Narrow Boat Trust Summer Coal Run 2009

[bargeeboy]

..... nor would we throw a wet line down into the cabin. Apart from the mess there are too many things like coal box and stove doors for it to catch on. I too would coil it neatly and put it on the butty's fore end as that came alongside,

 

I do however admit to putting my 'coil' if not used full length on the step or coal box if ice on the water to keep line subtle

[twbm]

Joshing about part 2 shows Malcolm on Jaguar picking up on a line and also my self at the very end doing the same with no wet cabins. However I appriciate everyone has there own way of doing things and there is no 'right' way.

 

Was purely an observation that I wouldnt stand for rope thrown in my cabin!

 

Point taken about the wet etc, but dropped neatly on the cabin floor it works remarkably well and so far I've never known it snag on anything. (The ropes a bit of a mess on one pick up in the video, but that's commented on.) For those of us that only do this sort of thing irregularly I've found the hard way that it's important to keep the head up and be looking about - this way of controlling the rope leaves two hands free to do other things.

[GSer]

It was always done that way during the working years, but that was when those who did it were taught the ropes from generation to generation, and all had a healthy respect for the cut, the boats, and the methods of working. Along comes the holiday maker come casual cruiser, and the lack of tuition and intuition began a spate of accidents, and possible accidents with windlasses flying off spindles, and lo and behold - rules and practices changed in favour of gently Bentley. Amongst many today such a practice may be frowned upon, largely due to a certain amount of 'political correctness' which itself has been propounded by BW in an attempt to make things safer, and less likely for litigation claims against their nasty dirty bits of metal taking little Johnny's fingers off.

 

If you want to take that as just one persons opinion, you are quite welcome. It's just me on a 'good' day. There was also a time when blokes walked across scaffold planks when locks were being worked on, with no hard hats and no safety curtain/rails and no Toetectors. I could climb up a tower crane on the outside for the crack, and Motorcyclists wore beret's.

 

Now look what you've started!

 

 

 

I'm not really that concerned re the safety factor of letting paddle gear drop, more interested in the lack of mechanical sympathy shown to equipment that would cost big money to repair (or indeed close the canal) if broken.

 

In the days of working vessels being mostly used in teh process of money making (rather than the more recent 'Hobby Jobs' pretend working boaters) canals were then repaired in double quick time to keep the cash flowing, nowadays tight waterways budgets should perhaps mean some adjustment to traditional ways that might lead to lower maintainance costs?

 

I suppose this asks the question, will dropping the paddles damage the equipment?

 

Paul

[Derek R.]

If I slammed the greenhouse door, chances are something would break.

If I slammed the coal shed door nothing would.

They're built differently.

 

Railway carriage doors were built such that slamming them was the only way to ensure they were closed securely. Such type of stock were even known as 'slam door' stock. Most car doors need closing 'firmly'.

 

The mechanisms on the cut were built to take the treatment they received when being worked, and I know maintenance men who drop paddles regularly.

But as with most everything, the more gently things are treated, the longer they will last. Some may argue that dropping them all the way ensures a tighter seal, and that winding them down gently may not close them completely. Personally I am in favour of winding down top gate paddles, but dropping ground and bottom gate using my hand on the rotating shaft to act as a clutch to ease the fall. If dropping them was that destructive, the original design and construction would have failed and been replaced by something more substantial a l-o-n-g time ago.

 

I think it's reasonable to say, that the most expensive maintenance items are not paddle gear repair, but lock retaining walls and buttressing at the tails, leakage through and into adjoining basements (sometimes living rooms) of lockside cottages. Then there's dredging, enormously expensive and well behind what is needed. Bridge repair, and piling - all vital elements of course. But I think your original point was less about safety as you concede, but more about picking fault with another's practice. It was also common practice at one time to leave gear up leaving a lock. We don't do that now due to the possibility of someone fiddling with the gear, dropping a rack, and maybe getting hurt. Safety does come first.

 

There was a time when BW began installing plastic paddles in place of wood. They HAD to be wound down, there was insufficient weight in them to drop. This led to a safety issue in that a rapid closure could not be made if a craft had got caught on a cill or some other item required immediate response.

 

If we are to be exact, British Waterways bye-laws 1965 Section 25 states: "No person shall: para. (d) Operate any sluice otherwise than by means of the handle or other device normally used for that purpose."

 

The handle is used to raise the paddle. The handle may also be used to lower it. It does not say you 'must'. Such a paragraph might also be defining the use of the correct 'handle' and not an adjustable spanner for instance. The devil is in the detail as always. Commonsense and consideration - mechanical sympathy even - need not necessarily interfere with working practices.