GEM43
Active member
A catamaran? Or was that supposed to be Nauticat not Multicat?
Crinan Canal 2024
- Thread starter Quandary
- Start date
Peter Pilot
Member
It was a Nauticat..doh! Had been having a conversation about a multict moored on the pontoon outside the canal.
Peter Pilot
Member
Surprised no one has commented on the past 3 days traffic jams. West Highland week returning traffic flowed well last week. This week less boats were an issue for the staff. 9 boats rafted up below lock 9 and 6 held at Bellanoch on one morning. For example a boat in Crinan basin ready to go at 8.30am only reached the pontoon above lock 4 yesterday. They started at 8.30 this morning and reached Ardrishaig basin at 3pm.
I've been lucky to get through and out to sea the last three days but only just .4,55, 4.40 and 4.25 today. The canal is now fairly empty of boats so transits will be easier
I've been lucky to get through and out to sea the last three days but only just .4,55, 4.40 and 4.25 today. The canal is now fairly empty of boats so transits will be easier
awol
Well-known member
I suspect one of the reasons the WHYW fleet flowed well was their self-sufficiency. I wish Scotish Canals could make up their mind whether it is "assisted passage" or DIY. It would appear that some boats think it is the former and can't/won't move over lunchtime or if the staff are elsewhere.
Peter Pilot
Member
The staff seem to be sticking rigidly to their lunch breaks this year which is fine but should be communicated to canal users.. Over the next two weeks quite a few of the young seasonal staff will be going back to Uni, so there will inevitably be a reduction in the number of staff on duty.
It appears that the gates at lock 7 are scheduled to be replaced this winter which means the Cairnbaan flight will be able to be set up. Lock 11 is also leaking really badly so I'm hoping they find the budget to replace those gates as well.
ylop
Well-known member
Were they transitting solo? I saw they were back on water saving mode. Or were they in no rush? Or did they fail to communicate their desire for progress to the right people (one issue that’s obvious to me is that it’s not clear who is actually making decisions rather than operating buttons/gates). I’d be much happier to agree a “plan” with them that had target arrival times for each lock even if you had to book that plan the day before!
awol
Well-known member
I understood that as of 1st August the protection of birds on the feeder lochs was no longer in force. It's a bit counter intuitive to be dripping in monsoon type downpours and told there is a water shortage.
ylop
Well-known member
Bodach na mara
Well-known member
"Due to the ongoing dry weather---" .
Is this someone's idea of a joke or has Kintyre having a different summer from the wet and windy one we are experiencing 20 miles away?
ylop
Well-known member
Well having been in Crinan and the area few weeks before it did seem confusing... it certainly was not an exceptionally dry July, and neither was the first half of the year. One might assume they just cut n pasted a previous one - as it sound better than "despite a major renovation programme over the winter we didn't fix the massively leaky locks".
Peter Pilot
Member
2 boats travelling together. Had been through in the opposite direction a couple of weeks before. They know the score and had told the staff they wanted to get through the day they were ready to go at 8.30am.
No chance of agreeing a plan with the canal. The staff have their own ideas and staff at one location will have a different agenda to those at another. I could list the optimal times for going from A to B to C but everything depends on traffic, and some boats / groups of boats are in snail mode. The other day my boat was in with another boat that was motoring at 0.5 knots between the locks. The impact of that situation on travelling times and other users can slow everyone down.
Peter Pilot
Member
Yesterday the canal was relatively quiet with only seven boats moving (according to the staff.)
The traffic jam issues arise for many reasons. The one factor that can't be helped is when large numbers of boats arrive at the sea lock at the same time. Another is when a group of (6) boats arrive and take up 3 locks then stop for lunch and this causes the boats behind to bunch up and wait for all 6 boats to move on.
Unfortunately I have seen boats stop and leave a single boat travelling ahead which may then get held up waiting for the boat that stopped to catch up. It doesn't help when the boat skipper doesn't tell the staff they are stopping. The staff have been asking skippers what they plan to do at every point - bridges, Dunardry, Cairnbaan etc.
The traffic jam issues arise for many reasons. The one factor that can't be helped is when large numbers of boats arrive at the sea lock at the same time. Another is when a group of (6) boats arrive and take up 3 locks then stop for lunch and this causes the boats behind to bunch up and wait for all 6 boats to move on.
Unfortunately I have seen boats stop and leave a single boat travelling ahead which may then get held up waiting for the boat that stopped to catch up. It doesn't help when the boat skipper doesn't tell the staff they are stopping. The staff have been asking skippers what they plan to do at every point - bridges, Dunardry, Cairnbaan etc.
ylop
Well-known member
Yeah I wasn’t meaning it on an ad hoc basis. Last time we went through every keeper asked us our plans “so we can let the keepers further on know”. We told them, but each time we got to the next keeper they asked the same questions! In reality I think the question was really “when can we knock off”!
What I meant was if the canal wants to use its resources - people and water - wisely and give people a better (or at least more consistent) experience agreeing a plan with the skipper that states which lock they will be at, when etc. obviously skippers should have the option to say “no I want to stop for lunch”, or “soak up the scenery etc”.
Peter Pilot
Member
It would be good if plans were agreed but so often a boat changes its mind, or other boats change plans affecting everyone else. It happens quite often. Also agreeing times to be at locks doesn't work as some boats, sets of boats will be far slower than normal or faster. I have also noticed that a lot of boats are taking a long time at lock 10 by getting coffees and snacks after they have risen, or before they drop. losing 5 minutes at each lock compared to the standard time taken (for many reasons) adds over an hour to the transit time.
From my experience transit times reaching the basin or sea lock can vary by 2.5 hours from one day to the next. It can sometimes be slower with boats stopping at 5pm short of that target.
From my experience transit times reaching the basin or sea lock can vary by 2.5 hours from one day to the next. It can sometimes be slower with boats stopping at 5pm short of that target.
Peter Pilot
Member
A little bit of good news. A 2.4m draft yacht given permission to transit midweek.
RunAgroundHard
Well-known member
Is the water denser mid week?
Peter Pilot
Member
The canal have published this year's closing date as the 31st October.
yotter
Active member
Thanks Peter, that is good to know.
Peter Pilot
Member
I was surprised it was that late in October, as I heard (unconfirmed) that the lock gates at 7 and 11 are planned to be replaced as both leak extremely badly, and further work scheduled to secure the dummy lock at Crinan.
Hoping for the summer weather to arrive in November when I'm off sailing ;-)
Peter Pilot
Member
A big thank you to the ladies working at Ardrishaig for letting my boat our of the sea lock at 5,30pm. A limping work boat with engine problems slowed up the canal. 9 hours from Crinan basin to get out to sea is my longest transit this year.