MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL - a guide. June 2018

[graemejwalker]

If you are planning to take the Manchester Ship Canal (MSC) from Ellesmere Port to Salford Quays to avoid the Middlewich breach (June, 2018) and the damaged Marsh Lock onto the Weaver, this is what you need to know. I travelled this route on Friday 15/06/2018 on my narrowboat with one adult, a 13 year old and a dog. Another boater cruised solo on his narrowboat at the same time. This guide is aimed at those who have not transited the MSC before and who have limited experience on larger waterways. I'm very happy to hear your comments, experiences and suggestions and add them in.

 

What you need:

 

1. An anchor and sufficient chain (try to borrow one, as they are expensive and it is unlikely to be used). Tie to the front of the boat and make ready to deploy before setting off.
2. Ropes for tying off in locks. The staff will dangle down ropes for you to tie yours onto, so don't worry too much about the length. Your surveyor will probably want to see that they're at least 15m long.
3. Fire extinguishers. If you've passed your BSS, you'll have these already.
4. A working horn.
5. Personal floatation devices / life jackets for everyone on board. You're not going to fall in, but if you do, there's alot of water between you and the bank.
6. Contrary to the Peel Ports Pleasure Craft Induction Pack, according to my surveyor, you do not need most of what they list. You are not permitted to transit during the night, or stop over, so lights are not necessary - especially colreg navigation lights. If you don't have them and don't want them, you don't need them. You do not even need a headlight.
7. You do not need a VHF. Its actually easier to phone Eastham Control. Their number is: 0151 3274638.
8. You do not need an admiralty chart or tidal almanac or a copy of the byelaws (although you will have a copy of that in the Induction Pack)

 

Making Preparations:

 

1. Download the Induction Pack
2. Check out the map I made.
3. Check stoppages. Remember the MSC is not operated by CRT. There's been a lot of long term stoppages recently. Check the Shropshire Union, Ellemere Port, MSC, Marsh Lock, Bridgewater (also non CRT) and Rochdale (if that's where you're heading). Your surveyor cannot be relied upon to know what is going on. I found out about the damage to Marsh Lock after I'd had my survey - the surveyor not only didn't know, but wasn't really interested in knowing.
4. Organise your Certificate of Seaworthiness survey. Mine cost £50, plus £25 travel from a surveyor who lives in Middlewich - I found him listed in the induction pack. I've heard of people paying much more - but you don't have to. Frankly, £75 for a man to sign a piece of paper to say your boat will float and that you have an anchor etc is already a massive rip off.
5. Fill in page 2 and 4 of the induction pack and send it with page 3 (completed by your surveyor) and a copy of your insurance policy to Paul Kirby msc-pleasurecraft@peelports.com 48 hours before you intend to travel. It will cost you £167 at the time of writing.
6. Note that Paul almost never picks up the phone. Email is best.
7. If you are planning to get onto the Bridgewater at Pomona Lock you will then need to contact BridgeWaterCanal@peel.co.uk stating the time/date you need it the lock opening. My suggestion (and the lock keeper's preference) is to overnight on Surrey Quays and go through Pomona at 8am the following morning. Include Owner/skipper name, Owner/skipper mobile tel, Owner/skipper email, Craft Name, CRT Index, Craft Length, Craft Width in your email. While entirely unnecessary to have 2 lock keepers to open a basic lock for you, Peel Ports not only insist on it, but will want £30 more for this "service". Captive market.
8. At Ellesmere Port, there is a swing bridge going right over the lock you need to pass through to get onto the MSC. If you are planning to get onto the MSC at 8am, you'll need to arrange to get the bridge opened at 7:30am. Contact Cheshire West & Chester Council with 48 hrs notice on 07799 658814 or 07825 865944 during office hours.
9. To berth in Ellesmere Port the night before you transit the MSC casts £4 per night. You can pay in the museum.
10. The day before you transit contact Eastham Control (01513274638) to let them know that you're in position for transit the following morning. Follow their advise on what time you might leave.

 

On The Day:

 

1. Do your regular engine checks. Have you got enough fuel / oil / coolant?
2. Cruising solo? Think about how you're going to manage ropes in the locks. How are you going to use the toilet if you need to? How are you going to eat? How will you deploy the anchor if you need to? You're not allowed to stop (unless its an emergency). Not that there's really anyone about to check.
3. To save water in the locks and for safety, Peel Ports prefer to get narrowboats to transit at the same time. You might have to be flexible as to which day you're intending to travel. For example, if you're planning to travel on the Monday, but there's another boat coming in on Tuesday, they may ask you to wait another day. In this case, you can stop stressing and enjoy the museum which is full of interesting things.
4. Peel Ports suggests breasting up with another boat for the transit for stability. Frankly I wouldn't bother unless you know the other boat and have lashed yours to theirs before.
5. Contact Eastham Control to ask them if you're good to go. They do seem to try to not have you meet other traffic, especially huge ships. In our trip, there was gale force winds, so we had to wait until the following morning. Have a look at the map I made for a spot to moor in the lower basin.
6. When you've got the go ahead, head out of the lower basin at Ellesmere Port and turn east (right). You're off!

 

Cruising:

 

1. Its pretty straightforward. Stick to the right of centre. I didn't meet any oncoming boats, but give them plenty of room if you do.
2. My surveyor advised that after an oncoming boat has passed you, steer into its wake. Helps with stability. He also suggested that if a boat is coming up behind you and wants to overtake, turn your boat 180˚ to face it and then steer into its wake after it's passed you. Then turn again 180˚ so you're following it.
3. The whole trip will take 8+ hours, depending on your speed and other traffic on the MSC.
4. I found it useful to print out the map section of the Induction Pack to see what was coming up. There did seem to be a few pages missing from that document though, not that it mattered. I used google maps too to check my position. The signal was pretty good throughout for phone and 4g (O2).

 

Locks:

 

1. Are massive. Prepare to be overwhelmed.
2. The lock keepers should be visible and on hand to advise. Follow their instructions.
3. The lock keepers are not used to small boats. They will try to shout instructions at you from afar. Indicate if you cannot hear.
4. They also do not understand how fragile small boats are in comparison to ships. There are big forces at play in these locks. Some of the lock keepers will be clear and give good instructions, others will stand around not paying attention while they smoke a cig.
5. In all cases, we cruised through the lock almost to the top gates and moored on the left. This gets you out of the way of turbulence coming into the lock behind you.
6. The lock keepers then dangled a rope down. We tied off our centre line, which for the most part was fine. Bear in mind that the infrastructure of these locks is not designed for narrowboats, but massive ships. Keep your wits about you. Keep your eyes open because frankly, you cannot rely on the lock keepers for the safety of your vessel. See troubleshooting below.
7. Learn how to tie a sheet bend, or a similarly useful knot for connecting the dangled rope in the lock with your boat's rope. A reef knot can spill when pulled, which will set your boat loose in the lock.
8. The locks take a fair while to fill. Plenty of time for a cuppa. Also plenty of time for you to start losing focus - you'll have already been cruising many hours by this point. Stay frosty.

 

Trouble:

 

Situations can happen faster than you can think. Make sensible preparations and keep sharp on the day. There's no great cause for preemptive alarm and panic, but let the following two stories give you a sense of how things can go wrong.

 

• Tying up in the lock. In the first lock, the guy on the other boat went in first. He tied off onto a ladder, as suggested by the lock keeper. This was a really bad move. The water rose fast enough to pull the knots tight and he ended up having to cut his new ropes off with a stanley knife. The lock keepers said that the rising water could not be reversed once the rise is in progress. If you're going to use a ladder to keep your boat in, pass your centre line round a rung and hold onto it. That way you can pull it out as the water rises. It is better to tie off to their dangled rope and hold onto that. Just keep an eye on where your bow is going. Lesson - DO NOT TIE!
• The top lock gates. In the last lock, the lock keepers were nowhere to be seen. They were busy smoking and chatting and throughout the process were not paying any attention. They casually told us to bring our boats right onto the top lock gates. This was a really bad move. A very small protruding piece of metal on the bow of my boat (which I could not see, as I was in the middle holding the centre line) got caught under one of the horizontal cross beams of the lock gate ahead. My stern rose out of the water. Water began rushing into the front of my boat. I had to pick up the dog and throw him to the other boater. Very very scary. I tried to pry my boat out from its snag with my barge pole, but only succeeded in shattering the pole. These are forces that are beyond our power to control. I was faced with a sunk boat, but finally, the lock keepers recognised the gravity of the situation and let some water out. The boat was freed. The piece of metal on my boat that had snagged is about the size of an pebble. Yes, I take responsibility for not paying enough attention. But please, do not rely on the lock keepers to look out for you, they are just not used to small boats and they're evidently not that interested in engaing with what's going on before them. Lesson - KEEP WELL AWAY FROM THE TOP LOCK GATES!

 

At the end of day 1:

 

• We did a victory doughnut in the big water at Salford Quays, relieved to have made it without the boat sinking.
• There's plenty of do not moor signs initially, but eventually we found a spot (see my map). A man told me he'd lived there for 15 years and never seen anyone more there. It was quite nice. The other boater found a different spot. Salford Quays are not MSC waters.

 

Day 2:

 

1. Make your way to Pomona lock at the agreed time (8am for us). The lock keepers were a little early. They let us up onto the Bridgewater and we then cruised to Castleford where we moored for a few nights.

 

Conclusion

 

In the end, it was not hard cruising and not as scary as I'd imagined, especially once I was on the calmer waters the day after the high winds. It is a fascinating and remarkable work of engineering and history, with loads to see - incredible long vistas, bridges, massive locks and the decaying remnants of industrial past.

 

In total the costs for me were as follows:

£35 - Purchase and installation of horn (which will be useful in the future)

£75 - Certificate of Seaworthiness survey (lasts a year btw)

£4 - Overnight in Ellesmere Port

£167 - MSC transit - Ellesmere Port > Manchester

£30 - Pomona Lock

Total - £311

The other boater spent over £500 because he purchased, rather than borrowed an anchor, fitted colreg nav lights, and his survey cost more.

 

Total distance (according to my map)

51.9km / 32.2 miles

 

I hope this document can help you with your preparations, but please note that you are responsible for yourself, your boat and all the people on it. Stay safe. Have fun. It is for sure a most epic adventure...

 

Graeme Walker, June, 2018

 

[Pie Eater]

Thanks for the guide Graeme.

 

Although we have done the trip before it was around 2003 and we started at Pomona Lock.

 

It is interesting to see how much prices have risen since then.

[adam1uk]

I can’t see where you moored at Salford because your maps just show me where I am now.  But the designated mooring is by the Holiday Inn Express, by the service block.  The local council also like people to tell them if they’re planning to spend the night there.

 

There seem to be a few more people doing this trip, not least because of the breach.  I suspect this will mean one of two things: either the MSC people will get more used to narrowboats; or they’ll do more to try to discourage them!

[Jerra]

11 minutes ago, adam1uk said:

either the MSC people will get more used to narrowboats; or they’ll do more to try to discourage them!

There is a third option. They say "Oh Goody" and put up the price.

[Pie Eater]

59 minutes ago, adam1uk said:

I can’t see where you moored at Salford because your maps just show me where I am now.  But the designated mooring is by the Holiday Inn Express, by the service block.  The local council also like people to tell them if they’re planning to spend the night there.

 

There seem to be a few more people doing this trip, not least because of the breach.  I suspect this will mean one of two things: either the MSC people will get more used to narrowboats; or they’ll do more to try to discourage them!

When we have been to Salford Quays with Lymm Cruising Club we have not moored by the Holiday Inn but further round where there have been 20 - 30 boats moored together.

 

We have not been for a couple of years as Salford Council declared the jetties unsafe.

 

Any one know if these have been repaired?

[adam1uk]

27 minutes ago, Pie Eater said:

When we have been to Salford Quays with Lymm Cruising Club we have not moored by the Holiday Inn but further round where there have been 20 - 30 boats moored together.

 

We have not been for a couple of years as Salford Council declared the jetties unsafe.

 

Any one know if these have been repaired?

When we were there in September, we went sent a map showing the visitor mooring. There is no jetty, you just moor up against the wall. 

[system 4-50]

Should this guide be pinned?

[graemejwalker]

2 hours ago, Pie Eater said:

Thanks for the guide Graeme.

 

Although we have done the trip before it was around 2003 and we started at Pomona Lock.

 

It is interesting to see how much prices have risen since then.

Cheers. Yes, it does feel like too much £ and I'd certainly not have done it if either Middlewich or Marsh Locks were open. My other choice was to go all the way back down the Shrop, across the S&W and up the T&M. Felt like a depressing option to go all that way only to get 30 miles or so east of Chester.

[graemejwalker]

2 hours ago, adam1uk said:

I can’t see where you moored at Salford because your maps just show me where I am now.  But the designated mooring is by the Holiday Inn Express, by the service block.  The local council also like people to tell them if they’re planning to spend the night there.

 

There seem to be a few more people doing this trip, not least because of the breach.  I suspect this will mean one of two things: either the MSC people will get more used to narrowboats; or they’ll do more to try to discourage them!

Thanks - I didn't see anything about the designated mooring, or contacting the council. Had no trouble though.

Have updated the map with the Holiday Inn Designated mooring site.

If boaters are asked to contact the council for mooring in Salford Quays, does anyone have the contact info?

[graemejwalker]

PS. If anyone is in Manchester right now and needs to borrow an anchor to go the other way, get in touch. I'm still moored in town below the Rochdale.

[Pie Eater]

Adam1uk

 

The area where we moored is a few hundred yards behind your boat. There were steps off the wall down to wooden walkways.

 

The longer boats were breasted up and moored stern on to the walkways and the shorter boats moored side on to the walkways up to 7 or 8 boats deep.

 

There were no pontoons/jetties set out from the walls.

Edited June 17, 2018 by Pie Eater
Spellchecked

[Nick D]

Thanks for taking the time to put such a great and useful guide on here. Might try the trip one day if I can persuade the other half!

[Cheshire cat]

Yes, good description. Might have to do it one day

[Mike55]

This may just me being thick, but on the basis there's no such thing as a stupid question:

 

If the MSC guys dangle a rope down, and you attach your centre line to that with a sheet bend, I can't see how that enables you to keep control of your boat. Even if the line is tight enough to restrain your boat initially it'll go slack as the boat rises. Or am I missing something?

[graemejwalker]

1 hour ago, Mike55 said:

This may just me being thick, but on the basis there's no such thing as a stupid question:

 

If the MSC guys dangle a rope down, and you attach your centre line to that with a sheet bend, I can't see how that enables you to keep control of your boat. Even if the line is tight enough to restrain your boat initially it'll go slack as the boat rises. Or am I missing something?

Hi, it's a reasonable question.

1. you should know that they kind of half-heartedly asked what I wanted, or gave some indication what they wanted. One guy wanted us to tie fore and aft, but his boss said it would be fine to tie just the centre. The last guys didn't care if we tied up or not and in fact, started letting water in before we were tied up at all and we had to shout to them to drop us the rope down. One of the lock keepers said something to the effect of "you don't even need a rope if you don't want".
2. I think its a good idea to tie up.
3. They dangle the rope. You tie yours onto it and as the boat rises they keep wrapping it around a bollard above to keep you in.
4. The rise is actually really smooth and steady - very little turbulence. Through a couple of locks we barely moved at all and by the top, we were almost completely still.
5. If the lock keepers are doing their job properly, they should manage the water flow to pin your boat to the side (as you would if you were a single boat in a regular CRT broad lock). The trouble is, as described in my main guide, they're generally not very interested in small craft such as ours. So stay vigilant. Keep someone at the tiller if you can. There's a huge amount of room to manouvre in even if the ropes do go slack. Use your engine.
6. Additionally, on reflection, the point of the ropes is also to prevent you from going backwards into all the turbulence coming into the lock. They didn't seem to care if we bashed about a bit. Not that we did, although you should have seen their energy levels go up a bit when they realised that they might have a sunken boat on their watch!

Again, I emphasise the need for skippers to take responsibility for vigilance over their own boats as the MSC lock keepers will not particularly help in that regard.

[frangar]

The only thing that I would add is that should you find another vessel moving then VHF is very useful to communicate each other’s intentions. When we did our transit Eastham VTS asked us to talk to the Mersey dredger directly to check it was safe to pass. 

 

Oh and the council mislaid our booking for the bridge at the port...which meant we had to hang around the in the bottom basin while they got their act together...if you do end up waiting there don’t tie up...if a ship passes on the ship Canal the water level in the basin changes alarmingly...better to ride it out than be slammed into the wall. 

[dmr]

A few things to add.

 

As said, they just don't answer the phone. Turning up in person is at the Eastham gate house is also not an option unless you have first spoken on the phone to pre-arrange this. Phoning the shipping control number is the only option, I thought they would not like this but turned out to be very friendly and informative.

 

You can monitor the ship movements on the on line ship movement site, this is very useful as the canal control can make mistakes and send you out into the canal with a tug fast approaching (we know this!).

 

Our certificate of sea worthiness "inspection" was mostly a friendly chat, the equipment rules are not that strict, but I am pretty sure this friendly chat was finding out our level of boating experience, if you have never done any rivers before, just little narrow canals, then they might not let you go.

 

We had to get our inspection at short notice and the travelling expenses were more that the survey itself. Try to get the boat close to the surveyors base!

 

.............Dave

 

[Mike55]

10 hours ago, graemejwalker said:

they keep wrapping it around a bollard above to keep you in.

Ah! This was the bit I hadn't appreciated. Thanks for responding, and for a very useful posting.

[Victor Vectis]

A very interesting and useful post. 

Thank you. 

NB ‘Holderness’ recently travelled the MSC in both directions and posted useful stuff and photos on their blog. 

[Grassman]

We did the journey from Salford Quays to Ellesmere Port on Friday so thought I would share my experiences and opinions.

 

Firstly what I learnt on here from  Graeme's extremely comprehensive and helpful guide at the beginning of this thread was invaluable, as was the help from another member Boredrider.

 

On Thursday we made the short journey from Castlefields to Pomona Lock and met the two lockies at the prearranged time of 8am. We had planned on doing the journey straight to Ellesmere Port but a few days earlier Peel Ports emailed to say we would have to go the following day due to unexpected lock repairs to Barton lock. So we spent the day and that night in Salford Quays in the mooring shown in AdamUk's thread number 6, adjacent to the Holiday Inn which we spotted easily from the main channel.

 

Those other moorings round the corner are still under repair as they have been since last year but I reckon if you were pushed you'd have no problem mooring there. They aren't doing any actual work on them and it looks as if they haven't for a long time. You would I'm sure get in by the Holiday Inn though, even if you had to breast up to somebody, especially as we were told by the lockie at Pamona that they only saw a couple of boats a month through there and this was backed up by one at Mode Wheel Lock who told us that we were only the 11th pleasure boat they'd had through there this year.

 

Everything else was just as Graeme had described in the OP except that we found the lockies, friendly, interested, and chatty. Also because were were descending the locks we didn't need to rope up because there was no turbulence and little movement of water.

 

Some of the ships we passed moored up along the way were quite impressive, and we met two oncoming (the ferry/trip boat and quite a large tanker) both of whom slowed right down and we passed each other with plenty of room to spare. I had liaised with them via VHF but this wasn't really needed because the chap at Eastham VTS was liaising with all 3 of us anyway.

 

You have to report your progress periodically to Eastham VTS  (by phone) and each time they told me where they'd next like me to report in. The downloadable MSC Pleasure Craft Guide was very useful, particularly the map/plan of the canal which we could easily follow on our android phone. Reconciling the numbered marker lights every few hundred yards along the whole route with the map on our phone made it so easy to pinpoint exactly where we were at any given time. You can of course print off the map if you prefer.

 

Eastham VTS like to know when you are likely to reach each lock so they can arrange to have lockies there when you arrive (we had different ones at each lock) . I just told them that we'd be travelling at around 4/5mph and left it to them to work it out.

 

Once we were through the last lock (Latchford) our time was our own but we wanted to maintain our 4/5mph as we wanted to reach Ellesmere Port before the museum closed because they have to unchain the lock up into the lower basin. They closed at 5.30 but we actually got there an hour earlier as it turned out. So the whole journey from Salford Quays to EP took 8 hours. They told me when we arrived that knowing we were coming they would have left it unlocked if they had gone home.

 

The other issue to check up before arriving is that the council operated swing bridge will be open, which it needs to be in order to get into the lock. This has been mentioned earlier in this thread but when we arrived it was 'permanently' open and had scaffolding all around it. Thank you Boredrider for sussing this out for us. How long it will be like that for for I don't know. But if and when it is back in working order you will need to pre-arrange things with the council and I think somebody said on here that they would probably leave it open for you if they knew you were arriving 'after hours'.

 

Some people moan about the cost but I looked on it was worth paying for the experience as well providing a different route option. When you analyse the cost I think it's actually not exorbitant. We paid £203 including the £30 locking down Pomona. There were two lockies at each lock x 5 locks. On the basis that including their travelling they'd each be about an hour working you through, that works out at 10 man hours which works out at just over £20 an hour. Given that labour rates these days are between £40 & £50 an hour then I think that is very reasonable. By the way it does require two lockies to operate the MSC locks.  

 

Admittedly there is also the cost of obtaining the certificate of seaworthiness to add to that. Mine cost £60 because I met the chap in Northwich where he is based so it saved his travelling costs.

 

So all in all it was a great day and I recommend it. It's a wonderful experience. Take heed of the excellent information on here and you'll be fine.

[TheBiscuits]

Good post.  I'd also suggest that if anyone fancies doing the trip but doesn't need to do it on their own boat, you can do it for about £50 per person on the Mersey Ferry either from Salford or Liverpool with a coach back the other way included.

 

We used to think £200 for your transit on your own boat was a lot until we did the trip - there is a lot of work put in by a lot of people to get you through the Ship Canal, and we no longer think it's excessive charges.

 

We would strongly recommend doing the ship canal for anyone who is really interested in inland waterways - it's something quite special.  If you do it on the ferry,, you also have a bar and a tour guide voiceover!

[Philip]

Would 15m rope/warps be needed or required if doing the trip downstream?

[Pie Eater]

The ropes will be needed to pass the Certificate of Seaworthiness but we did not use ours when sailing from Salford Quays to Ellesmere Port as the lock keepers said it was ok not to use them.

[Philip]

Thank you.

[Philip]

Regarding needing an anchor, I have what is best described as 'half an anchor' onboard; it is J-shaped with only one stake (so like ⚓ but cut off one of the arrows!). It has a ring to tie a chain to though. Would this be sufficient?