Hi All

I am looking for some advice on the best way to work canal locks single
handed. They are wide locks (14ft). My boat is a 21ft GRP cruiser with 8'
6" beam. I am not as agile as I once was 8-) I plan to take my boat away
in a few weeks time and will need to work locks on my own so any tips or
advice for those who have done it would be much appreciated

thanks in advance

Jon

Jon, start off with a centre line so that you can control the boat easily
from the shore without having to use both fore and aft lines.

Some people have made up a special weighted mooring pin for the centre line.

Ensure that you have a line long enough to allow you to pull the boat into
the lock from the lock wall.

Remember that the water normally bounces back from the opposite side of the
lock to where the water is coming in; so... open the ground paddle on the
same side as you have the boat when going up. Most important is to not let
anyone else operate any paddles without your agreement.

Watch for trapping the rising boat on the gates.

Going down do NOT tie off the boat, but watch the cill at the top end,
remember the boat may surge forward with the falling water level.

Have fun on your travels, but be careful on your own, there is no need to
rush, walk everywhere around the lock at your own pace, beware well
intentioned helpers.

Brian

Hi Brian

Thanks for the good advice - the main thing I was missing was to rope the
boat in and out of the lock. There is one lock where I know I will not be
able to do that because there is a road bridge at the end of the lock
against the downstream gates (therre are ladders in the lock), but
otherwise I can see that is the best way to go about it.

regards

Jon