickly. Also worth learning non jamming hitches like the 'lighterman's hitch' which can (usually) be released under load, although the angle from roof of canal boat to bollard can make a lm-hitch jam.

[Chickadee]

You should be OK, Chickadee, not much rain about recently, are you going down the Severn? The state of the tide at Gloucester is the only danger, sometimes the springs come over the weir and the river runs fast. Ring Gloucester tell them your ETA and ask.

 

Yeah we're off down the Severn. Worcester to Tewksbury today then Tewks to Gloucester tomorrow.

We called Gloucester yesterday and there is no extra water in the river. Next spring/ high tide is the start of May. The only have hour slots on the Gloucester lock so we're hoping we hit it right.

[PaulG]

Yeah we're off down the Severn. Worcester to Tewksbury today then Tewks to Gloucester tomorrow.

We called Gloucester yesterday and there is no extra water in the river. Next spring/ high tide is the start of May. The only have hour slots on the Gloucester lock so we're hoping we hit it right.

 

Don't worry - the Severn's a pussy!

 

We're off down to Gloucester on Sunday, so keep an eye open for "Old Deuteronomy"!

 

They'll give you an information sheet at Upper Lode lock if you haven't done this bit of the river before.

 

As the lock is on restricted times, you may find that there is a queue. You need to call the lock keeper at preset (and well-signposted points) on the approaches to Gloucester, so he will be able to tell you about other traffic and whether it's likely you're going to have to wait.

The important thing is to remember to keep to the left and slow down as you come round the final corner on the approach to the lock. Ideally at this point you should see a pair of open lock gates and a green light!

 

Have a boathook and mooring line ready on the stern in case there's a queue and you need to pick up one of the chains that hang down the wall.

 

There is always a bit of current in this channel, so be prepared to reverse fairly hard to get alongside the wall if you need to. Moor up stern first. Do not use a center line!

 

When you're lining up to enter the lock, keep to the left, as the current tends to run left-to-right across the lock entrance.

 

Now the good bit. The channel down from Upper Parting into Gloucester is without doubt one of the most miserable bits of river that I know. It's in a deep muddy cutting with nothing of even the remotest interest in sight. If you are feeling depressed, don't go there! You don't really approach Gloucester, you sort of "sneak in" through the back door. Apart from passing under a few big road and railway bridges, you'd never know you were approaching a large city.

 

But it's all worthwhile just for the experience in Gloucester lock, when all the old warehouses are gradually revealed in their full glory as the boat rises in the lock. Somehow it always reminds me of way the old cinema organs used to appear, as if by magic. I never tire of it, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

 

Have a good trip!

[PaulG]

You should be OK, Chickadee, not much rain about recently, are you going down the Severn? The state of the tide at Gloucester is the only danger, sometimes the springs come over the weir and the river runs fast. Ring Gloucester tell them your ETA and ask.

 

Sound advice Chris. The problem with spring tides on the Severn is not so much the speed of the water, it's the amount of "debris" than the tide brings up with it. You can expect to encounter forklift pallets, tree trunks, and sometimes even whole trees. I was coming back up from Gloucester last year against the ebb and met 20 feet or so of mooring pontoon coming the other way!

 

On that day, the river was completely blocked at Upper Parting and we had to wait an hour or so in Gloucester lock while the obstruction was cleared and they could let us out.

[blackrose]

i still think to rely on a 1" piece of metal snapping before your lowest holes go under is a bit......

 

Who said it was 1" (thick)?

 

I'm pretty sure the centre eye amost snapped last time I came through Brentford gauging lock which is why I'm not relying on it. Any roll of the boat was imperceptible and my lowest holes are a foot above the waterline.

[Chickadee]

Now the good bit. The channel down from Upper Parting into Gloucester is without doubt one of the most miserable bits of river that I know. It's in a deep muddy cutting with nothing of even the remotest interest in sight. If you are feeling depressed, don't go there! You don't really approach Gloucester, you sort of "sneak in" through the back door. Apart from passing under a few big road and railway bridges, you'd never know you were approaching a large city.

 

But it's all worthwhile just for the experience in Gloucester lock, when all the old warehouses are gradually revealed in their full glory as the boat rises in the lock. Somehow it always reminds me of way the old cinema organs used to appear, as if by magic. I never tire of it, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

 

Have a good trip!

 

Sounds like aproching Gloucester from the road. It isnt the nicest place which ever way you look at it. The only part that i like spending time in is the docks. The buildings are incredible. The town is rubbish. I think the work they are doing on it will improve it so much. It will also mean i can pootle up in my boat for shopping trips.

 

Forgot to say we made it to Tewksbury no problems apart from beeing stupidly cold and windy.

 

I think the Severn made me so nervous cause i just know it as the river that constanly floods and stopped me having water for 16 days last year.

[mykaskin]

 

I took this picture as we passed through Cadbury lock on the Upper Avon in July last year when there was a bit of "fresh" in the river. The skipper in the narrowboat was singlehanded and the current swung the bows of the boat out into the stream and started to capsize it.

 

Would this be the same boat when we passed or another one in the same spot? This was after the big flood of 2007 (Note it was still several feet in flood):

 

 

The answer is to not moor up if you don't need to - I had crew so they could get the lock ready, they rarely help with the boat unless it is impossible to hold it in position.

 

With a middle rope on I've had the boat pulled away from the wall thanks to paddle flow and tipped over the boat, but nowhere near sinking it. If the river is really bad find some slack water (i.e. near the gates), or take bow/stern ropes.

 

Story, and other pics (of Trent, Severn, and Avon in flood) here:

 

http://shoestring.zapto.org/pics/Hols2007/index.html

 

Cheers,

 

Mike

 

ps. Re: the original question, if you have to ask about single handing a boat in bad conditions - don't do it!!

Edited May 10, 2008 by mykaskin

[PaulG]

Would this be the same boat when we passed or another one in the same spot? This was after the big flood of 2007 (Note it was still several feet in flood):

 

Cheers,

 

Mike

Yes. I'd say it's the same boat.

 

I took the picture on 9th July, and the river had been in flood up to the 7th. There were a couple of LANT/UANT maintenance guys working at the lock, and they were wondering how they would be able to refloat it. It certainly looked like a very difficult job.

 

Lokks like they didn't manage to recover it before the river flooded again.

 

Cheers

 

Paul