Midi Canal - Locks

There are more locks than we expected. They are certainly more work than we expected.

When you approach the lock, you need to signal to the lock attendant that you want to come through. Our instructor warned us not to sound our horn at him - otherwise, he will quite happily let you wait for three or four days for his service.

Often you need to tie up at the side of the canal waiting for the lock to open. This isn't too hard normally. You just steer the boat close to the bank. Then one person jumps off the back of the boat at the front with a rope, ties it around a bollard a starts pulling the boat into shore. A second person then jumps off the boat and tries to do the same. Hopefully, the back of the boat hasn't started to drift out into the canal by that time.

The entry into the lock is only just wide enough to accommodate the boat. Inside the lock, there is usually enough room for four boats - two on each side. Getting through the entrance is OK but once inside, you need to manoeuvre next to other boats. This isn't easy especially when the other drivers are just as inexperienced as we are.

The system we developed is for one person to steer the boat, one person to handle the rope at the front, another person to handle the rope at the rear and the fourth person jumps ashore to grab the ropes, pass them around the bollards and hand them back to the people on board. Ralf and I have shared the driving and on-shore roles while the girls have handled the ropes.

You don't tie the ropes to the bollards because, when the water level in the lock starts to drop, you need to gently let it slip through your hands as the boat descends with the water level. You need to pull the rope tight enough to keep the boat in position but you don't want to pull the cleats out of the side of the boat.

Once the water level reaches the lower level, the lock keeper opens the lower gates. You then bring the ropes back on board and each boat takes it in turns to head off.

As I mentioned in the previous blog entry, you can often have several locks in a row. In other words, there is no rest for the wicked. You have just finished the process for one lock and you are at it again. And I don't mean a kilometer or two away. Or even 100m away. I mean zero meters. Three in a row is quite common.

It has been a baptism of fire to the worderful world of canal boats.