Mooring tips for elderly people

[Simon.Gooden]

Hi all, my dad lives on a canal boat and recently he has been having problems mooring his boat. The strain of pulling the boat in is not agreeing with him. Does anyone know of any tips to minimise strain and if any devices are out there that make it easier?

 

For example is it possible to use a ratchet type device?

 

All the best

 

Smon

[b0atman]

Get the boat into the side so that he can step off the stern fasten centre rope to a pin for example step back on boat slowly go forward or reverse and boat will parallel moor.

[FidoDido]

bring the stern in, pop off and put a short (about 1-2 metres) rope from the stern to the bank (using mooring chain or nappy pin on pilings). Get back on, and put into forward gear on tickover, and the front will slowly come into the bank.

 

Of course, this assumes you have pilings to moor to, and there is enough space to come in like that, and not bash a boat, that you can hop off fairly quickly, and attach the mooring pin to the pilings, etc... However, with a bit of practice, and an already made up short rope attached to said pin and a loop the other end, its quite efficient.

Boatman types quicker than me

[bizzard]

Hi all, my dad lives on a canal boat and recently he has been having problems mooring his boat. The strain of pulling the boat in is not agreeing with him. Does anyone know of any tips to minimise strain and if any devices are out there that make it easier?

 

For example is it possible to use a ratchet type device?

 

All the best

 

Smon

Sometimes the wind can help, I mean weather wind not indigestion wind. However, once he's ashore with the centre line, take one full turn around a bollard, whilst holding and keeping gentle pull on the loose tail end end with the left hand, grab the middle of the centre rope with the right hand and pull and relax, pull and relax as the boat comes in, at the same time during each relax pull the rope tail on the bollard until the boat is snug and then tie off. This will half the effort required.

[Phil Ambrose]

Hi Simon, I'm 69 and live on my 60 footer so perhaps might be in some small way qualified to comment. The way I tackle mooring up is to use the engine to bring me into the bank and bring me toa standstill. I then just step of with the centre line and make a temporary fix which allows me to secure the bow and stern lines at leisure. Perhaps I'm lucky but as of yet I have not had any problems yet. So in a nutshell make the boat do the work, slow and steady.

Phil

[Southern Star]

If he has something at both ends to attach it to, he could try a ratchet strap?

 

[hilaryb]

Not so easy on the banks of the K and A.

[Guest]

Hi Simon, I'm 69 and live on my 60 footer so perhaps might be in some small way qualified to comment. The way I tackle mooring up is to use the engine to bring me into the bank and bring me toa standstill. I then just step of with the centre line and make a temporary fix which allows me to secure the bow and stern lines at leisure. Perhaps I'm lucky but as of yet I have not had any problems yet. So in a nutshell make the boat do the work, slow and steady.

Phil

Make the boat do the work.

 

Spot on.

Edited April 26, 2015 by MJG

[ditchcrawler]

Strange you posted that, The elderly chap coming up behind up at a lock struggled to hold his boat and his wife went back to help him. She had just told Diana that they had been boating 30 years. I would have thought that in that time he would have realised that a turn round a bollard wit the rope make it much easier to hold a boat than a turn round your waist.

[Guest]

Strange you posted that, The elderly chap coming up behind up at a lock struggled to hold his boat and his wife went back to help him. She had just told Diana that they had been boating 30 years. I would have thought that in that time he would have realised that a turn round a bollard wit the rope make it much easier to hold a boat than a turn round your waist.

 

It's considered on here sometimes bad boatmanship to halt your boat using ropes but for us it worked.

 

One wrap around a bollard......job done. When the boat recoiled, tighten.

 

However the op is asking about general mooring...no bollards.

[RLWP]

It's considered on here sometimes bad boatmanship to halt your boat using ropes but for us it worked.

 

Is it? I don't remember seeing that here

 

Richard

[ditchcrawler]

It's considered on here sometimes bad boatmanship to halt your boat using ropes but for us it worked.

 

One wrap around a bollard......job done. When the boat recoiled, tighten.

 

However the op is asking about general mooring...no bollards.

He wasnt stopping the boat he was just trying to hold it in the wind and flow and it was winning. My main point was thought and experiance not strength is often the answer

[mrsmelly]

I see too many people pulling like hell on the rope when alongside. Dont pull just lean back steadily holding the rope and the boat will come in to the bank steadily using body weight.

 

Tim

[FadeToScarlet]

Is it? I don't remember seeing that here

 

Richard

Me neither. I regularly strap the boat to a stop. Wet rope, have the free end under the running part so it crosses over and rubs together, and increase the upwards pull to slowly increase the friction and bring the boat to a stop. Handy if you're going down a wide lock and want to stop the boat and keep it to one side so the person you're sharing with can come straight in.

[Guest]

Is it? I don't remember seeing that here

 

Richard

Oh Richard I could do a search but honestly can't be arsed.....you might just have to take my word for it?

Me neither. I regularly strap the boat to a stop. Wet rope, have the free end under the running part so it crosses over and rubs together, and increase the upwards pull to slowly increase the friction and bring the boat to a stop. Handy if you're going down a wide lock and want to stop the boat and keep it to one side so the person you're sharing with can come straight in.

See post 15

[ditchcrawler]

Oh Richard I could do a search but honestly can't be arsed.....you might just have to take my word for it?

 

See post 15

This is post 15

[mrsmelly]

Using the engine/engines is usualy preferable to stop the boat than the ropes. On small light boats such as narrowboats I usualy stop the boat dead in the water with the arse end close to the bank and step off with the centre line. With bigger stuff and at work we stop on the engines before utilising ropes.

If its blowing a barsteward on the narrowboat then sometimes a bit of both applies.

 

Tim

[Jerra]

This is post 15

No your post is post 16.

[Guest]

This is post 15

No it isn't.

[Paul C]

No it isn't.

 

Yes it was. When you said "see post 15", it was said in post 15. I'll be interested in the results of your search, because AFAIK FadeToScarlet's technique is spot on for broad locks. It can also be used going up, if there's steps beside the lock, a landing area to jump off, and no tail bridge. All these features are present on the GU locks of Hatton, for example. Maybe you're confusing letting the rope slip/grip gradually, thus slowing the boat to a controlled stop, with simply wrapping it round many times or tying a knot, which takes up the slack of a rope then brings the boat to an abrupt stop, usually at a funny angle. I could understand the point if it was the latter.

[cotswoldsman]

I see too many people pulling like hell on the rope when alongside. Dont pull just lean back steadily holding the rope and the boat will come in to the bank steadily using body weight.

 

Tim

What he says. I boat with a 79 yo he just loops rope behind arse and leans

[Cruising Mike]

I just tend to slow to tick over and make sure the stern is closest to the bank and step off with the centre line and loosely tie that up. The boat will do the rest. If there are no bollards, rings etc to tie to, then use the centre rope tied round my waist and walk the boat to a stop. No brute strength needed.

[Arthur Brown]

One should give up boating when the skill and technique acquired by experience doesn't let you do the things that youth lets you do by effort and force.

 

Maybe dad needs to consider that there IS a technique for everything that minimises the manual effort needed, he needs to find those techniques. Really good boat handling with the normal driving controls is the first part -putting the boat exactly where one wants it so that there is no need to pull it by hand later. Remember that the boat weighs 15tonnes and dad doesn't.

[Guest]

I see too many people pulling like hell on the rope when alongside. Dont pull just lean back steadily holding the rope and the boat will come in to the bank steadily using body weight.

 

Tim

And you will also see people trying to operate lock gates in a similar manner rather than leaning into them and using your (in my case considerable) body weight combined with lower body/leg strength to move the beam.

 

Some people do make boating hard work for themselves.

Edited April 27, 2015 by MJG

[RLWP]

Some people do make boating hard work for themselves.

 

They do indeed!

 

Richard