Safest place when locking

IT IS ALWAYS sad to read of the death of anyone and my sympathies go out to all those affected by the death of Alan Green with the sinking of nb Sonskit. Especially so to his mother who witnessed it and to whom it must have been a terrifying experience, writes Derek Willetts.

It is not yet known how the accident happened but Alan's mother has said that she thought that the rudder had become trapped in the gates. Should this happen to be the case and notwithstanding the importance of vigilance and care when ‘locking', is it now time to re-examine the matter of the positioning of boats when taking boats through narrow locks?

Is it the safest place?

I believe that the taught method was that boats going up should be positioned at the rear of the lock etc. Is this still the case? If so is it really the safest place?

My first real experience of narrowboating and locks was going from Nuneaton to Lower Heyford one December single-handed with dog and then back to Claydon after that Christmas, again single-handed.

Nose on the gate

It didn't take many locks to find the best way—Hillmorton if my memory serves me well. I found it was best to always keep the nose at the gate where the paddles being operated were, with the rudder straight and engine in gear, slow ahead when locking up and in neutral when locking down, and to adjust the flow into or out of the lock appropriately.

I tried to continue the practice when accompanied and the only time I have had a problem since then has been when my companion positioned the boat at the rear of the lock.

Harder to react to

It does seem to me that most sinkings occur if the reverse is practiced and the boat is positioned at the rear when locking up and where any problem, such as a rope, part of fender or rudder being caught in the gates, is thus always furthest from the paddle operator and so harder to spot and react to.

It is also often easier to communicate with anyone on the boat should they see a problem arising if the boat is closer to the operator rather than 70ft plus away. I know there can be problems with boat movement with water rushing in if the nose is on the gate but this is easily controlled by adjusting the paddles as necessary or even lifting the ratchet if speed is required.