Have we been working Locks wrong for the past 2+ years?

[Bettie Boo]

After reading the Buckby broken lock thread I've begun to question if we are doing locks the correct way or the safest way.

 

Here's our set up - there are 2 of us, on a 57ft WB (so we don't share locks with others). We do swap roles about, but for this example lets say Dave is off doing the gates & paddles and I'm on the tiller.

 

We pull up to the side, he steps off; if it's a deep lock, I either tie up to a bollard or hold the boat till the lock is just about set. If it's a shallow lock with no boats in it, I will hold the boat using the tiller & engine in the middle of the cut till he has opened the gates and then take the boat in. He shuts the gates behind me, I stay on the tiller, we do not tie the boat up at all whilst in the lock, I use forward & reverse to keep the boat in the middle of the lock, always keeping an eye on the cill markers when going down; the only time I've ever touched the front gate (so far) has been when I'm leaving the lock and then it's only with ever such a light touch. Dave works the paddles, but only after we've made eye contact and I've given him the nod that I'm ready for him to do so. He normally opens one paddle 1/2 way, crosses over and opens the other paddle again 1/2 way, if I'm happy to take more of a flow I give him a nod & a thumbs up indicating to fully open the paddles. If it's a dock with very little rise sometimes he will fully open the paddles, but still keeping an eye on me to ensure I am happy with the flow.

 

If there are no boats waiting to use the lock and we aren't in a hurry (which is most of the time), then he will just open the paddles on one gate.

 

Once the water is at the right level whether going up or down, he opens the gates, I cruise out, stopping the boat just past the exit gates (if there are not boats waiting for the lock, and we aren't in a flight) where he gets back on once he has shut the gates & paddles.

 

We've used this method on the GU, the Lee & Stort, Paddington & Regents and the K&A

 

Now I appreciate that it will all differ, if you are either single handed and/or sharing a lock with another boat.

 

So my question is, if you are working a lock with two people and not sharing a lock, is the way we do it the safest / best practice?

 

Are we doing wrong with not tying up whilst in the lock? Are we an accident waiting to happen?

 

And yes Dave has done a proper helmsman course before anyone asks, but I haven't.

 

I just want to put my mind to rest that we are just running on luck instead of following the best practice of how it should be done.

 

Ta

 

B~

 

 

[Machpoint005]

I can see absolutely nothing wrong with your mode of operation.

 

In a NB, in a wide lock on our own, if feasible I like to have the centre-line ashore, around a bollard and back to the helm, but in a wide-beam you only have a couple of feet of water on either side, so just using the engine and gearbox should be fine.

 

Others will be along to tell us we're wrong.

[Ray T]

Looks okay to me, if it works for you and Dave carry on, you are not upsetting anyone and using the lock gear sympathetically.

[Mrs Tawny Owl]

We never tie up in a lock, broad or narrow. The only time we do use a rope in a lock is if it's a wide lock and we are the first in, it's polite to hold your boat out of the way while the other one comes in.

 

We then put the rope back on the boat and don't use it while the lock fills / empties.

 

We very rarely tie up while waiting for a lock, unless there is a long queue.

Richard enjoys keeping the boat in one place while waiting, and I'm happy to do that too as long as we're not getting in any ones way.

 

Sounds like your doing it fine, only thing we do different is generally to wack the paddles straight up and not mess about with 1/2 opening them (unless they are gate paddles which would flood the front of the boat), but then we are 70ft so less distance left for her to surge back and forward.

 

Sue

Actually thinking about it a bit more, of course you're doing it wrong, as someone will certainly tell you one day, because whatever you're doing it's not the right way to some people, and they are the people who know best and will tell you at some length or some volume.

 

Ignore them and get on with doing what you are doing sounds fine to me.

 

Sue

[Bettie Boo]

Thanks all, You've put my mind to rest

[RLWP]

During the handover of the very first boat we hired, we were warned about using ropes in locks. ''Look for bits of rope jammed in the coping stones' they said. And they were right!

 

Richard

[David Mack]

Sounds absolutely fine to me.

 

Being full length we tend to let the bow rub up/down the gate so that there's no risk of being thrown about as the lock fills/empties, but this does require the discipline of checking that the bow fender won't catch in the gate when going up (as seems to have happened at Buckby). Going down our fender just gets pushed up on the deck as there is no chain to hold it down.

 

I usually wait in midstream if possible, even if I have had to go into the bank briefly to drop off a crew member to work the lock. It just takes too long to get out from the bank when the lock is ready otherwise, with the attendant risk of wedging diagonally in the lock mouth. And if in a flight of closely spaced locks, and with a boat coming the other way I wait in the lock, with the gates open, until the other boat is ready to emerge. That way we both pass in the middle of the pound and both boats under power. Better than being blown around in the middle with no steerage while you wait for the other boat to exit their lock. Works well except with the occasional idiot who refuses to come out of his lock until we are already halfway up the pound!

[mark99]

I'd just add to be especially mindfull when you change waterway as sometimes they are slightly different - lock foibles/lock design that it.

 

Eg on the Wey, their gates when going up have less guards on them to stop a bow fender lifting a gate. Also their paddles or more violent when filling.

 

NB a little while ago someone come up to me at Coppermill Lock as we were decending and told me I risked cilling my boat because my bow was touching the front gate. They had been out hiring recently and had got mixed up with where the stepped cill hazard was.

Edited May 23, 2016 by mark99

[Bettie Boo]

I'd just add to be especially mindfull when you change waterway as sometimes they are slightly different - lock foibles/lock design that it.

 

 

Yup - I fully agree Mark; these pics are of a lock we came across on the K&A; there is also one on the River Lee that; thankfully, we were warned about before we came to it, as it really did take a fair old amount of throttle to keep the boat where I wanted it once the paddles were opened and at that, they were only 1/2 opened - both were much "rougher" than what we are normally used to. But fun, when done with care IMO

[bizzard]

 

Yup - I fully agree Mark; these pics are of a lock we came across on the K&A; there is also one on the River Lee that; thankfully, we were warned about before we came to it, as it really did take a fair old amount of throttle to keep the boat where I wanted it once the paddles were opened and at that, they were only 1/2 opened - both were much "rougher" than what we are normally used to. But fun, when done with care IMO

Both Stansted Abbots lock and Picketts lock on the Lea are fierce going up.

[OldGoat]

That's the way we've been doing it for some thirty + years - and we're still cruising.

A good solid plan.

 

Fine details depend on any particular lock.

 

So why do you think you're getting it wrong??

[Bettie Boo]

Both Stansted Abbots lock and Picketts lock on the Lea are fierce going up.

 

 

Ahhh yes Bizz, it was the Stansted Abbots lock that we were warned about and although were "somewhat" prepared for, it still came as a bit of a surprize as to just now much welly I needed to apply to the throttle to keep me from going further forward than I was comfortable with.

 

Picketts was quite quick, but I personally didn't find it anywhere near as challenging as Stansted.

 

ETA - to add the pics

 

Edited May 23, 2016 by Bettie Boo

[cuthound]

The way you describe is how I have been doing locks for 43 years. I see no need to change yet (at least not until CRT develop the lock app I mentioned in the other post )

[Bettie Boo]

That's the way we've been doing it for some thirty + years - and we're still cruising.

A good solid plan.

 

Fine details depend on any particular lock.

 

So why do you think you're getting it wrong??

 

Well after reading the Buckby Lock thread, it seemed like it was more common practice to have the bow of the boat touching the front gates and allured to the boat being held by ropes / lines rather than by the engine/throttle, neither of which we have ever done.

 

Also, I was reading one of the posts on FB about Buckby incident and it was suggested that the paddles were raised to their full height and the boats in the lock were pushed forward too far and quickly and that's what raised the gate off it's fittings

[ditchcrawler]

 

 

Also, I was reading one of the posts on FB about Buckby incident and it was suggested that the paddles were raised to their full height and the boats in the lock were pushed forward too far and quickly and that's what raised the gate off it's fittings

I doubt that because the lock would be almost full before the gate lifted and the flow through the paddles would be approaching its lowest.

[MoominPapa]

On GU-type wide locks, your approach sounds fine. Just be aware that not all locks are the same: Nene locks, for instance have only gate paddles, and when filling the flow from the paddles bounces off the back of the lock and pushes the boat strongly forward. If there isn't a rope around a bollard, the boat will be smashed forcibly into the top gate. The advice to be cautious when moving to a new waterway is good.

 

 

MP.

[RLWP]

 

I love doing that, especially with gate paddles on narrow locks

 

Richard

[Ally]

Seems fine to me, much as we operate. We are narrow, but we go gently, especially when rising, as a tug deck takes more water on if the paddles are vicious. We rarely rope up unless sharing.

[mayalld]

During the handover of the very first boat we hired, we were warned about using ropes in locks. ''Look for bits of rope jammed in the coping stones' they said. And they were right!

 

Richard

 

Takes me back a few years, probably 30 years or more.

 

Boating holiday with parents on the Canal du Midi, and we were descending one of the VERY few locks on the canal that was then mechanised (most were still operated by the eclusier with windlasses that had their own little stowage places by the paddles).

 

It was two chambers close together (can't recall if it was a staircase or just 2 locks close together), but all controlled from a raised cabin, which looked like a control tower to the younger me.

 

We were descending the lock, and a rope did indeed snag in the coping stones, and we started to heel over. The operator hadn't spotted this, and his attention wasn't to be had by shouts, or sounding of horns. We were fairly well down in the lock, so getting ashore to attract attention wasn't an easy prospect.

 

We ended up slicing through the rope with the bread knife.

 

Don't like ropes in locks after that!

[Bee]

Whatever you do its wrong, Its like whenever you go to the dentist you will be told you are not brushing / flossing / angle grinding your teeth properly, its just life.

[X Alan W]

Is it just my thinking, or is it the more recent trend of having fenders secured to the boat by chain & shackles etc & not having a piece of rope in the attachment of the fender that is causing damage to lock or boat. When i first started I was "advised" to fix the bow fender to the eyes on the boat using a piece of rope on each side from the fender chain ends, a stronger piece on one side or as described by one boatman ( use a rotten bit & a good bit) the idea being the weak bit broke freeing the caught up fender but hopefully

 

not both sides breaking & the fender dropping in the cut, seeing some boats with bow fenders fixed with only chain to the fore deck + further chains to eyes on the hull sides ( to stop the fender riding up ) seems to me to be a no way out problem should the fender get caught up in some way

Edited May 24, 2016 by X Alan W

[system 4-50]

Would bungees work?

[Jess--]

Is it just my thinking, or is it the more recent trend of having fenders secured to the boat by chain & shackles etc & not having a piece of rope in the attachment of the fender that is causing damage to lock or boat. When i first started I was "advised" to fix the bow fender to the eyes on the boat using a piece of rope on each side from the fender chain ends, a stronger piece on one side or as described by one boatman ( use a rotten bit & a good bit) the idea being the weak bit broke freeing the caught up fender but hopefully

 

not both sides breaking & the fender dropping in the cut, seeing some boats with bow fenders fixed with only chain to the fore deck + further chains to eyes on the hull sides ( to stop the fender riding up ) seems to me to be a no way out problem should the fender get caught up in some way

 

If you ever see the chains holding my front fender on look closely and you will discover that a link on each chain has been cut on one end so that it acts as a weak link should the fender ever get caught up

[captain birdseye]

I use small carabiners and as they are not a complete loop if the fender get caught it splays open and releases the chain, if this happens I fit the spare one I have in my tool box and its as good as new.

[RLWP]

I use the cheapest, smallest shackle I can find. Having broken them in the past, I can confirm this system works

 

Richard