Single handed.....

[goldtone]

I'm in Gdansk at the moment and I can't find any Polish lassies (maybe tonight as in Sopot).

 

No Polish babes in Gdansk? Maybe because they are all over here Get to Gdynia, there are some real babes left there, a bit cold for the beach tho!

 

BTW what you doing there, buying a boat?

[NB Alnwick]

Well, "never never never" is quite strong, especially as the only way i can avoid losing my motor at the bottom of a wide lock is to leave it idling in gear with the tiller string attached, thus leaving the boat sitting neatly against the wall. I do not like jumping onto my boat from a lock ladder.

 

The men and women that handled working boats for two centuries rarely worked alone with motors. Working alone with a horse drawn boat was more common especially around Birmingham and they developed techniques for keeping their boats against the wall of a wide lock by using their lines.

 

The only piece of advice I was ever given by an original working boatman was 'never let go of your boat - if you have to step off, never jump but hold the boat on a line until you can secure it to something on the bank'.

 

These days we do not carry urgent cargoes nor do we earn bonuses for getting to our destination quickly. The safe enjoyment of the journey is more important to us that arriving at a destination and we also have a duty to conserve the locks and associated equipment. For this reason I usually take my time when locking up or down single handed and use the lines (with the engine ticking over in neutral) as if it were an unpowered boat.

[Chris Pink]

I see what you mean, but why not just pull her back to the side (and out if needs be) with a line? (Asked out of curiosity)

 

well it would be two lines as I don't have the ring forward of the engine room and i'm too lazy to walk to each end of the lock, pull the boat in on the lines, go down the ladder, get on the boat, go forward to get the bow line, go back to the stern, by which time the gate has closed itself.

 

With my technique, I go down the ladder, lines are already stowed, I have opened the opposite gate, pole across and out i go.

 

Working alone with a horse drawn boat was more common especially around Birmingham and they developed techniques for keeping their boats against the wall of a wide lock by using their lines.

 

Lot of wide locks in Birmingham then?

 

joshing apart (joshing...gettit?) A reliable method of holding a boat in a wide lock with lines please?

[Chris J W]

well it would be two lines as I don't have the ring forward of the engine room and i'm too lazy to walk to each end of the lock, pull the boat in on the lines, go down the ladder, get on the boat, go forward to get the bow line, go back to the stern, by which time the gate has closed itself.

 

With my technique, I go down the ladder, lines are already stowed, I have opened the opposite gate, pole across and out i go.

 

joshing apart (joshing...gettit?) A reliable method of holding a boat in a wide lock with lines please?

 

That makes sense!

 

I'm so used to using purely my centre-line (both in wide and narrow) that it's hard to imagine doing it anyother way!

[Chris-B]

No Polish babes in Gdansk? Maybe because they are all over here Get to Gdynia, there are some real babes left there, a bit cold for the beach tho!

 

BTW what you doing there, buying a boat?

 

 

No , he owns the company that builds them !

 

have a look at Narrowcraft

 

Chris

[blackrose]

As a general guide

 

NEVER NEVER NEVER leave an unattended boat in a lcok with it in gear.

Especially when alone

Who is going to take control when you are in the water !!

As said earlier whether your boat is 20' or 70' rest on top gates going uphill and on bottom gates going down hill

Always have at least one line ashore so you have some form of control over your boat.

When on your own it might be easier to bow-haul the boat out of an empty lock rather than climbing down the ladder.

Let the water do the work.

A good tip when going downhill a long flight is to set up a rear line with a loop that the length of which will not let the boat hit the top gate. When you go into the lock step off with the line and loop it over the end of the paddle spindle if their is not holding back pins at the lock.

 

These are the rules are they? Sounds like the 10 commandments! I never had much time for religion.

 

Sorry I don't accept some of them. Tell you what, you carry on doing it your way and I'll do it mine.

Edited April 10, 2008 by blackrose

[Chris J W]

Two more tips that I've found invaluable ...

• If you've a trad or semi-trad stern, lock (either small bolt or hook'n'eye) the doors behind you (and practice unlocking with one hand behind your back for when you have to get off - I've found a small bolt fairly high-up perfect)
  
• Always stay infront of the tiller, and never to the side
  

 

Those two bits combined stopped me flying off the back when I royally cocked up my first winding and the rudder hit something.

[cotswoldsman]

Being a single handed CC I have read all the posts with great interest and as far as I can tell everyone has basicly there own way of doing locks, in my humble opinion there is no correct or incorrect way. The way I do it works best for me but might not suit other boaters. I will certainly try some of the methods mentioned on this post and see if they work for me, the only thing I will say is that I am one of those boaters that prefers not to be helped when in the lock, but am never more pleased than when someone offers to close the gates for me!!

[NB Alnwick]

Being a single handed CC I have read all the posts with great interest and as far as I can tell everyone has basicly there own way of doing locks, in my humble opinion there is no correct or incorrect way. The way I do it works best for me but might not suit other boaters. I will certainly try some of the methods mentioned on this post and see if they work for me, the only thing I will say is that I am one of those boaters that prefers not to be helped when in the lock, but am never more pleased than when someone offers to close the gates for me!!

 

Me too - it can be a right pain when you are the only boat going up large double locks, like those at Braunston, and someone runs up and opens all the top paddles before you have had a chance to climb off and secure the boat. No amount of engine grunt is sufficient to hold the boat steady and all the cupboards and drawers in the cabin fly open when the hull bangs against the side.

 

From experience, I have my own sequence of opening the paddles so that the boat remains hard against the nearside lock wall - the lock may not fill up so quickly but it is much safer in that, when I get the sequence right, nothing gets damaged.

[Phil Speight]

I took my boat down to Streethay yesterday on my own from Fradley - not a big issue for all you seasoned single handed boaters I know, but for me the first time I have been out on a boat on my own without my lovely wife..... I quite enjoyed the challenge and it gave me confidence that so long as you take your time and are aware of what is happening around you it is quite easy.

 

Only question is - even being gentle on the top paddles filling the locks the boat still came forward very quickly in the lock, giving the top gate a bump. I did try on one lock leaving the boat in tickover forward so the front fender was up against the gate which seemed better - is this accepted good practice or should a rope be used to secure the boat?

 

I would definitely use the in gear technique for going down to avoid the cill?

 

Any advice guidance appreciated,

 

Nev

That`s what I always used to do uphil and down. I`m sure more wordly wise boaters do as well.

Cheers

Phil

Edited April 10, 2008 by NB Alnwick

[Chris Pink]

" I did try on one lock leaving the boat in tickover forward so the front fender was up against the gate which seemed better - is this accepted good practice or should a rope be used to secure the boat?"

 

Going up I usually have a line to the checking bollard about 15' back from the front of the lock when BW (bless their pointy little heads (excuse my rudeness, Graham)) have left them in place to stop the boat banging on the top gate, if this is done then there is usually no need for a stern line.

[bargeeboy]

No Polish babes in Gdansk? Maybe because they are all over here Get to Gdynia, there are some real babes left there, a bit cold for the beach tho!

 

BTW what you doing there, buying a boat?

 

Buying ! No , Building ! My Narrowcraft factory is there.

[goldtone]

Buying ! No , Building ! My Narrowcraft factory is there.

 

Oops, sorry!!

 

If you see Ania Sipurzynska, say hello. As Bob Dylan says 'she was a true love of mine'

[blackrose]

On a previous thread we were warned to use centre ropes with caution because of the possibility of the centre eye breaking off.

 

My widebeam is about 32+ tonnes and I move it about single handed in the same way as I used to move my previous narrowboat - with a lot of reliance on the centre rope. Of course I try not to stop the boat dead on bollards with the centrerope but sometimes it happens, also there is an automatic lock near me which is impossible to operate slowly and it puts a lot of strain on the centre eye.

 

The other thing is that on the Thames the lockkeepers often don't allow you to only use a centre rope, so I need another way.

 

I'm afraid I've never learned any other method of controlling my boat single-handed, so what's the best way? Long bow and stern ropes tied together each side perhaps?

Edited April 11, 2008 by blackrose

[Chris J W]

On a previous thread we were warned to use centre ropes with caution because of the possibility of the centre eye breaking off.

 

That was probably MY crappy centre-eye!

 

Lesson learnt - make sure it's a good one! (And I suppose you could say the same for any T-stud or dolly)

[Chris Pink]

On a previous thread we were warned to use centre ropes with caution because of the possibility of the centre eye breaking off.

 

My widebeam is about 32+ tonnes and I move it about single handed in the same way as I used to move my previous narrowboat - with a lot of reliance on the centre rope. Of course I try not to stop the boat dead on bollards with the centrerope but sometimes it happens, also there is an automatic lock near me which is impossible to operate slowly and it puts a lot of strain on the centre eye.

 

The other thing is that on the Thames the lockkeepers often don't allow you to only use a centre rope, so I need another way.

 

I'm afraid I've never learned any other method of controlling my boat single-handed, so what's the best way? Long bow and stern ropes tied together each side perhaps?

 

Not quite an answer to your question but one of the problems with centre ropes attached to the roof is that enough pull applied to that will capsize a boat.

 

"Not very likely" i hear you cry, but I do know someone who only saved their boat because they had an axe to hand when it was pinned on a weir in Newbury and the centre rope was attached to a mooring bollard on the other side.

 

And if it's there it is quite likely you would grab it in an emergency.

 

As to your question, going up a lock i would hold it on the front rope only. and in the Thames locks if you can't reach both ropes then you'll just have to ask the lock keeper for a (polite) suggestion. I would have thought the same applies, if you have a good footing on the front rope my experience is that the stern will behave.

[blackrose]

Not quite an answer to your question but one of the problems with centre ropes attached to the roof is that enough pull applied to that will capsize a boat.

 

"Not very likely" i hear you cry, but I do know someone who only saved their boat because they had an axe to hand when it was pinned on a weir in Newbury and the centre rope was attached to a mooring bollard on the other side.

 

And if it's there it is quite likely you would grab it in an emergency.

 

Not only is this unlikely on my boat but I'd say damn near impossible! My boat is 12' wide and about 9' high (about 2' of which is in the water). Even when big people step onto my gunwhales the boat hardly moves. In the situation you describe the centre eye will snap off long before the boat capsizes.

Edited April 11, 2008 by blackrose

[Chris Pink]

Not only is this unlikely on my boat but I'd say damn near impossible! My boat is 12' wide and about 9' high (about 2' of which is in the water). Even when big people step onto my gunwhales the boat hardly moves. In the situation you describe the centre eye will snap off long before the boat capsizes.

 

if you want to convince me you'll have to provide figures, turning moments, breaking strain of the steel, that kind of thing, sounds like 7' high 6' in is the perfect place if you want to pull you boat over!

[blackrose]

if you want to convince me you'll have to provide figures, turning moments, breaking strain of the steel, that kind of thing, sounds like 7' high 6' in is the perfect place if you want to pull you boat over!

 

Turning moments? Breaking strain of the steel? Funny, I didn't notice you providing any figures for your supposition either...

 

It's just an ordinary centre eye, the same as fitted to many canal boats and if it can snap on a lock bollard it's certainly not going to be able to take the strain of my boat capsizing.

 

7' high 6' in might be the perfect place to pull a boat over, but not a boat that weighs 32+ tonnes, is 3' wider than it is high and has 2 layers of concrete slab ballast across an area of approx 40' x 12'.

 

Anyway, it's ok Chris, I don't need to convince you.

Edited April 11, 2008 by blackrose

[magnetman]

There's a nice slippery hitch the 'steamers' use on the Thames going down locks. It holds the boat against the side of the lock and slips when there is a good load. I used this last year and one time there was a gin palace owner who was thinking 'i'm sure this blokes going to hang his boat up' but it slips just when you think its a bit tight. Its great for annoying people.

[blackrose]

There's a nice slippery hitch the 'steamers' use on the Thames going down locks. It holds the boat against the side of the lock and slips when there is a good load. I used this last year and one time there was a gin palace owner who was thinking 'i'm sure this blokes going to hang his boat up' but it slips just when you think its a bit tight. Its great for annoying people.

 

I know not of this slippery hitch?

[magnetman]

I don't think its in the books a lock-keeper showed me how to wrap the rope round the bollard (works best on the ones with tee bitts), its similar to the lightermans hitch, with plenty of friction to hold the boat tight but no possibility of jamming, and it will slip under heavy load, so its 'slippery'.

[Bones]

On a previous thread we were warned to use centre ropes with caution because of the possibility of the centre eye breaking off.

 

My widebeam is about 32+ tonnes and I move it about single handed in the same way as I used to move my previous narrowboat - with a lot of reliance on the centre rope. Of course I try not to stop the boat dead on bollards with the centrerope but sometimes it happens, also there is an automatic lock near me which is impossible to operate slowly and it puts a lot of strain on the centre eye.

 

The other thing is that on the Thames the lockkeepers often don't allow you to only use a centre rope, so I need another way.

 

I'm afraid I've never learned any other method of controlling my boat single-handed, so what's the best way? Long bow and stern ropes tied together each side perhaps?

 

 

two ropes required in locks. Use centre rope and either stern or bow too. hardly rocket science, but it took me a while, and a thames lock keeper to suggest it, for it to click with me. When I bought my boat it didn't have a centre ring for a rope on it, so the previous owner clearly knew how to use the current etc etc to control the boat, and neither the bow or the stern are long ropes. I take great delight to think there was an element of boating the previous owner could do as his DIY was.. erm.. well.. erm... history.

 

edit: mooring up on a centre line is completely and utterly stupid.

 

Has anyone ever actually met a boater with only one hand??

 

I had one of my arms in a sling up my jumper (recovering from an encouter with a canal world forum banter) when I tried to do the River Wey a couple of years ago. Single handed boating in that case was rather unfunny. I had a serious sense of humour failure for most of the journey.

Edited April 12, 2008 by Bones

[blackrose]

two ropes required in locks. Use centre rope and either stern or bow too. hardly rocket science, but it took me a while, and a thames lock keeper to suggest it, for it to click with me. When I bought my boat it didn't have a centre ring for a rope on it, so the previous owner clearly knew how to use the current etc etc to control the boat, and neither the bow or the stern are long ropes. I take great delight to think there was an element of boating the previous owner could do as his DIY was.. erm.. well.. erm... history.

 

edit: mooring up on a centre line is completely and utterly stupid.

 

It may not be rocket science, but when certain Thames lock keepers tell you you need to use a bow & stern rope, then that's what they mean and you can't use a centrerope in conjunction with either your bow or stern rope. Most will help but not if they are working alone.

 

Who said anything about mooring up with a centre line?

[Bones]

It may not be rocket science, but when certain Thames lock keepers tell you you need to use a bow & stern rope, then that's what they mean and you can't use a centrerope in conjunction with either your bow or stern rope. Most will help but not if they are working alone.

 

Who said anything about mooring up with a centre line?

 

centre line - just an observation from seeing too many boats moored up with them and half sinking!