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jmj

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  1. The only reason that I know for going one way or the other round the 4 counties is to be sure you don't arrive at Harecastle and have to wait 1/2 a day until you can go through - this may not be true any more, but tunnel keepers weren't there on weekends, so it was south in the morning and north in the afternoon, so you could get stuck there.
  2. jmj

    Lock Entrance

    Maybe he was coming out of the lock
  3. Hi, I've done a week in Britanny as a hirer, and worked on a (38M) peniche in the area south of Paris - the Seine and Yonne up to Auxerre and the canals down to Sancerre. It's a very nice area to do - and I guess less commercial traffic than there was then (1988). It's on our retirement plan (not due for a lot of years yet) to take a year or so to cruise as much of the French system as we can get to, but for now our hols are thing like Disneyland and the beach!
  4. jmj

    The Hatton 21

    For a narrow staircase... I think that 1 up 1 down uses least water (I'd have to work through it to be sure about this) but a few up a few down gets the most boats through per hour. If it's quiet, the 1+1 makes sense, but if it's busy 3+3 is better. Imagine 1 and 1 on Foxton. Say it takes 1 min to get through each and they fill as fast as they empty (just to make the maths easier). After 5 mins 1 boat has gone down. After 10 mins 1 down and one up After 70 mins 7 down and 7 up Now do 3 and 3. 5 mins 1 down (plus 1 that is 4 locks down and 1 three down) 6 mins 2 down (plus 1, now 4 locks down) 7 mins 3 down then start going up 12 mins 1 up (plus 2 part way) 13 mins 2 up (plus 1 part way) 14 mins 3 up After 70 mins 15 down and 15 up So after 70 minutes 3 + 3 gives more than twice as many boats through, so that's why it's done that way. In fact letting all the boats down followed by all the boats up uses the minimum total time, but if your stuck in the queue while 100 boats come the other way you'd be a bit miffed, so 3+3 must have been settled on as a compromise.
  5. When we did the Llan. in August (abuot 20 yrs ago) there were queues at Grindley Brook - I think we were 7th in the queue. As there are more boats about now than there were then I guess it might have got worse. Apart from that it was busier than I would like (but then we usually go in October!) but never so busy that it was a nuisance, so I would say, don't be put off!
  6. How soon how far and how fast I open gate paddles varies from lock to lock - on a shallow lock they might be underwater to start with, so they can be opened early and quickly, on a deep lock with no baffles, I would start once the water is up to the bottom of the gate paddle and continue to gradually open as the level rises, always being prepared to drop them if necessary - I think this bit is where beginers can get in trouble by just standing there watching as the boat sinks rather than dropping the paddles and sorting it out. Therefore I would say that if you know what you're doing there is no hard and fast rule, but if you are unsure then never open them until they are fully covered. Of course, some locks only have gate paddles so all you can do is open them carefully. I can't recall where I've seen this, and by now this might have changed, but I'm sure I've seen it somewhere?????
  7. jmj

    The Hatton 21

    As far as I can think..... Long narrow staircases (Foxton, Grindley Brook) have lockeepers because 1) if you don't know what you're doing you can end up sitting on the bottom with no water 2) they need to be operated with a minimum loss of water and 3) when it's busy, someone has to make a decision on when to change from letting boats up letting boats down. Long broad staircases (Bingley - maybe that's the only one?) have keepers because you can put the boat on the bottom (see above) and boats can be kept moving by crossing in the middle, and most people won't sort this out properly without someone being in charge. Long flights with short pounds/water shortages (Caen Hill) have keepers to keep the traffic moving without wasting water/ make sure 2 boats go in the locks Hatton doesn't qualify on any of these as it's not a staircase and has longish pounds. (rivers have lockkeepers because, errr....., they do!)
  8. Sorry I'm a bit late in replying, thanks to all for your comments. John
  9. You need to be a bit careful here, at times of water shortage you are likely to be prevented from using wide locks in the way that has been described I'm not sure if you mean going diagonally, or using the one gate method - yes I agree that the diagonal method is a waste of water, but the one gate method doesn't waste any - you just put a shorter boat in next to the longer one, and as I tried to explain, you get a longer boat in 'one gate' than you do 'diagonal' - I still think I'm correct in saying this, I'm sure that if I wasn't, someone would have replied to prove me wrong by now......
  10. jmj

    Pontcysyllte

    I was told, about 20 yrs ago, that the local rugby club used to (for a bet) run along the non towpath side. Allegedly no one ever fell off, but many fell in, due to making sure their balance was towards the canal. I have no idea if there is any truth in this tale!!
  11. If you can get a 57'6" keel in, then you can get a 57'6" +7' (width of one gate) narrow boat in by only opening one gate and shoving the boat across in order to close the other gate. (Maybe a bit less to allow for the angle of the bottom gate) So that's 64'6" or thereabouts - don't try this at home folks, fenders and angles of dangle probably reduce this by a bit. I don't think you can gain any more on this by putting it diagonally, as it won't swing past the mitre post on the bottom gate. The diagonal of a 57'6" x 14' lock is about 59' (doing a very simple calculation) so a 60' NB would be a bit tight based on that. You certainly gain more from the 1 gate method than you do by the diagonal one.
  12. Our 9 yr old happily steers the boat, works locks and ties up the boat - parent always nearby of course, and she always wears a suitable piece of floatation assistance (avoiding bouyancy aid/lifejacket debate!). I suspect that the insurers would have heart failure if an under 16? 18? was steering unsupervised, but you can't lock them in the boat (with the cooker and knives!) while you have your weeks holiday, so let them get out there and enjoy it, with an appropriate level of supervision - a wild 12 yr old might need closer supervision than a sensible 7 yr old, so there no way you can put a def. age on when they can or can't be let free.
  13. You could start here - http://www.biodieselfillingstations.co.uk/outlets.htm I haven't checked if there is anyone near you, but some suppliers do mail order, so if you can arrange a suitable wharf to be at, you might be able to do that.
  14. A friend is planning to buy a boat, which he will lend me occasionally. When he got an insurance quote he was told that it covered 'any driver' providing he was there. When I borrow it, he won't be there, so they said I would have to take out my own policy. DAK if this is a universal thing, or did he just speak to the office boy or the wrong company? thanks John
  15. http://www.canals.com/hire.htm has a secdtion on schools/youth organisations hire. Thames & Kennet narrowboat trust - http://www.berkshirescouts.org.uk/resource...n=details&id=50 HTH
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