Fenders

[gaggle]

 

stuck solid this fella was using plenty of revs trying to reverse out of the lock , as he decided the best way to try and rock the boat free was to stand on the revving outboard motor above a whizzing propeller i went and asked a passing boat to tow him out before he ended up shredding himself.

 

 

Pulled free from the lock by a passing narrowboat his engine decides it will not play anymore and he sets about it with toolbox , and we are free to descend the locks behind the first boat in the waiting line that has rammed into the top gate above the stuck boat because its stuck in forward gear on high revs , the husband had stepped off the boat to do the lock and the wife ,stuck on the boat moving fast towards the gate could only wail and scream "help me alex".

as my name is alex i began to wonder if i had dropped a tab of acid approaching this lock because so much unbelievable activity was taking place above it , in it and below it.

Someone said the plastic boat had been bought cheaply at a bargain price because it was two inches to wide.

Edited April 18, 2009 by gaggle

[Tiny]

Actually the lock above this one is the one that can trap certain full length boats as its width varies. I have watched the old keeper cut the fenders off boats in the bottom lock of Hurleston (shown) when boats go in with them down and jam.

 

On the Llangollen it is best not to have any fenders down in any of the locks.

 

That said I have a heck of a lot of different fenders for different places, locks and so on. In general we use stick fenders in wide locks and, if alone add some big blue inflatables to cushion the movement as we bang around. In certain narrow locks when in we use flat fenders as the walls are wider than 7' 6" but uneven. Overnigh mooring up is on the big blues - mostly.

 

Of course if you really want to see fenders fetishists visit the fens. Some of the larger boats there have racks of them with a crew member rushing round changing from working ones to posh marina ones as they arrive home. On a lesser boat we watched them spend over a hour washing every mark off their fenders on one side, then turning the boat round and washing those on the other! They are also the fastest fender droppers in the country. Approach a rally and say you want water (as we did) and, seeing our metal monster approaching, upwards of 50 fenders flew out on our side. They even provided hose and worked the push tap to get us away quickly and during the rewatering we were held away from them by countless hands.

 

 

 

Edited April 18, 2009 by Tiny

[Albion]

Liam boasted:

 

I don't understand all of this contact sport business. Personally I pride myself on entering a lock, passing through a bridge, mooring up and passing other boaters without a single touch. I think "contact sport" is just an excuse for people when they muck stuff up.

 

Don't get me wrong, we all muck stuff up (like the time I hit the tree on the Shroppie and lost our chimney) but don't use the "contact sport" thing as an excuse

 

 

 

'Contact sport' means that rubbing strakes are there to be used not that you smash into everyone and everything going.

Roger