Come on, own up.

[mark99]

Just had a Bizzard moment why not fit 2 handles at the rear and a wheel at the front - whenever you approach a moored boat - remove boat and wheel along the towpath like a wheel barrow untill past said boat - happy days for everyone

I think you could be onto something. The moaning saddo would of course have to do the portage with the two handles whilst he/she is kicked up the ass to the shout of "moor properly or get a caravan".

[Jamm]

 

 

How far in did you hammer them?

 

Ours are always banged in until the loop is right on the ground

 

Richard

Same here, Richard. Mine have the hoop near the top of the stake. The rope almost goes in the ground too. Ropes tight.

[furnessvale]

Same here, Richard. Mine have the hoop near the top of the stake. The rope almost goes in the ground too. Ropes tight.

Spot on. One final thing for all to consider. Always align the pin so the hoop is at the back and the rope is pulling against the pin itself.

 

The welding on some of those hoops leaves a lot to be desired and one simply fell off one of my pins while being hammered into the ground.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

[magnetman]

I use US army tent spikes. 39 inches long 1.1/4 inch diameter with a hoop/handle wrapped and welded all the way round.

 

They are quite heavy at 6kg each and need a good sized hammer to drive them in.

 

Or a miniature pile driver would be good

 

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=111110765283

[Claude]

It would be rather difficult to see both ends of the boat at the point at which slowing down would make a difference. Some (unwise) people leave visible locks on one end (typically the stern doors),even when they are aboard.

Visible locks are often left on unlocked doors too - my padlocks are kept on the hasps when the doors are unlocked while I'm onboard. But I don't really care how fast boats go past.

[Mike Todd]

One of the reasons we bought our boat was the previous owner recounted how the boat had resisted an attack. The hobo then broke into the next boat, drank all the whiskey and ate all the tinned dog food...

 

Spot on. One final thing for all to consider. Always align the pin so the hoop is at the back and the rope is pulling against the pin itself.

 

The welding on some of those hoops leaves a lot to be desired and one simply fell off one of my pins while being hammered into the ground.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

As but one option, I clove hitch around the spike and then pass through the loop and over the top of the pin. I started doing this after our pins were pulled out in the night and one of them failed to stay attached to the rope. I usually do this after hammering the spike close to the ground level and then bury it properly with the loop as far down as conditions permit.

 

How long before someone tells me I am doing it all wrong?

Edited May 26, 2016 by Lady Cassandra
Comment edited

[Bettie Boo]

Always align the pin so the hoop is at the back and the rope is pulling against the pin itself.

 

The welding on some of those hoops leaves a lot to be desired and one simply fell off one of my pins while being hammered into the ground.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

 

This ^ is how " 'im at the back" does ours as well - but I still feel the need to high light the trip hazard as there is still a couple of inches of the pin sticking up out of the ground...the bit above the hoop

[magnetman]

As but one option, I clove hitch around the spike and then pass through the loop and over the top of the pin. I started doing this after our pins were pulled out in the night and one of them failed to stay attached to the rope. I usually do this after hammering the spike close to the ground level and then bury it properly with the loop as far down as conditions permit.

 

How long before someone tells me I am doing it all wrong?

You are doing it all wrong

Edited May 26, 2016 by Lady Cassandra
Quoted post edited

[gazza]

 

As but one option, I clove hitch around the spike and then pass through the loop and over the top of the pin. I started doing this after our pins were pulled out in the night and one of them failed to stay attached to the rope. I usually do this after hammering the spike close to the ground level and then bury it properly with the loop as far down as conditions permit.

 

How long before someone tells me I am doing it all wrong?

the answer is 33 minutes.

Edited May 26, 2016 by Lady Cassandra
Quoted post edited

[Claude]

The number of boats I see with a padlock on the outside or the rear or well deck piled with stuff so you cant open a door and still people inside, I think some of them may be after a Darwin Award locking escape routes.

Not all padlocks you see on boats are actuall locking the doors. If you passed my boat you'd see locks on the doors but you wouldn't easily be able to tell if the doors were locked or not.

And how much security does an external locking arrangement provide anyway now that battery powered angle grinders are the weapon of choice for many naughty boys (and girls, obviously, burglary being an equal opportunities profession)?

Except hey're not really the weapon of choice. Boat breakins are generally done by opportunists armed with nothing more than a screwdriver. If battery powered angle grinders were routinely carried by these thieves then it would also be relatively easy for them to cut a few door hinges off, meaning that internally locked doors would also be vulnerable.

 

I have round van locks on my doors within the round housings/hasps. I think they're probably more secure than most internal door locks.

Edited May 18, 2016 by Claude

[Claude]

 

What I don't get (as in understand), is all this bopping around folks complain / moan about. We've been living on the boat for a little over 2 & 1/2 years now, and I've yet to experience anything other than a bit of forward/backward movement with our boat when others go past, regardless of how fast they are going; with the exception of the bloody, flippin row boats / skifs which do actually rock our boat - is that down to the fact of us being a WB or just having a really well balanced/ballast boat? Does it make a difference that from the bottom rubbing strak to the flat bottom is chinned?

 

I just can't imagine it's down to luck that we haven't experienced a boat going past too fast.

Widebeams tend not to roll like narrowboats in high winds or passing boats.

[ditchcrawler]

 

 

The welding on some of those hoops leaves a lot to be desired and one simply fell off one of my pins while being hammered into the ground.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

I have picked up loads of those hoops with a magnet.

Visible locks are often left on unlocked doors too - my padlocks are kept on the hasps when the doors are unlocked while I'm onboard. But I don't really care how fast boats go past.

Do you lock the padlocks on or just dangle them through the staple?

Must have been Irish?

As but one option, I clove hitch around the spike and then pass through the loop and over the top of the pin. I started doing this after our pins were pulled out in the night and one of them failed to stay attached to the rope. I usually do this after hammering the spike close to the ground level and then bury it properly with the loop as far down as conditions permit.

 

How long before someone tells me I am doing it all wrong?

I don't tie mine but take the rope back to the boat stud unless I have to run a lot of line out. I hammer them in as far as they will go, it takes the leverage off the pin when the rope is pulled.

[Bettie Boo]

Widebeams tend not to roll like narrowboats in high winds .

 

Ohh I'd have to disagree with your wind comment - our tumblehome doesn't have much of an angle to it, and a light to medium wind can send us up the canal doing the "crab dance" quite easily.

 

Something along the lines of trying to "steer a football pitch in a straight line during a hurricane" or that was the description the 2 kindly, experienced narrow boaters used when they took us out way back when they were teaching us the basics .

 

I'm not in a position to make any comments on it myself, as I've never been on a moving narrow boat, and therefore have nothing to compare it against - I only know how our WB handles in the wind = like a brick

 

Mind you, you are correct in saying it doesn't make us roll, it just makes it rather challenging to control

 

 

ETA - the last sentence

Edited May 18, 2016 by Bettie Boo

[captain birdseye]

We once got shouted at for speeding up too quickly after passing a boat. The person concerned pointed out the movement in the water behind our boat was nearly at the stern of his so we must of put the throttle on when we were level with his counter !.

 

I only have one padlock on the front doors and I leave it on the hasp all the time. You can't see it when the front covers are down.

[Paul C]

 

Ohh I'd have to disagree with your wind comment - our tumblehome doesn't have much of an angle to it, and a light to medium wind can send us up the canal doing the "crab dance" quite easily.

 

Something along the lines of trying to "steer a football pitch in a straight line during a hurricane" or that was the description the 2 kindly, experienced narrow boaters used when they took us out way back when they were teaching us the basics .

 

I'm not in a position to make any comments on it myself, as I've never been on a moving narrow boat, and therefore have nothing to compare it against - I only know how our WB handles in the wind = like a brick

 

Mind you, you are correct in saying it doesn't make us roll, it just makes it rather challenging to control

 

 

ETA - the last sentence

 

That's yaw, not roll. Its the same as a narrowboat on a narrow canal, or a narrowboat getting through a narrow bridge.

[Claude]

Me too! I was amazed when one of the canal mags had an article on boat safety which recommended big padlocks on the outside to deter thieves. To my mind if big padlocks are visible it tells me that the boat is unoccupied and burglars with bolt cutters are welcome!

 

haggis

It only takes a knock on a door by a thief to determine if a boat is occupied and it's fairly common practice. Having no visible lock is no deterrent.

[magnetman]

Those van locks are definitely a good option for steel doors.

 

Not all boaters answer a knock on the window - what happens if you are disposing of used food for example or having a shower?

[haggis]

It only takes a knock on a door by a thief to determine if a boat is occupied and it's fairly common practice. Having no visible lock is no deterrent.

True, but in my view, the presence of a big padlock indicates that the boat is unlikely to be occupied. Not saying the absence of a padlock says anything :-)

 

haggis

[tidal]

 

But that is not the case for everybody. Hire and private boaters alike may have a fixed amount of time in which to get the boat back to base, or to a designated mooring or whatever.

True

I did point out that others have different views and priorities.....

 

indeed, the moorer to moor up correctly and also the helm to slow down to a sensible speed to pass by at dependant on different factors (size of boats, depth and width of canal, wx conditions etc etc).

 

Also I always have a chuckle at anyone who talks about others being at a hurry on the canals. As the max speed you can go at is 3-4mph that is hardly rushing!! However as others have said some people are often on schedule...ours always has a large 'ish' built in for planning purposes!

 

Such schedules as I do make (rarely) are worked out on the following calculations

 

No. of hours I wish to travel x 2.75 (maximum careful speed per hour)

Subtract 20min for each lock on route.

All divided by two

 

It usually gives me plenty of time to enjoy the scenery, the wildlife, multiple stops for cuppas and an early stop each day for leisurely imbibing of alcohol of an evening It also allows time to be courteous

 

As for the tying up business I mastered mooring skills of all sorts on, usually, quite small boats in busy tidal harbours over many years.

After that the cut is really quite simple by comparison

Edited May 18, 2016 by tidal

[MtB]

 

This ^ is how " 'im at the back" does ours as well - but I still feel the need to high light the trip hazard as there is still a couple of inches of the pin sticking up out of the ground...the bit above the hoop

 

 

Well tellim to keep on hammering until the heads are flush with the ground, like what I do.

 

Then there's nuffern to trip over.

One of the reasons we bought our boat was the previous owner recounted how the boat had resisted an attack. The hobo then broke into the next boat, drank all the whiskey and ate all the tinned dog food...

 

 

The next boat along had a tinned dog?? BRILLIANT... I want one!

 

 

 

 

(Edit to correct a logic error...)

Edited May 18, 2016 by Mike the Boilerman

[Bettie Boo]

 

 

Well tellim to keep on hammering until the heads are flush with the ground, like what I do.

 

Then there's nuffern to trip over.

 

 

(Edit to correct a logic error...)

 

but then the loop with the mooring rope/line through it would be underground - how would we ever get it back out when it was time to shove off? Sometimes he needs to use the hammer to tap the pin loose so he can pull it out of the ground, depending what the ground is like.

 

Next time you moor up, do us a favor, take a pic and post it (not trying to be a smart arse here) please so I can see what your talking about

[ditchcrawler]

 

but then the loop with the mooring rope/line through it would be underground - how would we ever get it back out when it was time to shove off? Sometimes he needs to use the hammer to tap the pin loose so he can pull it out of the ground, depending what the ground is like.

 

Next time you moor up, do us a favor, take a pic and post it (not trying to be a smart arse here) please so I can see what your talking about

I do the same and drive it right in, the rope gets all mucky.

[Bearsteen]

We've got a tin dog he lives behind the (house) front door, he nods his head and wags his tail when we go through the door.

His name is Moonshadow.

[Jrtm]

I always slow down but i often still get shouted at to slow down even if on tickover. If i know im going slow enough (a speed i would be happy with people passing me) i have 3 set responces.

1. If there boat is moving alot and its not very well tied up i normaly shout back try tieing your boat a bit better.

2. If its just coz its an old boat going past i normaly shout back i cant its too shallow im hitting the bottom as it is.

3 if its just coz they can hear the exhaust (happens quite a bit) i just shout back what do you want me to do turn the engine out as i go past so you can still hear eastenders?

[system 4-50]

If you are moored on pins then I slow right down, 900rpm, and early. If your ropes are attached to the top of the pins, well out of the ground then you get a smile and another -100 even though it takes all day to get past.

If you are on nappy pins on Armco, 1000. Yes I know it makes a noise.

If you are on rings, 1000-1100.

If you are consecutive moored boat not on pins number 20 or more, then +100. I want to get where I'm going before I die.

If it is so narrow that I can reach the toast on your breakfast table then -100. With marmalade please.

If there is a strong crosswind then +100. Banging the bow on one side at the same time as the stern on the other is no fun.

If you have one of those Tickover notices then +100.

If you have one of those disgusting Master Boater notices then +200.

If I want to get clear of a difficult area before another boat appears to complicate the situation then +100. (Many boatyards and some junctions.)

If you are moored right on a blind bridge then +as much as it takes to deal with the situation.

If you look as if you are going to bounce around (long slack ropes) then -100 and a wry look.

If your boat looks unoccupied then possibly +100.

If your boat is the phantom short plastic cruiser that is tied up in a really awkward position and looks abandoned at every junction (last week at Middlewich) then no special respect.

If it is chucking it down and has been for some time and blowing straight into the face then +100 with a slightly guilty feeling.

If you are one of the very nice people that I meet so often that offer help generously and happily (not that I particularly need it but it does make it quicker and makes for an enjoyable atmosphere) and I recognise you in time, then -200 so I can say thank you again as I pass.

 

I need some form of notice which is the opposite of a Tickover notice that shows that I am happy for boats to pass my mooring quite quickly as long as they are not very close. With my wheels I hardly notice.