How to navigate Thames locks single handily

[Ben69]

I have just bought a freeman 22. I have zero experience. I would like to travel between Henley and Caversham / Mapledurum. I have been to several locks and watched how it works but haven't seen anyone travel alone, it's always been two people managing the ropes.

 

Would someone be so kind to point me in the right direction?

 

Thank you

[MtB]

I have just bought a freeman 22. I have zero experience. I would like to travel between Henley and Caversham / Mapledurum. I have been to several locks and watched how it works but haven't seen anyone travel alone, it's always been two people managing the ropes.

 

Would someone be so kind to point me in the right direction?

 

Thank you

 

 

If the lockie is on duty all you need to do is tell him you are new to this and he will help you and show you the ropes.

 

If you arrive and the lockie is missing i.e. the 'Self Service' signs are up then I suggest you tie up on the lock landing and go and peruse the instructions on the lock operating stantions. Before you know it another boater will arrive and show you the ropes. If not then follow the instructions to open the gates then go back and bring your boat in.

 

Hang about for a bit wondering what to do and another boater will prolly turn up and show you the ropes. If not, follow the instructions on the lock operating stantion and shut the gates. Open the paddles and go back and attend to your boat as the lock fills (or empties) by which time another boater will have arrive to show you the ropes.

 

If note, follow the instructions on the lock operating stantions and open the gates. Cruise out and carry on to the next lock...

[RLWP]

The Thames is just about the easiest system of locks I have ever met. Don't panic, turn up at a lock and have a chat. You'll be fine

 

Richard

[MtB]

The Thames is just about the easiest system of locks I have ever met. Don't panic, turn up at a lock and have a chat. You'll be fine

 

Richard

 

 

Yes it's win-win on the Thames. Either arrive and take all the time in the world to figure out how to do it in your own time at your own pace, or someone will arrive and show you the ropes. Either way, Thames locks are very friendly and a breeze. No need to stress. Just take your time. Did I mention this before?

[RLWP]

 

 

Yes it's win-win on the Thames. Either arrive and take all the time in the world to figure out how to do it in your own time at your own pace, or someone will arrive and show you the ropes. Either way, Thames locks are very friendly and a breeze. No need to stress. Just take your time. Did I mention this before?

 

Can't remember - you are still right

 

Richard

[matty40s]

 

 

If the lockie is on duty all you need to do is tell him you are new to this and he will help you and show you the ropes.

. Before you know it another boater will arrive and show you the ropes. ....

 

Hang about for a bit wondering what to do and another boater will prolly turn up and show you the ropes

................ by which time another boater will have arrive to show you the ropes.

 

 

If you havn't sussed it by then, it means you have no ropes.

[RLWP]

 

If you havn't sussed it by then, it means you have no ropes.

 

No ropes on our boat

 

Richard

[MtB]

Ropes are the material used to make the lines on your boat...*

 

 

 

* courtesy of that RWPL bloke who first said it

[RLWP]

Ropes are the material used to make the lines on your boat...*

 

 

 

* courtesy of that RWPL bloke who first said it

 

You don't want to believe that poster

 

Richard

[MtB]

 

You don't want to believe that poster

 

Richard

 

I spose so. A lot of wot he sez is rubbish!!!

[The Lockie]

How do you make lines into painters??

[Scholar Gypsy]

My 2p worth (a 56' narrowboat, so rather different to your boat),, to add to the above.

 

If going uphill then I will usually tie off the stern line to a bollard some distance (10-15') behind the boat. I will then control the bow line from the bank, taking in the slack as the boat rises (and moves forward). This means I am then near to the control panel (or the hand-operated paddles on the Upper Thames). I think this would work fine for you too.

 

When going downhill, if there are no other boats around then I will just use a single centre line, putting the loop in the end over a bollard. I do this to make sure the rope does not fall into the lock while I am doing the paddles or gates, but leaving PLENTY of slack to make sure the boat doesn't get hung up as the water level drops. Do NOT wind a centre line (or indeed any llne) around a bollard 7 times, as it may jam (I have seen this happen & it is not fun). For you it may be easiest to simply join the bow and stern lines eg with a reef knot, and drop it over a bollard while you are attending to the sluices and gates -- but do make sure this gives you enough slack. Then when the gates are open you can come back and get the boat where you need it to get back on board.

 

If there are lots of other boats around then I have been known to tie off the stern rope again, but with a LONG line to allow for the drop in the water level (which is usually 3-6 feet), and then tend the bow line letting that out as the boat drops (and moves backwards a bit too). This means I can be sure the boat will stay close to the wall.

 

For a 22' boat it is perfectly possible to control both lines from the lockside, if there is a lockkeeper around to work the lock. Just take each line around a suitable bollard and stand in the middle with a line in each hand, letting it out as the boat falls. This technique will also work fine for going uphill too, provided there is not too much turbulence as the lock fills (most Thames locks are pretty gentle, but not all of them).

[The Boater]

About the only thing to add kid to make sure that both ropes are long enough (10 metres)

[kremmen]

Also remember that if you get a choice always go to the side the lock keeper is on as he can help with ropes . Also stay away from the head gates if possible as the lock is less "bouncy" near the back.

 

Paul

 

Edited to say that when the instructions say press and release button then do so as pressing it more times or keeping finger on the button to "speed" it up is often leads to the system cutting out and doing the locks manually is a pain as they are geared for hydraulic system not people.

Edited August 30, 2016 by kremmen

[john6767]

You probably already know, but if there is a lock keeper or other boats there, you will need to turn the engine off whilst in the lock.

[mark99]

When I was young I used to take my trailerboat single handed in and out of Thames locks and I had no idea about any rules or ettiquette. I don't rember any problems. It is possible to overthink. <ignorance of youth>.

Edited August 30, 2016 by mark99

[The Boater]

If you can wait till next week I would be happy to come out with you and show you how to manage the boat single handed.

Ian The Boater. 07704 249 523

[OldGoat]

As a local boater - please, please read the instructions (which should be) attached to the 'pedestals'.

The equipment is semi automatic for the sluice (paddle) operation and if you HOLD the 'sluices up' button for any length of time the whole blurry system WILL lock (!) out and nobody, but nobody can use the lock until somebody comes out to reset it and that can take hours.

 

Filling the lock is a timed operation (slow) and the sluices are raised in three steps. I've seen impatient boaters holding the buttons in the mistaken belief that the lock will fill faster.

 

Expect to find the lock unattended in the 'off season' as EA is broke.....

 

Going uphill, moor the boat towards the downstream end of the chamber and you'll get less turbulence.

[Ben69]

wow! thank you for the fab response and offer to help, i will be in touch

[ditchcrawler]

Watching some of the smaller cruisers they seam to have long lines coming back/forward to the cockpit, they then put both ropes round one bollard and hold the two ends from inside the cockpit. A different technique would be required if self service, but they fill empty very slowly like that and there are good stairs down the lock side to get in and out of your boat.

[FadeToScarlet]

You probably already know, but if there is a lock keeper or other boats there, you will need to turn the engine off whilst in the lock.

Unless you have a Bolinder, Gardner VT or another semi diesel, in which case you often only have to turn it off in the first lock

[Chertsey]

Unless you have a Bolinder, Gardner VT or another semi diesel, in which case you often only have to turn it off in the first lock

Surprisingly, about 2/3 of the lock keepers on our recent jaunt up the Thames were perfectly cool about us (Chertsey and Renfrew) leaving the engines running, even when we expressed willingness to turn them off.* In one case the lockie said it was fine but I was getting funny looks from a white-boat owner so did anyway. This is a PD2 and an HA2 (I think!!) and they are loud! I must admit turning them off was often quite a relief. It's just as well we got the starter motor sorted though or we'd still be there now hitting it with a sledgehammer.

 

 

 

*This might of course have been because we were preceded by a Bolinder, Gardner VT etc....

Edited August 31, 2016 by Chertsey

[ditchcrawler]

I have just come up Clifton Culham Lock on Self service and it takes 20 minutes to fill, so nothing happens quickly

Edited August 31, 2016 by ditchcrawler

[kremmen]

Clifton shouldn't take that long. Culham on the other hand.......

[OldGoat]

Chertsey, on 31 Aug 2016 - 3:27 PM, said:

Surprisingly, about 2/3 of the lock keepers on our recent jaunt up the Thames were perfectly cool about us (Chertsey and Renfrew) leaving the engines running, even when we expressed willingness to turn them off.* In one case the lockie said it was fine but I was getting funny looks from a white-boat owner so did anyway. This is a PD2 and an HA2 (I think!!) and they are loud! I must admit turning them off was often quite a relief. It's just as well we got the starter motor sorted though or we'd still be there now hitting it with a sledgehammer.

 

 

 

*This might of course have been because we were preceded by a Bolinder, Gardner VT etc....

If you are the only boat in the lock then the lockie is 'permitted' to let you through with an engine running. He does have discretion and seeing you as working boats exercised his discretion. Many Thames lockies are NB friendly as they realise that many / most know what they are doing.....

 

ditchcrawler, on 31 Aug 2016 - 3:55 PM, said:

I have just come up Clifton Lock on Self service and it takes 20 minutes to fill, so nothing happens quickly

You must have been using buckets then.... It's a shallow lock...

Think you mean Culham lock.

It's a pig when on public power. The top gate paddles are very high and the mechanism has been set to avoid as much turbulence as possible - so it's slower than any other. The irritating result is that the last foot or so takes 12 minutes to fill...