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Post by JohnV on Jul 6, 2018 6:34:04 GMT
PS- the 9mph handbrake turns upstream with the tide pushing us from Selby to Naburn were interesting.... pant changing interesting. NOT looking forwards to getting back into Selby lock with the tide pulling us the other way on Tuesday. You need to try going all the way down and in at Goole ...... but buy a few spare pairs of kecks for the journey P.S. Fallen trys are a pain, they're all over the place P.P.S. if you stop at Naburn on the way back there is an excellent pub in Naburn village (bus route from the road outside the caravan park at Naburn lock) the Sunday lunches are brilliant but you must book PPPS the Blacksmith's arms
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Post by naughtyfox on Jul 6, 2018 7:27:37 GMT
I told we wuz running out of water up here! Do u think it just grows on trees??!!
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Post by duncan on Jul 8, 2018 22:20:56 GMT
Well, we arrived in ripon last night... took 8.5 hours from Lendall Bridge in York to here... The river cruise out of york was nice enough... but it did get a bit boring - slight excitement where the river nidd (now a trickle) came in as it narrows big style there and we met a narrowboat and two paddleboarders coming the other way RIGHT on a bit where a fallen tree had reduced the already narrow channel. When we finally left the Ure and turned on to the Ripon canal we'd had enough and probably didn't appreciate how well looked after the canal is - certainly the paintwork, landings and channel. The water is SO clear here it's beautiful. Shame about the last (or 1st depending on which way you are going) ) gate which leaks terribly. In theory you can break up the journey from York byy mooring at Linten lock overnight... when we got there, there were a few grps tied up on the only 2 spaces available and whilst there WAS space at Boroughbridge, by then we'd decided to plod on to Ripon. My oldest friend is calling over this afternoon with her recently berieved father for a cuppa and look at the boat and tonight we have visitors coming we met on holiday in Cape-verde a few years back who live in town. BACK to York Sat morning. PS- the 9mph handbrake turns upstream with the tide pushing us from Selby to Naburn were interesting.... pant changing interesting. NOT looking forwards to getting back into Selby lock with the tide pulling us the other way on Tuesday. It's a shame I didn't get chance to drop by and say hello, but I am glad you enjoyed our canal, short as it is. Each lock gets repainted every 3 years with different ones each year. The gates are certainly not lasting the 20-25 years that they should, and work will need to be dome on Rhodesfield lock. The banks of the rivers Ure and Ouse are high and they can get boring with nothing to see but grass banks. When are you heading back to Selby?
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Post by quaysider on Jul 9, 2018 7:50:33 GMT
We did enjoy Ripon - the service station there truly is immaculate and the care the canal /surruounding gets, clearly shows.
We are booked to leave NAburn at 6.30 tomorrow morning before the big tides begin. NOT looking forward to the turn into Selby lock... will follow the lockies instructions to the letter.
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Post by JohnV on Jul 9, 2018 10:22:27 GMT
We locked out of Naburn the night before and moored on the pontoon just below the weir. Left Naburn early. Earlier on the tide than you could get out of the lock. We punched down against the tide which wasn't that much of a problem. Although there is probably next to no fresh, I would not expect you to have trouble with draft (although we scraped a little just above Cawood.) We arrived at Selby bridges at the top of the tide at slackwater and if we had wanted to go in to the basin (we can't get any further) it would have been easy peasy. Have a chat with the lock keeper and see what he thinks.
(It's a shock at low tide seeing how many dead trees and branches there are in the river that are normally hidden !!!
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Post by TonyDunkley on Jul 9, 2018 19:09:38 GMT
We are booked to leave NAburn at 6.30 tomorrow morning before the big tides begin. NOT looking forward to the turn into Selby lock... will follow the lockies instructions to the letter.You're a good many years too late for that to be a good idea, . . . the last ex-boatman lock keeper at Selby, Lewis Carter, finished there in the late 1980's. Lew learned his trade working with his uncle on Hull trade dumb barges towed in strings behind steam tugs to destinations on the Trent and the Ouse, including Selby, but the the lock keepers at Naburn and Selby nowadays are a different breed who confine themselves to dishing out the sort of standard advice that's approved of by the office chair polishers they work under simply because it's perceived to be sound by the majority of the intended recipients, . . . a textbook example of the blind leading the blind. Today's perceived 'best plan' seems to be rounding-up (turning) as you pass the lock and then approaching from down river/current. This NOT the best way to tackle it , . . the rate the ebb runs out at, being carried side-on past the lock whilst turning and then having to use a lot of power/revs to get back to the lock only serves to turn the slightly apprehensive frame of mind of someone doing this for the first time into something close to blind panic panic and results in them passing between the walls of the locktail with far too much way on, in what usually then ends up as an 'all or nothing, aim and hope' manoeuvre. The most important thing to remember is that throughout the whole process you must keep the boat's speed (over the ground) down to the absolute minimum, which helps you out in two respects. Firstly, carrying little or no way increases the boat's rate of turn significantly, and secondly, the speed the boat will need to make through the water to remain stationary (in relation to the lock entrance and river banks) will turn out in reality to be much less than you will have convinced yourself that it will need to be. The net result of this is that you'll suddenly gain a lot more confidence in what you're doing, and your ability to get it right. Round-up as soon as you're clear of the railway swingbridge and then using just enough (ahead) power to almost hold the boat stationary against the ebb, drop back, and over towards the lock tail, until the boat's head is level with the up-tide lock tail wall and then, with very gentle and small port rudder movements, continue moving the boat sideways into the 'slack' in the lock tail until the boat just begins to move slowly ahead in relation to the locktail walls. As soon as this slow movement starts, put the rudder hard over and, assisted by the slack and the back eddy in the lock tail, the boat will surprise you by turning into the lock much tighter than you were thinking it possible. You might need to either increase or decrease engine revs as you're entering the lock, but whatever you need or have to do, always remember not to let the boat gather any significant way at any time throughout the whole manoeuvre. Above all, take your time, ignore any advice being shouted by well meaning onlookers, including the lock keeper, and if YOU think it's all going wrong, then move away from the lock tail, get the boat under full control again - holding it stationary against the tide - and then give it another go - IN YOUR OWN TIME and only when you're good and ready to.
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Post by quaysider on Jul 9, 2018 19:29:23 GMT
Thanks for that advice Tony - I won't sleep well tonight but your comments echo what I was thinking having had a chat about it with John off Morgenster in York last night.
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Post by TonyDunkley on Jul 9, 2018 19:53:47 GMT
Thanks for that advice Tony - I won't sleep well tonight but your comments echo what I was thinking having had a chat about it with John off Morgenster in York last night. A lot of people tackling side-locks like Selby, Keadby and Stockwith for the first time do actually talk themselves into making a balls-up of it, . . . too much prior thinking about perceived difficulties in doing something you haven't tried before is never helpful. Just do everything very slowly, and don't even think about starting to turn in until you think your stem's much too close to the up-tide wall for it to be possible, . . . there's a big slack and a back eddy in the lock tail that works in your favour but only if you're very close to the locktail walls and barely moving - stop worrying and have a good night's kip, . . . you'll be fine !
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2018 20:00:23 GMT
If I ever meet TD, and he has two legs and no parrot, I will be disappointed Rog
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Post by naughtyfox on Jul 9, 2018 22:27:02 GMT
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Post by quaysider on Jul 10, 2018 19:44:14 GMT
well, we live to tell the tail...
The initial problem today was that Eddie (who raced off out of Naburn) gathered a whole tree on his bows, slowing the whole cavalcade down to a megre 2mph punching the still incoming tide...
Once we took control and came along side (thereby moving the tree off his bows) and then subsequently over took him and got some decent speed up to create a bow wave to push away the debris, things improved... we still took 3 hours to get to Selby (after the fecked up start) and although I was by now at the front of the queue, having 2 other narrowboats behind - not leaving enough of a gap did put the pressure on to make a swift turn and entry to the lock.
I won't lie - it was awful... at no point was I not in control of the boat but it wasn't pretty and I was doing major clenching motions with muslces I didn't know I had.
Still, we got in safe and sound and with NO advice from either Naburn or Selby keepers...
Safely moored up in Castleford after a 9 and half hours day chuggin... WINE Wednesday tomorrow with the footie on in the pub!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2018 19:51:46 GMT
Sounds like you've earned a day off. Just remind me how much it was worth it please Rog
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Post by TonyDunkley on Jul 11, 2018 5:51:14 GMT
The initial problem today was that Eddie (who raced off out of Naburn) gathered a whole tree on his bows, slowing the whole cavalcade down to a megre 2mph punching the still incoming tide... Once we took control and came along side (thereby moving the tree off his bows) and then subsequently over took him and got some decent speed up to create a bow wave to push away the debris, things improved... we still took 3 hours to get to Selby (after the fecked up start) and although I was by now at the front of the queue, having 2 other narrowboats behind - not leaving enough of a gap did put the pressure on to make a swift turn and entry to the lock. I'm sorry that your return journey was turned into the miserable experience you describe, . . it seems that any future advice on planning and making the passage from Naburn to Selby must include a warning to ensure that if you set out in company with other boats then by the time you get to Selby there must be several minutes separating you and the boats ahead and/or astern of you. This could probably be best achieved via a few pre-arranged phone calls starting from when all the boats are somewhere in the last 2 - 3 miles from Turnhead Bight to Selby. I would guess that, given the bad name and reputation the tidal Yorkshire Ouse seems to have for a great many pleasure boaters, the 'safety in numbers' instinct is likely to result in groups of boats penning at Naburn all sticking together and arriving at Selby too close together, . . . which in fact is the last thing you want happening because all it's going achieve is to make rounding-up and entering the lock into the sort of stressful shambles that pressurizes every boat bar the last one in the line into rushing a manoeuvre that's best done carrying the least possible way and, most importantly of all, in the skipper's own good time.
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Post by quaysider on Jul 11, 2018 6:09:50 GMT
You've certainly hit the nail on the head there - ALL it would have taken was the lockie (or even ME if I'd have chance before we left the lock) to take control and suggest leaving even a 2 minute gap on exiting the lock....
Still, it's a lesson learned and next time, I'll know the best way to try it - given how lovely York is, it won't stop us going again when our schedule allows... MEANWHILE, home for a couple of days (wine wednesday watching the footie tonight in the pub) and then on to the Rochdale to Mancs and back before blacking in August.
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Post by quaysider on Jul 11, 2018 8:11:16 GMT
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