What length can be handled solo?

[sociable_hermit]

There are advantages to a short boat.

 

Lower mooring fees, for a start.

 

This assumption that all short boats are skittish really gets on my nerves. Mine is 40' and it seems to behave itself. I tried leaving it just outside the top of a T&M single lock while I shut the gate, last Saturday afternoon, and she sat as good as gold. I will be doing that more often.

 

I can't remember the name of the lock, btw, but there's a very nice looking boat moored there ('Hadley' IIRC?).

[Albion]

There are advantages to a short boat.

 

Lower mooring fees, for a start.

 

This assumption that all short boats are skittish really gets on my nerves. Mine is 40' and it seems to behave itself. I tried leaving it just outside the top of a T&M single lock while I shut the gate, last Saturday afternoon, and she sat as good as gold. I will be doing that more often.

 

I can't remember the name of the lock, btw, but there's a very nice looking boat moored there ('Hadley' IIRC?).

 

I've owned two nbs. The first a 48ft, lightly built, bottom end of the market and the other a 59ft, heavily built, top end of the market and I can therefore say with some certainty that the latter was much more stable and less skittish than the former. With the first while waiting mid-stream for locks I would be fairly constantly adjusting the position. With the second you just sat with only very occasional adjustment, in conditions identical to the first.

Roger

[Sarah and Ian]

There are advantages to a short boat.

 

Lower mooring fees, for a start.

 

This assumption that all short boats are skittish really gets on my nerves. Mine is 40' and it seems to behave itself. I tried leaving it just outside the top of a T&M single lock while I shut the gate, last Saturday afternoon, and she sat as good as gold. I will be doing that more often.

 

I can't remember the name of the lock, btw, but there's a very nice looking boat moored there ('Hadley' IIRC?).

 

I wanting to say Tattenhall. Its the one up from Branston water park.

[sociable_hermit]

I wanting to say Tattenhall. Its the one up from Branston water park.

That's the badger.

 

I've owned two nbs. The first a 48ft, lightly built, bottom end of the market and the other a 59ft, heavily built, top end of the market and I can therefore say with some certainty that the latter was much more stable and less skittish than the former. With the first while waiting mid-stream for locks I would be fairly constantly adjusting the position. With the second you just sat with only very occasional adjustment, in conditions identical to the first.

Roger

Yes, that's fair comment, for your boats. However it isn't ALWAYS true, as some would suggest. My 40' boat will bob mid-channel quite happily and require minimal adjustment in normal circumstances. The 49' boat I used to cruise on before, though, was a complete swine and it was normally easier to tie up for locks than play pinball with it.

 

The shape of the bows and the swims, how the boat sits in the water, and the engine, prop and rudder combination are the key factors. The length of the boat, in itself, matters less.

[Paul Evans]

The woman who lives with me, in a romantic capacity (TWWLMIARC), is 5' 2" struggles to lift a 20 kilo anchor yet can handle a full length work boat without breaking a sweat.

 

What about TWWLMNIARC? Does romance have an effect on boat handling?

[RLWP]

What about TWWLMNIARC? Does romance have an effect on boat handling?

 

It can badly disrupt your steering

 

Richard

[mykaskin]

I must admit whenever I see a steerer jump ashore, rope in hand, and try to stop a 25 ton moving boat, I wonder why s/he didn't stop the boat first, and then step ashore.

 

Trust me when I say, that with Victoria at least, you can forget stopping the boat with the prop, even if you manage to slow it down unless you are mooring on the left the stern will end up on the other side of the cut. When the back is over 3 foot deep and the front 1.5 feet then it takes some messing about to get the back where you want it.

 

Why waste diesel when strapping a boat to a stop is perfectly acceptable.

 

Mike

[canaldrifter]

Trust me when I say, that with Victoria at least, you can forget stopping the boat with the prop, even if you manage to slow it down unless you are mooring on the left the stern will end up on the other side of the cut. When the back is over 3 foot deep and the front 1.5 feet then it takes some messing about to get the back where you want it.

 

Why waste diesel when strapping a boat to a stop is perfectly acceptable.

 

Mike

 

With greatest respect, it is maybe not good advice or example for leisure boaters, especially newcomers. It is all too easy to catch fingers under a sliding rope. And why would they need to?

 

Slow down out-of-gear earlier?

 

Not wishing to be too pedantic, but the Boaters' handbook suggests:

 

 

"Slow down almost to a stop and carry out all your manoeuvres as slowly

as possible.

 

"Stop short of where you want to moor with your boat straight and in

deep water. Move forward very slowly, pointing the front of the boat

towards the bank, then use reverse to stop the boat just before the front

hits the bank. Put the engine into neutral."

 

I prefer to go astern, then by using forward gear with tiller towards the bank, get the counter in, and pull in the bow using the centreline, but that's because I can't get off the front of my boat.

 

Also, when steering full length trip boats I could never guarantee that a bollard was secure, having seen more than one uprooted by the less cautious.

 

Tone

[mykaskin]

Not wishing to be too pedantic, but the Boaters' handbook suggests:

 

Well if you want to play at it fine. I like to go boating!

 

BTW, taking Victoria out of gear even at 2.5 mph takes ages to slow to 0.5 mph. Heavy, and slippy.

 

On a modern boat I do bring it to slow enough to hold it myself, but then they are light in comparison to Victoria. That having been said, strapping into locks has another completely different set of advantages - assuming the lock furniture is still there!

 

Mike

[soggyfrog]

The first boat I ever steered was a 57ft trad nb, and I have to say I'm really glad that I didn't start smaller. While it's not the biggest out there, I think I would've felt more intimidated starting with a shorter boat and then moving up to something nearer 60ft. As it is, I'm fairly confident that any size is manageable, but that's mostly thanks to a very calm and patient tutor!

[luctor et emergo]

Two pages of answers, to a question of single handing a length, and not a single reply has strayed from boat handling....

 

I'm not sure if I'm impressed, or dissapointed.

 

 

 

Ahh, is that my coat?

:-)

[Whitewater]

The first boat I ever steered was a 57ft trad nb, and I have to say I'm really glad that I didn't start smaller. While it's not the biggest out there, I think I would've felt more intimidated starting with a shorter boat and then moving up to something nearer 60ft. As it is, I'm fairly confident that any size is manageable, but that's mostly thanks to a very calm and patient tutor!

 

Who was that then... <<<<<buffing ones knuckles and breaking arm whilst patting on back>>>>

[soggyfrog]

Who was that then... <<<<<buffing ones knuckles and breaking arm whilst patting on back>>>>

 

I don't know if you know him, but the guy deserves a medal!

[jenlyn]

Two pages of answers, to a question of single handing a length, and not a single reply has strayed from boat handling....

 

I'm not sure if I'm impressed, or dissapointed.

 

 

 

Ahh, is that my coat?

:-)

when you see the question, and then see the name of the craft, tis a bit suspicious loike lol lol (has to be a wind up)

[Windfola]

Please, what does 'strapping a boat to a stop' entail exactly?

[carlt]

Please, what does 'strapping a boat to a stop' entail exactly?

Hopping off the boat, putting 1 and a half turns of a rope (securely attached to your butty's T-stud) around a bollard or strapping post and bringing the boat to a stop.

[canaldrifter]

Hopping off the boat, putting 1 and a half turns of a rope (securely attached to your butty's T-stud) around a bollard or strapping post and bringing the boat to a stop.

 

 

 

.... if the bollard stays in the ground:

 

 

 

tone