oceanfroggie
Well-Known Member
Thanks SM. It takes about one hour up or down from start to finish (i.e. going in under the first guillotine gate to coming out under the second gate). The lock is about 100ft long (30m) and 6m wide so can often take two decent sized mobos, but the limiting factor is 3.7m air draft under the guillotine gates. Hence many large FB boats cannot fit under.
I knew the former lock keeper well so he trusted me, and whenever I was single handed he could pull all the plugs and either drop me through it like a stone in 25 mins or flood me upwards in 30 mins but I used to hover on the engines, whereas normally you shutdown the engines (to breath) and either use alternating recessed grab hooks placed at intervals, or boat hook on recessed ladder, or short piece of rope wrapped around a hose covered chain that ran from top to bottom along the lock walls depending on the boat position.
The new lock keepers since 2011 play it by the book and so its a slow one hour ascent or descent.
Back in 2012 I organised a 40 motor boat CIC during a period of the highest summer rain fall for 100 years, and I can tell you that was a challenge getting them all safely down under the tidal bridges when the power station was running at max load. At normal summer levels the power station is only running at between 0 and 25% flow so its a dawdle but when all the turbines are running and the tide is going out its like the colorado river - white water!!! Not to be attempted for the inexperienced, nor even then.
