Lock by-washes

[Grassman]

 

In the latest CRT email they discuss how to get round the problem of fierce by-washes, especially some of those on the Shroppie. The suggestions made by contributors are all related to approaches to locks and offer the advice that you should steer the bows into the wash so as to counteract the flow and hopefully remain lined up for entering the lock. Which is pretty obvious really and something I've always done and by and large it works.

What I do have difficulty with is counteracting the by-wash when leaving a lock because it is often impossible to steer against it if half of my 62ft boat is still in the lock. Increasing the thrust when exiting the lock helps, especially if done just before and after the bows reach the wash. The problem is particularly a pain if there is a boat waiting to come into the lock.

How do you others get on and do you have a solution that I haven't thought of? I don't have a bowthruster but it seems they don't do a lot anyway.   

[matty40s]

My advice is to keep the boat safely tied in the marina.

There are regular buses to places like Audlem and Market Drayton, and it's far quicker too. You can visit the locks watch how not to do it, go shopping and still be home in time for Eastenders.

Edited September 9, 2017 by matty40s

[dmr]

1 Get a really really big bow thruster

2 Enter lock slowly and carefully with crew on bank holding rope.

3 Go in really really fast with eyes closed and fingers crossed.

4 Learn to handle your boat really well.

5 Open top paddle for a little while before entering lock to remove bywash, close quickly as boat enters lock.

4 is best but just sometimes a little bit of 5 can be useful.

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

[nicknorman]

I am always amazed how slowly most people enter and leave locks. And yet despite that they still manage to crash and bump a lot. In fact it's BECAUSE of that. I normally enter a narrow lock just short of normal cruise speed (1300rpm, so maybe 1200 rpm) doing perhaps 3mph. At normal cruise speed the tiller on a Hudson is pretty heavy for significant manoeuvring. I only ever touch the sides if I am distracted eg by typing a post to the forum on my iPad. Coming out of a narrow lock, I will ditto set cruise power or even a bit more to,"get it going". People who creep out of locks at 0.5mph and are then surprised when a bywash affects them significantly are ... well ... not very competent!

Edited September 9, 2017 by nicknorman

[StephenA]

I'm with NickNorman - on the Shroppie the only way to avoid being pushed sideways by those by-washes is to enter / leave the lock at a reasonable pace and to be pretty good at handling your boat.

Bow into the wash approaching the lock works but don't forger to steer against the wash as your stern goes through it.  I usually manage to do the Shroppie locks without touching either side on entry or exit.

 

[BWM]

If done at the correct speed the wash will put you back in the right position when it reaches the rear of the boat, it's easy to over compensate and make things worse. 

[blackrose]

My advice is to get your boat out onto some rivers and tideways where you have some real current to contend with. By the time you get back onto the canals it will seem easy.   

Edited September 9, 2017 by blackrose

[Grassman]

1 hour ago, nicknorman said:

I am always amazed how slowly most people enter and leave locks. And yet despite that they still manage to crash and bump a lot. In fact it's BECAUSE of that.

Me too, especially when I'm hovvering in mid stream waiting to go in

1 hour ago, BWM said:

If done at the correct speed the wash will put you back in the right position when it reaches the rear of the boat, it's easy to over compensate and make things worse. 

Good point BWM, it certainly helps.

 

44 minutes ago, blackrose said:

My advice is to get your boat out onto some rivers and tideways where you have some real current to contend with. By the time you get back onto the canals it will seem easy.   

Done that blackrose. many times on the Tidal Trent, the Yorkshire Ouse, the lower reaches of the Severn, and the Ribble Link.

I do prefer the canals but not those pesky locks with the fierce by-washes

 

 

As for Matty's and DMR's comments Ha ha very droll

Having boated nearly every year since 1976 cruised 6 months a year since 2009 I do have a little experience you know

[blackrose]

34 minutes ago, Grassman said:

Done that blackrose. many times on the Tidal Trent, the Yorkshire Ouse, the lower reaches of the Severn, and the Ribble Link.

I do prefer the canals but not those pesky locks with the fierce by-washes

I've never experienced anything on a canal as fierce as turning into Limehouse on the tidal Thames. The turn into Woolhampton lock on the Kennet was difficult with the river running quite fast. Whether you're going up or downstream it's always going to be tricky on a long canal boat with relatively poor hydrodynamics when only half of the boat is prone to the current and the other half is in still water.

[StephenA]

Just now, blackrose said:

I've never experienced anything on a canal as fierce as turning into Limehouse on the tidal Thames.

It is pretty bad - especially when in full flow. Last time we did it I had to hold my position for about 3 minutes to let some rubbish barges go past and then turn.... it was surprising just how far downstream from the lock I ended up....

[Grassman]

 

We're doing the Limehouse Lock next year but thankfully will be leaving in not entering it.

When we went on the Chesterfield Canal I was dreading the turn into the lock from the Trent at West Stockwith, but did it perfectly. Then further downstream the turn into Keadby Lock, no problem with that either. But I well and truly c*cked up entering Selby lock from the Ouse.

[Bee]

It's boats innit, they haven't got wheels on the road so they sometimes go where the water goes. I had a mighty bang against a lock wall this year, no bywash, usual highly skilled and expert steering on entering the empty lock followed by some sort of wayward gust of wind that blew around the chamber and crunched the boat against the wall then bounced it off the other wall. It happens.

[Ray T]

An old boaters way is to open the paddles on the "up" gate when ascending. This not only releaves the pressure on the bywash but also aids steering, a bit like going upstream on a river. Probably frowned upon nowadays.

[X Alan W]

In the 50"s some of the Shroppie locks were fitted with a wooden shute unit that diverted the by wash water down the pound side so it flowed in line with the pound in the early 60's a couple got damaged & were taken away not repaired,over the next 18 or so months the rest disappeared IIRC Tyrley bottom lock was the last to lose the device it was then a matter of entering/exiting locks at warp speed to avoid being clattered in to the opposite wall

[X Alan W]

1 minute ago, Ray T said:

An old boaters way is to open the paddles on the "up" gate when ascending. This not only releaves the pressure on the bywash but also aids steering, a bit like going upstream on a river. Probably frowned upon nowadays.

Last time I did that some 10years ago on the Audlem flight I got a furious "Bollocking" from a shiney boat owner telling me that newcomers to the cut should ask advice /get training I gave him one of my adopted countrys famous shrugs & carried on.

[Pluto]

44 minutes ago, X Alan W said:

In the 50"s some of the Shroppie locks were fitted with a wooden shute unit that diverted the by wash water down the pound side so it flowed in line with the pound in the early 60's a couple got damaged & were taken away not repaired,over the next 18 or so months the rest disappeared IIRC Tyrley bottom lock was the last to lose the device it was then a matter of entering/exiting locks at warp speed to avoid being clattered in to the opposite wall

On the L&LC, a large baulk of timber was often chained across the bottom of the bywash to reduce the rush of water. Most of these have now disappeared.

[furnessvale]

1 hour ago, X Alan W said:

In the 50"s some of the Shroppie locks were fitted with a wooden shute unit that diverted the by wash water down the pound side so it flowed in line with the pound in the early 60's a couple got damaged & were taken away not repaired,over the next 18 or so months the rest disappeared IIRC Tyrley bottom lock was the last to lose the device it was then a matter of entering/exiting locks at warp speed to avoid being clattered in to the opposite wall

Most Shroppie locks, where the by-wash is in a position to affect a boat entering a lock, have some sort of deflector fitted.

Tyrley bottom has large section Armcor bolted to the wall.  Last time through this had moved allowing the cross flow to continue building the cave on the offside.  A boat had entered this cave damaging itself and I believe CRT were urgently looking at reinstating the deflector.

George

[Neil2]

On 9/9/2017 at 13:53, Grassman said:

 

In the latest CRT email they discuss how to get round the problem of fierce by-washes, especially some of those on the Shroppie. The suggestions made by contributors are all related to approaches to locks and offer the advice that you should steer the bows into the wash so as to counteract the flow and hopefully remain lined up for entering the lock. Which is pretty obvious really and something I've always done and by and large it works.

What I do have difficulty with is counteracting the by-wash when leaving a lock because it is often impossible to steer against it if half of my 62ft boat is still in the lock. Increasing the thrust when exiting the lock helps, especially if done just before and after the bows reach the wash. The problem is particularly a pain if there is a boat waiting to come into the lock.

How do you others get on and do you have a solution that I haven't thought of? I don't have a bowthruster but it seems they don't do a lot anyway.   

Dunno about that, we were in the company of a boat with a powerful hydraulic powered bowthruster at Wigan recently. Some of the by-washes on that flight can be pretty fierce but this boat had no trouble at all countering the flow.  

IIRC the last Waterways World had an article on the Llangollen by Graham Booth which (among other things) highlighted the hazard of by-washes especially with a long boat.

That bottom lock at Tyrley is an absolute swine, the bywash was like Hardraw Force the last time we did it.  I think we'll try that dodge with the gate paddles next time. 

[Rob-M]

When we came down Tyrley with Scorpio and Leo some canoeist were approaching the bottom lock as Scorpio came out. It was quite a frightened look on the last guys face as he couldn't get out of the canoe and the bows of Scorpio were fast approaching him with the force of water making it difficult to stop.

[sirweste]

On 9/9/2017 at 16:26, blackrose said:

My advice is to get your boat out onto some rivers and tideways where you have some real current to contend with. By the time you get back onto the canals it will seem easy.   

This. Bought my boat in Ely in January. The Ouse and Nene (in flood) meant that once I arrived on the canals I was amazed to find that the boat did exactly what I wanted all of a sudden....then I was bored