ctva
Well-Known Member
Do you have a link?
Crinan Canal, more hassle
- Thread starter Quandary
- Start date
awol
Well-Known Member
Nope, the notice was posted on a F/book page I get. Could be a ruse to blacken SC's good name but with their ability to score own goals, I doubt it.
FlyingGoose
Well-Known Member
Madness that it is not on their main website , Facebook be dammned:ambivalence:
Have now sent 2 e mails about inquires , no response in 8 days so got the contact e mail to complain and this email was sent back saying does not exist , ah well I m for the Mull .
Halo
Well-Known Member
Given the number of gawpers who have watched us use the Crinnan I would say that the canal is a significant tourist attraction rather than just a facility for boats. Its very sad to hear the Canal is being badly run
Quandary
Well-Known Member
Apparently the management have already noticed that boats tend to turn up at Crinan Sealock at the same time, just a bit later every day. So now they have decided that they just need to apply a bit of discipline to these daft yachties who seem to be wired to the moon and get them all to come in in the same time every afternoon, might be just a bit harder to train them at the Loch Fyne end but really how hard can that be. If the boats all travel in a flotilla they will not need men to man the bridges for more than an hour or two each day, what could possibly go wrong.
Putting it on facebook is the modern way, it is as strong as a papal edict, who looks at the website anyway?
Putting it on facebook is the modern way, it is as strong as a papal edict, who looks at the website anyway?
awol
Well-Known Member
For the avoidance of doubt, the picture I posted did not come from an SC F/book post. Where the poster got it from, I dinnae ken.
FlyingGoose
Well-Known Member
Mr Q why are you not running the Canal this is madness, please help us poor souls that look upon the Mull with trepidation especially with the Admiral that likes a good hurl
Can you not take the views on this forum as like the sailors and present it to those with the ties and say look what you are doing
cpedw
Well-Known Member
RHYC members have been circulated with just that notice. It's described as "Crinan Canal Notice to Mariners". Maybe SC management are members of RHYC?
webcraft
Well-Known Member
.
Last Saturday I was crew on board a 30ft yacht - there were just the two of us. Our plan was to transit the canal and get to Portavadie the same day. Both myself and the skipper have made successful transits in a day in the past.
We were waiting in the sea lock at 08.30, but no staff were there. I went to the office to discover a notice saying that the office was now unmanned and giving a phone number, which was useless as there is no signal at the sea lock at Crinan. I couldn't remember the VHF channel, and there is no notice on the office door.
About 09.15 two staff arrived in a van. They opined that we would be lucky to get through and told us (incomprehensibly, I thought - until I read about the new transit policy) that we had to be supervised but not assisted, so we expected to see these gentlemen again at some point during the day . . . they had led us to believe they would at least be at Dunadry when we arrived.
We were booked in and eventually locked up into the basin then up through lock 14 around 10.30. We were not issued with a Skippers Guide. We were instructed to close all the gates behind us including the upstream ones, even though there were boats coming the other way. This naturally took us a lot longer, and when we eventually met the two other boats transiting in the opposite direction at lock 9 they were surprised we had closed all the upstream gates.
During all this time we did not see any canal staff apart from when they arrived at the first bridge to open it. We waited 15 minutes here.
Needless to say we made poor time as we had to close all the gates at every lock and we were the only boat heading S with only two crew on board. Our passage could have been made a lot swifter and easier had we been advised to leave the top gates of each lock open for the boats coming the other way. In spite of this we got to Cairnbaan Bridge at ten minutes past three. There was no-one there, and as usual no phone signal, but the Cairnbaan Hotel kindly let me use their landline. There was no reply from either the Crinan number or the Ardrishaig number. I did however find out that the Canal boss had decided to hold a staff meeting that afternoon at the Hotel, in spite of being very short staffed and with boats in a hurry to transit.
Eventually someone turned up at five minutes to four and told us it was too late to let us through the bridge, leaving us facing the prospect of being stuck at the worst, least secure place on the canal until Monday. Fortunately after a bit of hand-wringing the guys let us through, even though it meant they would probably get a row for it. Many thanks to them, it meant we could abandon the boat in a slightly more sheltered spot down by Oakfield Bridge. The point is though, if the staff had been doing their job, had we been allowed ot leave the top gates open on the way up from Crinan and had there been someone to open the bridge at Cairnbaan we could almost certainly have transited in a day and would certainly have made it to the Basin at Ardrishaig, a much more suitable place to leave the boat.
I have transited the Crinan many times, and up until now have always found the staff friendly and helpful, particularly if you are on a boat with only two of you. We did not expect an assisted passage, but we did expect our passage to be made as comfortable as possible and for the staff to do what they could to expedite it. In total we were kept hanging around waiting for staff for around two hours on what is already a ridiculously short day (I mean, come on, last locking 4pm when it is light to 8pm, what is that about?? . . . and closing on Sunday during the school Spring holidays is patently ridiculous . . . )
Overall I am very disappointed, and will do whatever I can to avoid having to use the canal in future. I think management would do well to remember that the canal was made to allow boats to transit, and that yachts are paying customers. The canal will not stay open very long if they continue to annoy their main source of revenue.
- W
Last Saturday I was crew on board a 30ft yacht - there were just the two of us. Our plan was to transit the canal and get to Portavadie the same day. Both myself and the skipper have made successful transits in a day in the past.
We were waiting in the sea lock at 08.30, but no staff were there. I went to the office to discover a notice saying that the office was now unmanned and giving a phone number, which was useless as there is no signal at the sea lock at Crinan. I couldn't remember the VHF channel, and there is no notice on the office door.
About 09.15 two staff arrived in a van. They opined that we would be lucky to get through and told us (incomprehensibly, I thought - until I read about the new transit policy) that we had to be supervised but not assisted, so we expected to see these gentlemen again at some point during the day . . . they had led us to believe they would at least be at Dunadry when we arrived.
We were booked in and eventually locked up into the basin then up through lock 14 around 10.30. We were not issued with a Skippers Guide. We were instructed to close all the gates behind us including the upstream ones, even though there were boats coming the other way. This naturally took us a lot longer, and when we eventually met the two other boats transiting in the opposite direction at lock 9 they were surprised we had closed all the upstream gates.
During all this time we did not see any canal staff apart from when they arrived at the first bridge to open it. We waited 15 minutes here.
Needless to say we made poor time as we had to close all the gates at every lock and we were the only boat heading S with only two crew on board. Our passage could have been made a lot swifter and easier had we been advised to leave the top gates of each lock open for the boats coming the other way. In spite of this we got to Cairnbaan Bridge at ten minutes past three. There was no-one there, and as usual no phone signal, but the Cairnbaan Hotel kindly let me use their landline. There was no reply from either the Crinan number or the Ardrishaig number. I did however find out that the Canal boss had decided to hold a staff meeting that afternoon at the Hotel, in spite of being very short staffed and with boats in a hurry to transit.
Eventually someone turned up at five minutes to four and told us it was too late to let us through the bridge, leaving us facing the prospect of being stuck at the worst, least secure place on the canal until Monday. Fortunately after a bit of hand-wringing the guys let us through, even though it meant they would probably get a row for it. Many thanks to them, it meant we could abandon the boat in a slightly more sheltered spot down by Oakfield Bridge. The point is though, if the staff had been doing their job, had we been allowed ot leave the top gates open on the way up from Crinan and had there been someone to open the bridge at Cairnbaan we could almost certainly have transited in a day and would certainly have made it to the Basin at Ardrishaig, a much more suitable place to leave the boat.
I have transited the Crinan many times, and up until now have always found the staff friendly and helpful, particularly if you are on a boat with only two of you. We did not expect an assisted passage, but we did expect our passage to be made as comfortable as possible and for the staff to do what they could to expedite it. In total we were kept hanging around waiting for staff for around two hours on what is already a ridiculously short day (I mean, come on, last locking 4pm when it is light to 8pm, what is that about?? . . . and closing on Sunday during the school Spring holidays is patently ridiculous . . . )
Overall I am very disappointed, and will do whatever I can to avoid having to use the canal in future. I think management would do well to remember that the canal was made to allow boats to transit, and that yachts are paying customers. The canal will not stay open very long if they continue to annoy their main source of revenue.
- W
Quandary
Well-Known Member
Unfortunately this year Webbys experience is typical, I know he is not coming back but it would be great if he sent a copy of his post to Scottish Canals.
This afternoon a boat I know came in to Ardrishaig sea lock at 14-00, I had offered to help him get up to Cairnbaan. Delayed in sea lock while the assistant looked to find someone qualified to swing the bridge, she did not start to fill the lock until he turned up. It then took about 15 mins at full chat to get the outer gates to seal and start to fill. Meanwhile I had locks 2 and 3 ready, through basin bridge and into lock 2 at 14-50, into 3 at 15-00, bridge and lock 4 still closed. Two keepers with a van running water through the lock, explained that the 15-15 to 15-45 school run was approaching so they would not let me prepare lock. At 15-40 I eventually got permission to prepare the lock, bridge swung and boat in at 15-45. They explained to the skipper that they would not swing Oakfield bridge (I mile further) because he would not be there before 16-00 and they only worked to 16-30 this week. Skipper planned to stop on pontoon so asked when there would be someone at Oakfield to let him through in the morning, told it was uncertain but likely to be 09-00 or 09-30, skipper decided to carry on to the bridge and spend the night there so he would already be there when someone turned up to open it. Distance covered - less than 1/2 mile in 2 hours.
Customer friendly?
This afternoon a boat I know came in to Ardrishaig sea lock at 14-00, I had offered to help him get up to Cairnbaan. Delayed in sea lock while the assistant looked to find someone qualified to swing the bridge, she did not start to fill the lock until he turned up. It then took about 15 mins at full chat to get the outer gates to seal and start to fill. Meanwhile I had locks 2 and 3 ready, through basin bridge and into lock 2 at 14-50, into 3 at 15-00, bridge and lock 4 still closed. Two keepers with a van running water through the lock, explained that the 15-15 to 15-45 school run was approaching so they would not let me prepare lock. At 15-40 I eventually got permission to prepare the lock, bridge swung and boat in at 15-45. They explained to the skipper that they would not swing Oakfield bridge (I mile further) because he would not be there before 16-00 and they only worked to 16-30 this week. Skipper planned to stop on pontoon so asked when there would be someone at Oakfield to let him through in the morning, told it was uncertain but likely to be 09-00 or 09-30, skipper decided to carry on to the bridge and spend the night there so he would already be there when someone turned up to open it. Distance covered - less than 1/2 mile in 2 hours.
Customer friendly?
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ctva
Well-Known Member
Far better would be to write to either the transport or tourism ministers at Holyrood as the SC management are never going to change anything.
Depressing really as we both have the best for the canal at heart.
pagoda
Well-Known Member
maybe these political/legal lightweights could assist - but don't bet on any result...
Transport Minister Mike Mathieson : map at parliament.scot
Transport Scotland Maritime Director: francespacetti at transport.gov.scot
[2574]
...
Oh dear, and today I’ve made a new fender board. Might as well cut it up for firewood. Sounds like waiting at Campbeltown for fair passage around the Mull is the only option this season.
Quandary
Well-Known Member
I carry a fender board but do not use it in the canal, I have seen too many get tangled up with the open lock gate columns on the way past.
ProDave
Well-Known Member
What a shambles.
In other news, I hear the F&C is open again and the Calley should be open again soon.
In other news, I hear the F&C is open again and the Calley should be open again soon.
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
They used to run until 22.00, at least the Ardrishaig sealock did when I worked there last century.
I think that was Wednesdays only in my youth. Crinan used to stay open till late for the fishing boats, too.
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
In the year of compulsory assisted passage they managed to get me from Ardrishaig (locked in at 8.30) to Dunardry (tied up at 5pm) in one day. Mainly this was because we had to wait an hour for the Bellanoch Bridge keeper to have his lunch and a further two hours at the pontoon there because the entire staff for the "up" flight had gone to help one boat coming down. The management clearly isn'y great, but I'd cheerfully put most of the staff through a wood-chipper, feet-first, as well.
D
Deleted member 36384
Guest
Is the staff middle aged or older? My employer found that by releasing all his grey haired staff who were experienced and hiring bright young things more was done at far less cost i.e. productivity improved remarkably. The knock on effect with the remaining grey haired staff has also paid dividends. Sounds to me as if they should all be on zero hours contracts and called out when needed i.e. opening a bridge, operating a lock, paid by the bridge or lock, not time.
bikedaft
Well-Known Member
well we found the staff just fine. no bridge delays due to lunch etc (which i remember from the past)
helpful. apologetic about the state of the infrastructure. pointing out where toilet blocks were etc.
helpful. apologetic about the state of the infrastructure. pointing out where toilet blocks were etc.
awol
Well-Known Member
That year of "assisted" passages - I bought a 16 day pass and transited 7 times, 5 of them single-handed. On one trip I descended the Dunardry flight during the "assistance" lunch/card school break - seemed to confuse the puir wee souls -I didn't bother closing the gates. The price hike that year was never fully reversed when the assistance was withdrawn.
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