Tarbert to Oban

Assisted Passage vs Pilot

Lat year we had the assistance of a Crinan Pilot which worked very well (she was very friendly and super efficient). Have done it previously with just 2 but hard work for both locks and singlehanded boat work if a strong crosswind, so 3 makes much easier.

Planning to go through again soon, and wondered - does the new assisted scheme replace the piLot, or what is the difference?

PS SWMBO prefers Crinan as less bumpy, but personally I find it beautiful but rather more stress than the sail round the Mull. The last mile to Crinan always seems too narrow to pass if meet a big boat going the other way - and discovered the hard way the incompatibility of being in a convoy behind boats which slam on brakes and rely on on their thrusters, when we don't have one
 
dunedin said:
Lat year we had the assistance of a Crinan Pilot which worked very well (she was very friendly and super efficient). Have done it previously with just 2 but hard work for both locks and singlehanded boat work if a strong crosswind, so 3 makes much easier.

Planning to go through again soon, and wondered - does the new assisted scheme replace the piLot, or what is the difference?
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The 'assisted passage' means that the staff work the locks, chuck you your lines etc - the two of you can essentially stay on the boat. Ther is no charge for the service.

BW took on 4 extra staff to cope with this this season - but they are still a bit pushed as so many people are taking them up on it.

- W
 
webcraft said:
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If you are short-handed for the Crinan (i.e. if there is only one or two of you) then let them know at Ardrishaig and ask if you can have an assisted passage. This is a new thing this year and makes life much easier. There is no charge.

- W
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£50 charge on the crinan on top of the £124 passage fee, two can do the passage with ease in 3
days.
 
in all honesty going around is better, only using the Crinan if the weather is bad.
Its ok in the Crinan but nothing to write home about, run down in places and in certain spots a pain to get a berth due to permenant berth holders. They really don't like you rafting (berth holders) its worth tthe passage just to raft up and watch them moan.
 
ukmctc said:
£50 charge on the crinan on top of the £124 passage fee, two can do the passage with ease in 3
days.
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I repeat - this is a new thing this season and there is no charge.

We did it last week.

Not sure where you get the £124 passage fee from. We took a Westerly Longbow through and paid £88.

- W
 
ukmctc said:
£50 charge on the crinan on top of the £124 passage fee, two can do the passage with ease in 3
days.
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Lots of people still like the luxury of a pilot and want to get through in half a day to go cruising, unfortunately they get frustrated by the '3 day cruise' boats unwillingness to let them past. This gives rise to whinging to the office which is the motivation for the assisted passage idea where everyone goes slowly and faffs about, once they have put the pilots out of business it will be withdrawn, it is a luxury they can not afford long term, and once the taxpayers realize their money is being spent employing people to assist wealthy idle yachties there will be an outcry. . This year with FREE assisted passage to undermanned boats, most boats passing here seem to have only two aboard, (or they are hiding the rest of the crew below in the locks). The exception is the charter boats which seem always to have at least as many crew as berths. There are also a lot of disgruntled customers complaining about not being offered the free help.
 
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ukmctc said:
in all honesty going around is better, only using the Crinan if the weather is bad.
Its ok in the Crinan but nothing to write home about, run down in places and in certain spots a pain to get a berth due to permenant berth holders. They really don't like you rafting (berth holders) its worth tthe passage just to raft up and watch them moan.
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Aaah you met Ken then, he is about the only live aboard now and tends to be in bed before the pubs shut,to be fair he has suffered a fair bit of damage to hull and rails. He has been cautioned in the past for discouraging rafting alongside but this year they lent him some more fenders and a big heavy fender plank which is usually discouragement enough. I had a yacht raft along side last year which left with the two fat fenders which kept my hull off the woodwork and I moaned a fair bit about that too.
It wasn't you was it? I had put it down to plain theft but winding up the locals could be another motivation which I had not thought of until you mentioned it.
 
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Quandary said:
. . . once the taxpayers realize their money is being spent employing people to assist wealthy idle yachties there will be an outcry. .
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The Caley Canal is all 'assisted passage'.

It's not a lot of extra work and it helps prevent hold-ups by speeding up boats with 2-man crews.

Go take some gripe water.

- W
 
webcraft said:
It's not a lot of extra work and it helps prevent hold-ups by speeding up boats with 2-man crew.
- W
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I agree it not a lot of extra work so why do they employ 4 extra casuals, repairing the leaks in 4 , 3 and 8 and the gate flotation tanks or balance in 5 and 6 and 10 would be better use of money and make it easier for everyone not just those selected for the service. I live beside a lock and assist a boat or two most days and I know how inequitable provision this service has proved to be, for instance it takes no account of age or fitness. They have taken most of the income of three hard working people, and everyone here knows what the motivation is. A couple I know were coming back on their own, a couple of weeks back, struggling with lock 6 as many do, the lady asked for help but was told, 'No, its Sunday I am on painting duty today', last year she would have been helped by someone. A week or two back they were short of water and talking about curtailing operations, at the same time they have to have a permanent feed running all night every night to stop the reaches getting too low.
While I know you are an expert in this as in everything else but I have yet to see or hear any evidence of 'speeding up' but I accept that it is not the objective.
 
Quandary said:
While I know you are an expert in this as in everything else but I have yet to see or hear any evidence of 'speeding up' but I accept that it is not the objective.
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I am not an 'expert' but I did go through the canal last week.

We would not have got to the summit last Thursday before closedown without assistance, and would have missed a pint in the Cairnbaan as a result. I found the service excellent - but then we are always polite and friendly to the staff, unlike the twats in the boat behind us who were full of themselves and mildly abusive and as a consequence did not make it to the summit before knocking off time.

I am merely reporting on the service we received last week. From your tone you appear to have a grievance or six with the canal staff, which I would respectfully suggest could be colouring your judgement somewhat.

- W
 
Misrepresented by the usual webcraft ballox!!
I know all the permanent staff and do not have a problem with any of them, I have a problem with the policy. I have been using the canal for 40 years two of us, myself and my wife working the boat through together one on deck and one ashore, we have had help from all sorts of people including the guys on the ground, like any group some are better than others. However despite our age and condition we are not offered 'assisted passage' as priority is given to visitors but this is not my gripe. I know from regular and frequent usage and for conversation with the staff that it is now a much harder job than it was or needs to be. I have recently suffered a permanent knee injury struggling with a notoriously defective lock gate and another sailor reported on a thread last year that his wife had sustained a permanent back injury. Bridge keepers (there are no lock keepers as such on the manual locks) who work locks are always suggesting to boat owners to put their concerns about difficulty to the office in writing because they do not think they are listened to by the bosses. However if the employees sustain an injury requiring a substantial pay out perhaps the problems will be addressed I can not claim as it is an 'own risk' activity but I do resent the loss of mobility. You do not value it until you have lost it for ever. I am convinced that if all the gates and sluices were maintained as they were in the past that there would be no need to selectively provide assistance.
 
Quandary said:
Misrepresented by the usual webcraft ballox!!
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I don't think so.

You have been injured wrestling with a lock gate. You are unhappy. You have a grivence. Whence the 'misrepresentation'?

The mistake you make is in equating your experience as being so much more valid and valuable and insightful than anyone elses and using that as an excuse for slagging people like me - who have had a different experience - off. I've only been through the Crinan four times - on a different boat each time - but each time I have found the experience good. Last week we found the extra assistance from the staff particularly useful.

Now, according to you, my opinion is 'ballox' - qualified by it being 'the usual ballox', thus not just disagreeing with me on this subject but indulging in a bit of general character assassination. Gee, thanks.

Your assertion that everything is down to a lack of maintenance ignores the fact that said maintenance/refurbishment (aka engineeering work repairing Victorian structures) is almost certainly a lot more expensive than employing a few extra part-time staff. This makes your earlier reference to 'taxpayers' money' a bit of a joke IMO.

I also think it is a shame that you have used a thread where the OP was merely asking for advice on the trip as a forum to air your personal grievances with British Waterways.

Frankly, you are coming across as a bit of a curmudgeonly old git. Have you tried ibuprofen gel for the knee?

- W
 
Stu Jackson said:
Could it be possible that courteous input to the canal authorities, suggesting BOTH repairs to the equipment and thanks for the assistance be prepared? Perhaps both could work for all.
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I'm sure the canal authoritues would love to do more maintenence - if they had the cash.

The assisted passage scheme is a good idea - as far as it goes. The one thing I don't like about is that it might put the local pilots out of businees and that would be a shame. £50 for a fast passage through the canal is cheap.

And if you are to tight to pay that on top of the modest fee the canal charges then sail round for free.
 
Quandary said:
Less than two hours from Tarbert to the Ardishaig sea lock, tides in Loch Fyne are less than 1/2 knot so ignore them, waiting pontoon outside, sea lock operates 09-1700 (19-00 at weekends now) keep well away from the pier as you pass the lighthouse coming in, if going through without any other boats go starboard to, then the ladders are just beside the cockpit. The exception is lock 14 at Crinan which is not lined and is like a quarry on that side. (the canal builders had run out of money long before they got that far) Assisted passage is a bit hit and miss and so far generally very slow but depends on who is on duty, if you have four on board put two ashore, one to prepare locks and one to close up after, if you are going through with another yacht share the work. Most crewed sailing yachts put the females ashore which is a bit perverse as the men on deck look as if they might get more benefit from the exercise. Going up, stern rope tight and nearly vertical, can then be left alone, bow rope well forward and manned, tighten as she rises, some people like to motor forward gently against the stern rope, but it NEEDS to be secure. Open the paddle on the side the front boat is on first, the current goes down the opposite side and circulates. Transit takes about 4-5 hours but most people spend longer. Good early morning transport cafe for bacon rolls beside lock 3 in Ardrishaig, good bar at Cairnbaan Hotel, pretentious hotel at Crinan which now does bar food. No diesel in the canal itself and Crinan Boats fuel pontoon can be awkward, you can get road diesel at the filling station you pass just after Oakfield. If you are stopping overnight at Crinan there is more breeze therefore less midges on the stbd. side berths above 14 and You will not get black smuts from the Vic 32 on your deck. Leave Crinan sea lock at the GMT time of HW Dover (low water) and you could be in Tobermory in next to no time, a bit later for Oban as it is only 3-4 hrs away. You will get 12kts. over the ground in the Sound of Luing. Note the shoals in the centre of Kerrera sound and go either side, it is well buoyed. Time to spare? Easdale is interesting and every yacht has to go in to Pulladobhrain at least once. I move my boat between Ardrishaig and Crinan regularly but much prefer the Campbeltown - Rathlin - Port Ellen route or C'town-Gigha if I have less time and it is not easterly, but then I am up and down the canal every day on my bike and I used to be a canal 'pilot'.
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Thanks very much for this advise, it was very useful, we sucessfully completed the trip through the canal, took us 4 locks to get organised, the staff at the first three were helpful but unhelpful if you know what I mean, it took the "more experienced" lockeeper at 4 to remind us of your advise and it was much easier after that, the assisted passage worked very well, hard work but we made it in a day.
 
dhobyb said:
Guys

I am new to this area, I want to sail from Tarbert to Oban via the Crinnan, any passage suggestions will be gratefully received...

Thanks
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Its all simple, loads to see, just get your tides right and it will all work out, lots of anchorages and hundreds of nice wee spots.
Avoid the Crinan unless the weather is bad, its not worth the effort.
 
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