ADUK Archive

The one I drove was I think 66ft and 25 tonne - it slept eight - and despite mostly avoiding incident, I did manage to ground it on an unmarked sandbank in the middle of the river. Few of my group really grasped the steering - as said, more power to turn!

I did think that perhaps if you found a way to quicken your own perception of time, it'd make an excellent real life implementation of something like Need For Speed.

What is an electric lock? We had no such things, although a few were manned by British Waterways staff or whoever they are now.

The electric lock (Not sure if there is a proper word for it) is basically what the oil barges go through.

Huge lock with electrically operated sluices and gates.

Dom

dombooth wrote:

swatchways wrote:Aw - but it's got no sails - nor yours Martin. How do they move??!

Planning, planning, planning, and remember you have no brakes! Was it good fun?

Engine.

It was brilliant fun. I have driven it before, but went today to help him out with the locks as it's bloody difficult on your own.

Dom

He he - I steer ours with my backside - leaves the hands free for g&t... Only kidding, dry boat if underway, but it's much more relaxed than behind the steering wheel of the car, until it comes to parking...

swatchways wrote:

dombooth wrote:

swatchways wrote:Aw - but it's got no sails - nor yours Martin. How do they move??!

Planning, planning, planning, and remember you have no brakes! Was it good fun?

Engine.

It was brilliant fun. I have driven it before, but went today to help him out with the locks as it's bloody difficult on your own.

Dom

He he - I steer ours with my backside - leaves the hands free for g&t... Only kidding, dry boat if underway, but it's much more relaxed than behind the steering wheel of the car, until it comes to parking...

Haha, it is a very relaxed driving.

Parking the thing is another beast altogether.

Dom

Yes my steed for the last 2 weeks was a 69' narrow boat (sleeping 6). We picked it up from Bradford-on-Avon and went East on the Kennet and Avon canal, up the infamous Devizes locks (16 in a 1/4 mile) through Hungerford and got as far as Kintbury before turning round back past Bradford-on-Avon, through Bath and on, into the Bristol ''floating' Harbour and then back to Bradford.

All manual locks and swing bridges - none of this new-fangled eeelectriciteee. Over the 2 weeks we did 150m and 140 locks!

martine wrote:Over the 2 weeks we did 150m and 140 locks!

Meters or miles?

dombooth wrote:
He he - I steer ours with my backside - leaves the hands free for g&t... Only kidding, dry boat if underway, but it's much more relaxed than behind the steering wheel of the car, until it comes to parking...

Haha, it is a very relaxed driving.

Parking the thing is another beast altogether.

Dom[/quote]
My method of parking is push the nose into the bank, then just ram the tiller fully to the left and full power.
Perhaps not smooth, but works every time!

TheInsanity1234 wrote:

dombooth wrote:

TheInsanity1234 wrote:
He he - I steer ours with my backside - leaves the hands free for g&t... Only kidding, dry boat if underway, but it's much more relaxed than behind the steering wheel of the car, until it comes to parking...

Haha, it is a very relaxed driving.

Parking the thing is another beast altogether.

Dom

My method of parking is push the nose into the bank, then just ram the tiller fully to the left and full power.
Perhaps not smooth, but works every time!

That method is fine, but try it with low power, come in smooth with the front and let the back slide in.

Dom

dombooth wrote:

TheInsanity1234 wrote:My method of parking is push the nose into the bank, then just ram the tiller fully to the left and full power.
Perhaps not smooth, but works every time!

That method is fine, but try it with low power, come in smooth with the front and let the back slide in.

Dom

I don't tend to cause any jolts when I do it how I do it, and I find that lots of power causes the back to go in while keeping the front pushed into the bank so the boat doesn't drift off.
One of those moments where bow-thrusters can always come in handy!