----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, August 06, 2007 12:30 AM Subject: [canals-list] Wasting water
> Hi everyone can you please sort out something that has been > niggleing me for twelve months. Last summer we were on the > Middlewich > arm of the Shroppie. We were waiting to go up the I think it > was the Venetian lock. There were a few waiting to go up, so > we > helped people through up and down. We had let a boat out of > the > lock that had gone up. There were no more boats to come down > but > about two hundred yards away there was a boat aproaching, so > I > said wait for the boat and it can go down with the water > that > was in the lock. a lady from another boat said no we can > empty > the lock and get another boat up before the boat arrives at > the top > of the lock. I said surely that's waisting water. The lady > said > the lock has to be emptied sometime. My point is they emptied > a > full lock of water instead of waiting. Should I have stood my > ground or reported the lady. > Look forward to your input Dave > I don't think there would be much to be gained by 'reporting' the lady. If there was a severe water shortage, it might have been important. What I would consider is, if much time would be gained by turning the lock in the face of the approaching boat. If the top gate was open and the boat was not far away, it would be polite to wait and let it go straight into the lock. As you say there were more boats waiting to go up, at some point the lock would have to be emptied without a boat in it. If I was working a boat through a lock and saw another boat approaching at the same level as the water in the lock, I would wait and let that boat through, rather than turning the lock and making them wait. Boating is supposed to be a leisurely pursuit, after all. I shouldn't waste mental energy worrying about it. Just do what seems right and considerate at the time. Dorothy
