Hillmorton

[Ray T]

25 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

Certainly not the impression given.  I got the impression it might be a group of friends who like doing it together, but I don't know.

 

Another experience from the T&M yesterday at the lock at Fradley junction......................

 

There was a single volunteer, and whilst no big issue with him, he first tried to close the lock onto the stern fenders before the boat was fully into the lock.  Then because Cath was drawing a top paddle, he simultaneously opened the one on the other side.  Despite the boat resting on the gate, and being in ahead gear, it was flushed back, and then rode forwards again to give the gate a hefty slap.  There was no great problem with that, other than the volunteer then gave me a most disapproving look, like it should not have happened.  Had our usual practice been followed, orf opening one top paddle then crossing to open the other, the pause between the two means it wouldn't have done!  Both the minor niggles in the otherwise smooth operation of the lock were as a result of actions of the volunteer.

Ideal opportunity to use an Atherstone Wedge. 

 

ETA, looked up Atherstone Wedge on Google and it came up with this: 

1. • Shop for Atherstone wedge

     1. 

        • Wide Fit Black Comfort Suedette Strappy Wedges New Look

          £27.99

          New Look

           

          Oooo errrr

Edited August 24, 2018 by Ray T

[billS]

6 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

Certainly not the impression given.  I got the impression it might be a group of friends who like doing it together, but I don't know.

 

Another experience from the T&M yesterday at the lock at Fradley junction......................

 

There was a single volunteer, and whilst no big issue with him, he first tried to close the lock onto the stern fenders before the boat was fully into the lock.  Then because Cath was drawing a top paddle, he simultaneously opened the one on the other side.  Despite the boat resting on the gate, and being in ahead gear, it was flushed back, and then rode forwards again to give the gate a hefty slap.  There was no great problem with that, other than the volunteer then gave me a most disapproving look, like it should not have happened.  Had our usual practice been followed, orf opening one top paddle then crossing to open the other, the pause between the two means it wouldn't have done!  Both the minor niggles in the otherwise smooth operation of the lock were as a result of actions of the volunteer.

Did you explain to him that his actions had caused the niggle?

[X Alan W]

I have to admit to leaving the cut before the advent of V lockies  how ever the last time i was in the UK & boating I was helping my mate to move his " Josher" to a different area we approached Hillmorton he & bike dropped off to set the locks he opened the bottom paddles & rode on to the middle lock as i got into the lock mouth a female appeared by the bottom gate beam shouting & waving her arms & pointing I couldn't hear what she was saying so hopped off to find out what the problem was leaving the boat to make its own way into the lock giving the top paddle a wind up to make sure the boat only very gently nudged the slam board dropping the paddle Hand braked to make sure it closed gently a quick trip to the & close bottom gates She had the biggest "Hissy fit" I've' ever seen I was accused of breaking every canal rule & some not even cut related I went to draw the top paddles which I did one but she locked the other with chain/padlock (I don't know where she got that from ) by this time the boat was pushing it's way out of the full lock she tried to prevent the gate opening by try to hold it closed with the balance beam I exited the lock & she ran up the towpath screaming/shouting there was a male V lockie at the middle lock I worked the lock in the same way although the lockie closed the bottom gates  I feared she would have a heart attack His words were ignore her " jobs worth first day" so my only meeting was a draw 1each good/not so good

[Athy]

I've heard that "Half past three" is a useful response in such situations.

[Nightwatch]

1 hour ago, Jennifer McM said:

Could they be the same guys we saw at Braunston yesterday? 

Can't be many people out and about wearing Pith Helmets, Shirley!

[WotEver]

2 hours ago, Athy said:

Now done.

Shame. ‘Taking funds from’ Macmillan made me smile  

57 minutes ago, Athy said:

I've heard that "Half past three" is a useful response in such situations.

No, it’s Friday. 

[ditchcrawler]

12 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

In which case it would have been helpful to have warned boaters their boats were being used for training some as-yet-unskilled trainees. Perhaps by using a marker pen to write “TRAINEE” on each of the trainee’s foreheads

 couple of years ago we went up Curdworth with several volockies around the middle of the flight, bit slow as there was a paddle problem so we got chatting to the chap helping us and found out it was his first morning. What if I had been a newbie and was relying on him.

This year on the L&L coming down Wigan and the CRT lock keeper said that "X" was quite new so please keep an eye and shout at him if necessary,  it wasn't but I was prepared. 

 

[alan_fincher]

14 hours ago, billS said:

Did you explain to him that his actions had caused the niggle?

No,  I didn't really, other than yelling "hang on a a minute", (or similar) when he trapped the fender, (but it must have been obvious to him he was closing the gate before the boat was fully clear of it).

 

Once he  was away at the top gates, and I was at the tiller down in the bottom of the lock at the other end,  I had no opportunity to converse with him over a distance of over 70 feet - particularly with the rattle of an air cooled Lister.

 

Had he done something I considered dangerous I would have stopped and had words, but he didn't do anything I actually considered dangerous.

[MtB]

3 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

Once he  was away at the top gates, and I was at the tiller down in the bottom of the lock at the other end,  I had no opportunity to converse with him over a distance of over 70 feet - particularly with the rattle of an air cooled Lister.

 

 

 

Curious how those who say 'just ask them to not to help' seem utterly unable to grasp this point.

[cuthound]

9 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

 

Curious how those who say 'just ask them to not to help' seem utterly unable to grasp this point.

 

Have you tried semaphore to communicate with them? ?

[rowland al]

9 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

 

Curious how those who say 'just ask them to not to help' seem utterly unable to grasp this point.

If it means so much to stop people helping then you can always jump off the boat before entering the lock and ask them not to help. 

 

Alternatively, get your partner to tell them. 

 

BTW, being unable to hear anyone doesn’t stop anybody from shouting instructions, people often respond with a thumbs up anyway. 

 

What I don’t get is this obsession with attacking vlockies Many times we go into locks we get help from other boating crews, and we help them. Should Alan prevent them from helping? They can make mistakes too.

[MtB]

1 minute ago, rowland al said:

If it means so much to stop people helping then you can always jump off the boat before entering the lock and ask them not to help. 

 

It doesn't mean that much. It's not a big deal, it's just a mild irritation. I keep saying this, how can you not grasp it? You are an intelligent bloke! Mostly.

 

 

5 minutes ago, rowland al said:

Alternatively, get your partner to tell them. 

 

What partners is that then? 

 

 

5 minutes ago, rowland al said:

What I don’t get is this obsession with attacking vlockies Many times we go into locks we get help from other boating crews, and we help them. Should Alan prevent them from helping? They can make mistakes too.

 

 

What obsession is that then? Is hyperbole your new favourite word?

[Jerra]

5 minutes ago, rowland al said:

What I don’t get is this obsession with attacking vlockies Many times we go into locks we get help from other boating crews, and we help them. Should Alan prevent them from helping? They can make mistakes too.

I too help others in locks and vice versa however I always ask if they want help, many volockies I have come across just assume you do and don't ask.

[MtB]

 

It isn't 'help' when the boater prefers to work his or he own lock. It's 'interfering'.

[rowland al]

1 minute ago, Jerra said:

I too help others in locks and vice versa however I always ask if they want help, many volockies I have come across just assume you do and don't ask.

In all the time I’ve been boating I’ve never had a member of another crew come up and ask us if we need help. It’s just assumed that we want to help eachother. 

[Jerra]

2 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

It isn't 'help' when the boater prefers to work his or he own lock. It's 'interfering'.

True

[rowland al]

3 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

It isn't 'help' when the boater prefers to work his or he own lock. It's 'interfering'.

It does seem that some people have a lot of bad luck when dealing with other people at locks. 

[MtB]

 

4 minutes ago, rowland al said:

It’s just assumed that we want to help eachother. 

 

And very presumptuous it is too.

 

It's my lock, my boat, my home, and if I sink it, my problem.

 

If a volly sinks it, or YOU sink it, it remains my problem. What is so hard for you to understand about that?

[nicknorman]

1 hour ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

 

And very presumptuous it is too.

 

It's my lock, my boat, my home, and if I sink it, my problem.

 

If a volly sinks it, or YOU sink it, it remains my problem. What is so hard for you to understand about that?

What do you do in wide locks? Share nicely or refuse to go through with another boat? If the former, who is the Captain? Do they need a hat?

[dogless]

In all our years of boating, only once has a man refused an offer of assistance.

He was single handed, and refused in a grumpy and rude way.

His rudeness was fortunately to my wife, and not to me.

There again he may have resisted being rude to me, he may have been 'picking his weight'.

I do hope I don't get stuck behind Mike working alone at a flight, with a queue behind him banned from speeding his passage... even if he's wearing his captains hat

Rog

[MtB]

1 hour ago, nicknorman said:

What do you do in wide locks? Share nicely or refuse to go through with another boat? If the former, who is the Captain? Do they need a hat?

 

I usually stop for tea until the other boat has gone away,  

 

But if I do happen to share, I assess their ability and if I don't find them competent I stop for tea until they have gone away.

 

I'm the captain obviously, and I have my captains cloth cap. 

34 minutes ago, dogless said:

In all our years of boating, only once has a man refused an offer of assistance.

He was single handed, and refused in a grumpy and rude way.

His rudeness was fortunately to my wife, and not to me.

There again he may have resisted being rude to me, he may have been 'picking his weight'.

I do hope I don't get stuck behind Mike working alone at a flight, with a queue behind him banned from speeding his passage... even if he's wearing his captains hat

Rog

 

 

There's no excuse for rudeness. 

 

If you were behind me in a flight I'd immediately wave you past, obviously. 'Tis the courteous thing to do innit.  IF you were catching me up, that is  

[dogless]

You're right about the holding up bit.

We were behind a single hander doing Hack Green locks on the Shroppie.

Both of us were held up by a boat with four crew who were fannying about unbelievably. 

Of course, if there'd been volunteers there...

Rog

[nicknorman]

I think in all fairness it surely has to do with the nature of the locks. In Midlands narrow locks when I am on the boat, I struggle to think of anything an assistant might do to cause me a problem. The way we operate, the helmsman is expected to be able to cope with whatever is thrown at them (except bricks, obvz). Wide locks with 1 boat, slightly different as you want to open the paddle on the appropriate side first, and on some wide locks one has to be carful with gate paddles. But for those locks, I simply pay a bit more attention to ensure an assistant isn’t going to do somethg daft. It’s not as if lightening reflexes are required - a wrong move takes several seconds or 10s of seconds to build up to, plenty of time to put on my “this is your Captain speaking” voice, which always ensures compliance.

[MtB]

13 minutes ago, dogless said:

You're right about the holding up bit.

We were behind a single hander doing Hack Green locks on the Shroppie.

Both of us were held up by a boat with four crew who were fannying about unbelievably. 

Of course, if there'd been volunteers there...

Rog

 

I have to say, this is not uncommon. The more crew, the more fannying about. I commonly find I am not caught up in flights by boats with crew, and I am sometimes held up by them. 

 

Once I notice a boat catching me up in a flight, I stop back-setting for them. This normally sees them off

[rgreg]

17 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

I have to say, this is not uncommon. The more crew, the more fannying about. I commonly find I am not caught up in flights by boats with crew, and I am sometimes held up by them. 

 

Once I notice a boat catching me up in a flight, I stop back-setting for them. This normally sees them off

Yes, I also rarely get caught up by following boats on lock flights when single-handing. I usually enjoy a little bit of a challenge to stay ahead.