Scary Moment in York

[Midnight]

5 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Watch you dont miss the " ole " ont way passed 

Where are you Tim?

[Nightwatch]

When coming back down from York and doing my first turn into Selby  lock with the flow of the tide, I have to confess that I wasn't at all confident I would get it right. I did, but not without a lot of arm waving from the lockie. An experience I'd like to repeat to see if I learnt anything. Loved the fast flowing rivers but satisfying to get back on the canal.

[matty40s]

4 minutes ago, Midnight said:

Where are you Tim?

Waiting for pub to open 

[Nightwatch]

So he should be! 

[mrsmelly]

1 minute ago, Midnight said:

Where are you Tim?

Stuck on the visitor moorings on the erewash topside of Trent lock wanting to come out  No bloomin chance wouldnt even get under the lock approach bridge if I was daft enough to try!!

1 minute ago, matty40s said:

Waiting for pub to open 

 Nowt else to do realy but I intend to refrain today!! Have you seen the rain thats forecast for the next seven days here? 

[Midnight]

3 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Stuck on the visitor moorings on the erewash topside of Trent lock wanting to come out  No bloomin chance wouldnt even get under the lock approach bridge if I was daft enough to try!!

 

Good I thought you where in Hull and wondering if I would pass you if I balls up the entry to Selby Lock on tomorrow's flood assisted spring.

[peterboat]

Last year we hit Selby at the top of the tide it was perfik shame the lock keeper wouldnt let us in!!!

[mrsmelly]

1 minute ago, Midnight said:

Good I thought you where in Hull and wondering if I would pass you if I balls up the entry to Selby Lock on tomorrow's flood assisted spring.

  If you come flying past the end of here you will have made one hell  of a balls of it!!

[pete.i]

39 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Just a quick one. Why oh why do people EVER use a centre line on a narrowboat to moor up with? Centre lines are for stepping off boat with to draw the boat alongside NOT for mooring. Of course temporary whilst on a short pontoon etc etc but to moor and leave a boat with the center line as a mooring rope 

Perhaps, instead of castigating all and sundry bad boaters, it would be a good idea to tell readers of this forum why it is a bad idea to use only the center rope when mooring up. That way the people who are not as supremely knowledgeable as you, and others on this board, wouldn't get themselves into so much trouble on the canals and rivers.

[Midnight]

8 minutes ago, Nightwatch said:

When coming back down from York and doing my first turn into Selby  lock with the flow of the tide, I have to confess that I wasn't at all confident I would get it right. I did, but not without a lot of arm waving from the lockie. An experience I'd like to repeat to see if I learnt anything. Loved the fast flowing rivers but satisfying to get back on the canal.

I've done it 20 or more times but still get that feeling if trepidation as I reverse downstream to the lock. It's never quite the same twice.

 

1 minute ago, peterboat said:

Last year we hit Selby at the top of the tide it was perfik shame the lock keeper wouldnt let us in!!!

I don't understand that when coming upstream from Barmby on the flood you usually do reach Selby on the top of the tide. Was there some other issue?

[mrsmelly]

1 minute ago, pete.i said:

Perhaps, instead of castigating all and sundry bad boaters, it would be a good idea to tell readers of this forum why it is a bad idea to use only the center rope when mooring up. That way the people who are not as supremely knowledgeable as you, and others on this board, wouldn't get themselves into so much trouble on the canals and rivers.

Oh dont worry we all make balls of it sometimes. 

[blackrose]

59 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Just a quick one. Why oh why do people EVER use a centre line on a narrowboat to moor up with? Centre lines are for stepping off boat with to draw the boat alongside NOT for mooring. Of course temporary whilst on a short pontoon etc etc but to moor and leave a boat with the center line as a mooring rope 

Perhaps I misread the OP but I thought the boat owner was using his centre rope to handle it temporarily while getting off the boat? When you're single-handed you tend to rely on your centre rope for stepping off the boat as you say, but in this case as Detling said, a long bow rope should be available when mooring in strong currents. 

But I actually disagree with you (and probably most of the forum) about using centre ropes for mooring. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using one's centre rope for mooring a narrow boat as long as it's left slack including being able to accommodate rising water levels as all mooring ropes should.

"What's the point of a slack centre rope then? It's not doing anything" I hear you ask. Well it's just an insurance policy. I've helped to re-moor several narrow boats over the years which for one reason or another have come adrift from the bow or stern. Of course they should have been moored more securely at both ends in the first place, but ground can be softened by rain, passing boats can pull mooring stakes out, etc. My point is that had they also used a slack centre line to moor they would not have ended up obstructing navigation and it would have been a lot easier to get these boats back alongside the towpath. Anyway, in 15 years I've never had a problem mooring with a slack centre rope on rivers and canals and I will continue to do so.

Edited April 1, 2018 by blackrose

[john6767]

21 minutes ago, peterboat said:

Last year we hit Selby at the top of the tide it was perfik shame the lock keeper wouldnt let us in!!!

Will be going to York in the summer, not sure coming back down how you get to Selby at high tide, but why would you not be let in then?  Can you get into Selby at low tide?

[Nightwatch]

Depending on where we moor we do occasionally moor using the centre line as a safeguard and acting as an additional spring arrangement. Leaving it slack in the main. But as I say, not as a rule.

[peterboat]

19 minutes ago, Midnight said:

I've done it 20 or more times but still get that feeling if trepidation as I reverse downstream to the lock. It's never quite the same twice.

 

I don't understand that when coming upstream from Barmby on the flood you usually do reach Selby on the top of the tide. Was there some other issue?

We were coming from York and the lock keeper deemed us to big!! 66 foot long by 15.6 wide we would have fitted..............just anyway we pushed on to Goole and came out there

[mrsmelly]

2 minutes ago, john6767 said:

Will be going to York in the summer, not sure coming back down how you get to Selby at high tide, but why would you not be let in then?  Can you get into Selby at low tide?

It is summer now innitt 

[john6767]

Just now, mrsmelly said:

It is summer now innitt 

Well it is summer right now, but not tomorrow .  Anyway for the removal of doubt, when I said summer it will be July, and hopefully the river will be playing ball.

 

[Alan de Enfield]

4 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

It is summer now innitt 

No - not till it stops raining.

It is currently the 'tad-damp' season

[blackrose]

I'm going to contradict myself slightly because this centre rope at my mooring isn't slack at the moment, but river levels are up and from pole to fairlead the rope is about 14ft long so it's just bringing the boat forward slightly as the water level rises. Once the river level subsides that rope will be slack again. 

Edited April 1, 2018 by blackrose

[Alan de Enfield]

7 minutes ago, blackrose said:

I'm going to contradict myself slightly because this centre rope at my mooring isn't slack at the moment, but river levels are up and from pole to fairlead the rope is about 14ft long so it's just bringing the boat forward slightly as the water level rises. Once the river level subsides that rope will be slack again. 

 

 

Which is absolutely fine as long as the stern rope is slack enough to allow the forward movement.

For those without your experience, - tying Bow, stern and centre lines tight will result in the boat canting over at an ever increasing angle as the water level rise.

[Midnight]

41 minutes ago, john6767 said:

Will be going to York in the summer, not sure coming back down how you get to Selby at high tide, but why would you not be let in then?  Can you get into Selby at low tide?

Coming back down from Naburn the ebb will be running off. It usually turns when you are just below Cawood bridge. For a first time try to pick a low neap tide.

This is the way I do it other's will have different techniques.

Try to be first or second out of Naburn. If not let the boats in front get a long way ahead (20mins or so at Turn Head). If you are following 1 other boat get some distance behind as you approach the final corner. You need to give it time to get into the lock. After Selby road bridge look for the high concrete jetty. Turn across the river and reverse backwards down to the lock about 30-40ft out. just before the lock entrance try to get at least 45 degrees to the wall. It's not so easy if as usual there's little flow near the wall and a strong ebb pushing against your stern (watch out for the sandbar just above the lock). When adjacent to the jaws it's relatively easy to power in across the flow with the tiller hard over. The alternative is to turn below the lock then come back against the ebb - about 30ft out 30ft back make your turn. The lockie will probably signal you when it's time to push the tiller hard over. 

Like I said before it's not quite the same twice.

Edited April 1, 2018 by Midnight

[Nightwatch]

I did the latter with the lockie waving gently,less gently and then frantically. Made it though.

[Victor Vectis]

3 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

Stuck on the visitor moorings on the erewash topside of Trent lock wanting to come out.

What beers are on the wickets in the Steamboat?

I had to laugh when I went in there last August as they had an IoW beer (Earl's RDA, Island Brewery) on.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

2 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

It is summer now innitt 

There are only two seasons in Britain, not four. The rainy season and Winter.

[Alan de Enfield]

27 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

There are only two seasons in Britain, not four. The rainy season and Winter.

The only difference between Winter & Summer is that the rain is warmer in Summer.