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Bettie Boo

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Bridge 'oles are always a hazard. You were only moored one boat's length away from such.

It may look enough but I've seen all manner of folks make a mess of it - especially if they are craft coming in the opposite direction.

Defensive mooring is a good tactic.

SWMBO often says "moor over there" - sorry, no, too near a bridge hole says I.

I agree totally. I hate to think of the number of times I've encountered a moored boat just before or just after a bridge I regret to say that in the vast majority of cases they're privately owned and the owners should have known better.

 

 

Frank

Edited by Slim
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  • 3 weeks later...

Bridge 'oles are always a hazard. You were only moored one boat's length away from such.

It may look enough but I've seen all manner of folks make a mess of it - especially if they are craft coming in the opposite direction.

Defensive mooring is a good tactic.

SWMBO often says "moor over there" - sorry, no, too near a bridge hole says I.

If you were three boat lengths away from the bridgehole (depending on the length of your boat) then this probably doesn't apply to you, but people do often moor too near, and indeed in some places are encouraged to by CRT providing rings. If you moor within 72' of a bridgehole you may well make it extremely difficult for a full length boat to get through. Those wider bits near bridge holes are to enable longer boats to manoeuvre through, not to tuck a little boat into (repeat, I am NOT suggesting this applies to the OP). A long boat has to come straight through for about sixty feet before it can even start to turn, then it needs that wide bit to swing its stern end into. If it has to avoid another boat the result can be the stern end going into shallow water (common at bridge holes) and consequent loss of steering and control of the front. So IF another boat is moored too near the bridgehole, and an oncoming boat has problems, it's not necessarily 'folks making a mess of it'.
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and That's why wide beam boats are not supposed to moor above Berkhampstead.....there are places where passing is tricky. Milton Keynes jam packed full of oversized boats moored in bridge holes and on bends. Did we go through breasted in the old days with a pair no....you could get along... But they try

Not suggesting op has wide boat merely making observation based on experience

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and That's why wide beam boats are not supposed to moor above Berkhampstead.....there are places where passing is tricky. Milton Keynes jam packed full of oversized boats moored in bridge holes and on bends. Did we go through breasted in the old days with a pair no....you could get along... But they try

Not suggesting op has wide boat merely making observation based on experience

 

roland - where ever did you get the idea that wide beams are not supposed to moor above Berko? If it were a problem, I doubt that CRT would make arrangements for us to pass through either of the tunnels, considering we can only go through first thing in the morning which makes that bit at least a 2 day trip. Never mind all the LTM's CRT manage between Berko and the North Oxford up as far a Wigram's Turn (could be further than that, but that's as far as we've been in ours)

 

We've been up and down the GU a few times now, and have not experienced any "tricky passing spots" with the exception of the water point right outside the Stop House @ Braunston marina that 2 WB's can't pass each other. Yes there a loads of bridge 'oles that we couldn't get through with another boat (NB) coming in the opposite direction, but it's never been a "problem", we simply pull over and let the other boat pass through if they are closer to the bridge than we are or if it looks like they aren't slowing down

Edited by Bettie Boo
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If you were three boat lengths away from the bridgehole (depending on the length of your boat) then this probably doesn't apply to you, but people do often moor too near, and indeed in some places are encouraged to by CRT providing rings. If you moor within 72' of a bridgehole you may well make it extremely difficult for a full length boat to get through. Those wider bits near bridge holes are to enable longer boats to manoeuvre through, not to tuck a little boat into (repeat, I am NOT suggesting this applies to the OP). A long boat has to come straight through for about sixty feet before it can even start to turn, then it needs that wide bit to swing its stern end into. If it has to avoid another boat the result can be the stern end going into shallow water (common at bridge holes) and consequent loss of steering and control of the front. So IF another boat is moored too near the bridgehole, and an oncoming boat has problems, it's not necessarily 'folks making a mess of it'.

Well put & worth mentioning.

 

Where is that stated please

It does get a mention in Nicholsons. Mind you there's widebeams & then there's widerbeams. Neither holds the copyright for mooring in stupid places. Oh, and Roland, I'll let you into a secret. There are places all over the network where passing is tricky, all part of the fun.

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Well put & worth mentioning.

 

It does get a mention in Nicholsons. Mind you there's widebeams & then there's widerbeams. Neither holds the copyright for mooring in stupid places. Oh, and Roland, I'll let you into a secret. There are places all over the network where passing is tricky, all part of the fun.

I have never had much faith in Nicholsons since my wife had me walk miles to a bakery that had closed down years before.

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Well put & worth mentioning.

 

It does get a mention in Nicholsons. Mind you there's widebeams & then there's widerbeams. Neither holds the copyright for mooring in stupid places. Oh, and Roland, I'll let you into a secret. There are places all over the network where passing is tricky, all part of the fun.

 

It actually mentions in Nicholsons, that it does not recommend WB's mooring between North of Milton Keynes & Braunston.

 

However, again I point out that CRT, not only sell/auction off LTM's between Milton Keynes & Wiggram's Turn on the North Oxford to WB's, and happily take their cut of EOG moorings that have WB's on them (you'd think the local EO would notice and take appropriate action if it was wrong) we also have to make arrangements with CRT to pass through the 2 tunnels, since we can only go through at 8AM than it stands to reason we will need to moor up somewhere over night.

 

I would suggest you are taking a "direction" as being Law. I take it as a warning that there are places between MK & Braunston that are not suitable for WB's to moor and to take a little extra consideration of others when picking mooring spots.

 

Just to clarify the "set up" of the last time we hit....We were on a straight section of canal (easily wide enough for another WB or two NB's to pass beside us), behind us was a bridge, which was well over 80 feet away (I know this because on one evening a 70 ft boat moored between us and the bridge).

 

The boat that hit us, hit the front end of our boat with the front end of their boat. They were heading toward the bridge, not coming out of the bridge. There were no turns present, and the bridge is not one of the ones that I would call higgly piggly.

 

Hope that clarify s it a bit better

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We've been up and down the GU a few times now, and have not experienced any "tricky passing spots" with the exception of the water point right outside the Stop House @ Braunston marina that 2 WB's can't pass each other. Yes there a loads of bridge 'oles that we couldn't get through with another boat (NB) coming in the opposite direction, but it's never been a "problem", we simply pull over and let the other boat pass through if they are closer to the bridge than we are or if it looks like they aren't slowing down

That's the normal situation on most of the canal network Bettie. Narrow canals usually not only have narrow locks but most also have narrow bridge holes and stop narrows. Us midland folk are used to holding back at bridge holes and the like. We manage well enough without needing to all get 3' 6" wide boats.

 

And I believe the Berko thing relates to that being the most northerly extent of working barges and historically only narrow boats operated north thereof.

 

Different world that southern GU. Or at least it seems that way reading this forum sometimes.

 

JP

Edited by Captain Pegg
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  • 1 month later...

We've been thumped into so many times (home mooring on K&A) we are seriously thinking renaming our boat Magnet. All the bangs and scrapes are collision damage. Not i hasten to add all by hire boats.The "best" was an ABC boat side swiping us three times,crewed by bunch on a stag do,trying to motor at night minus tiller attached. Patrick

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Good post bettie, ive seen a two boats hit quite hard so ive put together a to hand incident book to log boat names and reg numbers, i think it would be good if we all did the same after all we cant be on our boats 24/7.

 

The cheaky swines that ive seen bump boats twice have done a bunk after a failed mooring attempt.

 

Dare i be a spoil sport but i think all newbees need to pass a compulsary competence test. Even me 4 months into steering.

 

Its crazy, i saw one day boat with around 8 people burst into laughter when then hit a banking with shiny boats either side.

 

Not that shiny matters.

 

6 bottles of wine

No life jackets on kids

 

Lovely day out with a recipe for disaster

Edited by Greylady2
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On our recent 2 week trip round the Avon ring (first timers) there were two minor collisions - one was "our" fault - well actually my father-in-laws who was accused by the other boater of going too fast when in reality he just got it all wrong with the tiller - it was during our first 30 minutes on the boat.

 

The second was from an owner-boater who was turning in a very tight spot near Tewkesbury if I remember rightly. Gave us a hefty shove in the side - very apologetic but no harm done as far as I could see.

 

One thing I did learn early on was not to be afraid of the throttle when things might be going pear shaped - if you want to get the boat turning quickly you've got to give it some oomph. This is likely what caused my father in law to have a bump - trying to be "safe" hoping the boat was going to turn on time in tickover when in reality a good dose of throttle would have sorted it out.

 

The other thing again I found was that IF in doubt about where you are going - i.e. are you lined up correctly for a narrow bridge or not - give it a good dose of reverse to kill your speed which then gives you time to reset things - don't just "hope" you are going to get through bump free.

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One thing I did learn early on was not to be afraid of the throttle when things might be going pear shaped - if you want to get the boat turning quickly you've got to give it some oomph. This is likely what caused my father in law to have a bump - trying to be "safe" hoping the boat was going to turn on time in tickover when in reality a good dose of throttle would have sorted it out.

 

The other thing again I found was that IF in doubt about where you are going - i.e. are you lined up correctly for a narrow bridge or not - give it a good dose of reverse to kill your speed which then gives you time to reset things - don't just "hope" you are going to get through bump free.

Hmm, I'd have to add a health warning to the above Daz, lest some reading it take the advice too far.

 

Firstly because, although a little extra power can be a good thing occasionally, we see more folk get themselves into trouble by using too much throttle than by taking things steadily. Usually a little finesse whilst accounting for what mother nature is going to do to your boat will do the job with least fuss - and any cock up would then lead to a kiss rather than a crunch.

 

Secondly because, whilst being able to execute an emergency stop can be a good thing, "a good dose of reverse" will loose you your steering just when you need it most.

 

So whilst large doses of ahead or astern power can be useful tools to have in your bag, they're sledgehammers to be used occasionally and only when appropriate.

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A good dose of reverse is often what causes more problems when the bow then swings across the canal.

Yes, watched a boat hit the bridge next to my boat yesterday because of this. They had waited to let another boat come through and were quite close to both bridge and towpath. Didn't use enough revs to get the boat to straightend up in time, and then panicked and slammed it into reverse. Rear of boat got sucked closer to the towpath, front made contact with the bridge.

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I noticed very early on that you do lose steering in reverse and the bow can swing sometimes. I really meant that whilst approaching a narrow section for example - going slowly and finding you have still managed to mess it up I felt it was best to slow down or stop completely rather than plough on and hope for the best - which I saw a number of boaters do at locks etc.

 

Totally agree that steady is best and hopefully did not come across as suggesting we should drive around like boy racers! ;-)

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Totally agree that steady is best and hopefully did not come across as suggesting we should drive around like boy racers! ;-)

Not at all, Daz. As I alluded to in opening my post, just a cautionary note lest others take your advice too far. :)

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  • 7 months later...
On 20/06/2016 at 12:22, dave moore said:

For me, this thread confirms that the cut that I have known for most of my life has changed....or rather those that now use them. I have every sympathy for those who have suffered real damage at the hands of others, though such instances are mercifully rare.

In the main, steel sided canal boats are robust things and most collisions result in little more than loss of blacking or perhaps a minor score in the steelwork. I've been surprised at the number of suggestions to collect evidence for possible future legal action, sad that the " sue your arse off" mentality has now arrived on the waterways. I'm not sure that I want to venture out in such circumstances....I'm sanguine about the occasional accidental bump, usually occasioned by someone else panicking and responding poorly, such as the hire boat that swung broadside across the cut in front of me. I stopped within inches of their cabin side. No harm done, I took no notice and carried on once they had sorted themselves out. Should I have logged a near miss or informed the hire company?

 

Disappointed Dave

Live and let live if the circumstances dictate. A sincere apology does help.  Learners i can excuse but drunks on party hire boats peeve me somewhat. Moored at near serene bridge 103 west of braunston enjoying late afternoon on the stern when a hire boat full of partying kids came through the bridge. No one at all on the tiller just two girlies sitting either side of the hatch on the roof. The boat veered away from the weeping willows and headed straight for me with the girlies screaming. At the last minute a pimply youth raised his head up from inside and just in time steered away from a very close shove up my backside that would have spilled my beer. It seemed just a joke to them but i gave a stern advisory to take more care, boats are expensive when you own one.

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On 19/06/2016 at 20:13, saltysplash said:

Was it an all male crew? I didnt think Wyvern hired out to all male/female crew's unless theyve changed their policy.

 

Glad it wasnt more serious for you, collisions can seem quite alarming when you experience them from inside, sometimes sounds and feels a lot worse than it is.

We live at Willowbridge and see many all male/female Wyvern boats go past.  

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58 minutes ago, sailor0500 said:

I do not see any harm in suing if necessary. If someone damaged my boat I would expect them to pay for repairs. Would they not expect the same if I damaged their car?

We found the hire yards to be very helpful when we reported that one of their boats had struck ours on the Broads.

They were willing to repair any damage there and then, but as we were running out of time on the Broads they agreed that when we got back home we would inspect it and report back to them. As it happens no lasting damage was done, but they were willing to pay for the boat to be polished to remove the large scuff marks from the hire boat down the side of the boat.

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