Had a problem with the barage

[tre4]

This weekend i tried to lock out at 15.00 but found the que of boats too long so apted for the 15.30,i somehow came last in the que and was told to wait for number one to open which was only to open at 16.00 this meant i was an hour behind the boats i was sailing in company with but as we were only going to Portishead i had enough time, but most other destinations have a more definate time scedule and to be an hour late could spoil the trip for a sailing boat,(the mobo's in the lock said they just put the hammer down....?).
The lock back in on sunday was even more of a farce, what's going on there have they lost the plot, it used to be so easy!

 

[Who]

Lock 3 looked to be out of action due to maintenance.

Lock 1, can only operate once there is enough water due to the higher sill.

So they only had lock 2 to use when the water was low.

Plus weather was perfect (For Mobo's /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif )and everyone wanted to get out, hence the queues.

 

[tre4]

Yeah i know they only had two locks and it was busy but thats when we all show wether we can actually do the job or not!
When i called them to lock in on sunday at 11.15 they gave me the clearance but as soon as the last boat left the outward bound lock they closed the lock as i was motoring in and said they had to be strict about times but no boats locked in .....do you think they just forgot i was there, surely not!!!

 

[Alcyone]

A couple of times recently they have been late with the locks, so maybe they have had complaints and are trying to run things more on time?

 

[Who]

Does seem a waste of time, to have a lock open and not let it be used.

Seeing as they were strugling with a lock out of action, you would expect them to make maximum use of every lock.

Maybe just tell everyone to get in the lock ASAP.

 

[chrishelen]

Hi Tre4, we have this problem everytime its a sunny weekend, i and a few others emailed the barrage control a few months back for an answer,but the problem seems to be sheer weight of traffic, you used to be able to book a time slot to lock in/out but it seems boats were not turning up or turning up late,so at the moment its a free for all with the comercial boys jumping to the front of the q.

 

[Mike_S]

We were stood on the wall at the end of the marina at 3pm Sunday, it looked mentally busy !! I noticed one of the guys from CBYC queuing up ready to go out to go wakeboarding and he mustn't have made the lock, we saw him arrive off Penarth at 4pm along with a load of other Mobo's. Weather was perfect though with great flat water, we'd have been out ourselves had we not had friends down for the weekend.

 

[chrishelen]

I have got to the stage where if its a sunny weekend (remember them) that its to dangerous to sail in the bay and the locks are way to busy to lock out for a few hours that we go for a walk in instead, sad but it can take over an hour to get out/in on nice days.

 

[siwaller]

We had a big problem with delays a couple of weeks back. We asked for a 9.30 lockout if I remember correctly. Due to the numbers waiting they asked us to hold back for the 1000 which we did and so did another 15-20 odd boats and a scramble ensued to get in once it became available. Missed it and had to wait for the next one. We lost a lot of valuable training time that morning. I can understand now why the RNLI will not come into the bay.