I just like this picture.......

[alan_fincher]

I found this on the pages of John Jackson, who runs coal boat Roach.

 

It's slightly deceptive, of course, as the apparent very low front is in no small part because of the water it is pushing around the bow as it enters the lock.

 

It's still a fairly dramatic looking picture though, I thought.

 

 

 

[Laurie Booth]

Excellent pic

[Nightwatch]

Water must have been deep to come that far up the boat sides.

 

Lovely picture.

[Grebe]

'Loaded down to the bin-irons', as the old wherrymen in Norfolk used to say.

[David Mack]

Water must have been deep to come that far up the boat sides.

 

Lovely picture.

It's because the bows are just entering the lock, and there is no room for the water to go either side, and with the boat loaded, not much room beneath either. So the water piles up.

[Rick-n-Jo]

The shape of the standard narrow boat bow suddenly makes a lot of sense when you see that...

[ditchcrawler]

'Loaded down to the bin-irons', as the old wherrymen in Norfolk used to say.

And these heal over with the wind

[Nightwatch]

It's because the bows are just entering the lock, and there is no room for the water to go either side, and with the boat loaded, not much room beneath either. So the water piles up.

Sorry, I couldn't put a smiley on my post.

I was thinking along the lines of, water not very deep, it only comes halfway up the duck.

[Athy]

Sorry, I couldn't put a smiley on my post.

I was thinking along the lines of, water not very deep, it only comes halfway up the duck.

Yes, your point was not universally unappreciated.

[Nightwatch]

Phew!

[NickF]

What happened next? I guess the water came over the side of the lock as it really had nowhere else to go.

Where is the picture posted by the OP taken?

[BruceinSanity]

Sparrers 'ud drink off the gunnels!

 

Brilliant photo.

[Victor Vectis]

Smethwick Top Lock ?

 

Taken a while back as the houses opposite the Engine Arm seem to be under construction.

[john6767]

Smethwick Top Lock ?

 

Taken a while back as the houses opposite the Engine Arm seem to be under construction.

Well spotted that man, I guess 10 to 15 years ago?

 

The photographer is going to get wet feet unless he legged it pronto after taking the picture. And the top paddles still up at that point, tut tut, inefficiency

Edited December 3, 2016 by john6767

[Scholar Gypsy]

And the top paddles still up at that point, tut tut, inefficiency

 

Or was that deliberate, to let the water out of the lock as the boat enters it?

[jeannette smith harrison]

Reminds me of some of the pictures my Cousin Dennis has of Jack Monks boats

[john6767]

Or was that deliberate, to let the water out of the lock as the boat enters it?

Hum, looking at the water not sure it is working, but in theory it would give a route for the water to get out of the lock. Was it ever a strategy in working boat days to keep the paddles open to give a route for the water to escape from the lock as a boat entered?

[Mike Todd]

Reminds me of some of the pictures my Cousin Dennis has of Jack Monks boats

Do you any detail on Jack Monk? Back in the 60's I met a Jack Monk when he lived at Bishop Meadow Lock, Loughborough.

 

I've not heard anything else about him since that time.

Edited December 3, 2016 by Mike Todd

[howardang]

And these heal over with the wind

 

Does it leave a scar?

 

Howard

[nicknorman]

Funnily enough I was thinking about boats loaded to the gunnels today as we came up Perry Barr. When you open the top (ground) paddles the water comes out really aerated, and as we know aerated water results in much less buoyancy for the boat. Jeff (who was driving) commented that the boat seemed to be sitting in the lock really bow-low and it was obvious why. So a boat loaded nearly to the gunnels would be at risk of sinking going up these locks.

Hum, looking at the water not sure it is working, but in theory it would give a route for the water to get out of the lock. Was it ever a strategy in working boat days to keep the paddles open to give a route for the water to escape from the lock as a boat entered?

It's a concept I encountered last year when I met a (leisure) boat on curdworth. I went to close the paddles as the boat was coming in but he asked me not to and then explained why. I certainly understood the concept but not convinced the magnitude of the effect was significant. Not just the boat having an easier passage into the lock but also easier to close the (single) gate.

[dmr]

Funnily enough I was thinking about boats loaded to the gunnels today as we came up Perry Barr. When you open the top (ground) paddles the water comes out really aerated, and as we know aerated water results in much less buoyancy for the boat. Jeff (who was driving) commented that the boat seemed to be sitting in the lock really bow-low and it was obvious why. So a boat loaded nearly to the gunnels would be at risk of sinking going up these locks.

 

It's a concept I encountered last year when I met a (leisure) boat on curdworth. I went to close the paddles as the boat was coming in but he asked me not to and then explained why. I certainly understood the concept but not convinced the magnitude of the effect was significant. Not just the boat having an easier passage into the lock but also easier to close the (single) gate.

 

The Bermuda Triangle of Brum????

 

(aerated water was a theory for the Bermuda Triangle ship losses)

 

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