Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2020 13:38:36 GMT
Good morrow brethren, once again I find myself struggling in the dark and in need of your collective wisdom and experience.
My woes are thus:
1. When tying up the font end, I have to step back onto the boat to reach the cleat on the bow, and this is not ideal- the ledge I step on is generally wet and slippery, and the cratch cover gives me nothing to hang on to, so its all a tad precarious, and I feel its a matter of time before I end up in the drink.
My proposed solution was someting I read (here proably), which was to get a T stud or cleat welded to either side of the boat, where it starts to curve around into the bow. This could be reached easily from the bank and would thus reduce my chances of dying from canal water poisoning and/or embarrassment in the near future.
2. A sort of 'ladder rung' or step of some sort welded onto the rear wall of the cabin (or maybe two), to make climbing onto the roof a bit easier/quicker. There is a locker that acts as a stepping stone, but an additional step or rung would be very welcome indeed, if such a thing could be fashioned.
3. When tying the boat up I initially use a nappy pin and the centre line, to hold it roughly in place whilst I tie the bow and stern up to secure it properly.
But I'm not doing it right at all.
My bodge for this scenario is to tie a painter hitch onto the nappy pin, which has the advantage that it comes undone easily when you want to cast off, and you dont need to feed the full length of the rope through the ring to make the hitch.
But you can't take up slack and pull it tight, the way you can with a cleat hitch (to the bow) or a canalman's hitch (on the stern). So its a crappy bodge, and the boat ends up drifting two feet out into the canal whilst I'm at either end tying them up.
So what knot or method should I be using to secure the centre line to say a mooring ring or a nappy pin, that will allow me to pull in any slack and keep the boat close to the bank?
I can't lead the rope back up to the boat as there's nothing it can hold to on the roof, so my thinking for this is to have a small post welded to each side of the roof, about 6 inches forward of the centre line attachment ring- I could then run the centre line through a ring and back up to the post on the roof, pull in any slack, and tie a canalmans hitch.
But the old salty sea dogs here will surely have a quicker, simpler and more elegant solution than that, I'm guessing?
For cheap, decent, and quick welding work, is there anyone based on the top end of the Shroppie or that general area, that folks would recommend for basic welding jobs like that?
I have tried to make inquiries already: I was feeling unusually charitable yesterday (by my own miserly standards), and after going through the two locks in Tamworth I went back to help a very elderly gentleman with the paddles etc. I asked him about welders on the Shroppie as I wound the paddles, and he reeled off a string of names and directions to several establishment that all sounded very helpful, but it was all said at such a speed and in such a strong Black Country accent/dialect that I couldn't understand any of the names or instructions fully, so I left him no wiser.
He was a lovely old chap btw- he said to tell them 'The Blacksmith' had sent me there, so I'm guessing he might be a well-known guy in the area.
My woes are thus:
1. When tying up the font end, I have to step back onto the boat to reach the cleat on the bow, and this is not ideal- the ledge I step on is generally wet and slippery, and the cratch cover gives me nothing to hang on to, so its all a tad precarious, and I feel its a matter of time before I end up in the drink.
My proposed solution was someting I read (here proably), which was to get a T stud or cleat welded to either side of the boat, where it starts to curve around into the bow. This could be reached easily from the bank and would thus reduce my chances of dying from canal water poisoning and/or embarrassment in the near future.
2. A sort of 'ladder rung' or step of some sort welded onto the rear wall of the cabin (or maybe two), to make climbing onto the roof a bit easier/quicker. There is a locker that acts as a stepping stone, but an additional step or rung would be very welcome indeed, if such a thing could be fashioned.
3. When tying the boat up I initially use a nappy pin and the centre line, to hold it roughly in place whilst I tie the bow and stern up to secure it properly.
But I'm not doing it right at all.
My bodge for this scenario is to tie a painter hitch onto the nappy pin, which has the advantage that it comes undone easily when you want to cast off, and you dont need to feed the full length of the rope through the ring to make the hitch.
But you can't take up slack and pull it tight, the way you can with a cleat hitch (to the bow) or a canalman's hitch (on the stern). So its a crappy bodge, and the boat ends up drifting two feet out into the canal whilst I'm at either end tying them up.
So what knot or method should I be using to secure the centre line to say a mooring ring or a nappy pin, that will allow me to pull in any slack and keep the boat close to the bank?
I can't lead the rope back up to the boat as there's nothing it can hold to on the roof, so my thinking for this is to have a small post welded to each side of the roof, about 6 inches forward of the centre line attachment ring- I could then run the centre line through a ring and back up to the post on the roof, pull in any slack, and tie a canalmans hitch.
But the old salty sea dogs here will surely have a quicker, simpler and more elegant solution than that, I'm guessing?
For cheap, decent, and quick welding work, is there anyone based on the top end of the Shroppie or that general area, that folks would recommend for basic welding jobs like that?
I have tried to make inquiries already: I was feeling unusually charitable yesterday (by my own miserly standards), and after going through the two locks in Tamworth I went back to help a very elderly gentleman with the paddles etc. I asked him about welders on the Shroppie as I wound the paddles, and he reeled off a string of names and directions to several establishment that all sounded very helpful, but it was all said at such a speed and in such a strong Black Country accent/dialect that I couldn't understand any of the names or instructions fully, so I left him no wiser.
He was a lovely old chap btw- he said to tell them 'The Blacksmith' had sent me there, so I'm guessing he might be a well-known guy in the area.