boat hook query !

[normanmarshman]

Hi All,

 

Have purchased a long pole and a cast iron doofer that sits on the end - it has a curled hook, which ofcourse will be handy for pulling, but what's the straight poket finger-like part for ?

 

Puzzled !

 

Cheers J

[haggis]

Pushing lock gates shut?

 

haggis

[Grace and Favour]

Proddling

[luctor et emergo]

Fending off shiney hudsons when they won't yield.

[RLWP]

Lifting sunken logs out of lock sills

 

Richard

[Black Ibis]

Jousting.

[twbm]

Handy to get a 'grip' against wood or earth when pushing but beware hard shiny surfaces, especially in the classic 'my point of balance is way past the edge of the boat' position when trying to get off the bottom.

[normanmarshman]

hi tw,

a sensible answer !

many thanks, point taken

jm

[Keeping Up]

Handy to get a 'grip' against wood or earth when pushing but beware hard shiny surfaces, especially in the classic 'my point of balance is way past the edge of the boat' position when trying to get off the bottom.

 

The trouble is, most boathooks have a round "ball" on the end of the point, which ensures that you can't get any grip with them against a wooden surface

[Naughty Cal]

Never really seen the point of boat hooks. We bought one when we bought the boat and have never used it. Still cart it around mind "just in case"

 

We often laugh when we see boat crews preparing for the landing one crew member stood at the bow wielding the boat hook. What do they expect to achieve with it? I find the rope a far more suitable mooring aid!

[PaddingtonBear]

It is not a boat hook, it is a cabin shaft.

[FadeToScarlet]

Never really seen the point of boat hooks. We bought one when we bought the boat and have never used it. Still cart it around mind "just in case"

 

We often laugh when we see boat crews preparing for the landing one crew member stood at the bow wielding the boat hook. What do they expect to achieve with it? I find the rope a far more suitable mooring aid!

Conversely, I've found cabin shafts very useful, from clearing the blade (no weedhatch) to pushing the back end away from an obstruction without using the engine and pushing the foreend too. It's also useful for shutting bottom gates when going downhill.

 

When on the canals, I used it probably 5 times a day on sverage.

[alan_fincher]

Never really seen the point of boat hooks. We bought one when we bought the boat and have never used it. Still cart it around mind "just in case"

 

If you were a narrow boater though you certainly would, if you wanted to save a lot of unnecessary climbing on and off boats.

 

They can not only be used to push lock gates shut from the boat, thereby avoiding climbing on and off, but the hook part can also be used to catch the handrail of the second gate of a broad lock as you boat in through one top gate, and to stop it swinging open, as it would otherwise do, when the water displaced by the boat tries to leave the lock.

 

You can also use them to push on the opposite wall of a broad lock, to keep your boat firmly to your side whilst someone faffs about for ages trying to aim down the gap beside you, (simply take the shaft away at the last moment).

 

On "Sickle", (no weed hatch), it is also the primary tool for clearing fouled blades.

 

We use ours all the time, though not generally for anything relating to mooring.

 

As Paddington Bear says, "boat hook" is a more "nautical name" - the correct canal names are usually"cabin shaft" or "short shaft".

[RLWP]

Lifting sunken logs out of lock sills

 

Richard

 

 

hi tw,

a sensible answer !

many thanks, point taken

jm

 

Oi! mine is a sensible answer too! On the Stratford canal, the boat ahead of us couldn't get the bottom lock gate to close. After some propbing about I found a sunken log lying against the bottom cill. As it was round (and I didn't have a keb), the only way I could get it out was by spearing it with the point on the cabin shaft

 

Richard

[Timleech]

As Paddington Bear says, "boat hook" is a more "nautical name" - the correct canal names are usually"cabin shaft" or "short shaft".

 

Unless it's a Long Shaft, of course.

 

Trouble is, you can't get 'em.

 

 

Tim

[RLWP]

Unless it's a Long Shaft, of course.

 

Trouble is, you can't get 'em.

 

 

Tim

 

Can you describe a long shaft, Tim

 

Richard

[Laurie Booth]

Can you describe a long shaft, Tim

 

Richard

Remember this is a family forum

[Timleech]

Can you describe a long shaft, Tim

 

Richard

 

I was thinking in all innocence of a pole, anything from 14 to 25 feet long, usually with a pommel on one end (which might be formed from the wood of the shaft or added to it) and often with a 'boat hook' on the other, though in recent times people have tended to omit the hook. Elfinsafety, I suppose.

14 feet is IMO too short to be really useful, but seems to be just about all that can be found now.

 

Tim

[haggis]

As a mere female weakling I find it almost impossible to handle a long shaft to do anything useful but fortunately, he who steers is very proficient and we hardly ever need to use a pole. The last time I can remember was when we tried to turn a 58 foot boat right at the end of the Leek branch on the Caldon and went aground on a gravel bank in the middle of the canal :-). The shorter boat hook, on the other hand is very useful for shutting lock gates from the boat.

 

haggis

[alan_fincher]

14 feet is IMO too short to be really useful, but seems to be just about all that can be found now.

 

Tim

The "standard" available long shaft is now only 12 feet.

 

This is allegedly, (and several outlets have told me this!), because Aquafax moved to a smaller delivery van, into which the longer ones no longer fit!........

 

However last year Rose Narrowboats at Stretton had a reasonably supply of long ash shafts of not less than 14 feet, (some 15 feet, I think?), that were no more expensive than other places are charging for 12 feet, I think.

 

These are just about long enough to be useful, (unlike 12 feet ones, which often are not).

 

However we labour on with "Sickle" with no long shaft available, as we couldn't actually stow it in the hold, and if it were left on deck, we would either fall over it, or it would roll off, (or, of course, "go walkies").

 

We seldom miss having one, but when you are parked on something solid, 12 feet from the bank, and the engine will not pull you off in either direction, just occasionally you remember why they are sometimes useful!

[bizzard]

You wouldn't go to sea without a boat hook, mainly for picking up or releasing harbour or fairway mooring buoys, without one you could be sailing around forever, poking rigging about, hooking drowning folk out of the sea ect.

[Tam & Di]

I was thinking in all innocence of a pole, anything from 14 to 25 feet long, usually with a pommel on one end (which might be formed from the wood of the shaft or added to it) and often with a 'boat hook' on the other, though in recent times people have tended to omit the hook. Elfinsafety, I suppose.

14 feet is IMO too short to be really useful, but seems to be just about all that can be found now.

 

Tim

 

And now replaced by a bow thruster by those with oodles of money to throw away .

[Naughty Cal]

You wouldn't go to sea without a boat hook, mainly for picking up or releasing harbour or fairway mooring buoys, without one you could be sailing around forever, poking rigging about, hooking drowning folk out of the sea ect.

We don't use our hook for picking up buoys either. It's easier to get our stern near the pick up and pick it up by hand then gently let the boat sit back.

 

Can't say it would have been much use in any of our man over board situations either.

 

I'm sure we will find a use for it one day other than hanging rubbish bags from!

[luctor et emergo]

Does a man overboard not have enough problems allready, without somebody trying to hit/spear him with a boathook?

[Naughty Cal]

It is usually easier to either get them to come to the transom ladder or get the transom ladder to the man over board on the river.