Vlog 49: Locks Familiar
I’d spent several days idling away my time quite pleasantly at Kingswood Junction at Lapworth but now wanted to go and visit family for a bit so needed a better place to leave the boat. So I went down the Hatton lock flight to Warwick and moored in the Saltisford Arm, run by the Saltisford Canal Trust. Lovely spot albeit a bit noisy from the traffic nearby.
Sorry to say; it is not good practice to open just one gate as the boat could ware away the lock gate seals (lock to lock) so water leeks out between the two gates.
Or even “wear” .
Reply too short so may I ask. how long your boats Anodes will last, as they looked quite warn when your boat was out of the water ?
I am interested to know about all the grades of steel and best to use for narrow boats. I tried to look up the subject once but got to bogged down in it. You may need an expert. May be you could ask at Crick this year 2017 if you go.
I agree about opening one gate if you are on your own boat wise. We did Hatton flight in August this year and the whole lot (including the 2 before Hatton – I forget their name) completely on our own in the blazing sun. It was very hard work, but we did get get help from lock keepers on the top three. Opening two gates would have made the day even tougher. We were very careful about not knocking the closed gates though and the lock keepers seemed to accept that we were doing it properly.
Cape locks, I think are the ones you mean, next to the Cape pub. Yes, an awful lot of work!
It may not be good practice but if you’re boating solo it’s a lot less effort and if you’re careful the gates should be fine, I think.
Oops!! This is the very item: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tiger-Slim-Tuff-Storage-Case/dp/B00B2L0P8S/ref=sr_1_5?s=officeproduct&ie=UTF8&qid=1467282089&sr=1-5&keywords=plastic+a4+storage+boxes
I should have checked this in the first place. [..and not only used for tunnels – I keep my map book in it the whole time at the tiller. Keeps the map dry in the rain AND stops the pages self-turning in the breeze!]
That looks excellent! Thanks for the link and thanks for watching!
Yes – wet tunnels are a problem for the Nicholsons guide. I started off with a hikers map holder – basically just a plastic pouch with a flap and a neck strap. It hangs round your neck and keeps the folded map dry whilst you are hiking in the rain.
Then a fellow boater introduced me to a nifty little plastic box that they use. They bought me one so I’m not sure exactly where it came from. Its A4 with a hinged lid along one long edge and a couple of clips to hold it shut. It happens to be just the right size/thickness for a Nicholsons open at the right page (although opening it to move on a page whilst steering in a straight line can be a challenge!!). Haved a look at: https://korean.alibaba.com/p-detail/a4-size-file-storage-hard-plastic-case-365812317.html for something similar – I’m sure a search will yield something from the UK (advertised in English).
Keep up the good vlog!