2008/10/6 nbquidditch <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > --- In [email protected], "Steve Haywood" > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > It would be so sad if they stopped installing them. They're so > useful for > > singlehanders like me, and what it more, I discover from this list that > > they're useful too for tripping incompetent boaters into locks. > > > > Does that include bollards on narrow locks Steve? I do quite a bit of > singlehanding myself (around a month's cruising on my own each year > and quite often when cruising with my other half who suffers from > lymphodema which quite often leaves her unable to steer the boat let > alone handle locks) and I have never used a bollard in a narrow lock - > I just nudge the boat on the forward gate and gently leave the engine > in gear).
I remember when you first started singlehanded Will and were asking for advice, that nudging the gate is what I and others did advise; and it's what I would do in my 20 ton, 58' boat. But it doesn't work with lighter and smaller craft, and I think it says much about the contemporary use of the canals that there has been such outrage about the insrtallation of the third bollard. Small boats are much more vulnerable to being sucked forward and pushed back which happens in a narrow locks - a phenomena which with a heavy, longer boat you hardly notice. Smaller boats often don't have centre ropes and I can tell you from many years experience that in a smaller boat, roping from either the front or back, coming up or down, you'll be vulnerable. Centre bollards keep you that little bit further from the gates, Incidentally they can be quite useful too if you've bu**ered up your approach in a boat with a trad engine and a speed wheel where you can't just give yourself a quick burst of the Morse in reverse to slow down. The presence of another bollard gives you another option for roping to a halt. Steve [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
