I asked: >>> Not having been that way yet, is it possible to use a boat hook to >>> close the offside gate?
Bruce Napier replied: >> Needs to be a long one. I once tried using our 12 foot shaft to push >> the balance beam to close the offside gate.. As the gate started to >> move, the shaft slipped, and I hovered suspended over the edge for >> what seemed like a very long time before falling in. David then added: >You need a pole with a hook on it, to pull the gate rather than push the balance beam. The pole can be shorter and lighter, and if anything slips you >end up on land and not in the water. That's how I normally do it when using a boat hook on land. I only ever use Bruce's method whilst still on the boat in the mouth of the lock. (chuckles at the thought of his ex-mayorship jousting with towpath walkers whilst rushing between locks on his bike carrying a boat hook! :o) Graham www.jannock.org.uk
