winding hole etiquette

[lindylou]

Know this reaches a large and learned boating fraternity so all comments are valued. Is it a known practice if you have the luxury of a crew member, for them to be on the towpath with a line to assist winding in tight/windy conditions? Does/has anyone else used this method?

[carlt]

Know this reaches a large and learned boating fraternity so all comments are valued. Is it a known practice if you have the luxury of a crew member, for them to be on the towpath with a line to assist winding in tight/windy conditions? Does/has anyone else used this method?

I've never used it but if it helps...why not?

[Lady Muck]

Sometimes it's easier to get off and use ropes to pull the boat around, yes, we do it sometimes, especially near our mooring because its a tight fit. Don't think theres any etiquette to it, just do what's easiest.

[RichardH]

I have used this method in extreme conditions (mainly when it is a tight fit) The downside is the risk of a rope snagging on the prop.

 

In severe wind I would probably kiss the bank with my bow and slowly pivot round.

 

RH

[Nightwatch]

I love the word "pivot" It's one that describes what it means.

 

Martyn

[kerching]

I love the word "pivot" It's one that describes what it means.

 

Martyn

 

I have ofter thought that about hinge as in door hinge. They couldn,t be called anything else.

[RLWP]

Spigot.

 

Richard

 

nuff said!

[BlueStringPudding]

Know this reaches a large and learned boating fraternity so all comments are valued. Is it a known practice if you have the luxury of a crew member, for them to be on the towpath with a line to assist winding in tight/windy conditions? Does/has anyone else used this method?

 

Sometimes. Although I have Kev's ego to get over, which insists he does it on his own despite wind, despite undredged snug winding holes and despite boat traffic trying to pass. That means we frequently f*ck it up because he won't let me help. Got wedged in three times at Wootton Wawen on Easter Sunday and ended up taking the boat all the way to Preston Bagot winding hole instead, where we promptly ran aground.

 

All because he wouldn't let me step off the front and pull the boat round with a rope while the engine helped propel us round at the other end. Worked a treat at Napton and at Leamington last year.

 

Men, love 'em but couldn't punch a whole one.

Edited April 21, 2009 by BlueStringPudding

[Liam]

If we're actually cruising or the engine is running at the time then I always "butty up" to the bank, and power round using the power of the engine.

 

Or, if we're just wanting to turn the boat around to do a job like painting or whatever and we want to get to the other side, we just either hold the bow or stern rope and let the wind blow it round.

[FadeToScarlet]

This is where living on a river is great- no need to look for winding holes, I can turn practically anywhere. Undo the upstream rope, pull the downstream end around, and robert appears to be your father's brother!

[Proper Job]

This is where living on a river is great- no need to look for winding holes, I can turn practically anywhere. Undo the upstream rope, pull the downstream end around, and robert appears to be your father's brother!

Try telling that to Bones. She's the only person who can find a 52' gap to turn a 54' boat

[magpie patrick]

Know this reaches a large and learned boating fraternity so all comments are valued. Is it a known practice if you have the luxury of a crew member, for them to be on the towpath with a line to assist winding in tight/windy conditions? Does/has anyone else used this method?

 

done it once or twice, in a cross wind where the stern just won't come round, get a crew member off and get them to assist in pulling the back round. . Assuming you have two dollies at the stern, put the rope around the one furthest from the bank when you start the manouvre, you get more pull that way. It is possible (and with a butty, necessary) to turn a boat this way without using the engine at all.

 

I've also used the bow in approach, but only when I know it won't become irretrievably stemmed up. Most succesful was at the incinerator just above Red Doles Lock on the Huddersfield Broad Canal, I was on a canal for fifty seven footers in a sixty two foot narrow boat, and had already failed at one winding hole, becoming rather stuck. The bow went into the hollow of the steel piling, and round she came.

 

I agree with Fade to Scarlet, one advantage of the G and S canal is you can turn anywhere, and I once turned eight times in twenty four hours on the Weaver. It's also fun in the lock at Preston Docks, you can turn roun in it!

[FadeToScarlet]

Try telling that to Bones. She's the only person who can find a 52' gap to turn a 54' boat

 

That can soon be fixed- open the throttle and drive, full speed ahead, into a solid concrete wharf etc. The boat might well become 52' long, and thus able to turn in the gap! But the concertina'ed middle bit might prove slightly unsightly...

[alan_fincher]

That can soon be fixed- open the throttle and drive, full speed ahead, into a solid concrete wharf etc. The boat might well become 52' long, and thus able to turn in the gap! But the concertina'ed middle bit might prove slightly unsightly...

The aim of such a technique, if executed correctly, should always be to widen the canal, never to shorten the boat.

 

Back to the original question.

 

I have seen the crew of quite one of the smartest Josher pairs I have ever seen, set someone down on the bank, to hold the bows, whilst the back end was motored round. I can see no issue with it.

 

Do what works best for the circumstances, and if ropes makes it easier, then use them. Why wouldn't you ?

[Yoda]

That can soon be fixed- open the throttle and drive, full speed ahead, into a solid concrete wharf etc. The boat might well become 52' long, and thus able to turn in the gap! But the concertina'ed middle bit might prove slightly unsightly...

 

I like the way you have a refreshingly new way of dealing with a situation.

[Dekazer]

I can't see that this is a matter of etiquette so much as personal pride I'm with Alan - whatever's easiest at the time!

[magpie patrick]

I have seen the crew of quite one of the smartest Josher pairs I have ever seen, set someone down on the bank, to hold the bows, whilst the back end was motored round. I can see no issue with it.

 

On the Peak Forest and the Macc I can, you can't get someone on the bank on the offside, and if you put the bow on the towpath side, you get the prop into the grunge and debris on the far bank.

 

I'm missing the narrow canals, but when we get back onto them (early May, worcester and birmingham) I suspect I shall miss having twenty foot of water under us...

[Night Hawk]

To be honest you do what it takes to get your craft pointing the other way....Every now and again I like to kick the crew off and use ropes just to see if we can do it....sometimes we can use the wind to our advantage if it's blowing...occasionally we can pole the boat around....cause the Llangollen is sooooo shallow!

[baggy]

who needs a rope...

 

http://markbaigent.smugmug.com/gallery/796...516956912_KDF5z

 

http://markbaigent.smugmug.com/gallery/796...516956667_M2M8y

Edited April 21, 2009 by baggy

[MoominPapa]

On the Middle Level, there's normally lots of water space, no easy access to the bank, and a howling gale blowing. Under those circumstances, the best method is to nose the bow gently into the bank and then motor around it. When the stern is as close to the bank as you dare, go backwards to pull the bow out of the reeds and then motor away forwards. The last bit can be dodgy if it's really windy and the wind is trying to keep the bows _in_ the reeds. Try and pick a pivot point that avoids this.

 

But the absolute best method is to arrive early, wind and then wait to watch the following boat make a complete hash of it, eh PB?

 

 

MP.

[jake_crew]

I've been making a hash of it for 35+ years, and am never afraid to use a rope.

 

Is this a good opportunity for me repeat my mantra of

 

1) ALL crew members (5 yo and over) learning how to coil and throw a rope, before the trip starts,

2) Ropes being left coiled ready to throw.

 

Yes it is

[Theo]

If we're actually cruising or the engine is running at the time then I always "butty up" to the bank, and power round using the power of the engine.

 

Or, if we're just wanting to turn the boat around to do a job like painting or whatever and we want to get to the other side, we just either hold the bow or stern rope and let the wind blow it round.

 

Or, indeed, the current. Ther is lots of room above the river loc at Tewkesbury to turn our 60 footer around for painitng on the other side without having to start the engine.

 

N

[Machpoint005]

Nose in the winding 'ole, engine to push the rsend round. That's what the engine is for. But by all means use the wind and/or a rope ... especially if the wind is against you.

 

If you put the rsend into the winding 'ole, you will either get stuck or find a supermarket trolley* wrapped round your prop.

 

 

 

*or other large foreign object

[David Schweizer]

I regularly use a stern rope to pull the boat round in a winding hole, particularly if it is a bit tight. Where I used to moor there was no official winding hole, but the nearby boatyard owner was quite happy for me to turn in the yard entrance on a rope. He was less obliging to boaters who bashed backwards and forwards on the engine throwing a silt bank up into the yard entrance, which he then had to dredge out.

[lindylou]

Didn't expect replies to come in so quickly, thankyou. This tells me that I am not the only one who uses or has used this method of winding (or is it called ropping). I need to find somewhere this procedure is mentioned in writing, being a bit cagey with why I need this info, if you come up with something all will be revealed. Please keep posting replies to original question if you have used a rope before as this will still be helpful.