Chichester inbound lock queue yesterday / 25 May

[lupa]

Anybody on here get stuck in the queue going in yesterday afternoon?
Any bright ideas to put forward to Chichester how to improve the carnage, or is this just the way it has to be.

 

[jrudge]

No lock queues in the med ...

 

[bedouin]

Anybody on here get stuck in the queue going in yesterday afternoon?
Any bright ideas to put forward to Chichester how to improve the carnage, or is this just the way it has to be.

What happened?

On of the reasons I left Chi last year was the lock queue - it was often a problem (worse for me as a sailing boat) and they didn't seem to want to do anything about it.

 

[Questor]

You get to learn how to work the lock to avoid the queues. However, freeflow has been cut short over the last few days, which makes queueing a bit unavoidable.

When we came back in on Saturday, we and another boat came into the lock, with two more following up close behind. They could have let them in, but decided to lock just us through, which doesn't help. Couldn't quite work out he logic.....

 

[DAKA]

A raggie caused the issue.
He asked for permission to drop crew on the waiting pontoon as his crew neded to be off urgently.
He barged all the way through the fairway.
He pushed many boats out of the channel to do it.
He got berthed on the waiting pontoon .
Free flow started.
About 9 boats made it through on free flow.
The raggie was still on the waiting pontoon and none of his crew had got off.

The lock keeper then decided to let one outbound raggie out.

The raggie on the waiting pontoon then panicked and cast off thinking free flow was over, he went through a red light and pushed in front of a dozen boats or so.

The outbound yacht had to emergency astern.

Eventually he got out but that was it , free flow had ended.

Everyone could have got through on free flow had the raggie not pushed in.

Unbelievable selfishness .

In my opinion the lock keeper should not have tried to change the traffic flow until all the boats were in .
His biggest mistake was letting the raggie drop crew off as they knocked an orderly queue into kayoss.

We made it in on free flow however I remain annoyed at the raggie as I moved out of his way and risked grounding thinking he had an emergency why crew needed to get off.

 

[bedouin]

risked grounding

Oh - I thought we were talking about the entrance to Chichester Marina here.

If this was coming up to free flow wasn't there plenty of water?

Anyway it is all very soft mud and far from being a risk letting the boat touch the mud is a good way of staying put for a while and not a risk in any sense.

 

[benjenbav]

Hmm, I can't say I fancied dragging through the mud either with out drives or shafts when I was there. Too much risk of clogging up the raw water system or bending a prop blade for my liking.

 

[DAKA]

Oh - I thought we were talking about the entrance to Chichester Marina here.

If this was coming up to free flow wasn't there plenty of water?

Anyway it is all very soft mud and far from being a risk letting the boat touch the mud is a good way of staying put for a while and not a risk in any sense.

it was a neap, (for your benefit, thats when the moon isnt pulling water in conjunction with the sun so there isnt any reliable useful depth of water over the mud banks)

there was a seabreeze which made it tricky holding station in the narrow channel.

everyone was ready for free flow however the raggie barged his way through the queue which knocked everyone in the wrong direction like skittles.

when free flow started it was one boat at a time as no one was ready.

The selfish raggie caused the delays and stopped at least 25 boats from getting in during the short free flow.

Benjenbav is right, the tide was about to fall if not already falling.

 

[bedouin]

Hmm, I can't say I fancied dragging through the mud either with out drives or shafts when I was there. Too much risk of clogging up the raw water system or bending a prop blade for my liking.

Yes - that was a bit tongue in cheek for a mobo. But for a raggie it is very useful as the sensitive bits of my boat's anatomy are 4' above the keel. As you will have noticed it is very hard for some sailing boats to hold station in the channel, easy answer is just to nudge to one side and let the keel touch the mud. Holds you still and prevents you swinging, then touching it astern pulls you off if necessary.

IIRC most of the mud around the marina channel dries about 2m so with free flow (I guess about 4m tide) there should be a pretty broad channel.

Odd that Chi had free flow if the tide was neaps - when I was berthed there there were always 2 or 3 days around neaps when there was no free flow at all.

 

[TwoHooter]

Any bright ideas to put forward to Chichester how to improve the carnage

How about moving next door to Birdham Pool and making sure the Marina knows why you did it? We have been in the Pool a year and only queued once, for ten minutes, waiting behind one boat. And it's a nicer place too, with friendly folks. The views from Millionaire's Row are simply stunning.

 

[nicho]

We always avoided locking in/out on Bank Holiday weekends when at Chi. Much more fun sitting on one of the seats by the lock and watching the antics!
It really needs a second lock with 800 or so boats in the marina (90% of which never seem to go anywhere), but the expense to relieve problems over a few weekends a year would never get past the beancounters.

 

[Richard Shead]

Spent several years in Chichester and coming from a Thames background (and still live by it) the boat handling skills and lock management of most South Coast marinas are truly shocking.

The lock keepers would learn a lot from the inland waterways and the idiots that push through as they are in a "rush" need to apply a little common sense and understand that bank holidays may just be that little bit busier than normal.

I had one chap try an push through once when about 20 back, I simply refused to move. They claimed then needed to make a flight, my guests also needed to make a flight in fact one flight was not going any where without them..and guess what we all made it through after a little patience.

However I still maintain that that most tidal marina lock management skills could be improved....but then again I am perfect.

 

[nicho]

Spent several years in Chichester and coming from a Thames background (and still live by it) the boat handling skills and lock management of most South Coast marinas are truly shocking.

The lock keepers would learn a lot from the inland waterways and the idiots that push through as they are in a "rush" need to apply a little common sense and understand that bank holidays may just be that little bit busier than normal.

I had one chap try an push through once when about 20 back, I simply refused to move. They claimed then needed to make a flight, my guests also needed to make a flight in fact one flight was not going any where without them..and guess what we all made it through after a little patience.

However I still maintain that that most tidal marina lock management skills could be improved....but then again I am perfect.

I agree, having spent five years on the Thames where the locking procedure is generally spot on. I remember one Sunday evening many years ago at Hythe Marina at Low water, there were several yachts, including ourselves waiting to lock in with rapidly disappearing water. Still they continued to let small motor boats in, leaving those with 1.5 metre draft or more circuiling around. We just managed to (literall) scrape in across the cill. In fairness, this was unusual at Hythe, but we thought we would have to spend the night at Ocean Village.

 

[Chi Man]

don't tell everyone !!, the pool is nearly full! had to wait for 4 boats to get out last week!

How about moving next door to Birdham Pool and making sure the Marina knows why you did it? We have been in the Pool a year and only queued once, for ten minutes, waiting behind one boat. And it's a nicer place too, with friendly folks. The views from Millionaire's Row are simply stunning.

 

[benjenbav]

don't tell everyone !!, the pool is nearly full! had to wait for 4 boats to get out last week!

But if Birdham Pool had to handle the same volume of traffic as Chichester Marina the queues would be back to Itchenor.

Nice place, though!

 

[TwoHooter]

But if Birdham Pool had to handle the same volume of traffic as Chichester Marina the queues would be back to Itchenor. Nice place, though!

True. Small is beautiful!

 

[KevB]

In this instance it seems the queue was caused by a selfish incident but I am amazed at the amount of people who slate chichester marina for the lock queues. I've been in the marina for 13 years and we use our boat a lot and I've had to queue at most a dozen times. Free flow times are advertised at the start of the year for the whole season, it's no surprise when they are going to start or finish. If the freeflow times don't suit you then go out early/late and return early/late.

If you come back on a sunny Sunday afternoon with no freeflow you may have to queue. Simples.