This appeared as a letter in WW May2022
It was fun watching "Borrowed Minute" going solo down Ponder's End lock. The electric lock was kaput and the manual was not set in favour so he had to 'turn' it, which he did and opened the gates to put the the boat in, which he did, and tied up for the descent, which he did.
Having closed the gates and arriving at the bottom paddle, he looked back to see that the top gates were yawning. Being on the 'island' between the two locks, he ran up to close the top gate and all the way round to get ashore and close the other one, promptly caused the other gate to yawn.
When I find a lock whose gates don't want to stay closed I do things differently. After dropping the paddles and before or after installing the boat I go to the other end and raise one paddle a smidgin. Then and only then will I close the gate s . The slight flow of water through the lock ensures that the closing gates stay shut. Our subject must get an awful lot of exercise during a day which won't do him any harm I spose but must slow his progress over a day's sailing.
Do you have any tales like this to entertain us while we peruse our journal and our journey? I'm sure our editor could cope with them as long as you don't let the truth interfere with a good story.
It was fun watching "Borrowed Minute" going solo down Ponder's End lock. The electric lock was kaput and the manual was not set in favour so he had to 'turn' it, which he did and opened the gates to put the the boat in, which he did, and tied up for the descent, which he did.
Having closed the gates and arriving at the bottom paddle, he looked back to see that the top gates were yawning. Being on the 'island' between the two locks, he ran up to close the top gate and all the way round to get ashore and close the other one, promptly caused the other gate to yawn.
When I find a lock whose gates don't want to stay closed I do things differently. After dropping the paddles and before or after installing the boat I go to the other end and raise one paddle a smidgin. Then and only then will I close the gate s . The slight flow of water through the lock ensures that the closing gates stay shut. Our subject must get an awful lot of exercise during a day which won't do him any harm I spose but must slow his progress over a day's sailing.
Do you have any tales like this to entertain us while we peruse our journal and our journey? I'm sure our editor could cope with them as long as you don't let the truth interfere with a good story.
There is a sequel and this one is on me. On one occasion my mind was not really on the job. I left the boat outside and closed the gates without hauling the boat into the pound first. I then engaged in animated conversation with a passing gongoozler and woke up after ten minutes much refreshed by the gab to find the lock half-empty with my boat still tied up outside and a boater pulling up below for an ascent. Fair's fair. I did the right thing and opened the paddles fully. After all they do say it is the longest friendliest village in England.
