So you think you are good at handling your boat, well watch this video.

[Concerto]

I have to admit this skipper certainly knows how to handle his boat.

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[LittleSister]

Neat!

Now let's see it in a high wind.

The angle of the piles at the beginning suggest that not all of his/her predecessors were quite as skilled!

 

[Stemar]

I'd bet he had a few choice words for whoever allowed those two barges to be parked on the exit of the bend.

 

[cpedw]

At about 2 minutes, there's a bow thruster (no surprise) but then at 2:15 the bow thruster seems to go into astern. I've not seen that before. Is it more useful than using the main engine astern or more flexible or just extra astern? Very skilful-looking though.

Derek

 

[Sybarite]

At about 2 minutes, there's a bow thruster (no surprise) but then at 2:15 the bow thruster seems to go into astern. I've not seen that before. Is it more useful than using the main engine astern or more flexible or just extra astern? Very skilful-looking though.

Derek

Steerable pod?

 

[Sybarite]

Steerable pod?

The barge moored in front of us has a 160hp engine for 300 tonnes. That's the sort of power which 50-60' sailing yachts now have.
I have seen large barges turning around in a fast flowing river here without the aid of bow thrusters and I have see rafted barges with a total length of over 600' going up the Seine.
I have also seen an 80' Norfolk wherry which sails on the Seine. There is an enormous windlass under the foredeck which allows you to drop the mast going under bridges and then to raise it again before losing way.

Those guys know what they are doing.

 

[Sandy]

Always useful having crew up front.

 

[ryanroberts]

When I was around Nottingham I met a guy who had just bought a 80' humber keel with little or no modernisation. He had to run down to the engine room to adjust the throttle and this was his first boat. Let's just say it didn't go as smoothly as in the OP video.

 

[LittleSister]

I have also seen an 80' Norfolk wherry which sails on the Seine. There is an enormous windlass under the foredeck which allows you to drop the mast going under bridges and then to raise it again before losing way.

Norfolk wherries (and other traditional Broads yachts) normally have a counter-balanced mast to make them easy to lower and raise. Without an engine they are dependent on being able to 'shoot' the bridges by lowering the mast only just before they reach the bridge, carry their way through the bridge, and then raising the mast p.d.q. once they're through. It is a sight to behold.

These masts continues below the tabernacle pivot and the deck, and have a substantial counter-balance weight on the bottom end. There is a slot in (and below) the deck between the mast and the bow, wider than the mast and weight, to allow this lower section to swing up.

 

[Mudisox]

I was impressed with the number of are on the aft deck.

 

[mainsail1]

Having a bow thruster is cheating.........

 

[ithet]

Was Voith Schneider helping there?

 

[ProDave]

That is easier than it looks, as anyone that has skippered a narrowboat will know. The mass of a heavy steel boat means it keeps it's course a lot easier than a lightweight fibreglass yacht, and is easy to manoeuvrer in tight situations.

 

[nicho]

The lines between the two barges look a bit sparing.

 

[westhinder]

In that scorching hot summer of 1976 I had the privilege of making a trip from Ghent to Paris with a working barge, the then traditional type of ’spits’ that was common in the Netherlands, Belgium and the north of France, 40 something meters, 300 tons.
On the Canal du Nord there were a number of locks which were so narrow I had to remove the piece of wood that was used as a fender, otherwise the boat did not fit in the lock. We never even touched the walls, so skilled was the skipper. Bowthrusters were still a thing of the future in those days. I have always had a deep respect for the boathandling skills of those skippers.
Steering the boat being alone on the bridge at the age of 17 when coming into Paris on the Seine is still one of my cherished memories.

 

[Concerto]

Having a bow thruster is cheating.........

Must remember to tell lots of yacht owners this.

 

[Stemar]

When the wind and tide are pushing me onto the pontoon, I wouldn't mind being able to cheat a bit

 

[DJE]

The lines between the two barges look a bit sparing.

I think it might be four barges altogether.

 

[Mudisox]

Bargees tend to use their skills at least 75% of the year, in all weathers and often go to the same place more than once. Maybe after a good schooling it becomes practice makes perfect. Seems to operate in the same way with some folk who have sailed/voyaged a bit!

 

[STATUE]

I have to admit this skipper certainly knows how to handle his boat.

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I don't give him any credit, The Dutch, its in their blood, Bless Em !