TNC On Tour 2003 11 - The Wibble Link (XP)
Neil Arlidge
Lazy morning waiting for Ribble Link tidal passage down River Douglas. Harry
Mayor came over with some jerry cans of diesel and told us to amble down to
the sea lock at 14:00. Four other boaters all left some what earlier and had
a jolly time clambering to moored craft, that are right up to the lock
entrance. Ed Mortimer came over and decided to go for the complete Link
experience and collect his car later. On doling out the self inflating life
jackets, Neil found out what the unexplained crack was last evening - one
had decided to self inflate in the cupboard!!!
We set off down to the lock at 13:50, soon followed by tug NB Jacob, who we
found out was a Cutweb member. We eventually exited at 14:20. Having watched
the antics of one of the last boats leaving (nearly pushed up the tidal
Douglas by the flood, we decided to floor it as we left the lock and be the
first out. The flood was really quite strong and we stuck to our tried and
tested 2200 revs speed. Beyond Hesketh Bank - Shepherds Boatyard, we caught
up with the other four boats, which seemed to be taking the whole affair as
a Sunday afternoon pootle. After hanging back for a while Neil decided that
we would just not make the link in time, so went up to normal tidal cruising
speed and went past the 4 boats and an exiting yot, by the time we got to
the Asland Lamp, corner marker of the tidal Douglas, onto the tidal Ribble.
It was at this point that the other crew realised they needed to speed up
and a bit more black exhaust haze could be seen. We eventually arrived at
the mouth of Savick Brook at 16:00, some 40 minutes after the high tide
ideal.
It was another 10 minutes until we went through the rotating sealock (RH
side, the other side is a fixed weir!) The BW bods seemed concerned,
especially as we said that the other boats were at least 15 mins behind.
They told us to carry on up into Lock 8 and await the next arrival - if they
had not been diverted to Preston Marina! We were in Lock 8 by 16:20 and the
next boat, "Dragonfly No7" arrived at 16:35. A BW bod arrived at the same
time and told us to work up the link on our own, dropping the water as we
left.
The passage was much longer than expected and some of the turns rather
"interesting". We were held in the turning basin below the dogleg sited
triple staircase to await the BW bods who did the staircase for us. We got
off the link and onto the Lanky at 18:45. Both us and Dragonfly decided to
push on until the first out of Preston pubs - the"Hand and Dagger" at
Salwick - Bridge No 26. Our arrival was at 19:50, to a very popular spot. Ed
jumped ship and said he would be joining us on the 19th July for a week. We
were lucky with our "mooring" and actually got our bow within 3ft of the
shore. Pub OK, on form Timmy Taylor's Landlord and filling meat pud and
chips.
Martin C had a word with other crew that arrived in the pub. As they were
entering Savick Brook they were told to divert to Preston Marina, but
carried on. The last boat cleared the rotating gate by a couple of inches.
If we had not inspired them to get their finger out they would have all
ended up in Preston Marina for the night. Harry Mayor said that such
occurrences are not that frequent and if they happen then the boats are
pushed through early on in the cycle the next day - same applies to passages
lost through bad weather. Martin also heard that Harry was not late in
letting the first boats out as the first boat scraped the cill.
--
Neil Arlidge - NB Earnest
Follow the travels of the TNC at http://www.tuesdaynightclub.co.uk
David Long
<ne...@tuesdaynightclub.co.uk> writes
>Beyond Hesketh Bank - Shepherds Boatyard, we caught
>up with the other four boats, which seemed to be taking the whole affair as
>a Sunday afternoon pootle. After hanging back for a while Neil decided that
>we would just not make the link in time, so went up to normal tidal cruising
>speed and went past the 4 boats and an exiting yot, by the time we got to
>the Asland Lamp, corner marker of the tidal Douglas, onto the tidal Ribble.
>It was at this point that the other crew realised they needed to speed up
>and a bit more black exhaust haze could be seen. We eventually arrived at
>the mouth of Savick Brook at 16:00, some 40 minutes after the high tide
>ideal.
>Martin C had a word with other crew that arrived in the pub. As they were
>entering Savick Brook they were told to divert to Preston Marina, but
>carried on. The last boat cleared the rotating gate by a couple of inches.
>If we had not inspired them to get their finger out they would have all
>ended up in Preston Marina for the night. Harry Mayor said that such
>occurrences are not that frequent and if they happen then the boats are
>pushed through early on in the cycle the next day - same applies to passages
>lost through bad weather. Martin also heard that Harry was not late in
>letting the first boats out as the first boat scraped the cill.
>
Seems strange that crews aren't told to gun it, and that they have x
minutes to do the journey, or miss the locking.
--
David Long
Sankey Canal Restoration Society http://www.scars.org.uk/
St. Mary's http://www.geocities.com/andrew_fishburn/stmary1.html
Wigan Webcam http://www.hutin.u-net.com/webcam/
Neil Arlidge
> In message <be51ug$1bqdk$3...@ID-27576.news.dfncis.de>, Neil Arlidge
> <ne...@tuesdaynightclub.co.uk> writes
>> Beyond Hesketh Bank - Shepherds Boatyard, we caught
>> up with the other four boats, which seemed to be taking the whole
> Seems strange that crews aren't told to gun it, and that they have x
> minutes to do the journey, or miss the locking.
I was rather amazed at the lack of co-ordination between Harry and the BW
Wibble crew. As I mentioned the tides up the Douglas are not a science and
Harry Mayor lets out the first lock full as soon as they can bump over the
cill.
The booking form tells you when you should be at the mouth of Savick Brook
(HW), but does NOT point out how much leeway there is, or what speed /
timings you should be making. There was also at least a couple of the perch
markers missing in the tidal Douglas. Fortunatley we had some good bins and
Asland Lamp was rather obvious.
If the other boaters had not been so keen to be first into the lock, then we
could have geed them up from the start.
When it comes to this tidal navigation it is fortunate I took the every man
for 'im self approach or we could have all ended up in Preston Marina.
--
Neil Arlidge - NB Earnest - currently in plastic boat heaven - the Lanky!
Chris Kelly
it amazed me that nobody told us how tight the timings are between getting
up the Savick Brook and ending up paying a fiver to moor in Preston docks.
If the weather had of been kinder we might have been more inclined to take
our time and would of maybe missed the link, as it was we went flat out to
get out of the wind and rain as quickly as possible and ended up waiting for
the level to drop so we could get under the first road bridge.
The other thing I found amazing was that nobody told us about the Preston
flood control outlet that suddenly opened up in the narrow bit below the
first lock and litteraly threw the boat across the cut and into the large
piles opposite. Surely some kind of baffle on this outlet could of been
provided. The same happened to the boat behind us and there was nothing
either of us could do against the amount of water coming straight across the
canal at 90 degrees to us.
"Neil Arlidge" <ne...@tuesdaynightclub.co.uk> wrote in message
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