Excellent, great demonstration, with textual details and tips and tricks. The best I have seen so far. Your presentation style and your information was excellent. I will be using your / your company's training service for myself, I am full of video derived knowledge which I would like to start deploying practically with your experience and expertise. There are many dangers that face boaters and in particular narrowboaters in and around locks, in my VERY humble opinion, a little more emphasis about the cill, what it is and why it so important to narrowboat helmsmanship would very much improve this already excellent video course, as would similar emphasis of using the centre line to support the boat on a bollard when going down in a lock, I am referring to making sure the correct winding method / direction. I do not want to cause offence in anyway. I make these points having been a trainer for 40 plus years, not this subject. My very best regards Colin.
The easiest way , I find , is to to time your departure at about 9:30 so that there are plenty of other people around to help you through the locks . I have gone whole days without having to get off the boat .
Iv just checked out your website after seeing this video your courses are fully booked , will you be doing any more after the June dates ? loved the video seen many yet by far the best iv seen
Hello! Glad you liked the video. I'm afraid the next courses will only start from September. If you send a message through the website I can inform you when new dates are put on.
I'm planning to do a trip for my wife's 50th. I'm researching how to do the locks. I'm a qualified skipper up to 80 ft, and operate single screw vessels all the time, but we don't have any locks in NZ, so locks are new to me. I see you closed the gates on your way out, so that tells me the gates are closed as we approach. Is there bollards prior to the gates to put a line around, then walk up and open the gates and return back to the boat, or is there a technique I could use that is easier than that? I have done enough research to see that it is bad practice to leave the boat in gear, pushing against the gates. PS Awesome video.
Hello to NZ! Yes on the English canals you should always close all the gates and paddles (sluices) behind you in order to conserve water. If you leave anything open, you run the risk of draining a part of the canal! Some canal sections are river fed, but others just get water pumped up from underground and need to be topped up if they run dry. This can be a real problem sometimes in the summer (yes even the English summer). To answer your question, every lock has lock landings above and below with 2-4 bollards to tie up to. The bollards are usually painted white to distinguish them from regular moorings. Hope this helps!
On the Avon they strongly recommend a bow and stern line whilst in the lock, rather than just a centre line. How would you organise that single-handed?
This is a bit more tricky of course. I don't know if they insist on bow and stern line precisely. On the Thames some lock keeper want two lines and I have used the centre line and the stern line for that purpose. If you have quite a long boat, the bow and stern line won't be long enough to hold both at once.
@@willumboattraining1372 Thanks for the feedback. I have seen some short/GRP boats bring a bow line and stern line to the same central lockside cleat/bollard - against classic practice, I know, but seems to offer control over both lines from one spot. Most narrowboats I've seen 'cheat' and just use centreline. A centreline plus bow or stern depending on the direction of movement your'e most worried about sounds like a good hybrid.
Genuine question why don’t you leave the lock open at the end so an approaching boat knows which way the water is? As it was open on your first approach.
On the canals you must always close all the gates and paddles behind you in order to conserve water. This is different on some rivers. In this case Kerstin opened the gate before the video started :)
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Thank you for this brilliant demonstration on handling a lock single handed and for showcasing a first class model for an effective training video.
Thank you very much for your comment. Very happy if this helps you with your single-handing skills!
Best single handed guide and technique I’ve seen so far.
Thank you that is very good to hear! It is just one way of doing it, which works for me. I am glad if it helps others :)
Yep, have to agree with that. Thanks for sharing - great vid
I've only been on a narrowboat once but this was so clear and interesting to watch. Very well demonstrated - thank you.
Simply the best tutorial for those people that operate locks single handed.Only thing i would add is that a life jacket is a must
Glad you liked it. We do indeed wear life jackets on our Helmsman courses!
Excellent, great demonstration, with textual details and tips and tricks. The best I have seen so far.
Your presentation style and your information was excellent. I will be using your / your company's training service for myself, I am full of video derived knowledge which I would like to start deploying practically with your experience and expertise.
There are many dangers that face boaters and in particular narrowboaters in and around locks, in my VERY humble opinion, a little more emphasis about the cill, what it is and why it so important to narrowboat helmsmanship would very much improve this already excellent video course, as would similar emphasis of using the centre line to support the boat on a bollard when going down in a lock, I am referring to making sure the correct winding method / direction.
I do not want to cause offence in anyway. I make these points having been a trainer for 40 plus years, not this subject. My very best regards Colin.
Superb! I hope to eventually make it look as effortless as you do!
Good. If I ever go to UK and hire a boat, my days of climbing vertical ladders are long gone
Job well done. very well done. from a 50yr. charter operator.
Very cool, its like you've tamed a wild horse with that rope.
Haha hopefully not such a wild horse, if you do it right! :)
Nicely done👌
I’m not a boater but I’m considering it in the near future I’ve never stepped on a narrow boat yet.Your video very informative thank you
Best video I’ve seen on the Topic.
Superb video many thanks
very informative, Thank you!
Nice details WBT.
Thank you
The easiest way , I find , is to to time your departure at about 9:30 so that there are plenty of other people around to help you through the locks . I have gone whole days without having to get off the boat .
Great video :)
Очень интересно. Просто и доходчиво все показано и описано. Спасибо за обучающее видео.
What a wonderful boat
Very informative
Much appreciated you made it look so simple thank you.
Really, really useful. Thank you
Thank you... It's easy when you know how 🙂
Really helpful, thank you.
Nice video. Thank you.
Wow, learnt a lot
Iv just checked out your website after seeing this video your courses are fully booked , will you be doing any more after the June dates ? loved the video seen many yet by far the best iv seen
Hello! Glad you liked the video. I'm afraid the next courses will only start from September. If you send a message through the website I can inform you when new dates are put on.
@@willumboattraining1372 will do thats fantastic , thank you so much for reply
Thanks
I'm planning to do a trip for my wife's 50th. I'm researching how to do the locks. I'm a qualified skipper up to 80 ft, and operate single screw vessels all the time, but we don't have any locks in NZ, so locks are new to me. I see you closed the gates on your way out, so that tells me the gates are closed as we approach. Is there bollards prior to the gates to put a line around, then walk up and open the gates and return back to the boat, or is there a technique I could use that is easier than that? I have done enough research to see that it is bad practice to leave the boat in gear, pushing against the gates. PS Awesome video.
Hello to NZ! Yes on the English canals you should always close all the gates and paddles (sluices) behind you in order to conserve water. If you leave anything open, you run the risk of draining a part of the canal! Some canal sections are river fed, but others just get water pumped up from underground and need to be topped up if they run dry. This can be a real problem sometimes in the summer (yes even the English summer). To answer your question, every lock has lock landings above and below with 2-4 bollards to tie up to. The bollards are usually painted white to distinguish them from regular moorings. Hope this helps!
On the Avon they strongly recommend a bow and stern line whilst in the lock, rather than just a centre line. How would you organise that single-handed?
This is a bit more tricky of course. I don't know if they insist on bow and stern line precisely. On the Thames some lock keeper want two lines and I have used the centre line and the stern line for that purpose. If you have quite a long boat, the bow and stern line won't be long enough to hold both at once.
@@willumboattraining1372 Thanks for the feedback. I have seen some short/GRP boats bring a bow line and stern line to the same central lockside cleat/bollard - against classic practice, I know, but seems to offer control over both lines from one spot. Most narrowboats I've seen 'cheat' and just use centreline. A centreline plus bow or stern depending on the direction of movement your'e most worried about sounds like a good hybrid.
Genuine question why don’t you leave the lock open at the end so an approaching boat knows which way the water is? As it was open on your first approach.
On the canals you must always close all the gates and paddles behind you in order to conserve water. This is different on some rivers. In this case Kerstin opened the gate before the video started :)
Cowley Lock GU
Correct :D
Thank you
Best video I’ve seen on the Topic.