locks - most efficient way

[luctor et emergo]

Or even wide locks..

[alan_fincher]

I often wonder whether sometimes people ask for advice and information simply because they want something to argue with.

 

If you already have predetermined views, why ask?

I must admit, I rather thought the same, when I saw the reply.

 

What one person feels quite confident doing, another may not, (and vice versa), so assuming that the tricks you have developed are necessarily best, (or even safe!) for others, probably isn't sensible. Equally, assuming everybody else needs to be as cautious as maybe you need to be is also a mistake.

 

People may look at me regularly, and think, "why didn't he just hop across that gap", because outwardly (I hope) I don't look that "crocked". However if you are aware that I smashed my right pelvis a couple of years back, that it has never fully healed, (nor is it likely to), you might understand why there are some moves I appear to make more complicated for myself than you might imagine I need to.

[ditchcrawler]

Avoiding wear on the fender is a new one on me too.

 

Perhaps you could get little fenders to protect it...

 

....and some more to protect them....

The river gin palaces put them in socks to protect them.

[saltysplash]

The river gin palaces put them in socks to protect them.

 

 

Not just the gin Palaces, I used to use decorators cloth on the fenders for Emblem not to protect the fender but to protect the Paintwork from all the crud the fender collects over the years. Constant movement and rubbing on the pontoon due to the tides and passing traffic puts loads of grease and dirt on the fender which used to rub off on to and scratch the hull of Emblem.

 

The huge roll of decorators cloth from Wickes used to do the job grand, and was dirt cheap compared to the cost of sox in the chandlers.

[Paul C]

I often wonder whether sometimes people ask for advice and information simply because they want something to argue with.

 

If you already have predetermined views, why ask?

 

I disagreed with the bit where he said mooring on a lock landing is the most inefficient thing to do - I can't see where massive amounts of time can be saved by not doing so, if the mooring/unmooring is done well. That's the only bit I disagreed upon!

[Chertsey]

I disagreed with the bit where he said mooring on a lock landing is the most inefficient thing to do - I can't see where massive amounts of time can be saved by not doing so, if the mooring/unmooring is done well. That's the only bit I disagreed upon!

Read it again and then try it, and see how much time - and more importantly, effort - you save.

[Paul C]

I took a good read through the thread again, and your suggestions. Now they've been explained further, I don't think there is any disagreement! Many thanks again

[mayalld]

I disagreed with the bit where he said mooring on a lock landing is the most inefficient thing to do - I can't see where massive amounts of time can be saved by not doing so, if the mooring/unmooring is done well. That's the only bit I disagreed upon!

 

There is SOME merit to your argument, but in practice it doesn't work out that way.

 

This is at least partly due to the fact that by the time people have got good enough to moor and unmoor efficiently, they have long since got good enough to not need to do so!

 

As others have said, efficiency isn't about rushing around, but about the total capacity of a canal.

 

A typical narrow lock (if such a beast exists) will empty or fill in around 4-5 minutes. Over and above that time is the time taken to actually get a boat into the lock and ready to draw the paddles, and to get it out again.

 

If everybody operates efficiently, then 6 minutes per boat is possible, and the capacity of that lock is 10 boats per hour, or 100 boats in the period 8am to 6pm.

 

So, let us consider what needs to happen to achieve that 6 minute gold standard;

• The boat must enter the lock chamber as soon as the prior boat is out. - If the waiting boat is moored, and unties as the exiting boat passes, the point at which the boat is in the lock ready to close gates is going to be at least a minute later.
• The gates behind the boat must be closed as soon as the boat is in the lock. Possible to lose 30 seconds there.
• The paddles must be drawn at the other end as soon as boat is in position and the other gates closed. Having to wait for the person who closed the gates to get to the other end will add 30 seconds. Stopping for a slurp of your tea another 30 seconds.
• Paddles must be drawn as rapidly as is consistent with a safe transit. Excessive caution can cost another 2 minutes.
• Gates to be opened as soon as they "relax". Waiting for the remaining quarter inch to settle would be another 30 seconds.
• Leave the lock smartly. pootling out on tickover will add another minute.
• Embark your crew in the lock, or well past the exit, so that your exit doesn't impair the entry of the next boat. Heading for the lock landing to collect your crew will delay the point at which the next boat can enter by at least a minute, and if you start embarking/disembarking dog/granny/kids in the jaws of the lock, at least two minutes.

So, all of these are very small inefficiencies, which "don't make a big difference", after all, what is a 6-7 minute delay to your day. Indeed, even if repeated 10 times a day, its only an hours delay.

 

The problem is that this minor delay to your journey has also at least HALVED the number of boats that can pass through the lock.

 

Having seen some boaters that have taken over 15 minutes from the point where the lock was free to the point where the lock was free again, we do need efficient operation to maximise the capacity of our canals.

 

 

 

 

[Chris Pink]

Your lists are just so sexy.

 

And I have to agree, we both do our locks the same way.

 

And have the same approach to efficiency.

 

Nothing to add really but I thought I'd agree with you for once.

[Rich]

If everybody operates efficiently, then 6 minutes per boat is possible, and the capacity of that lock is 10 boats per hour, or 100 boats in the period 8am to 6pm.

 

Which, of course, is the whole point of boating. To hell with enjoyment.

[mayalld]

Which, of course, is the whole point of boating. To hell with enjoyment.

 

The whole point of boating is to ensure that less boats can pass along a canal?

 

Sorry, I hadn't realised that.

 

You must feel free to relax as much as you like. Set of at 10, break for half an hour for elevenses. Two hour lunch from 12:30 to 2:30. Afternoon Tea at 4:00 - 4:30, and well, not really worth moving again then is it.

 

However, when it comes to passing through locks, which are the limiting factor in how many people can actually enjoy many canals, dawdling and taking as long to pass through as two boats would take if operated efficiently is just inconsiderate.

 

Now, of course you can suggest that 3 hours queueing for a lock and then finding another 3 hour queue at the next lock is just a perfect opportunity for a natter over tiffin, and often it is.

 

However, do spare a thought for boaters who do have to get to a particular place by a particular time. Do think about the family on a hire boat, who are on the last day of their holiday, on what should be about 6 or 7 hours, who suddenly find that people operating a lock inefficiently means that they are adding hours to their journey. Do you imagine that their day will be made more enjoyable by the leisurely pace at the lock?

[ditchcrawler]

Not just the gin Palaces, I used to use decorators cloth on the fenders for Emblem not to protect the fender but to protect the Paintwork from all the crud the fender collects over the years. Constant movement and rubbing on the pontoon due to the tides and passing traffic puts loads of grease and dirt on the fender which used to rub off on to and scratch the hull of Emblem.

 

The huge roll of decorators cloth from Wickes used to do the job grand, and was dirt cheap compared to the cost of sox in the chandlers.

Surly if you wrap the fender then that probably collects more grit than a plastic fender and causes more damage?

[Rich]

The whole point of boating is to ensure that less boats can pass along a canal?

Sorry, I hadn't realised that.

 

What a silly thing to say (I know you didn't "say" it but you know what I mean).

 

Perhaps a few thoughts should be spared for any poor unfortunate who has the misfortune to be in a lock when you are waiting to go through.

[jelunga]

Which, of course, is the whole point of boating. To hell with enjoyment.

Have a greenie. Cannot do real greenies from my ipod so a virtual one it is.

 

The whole point of boating is to ensure that less boats can pass along a canal?

 

Sorry, I hadn't realised that.

 

You must feel free to relax as much as you like. Set of at 10, break for half an hour for elevenses. Two hour lunch from 12:30 to 2:30. Afternoon Tea at 4:00 - 4:30, and well, not really worth moving again then is it.

 

However, when it comes to passing through locks, which are the limiting factor in how many people can actually enjoy many canals, dawdling and taking as long to pass through as two boats would take if operated efficiently is just inconsiderate.

 

Now, of course you can suggest that 3 hours queueing for a lock and then finding another 3 hour queue at the next lock is just a perfect opportunity for a natter over tiffin, and often it is.

 

However, do spare a thought for boaters who do have to get to a particular place by a particular time. Do think about the family on a hire boat, who are on the last day of their holiday, on what should be about 6 or 7 hours, who suddenly find that people operating a lock inefficiently means that they are adding hours to their journey. Do you imagine that their day will be made more enjoyable by the leisurely pace at the lock?

You are making assumptions that

1) there is a queue of boats behind waiting to go thro the lock after one.

2) that they all want to rush and hurry.

I reckon that over half of the people I see operating the locks are female. Their preference is to meet another same gender person and spend all day chatting whilst standing near a lock looking like they are waiting for the level to equalise and then think about opening the gate, but only when they get to the end of their conversation.

The men who stand at the rear of the boat holding a long stiff tiller thing and with their hand just waiti g to push the morse control forward have no say in the matter. We just have to wait until SWMBO js ready. That is why they are called SWMBOs anyway.

3) who gives a toss about rushing anyway. It is a canal FPS!

[mayalld]

3) who gives a toss about rushing anyway. It is a canal FPS!

 

 

As I've said, it isn't about rushing.

 

It is about the fact that many of our canals are actually quite busy, and that if everybody operates locks inefficiently, there simply won't be sufficient hours in the day for everybody who wants to go through those locks to do so.

[Barry]

It seems to me that if you are there are other boats waiting it is incumbent on you to be as efficient as you can and when there aren't other boats you can be free to take all the time you like.

 

Taking your own sweet time and dawdling, causing other boats to wait unnecessarily, is inconsiderate at the least, presumptious, and/or arrogant at worst - take your pick or perm any combination of those three.

 

 

 

 

Last year Richard (RLWP) and I worked out that the basic principle of locking efficiently is to keep the boat moving, either horizontally or vertically, with the time the boat is not moving in either direction kept to the absolute minimum.

 

How that is done depends on the type of lock, design of gates and paddles and the number and ability of the crew. Weather conditions might have a part to play I suppose too

Edited April 27, 2012 by Bazza2

[mayalld]

What a silly thing to say (I know you didn't "say" it but you know what I mean).

 

There are ample opportunities to take it easy, and do things slowly on a canal. Most of them without having any adverse effect on others.

 

Passing through a busy lock in a leisurely fashion is not amongst them, and if doing so adds to YOUR enjoyment of the canals, please remember that this will undoubtedly be at the expense of somebody else not enjoying their day because of the consequent delays.

 

Now, of course, not all locks are busy. It could be said that efficient operation is only a necessity when locks are busy.

 

I would counter with the thought that unless you practice as quiet locks you will never acquire the skills to operate efficiently when you do encounter a busy lock, and that once you start operating locks efficiently you will find that it is actually easier than not doing so.

[Guest]

Luckily up these parts we can afford to take our time.....and more than enough room for everybody...

 

 

I don't envy anybody feeling pressured into rushing at a lock particularly if it led to them doing something they felt was un-safe or they were not confident in doing...

[Chertsey]

Which, of course, is the whole point of boating. To hell with enjoyment.

Well if you enjoy wasting time and effort, rather than using it to good effect, then good luck to you. But the OP was asking about ways of being more efficient, and that's why the responses are about that.

 

Some people seem to take a perverse pride in doing things badly. I for one would not derive enjoyment from knowing that I was inconveniencing others. Each to their own I suppose.

Edited April 27, 2012 by Chertsey

[ditchcrawler]

Have a greenie. Cannot do real greenies from my ipod so a virtual one it

I can, but can't give you one as I have used them all up for today

 

Luckily up these parts we can afford to take our time.....and more than enough room for everybody...

 

 

I don't envy anybody feeling pressured into rushing at a lock particularly if it led to them doing something they felt was un-safe or they were not confident in doing...

But how long would the second boat had to wait if the first refused to share a lock with him?

 

Well if you enjoy wasting time and effort, rather than using it to good effect, then good luck to you. But the OP was asking about ways of being more efficient, and that's why the responses are about that.

 

Some people seem to take a perverse pride in doing things badly. I for one would not derive enjoyment from knowing that I was inconveniencing others. Each to their own I suppose.

I don't mind wasteing time if I am not in a hurry or holding others up but I do object to wasteing effort.

[Rich]

Well if you enjoy wasting time and effort, rather than using it to good effect, then good luck to you. But the OP was asking about ways of being more efficient, and that's why the responses are about that.

 

Some people seem to take a perverse pride in doing things badly. I for one would not derive enjoyment from knowing that I was inconveniencing others. Each to their own I suppose.

 

I haven't said that I enjoy wasting time or effort. I suspect that we are as efficient in locking procedure as most but obviously not as efficient as Mr. Mayall with his carefully timed programme.

 

I would suggest that if the mythical family on their boating holiday are so desperately short of time not to be able to progress through locks at a relaxed pace then perhaps they should find something else to spend holiday time on, rather like the boaters that go past moored boats at an inappropriate speed because they are in a hurry. Of course, doing so might be efficient but...

[Guest]

But how long would the second boat had to wait if the first refused to share a lock with him?

 

ah but I knew he wouldn't because we met up in Leeds specifically to share the next few locks...

 

[Naughty Cal]

 

 

 

I don't mind wasteing time if I am not in a hurry or holding others up but I do object to wasteing effort.

 

You may well be saying that in jest but we did actually have a narrowboat at that very lock who refused to share with us

[Guest]

You may well be saying that in jest but we did actually have a narrowboat at that very lock who refused to share with us

 

Hells teeth - you'd have got the Titanic in there with you...

[Naughty Cal]

 

 

However, do spare a thought for boaters who do have to get to a particular place by a particular time. Do think about the family on a hire boat, who are on the last day of their holiday, on what should be about 6 or 7 hours, who suddenly find that people operating a lock inefficiently means that they are adding hours to their journey. Do you imagine that their day will be made more enjoyable by the leisurely pace at the lock?

 

If a boater has to be at a particular place by a particular time then really they should be planning ahead a little more and not assuming that they will be able to get through every lock on their route as quickly as they would like.

 

Not everybody operates locks in the same manner and some do take more time about it than others. But if that is how they feel safest operating the lock then that is how they should oeprate them. Not everybody has hundreds of hours of experience under their belt and the ability to operate locks by the most efficient method, but rushing them is certainly not the answer.

 

Hells teeth - you'd have got the Titanic in there with you...

 

Judging by the way they handled the boat they had not had it long but even so there is plenty of room to cock it up in those locks.

 

Thankfully we managed to find a competent narrowboater to share Leeds Lock with whi knew what they were doing. That one is a bit of a shock after all of the large locks and didnt leave much room with the two boats side by side