Hi all, I would like to pass through a lock with my nacra 5.2.
They won't let me in there with sails up though. Do any of you have any tips for me to
a) lower the sails while on the water or docked.
b) docking...
c) in case of docking, where to store and attach the fenders and lines!
Any help is welcome!
passing locks and docking...
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Posted: Jul 13, 2010 - 11:52 AM
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Posted: Jul 13, 2010 - 12:47 PM
Sailing to Panama? :)
I doubt dropping sails will be any problem (if you have a furling jib) .. just roll them up and stick em under your hiking straps (or lash them down).
raising them will be tricky unless you can anchor or moor up somewhere... just practice beforehand. -
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Posted: Jul 13, 2010 - 01:06 PM
this could be tricky solo! a roller furl jib would be nice. approach the dock from the leeward side heading up tight until almost there then head into the wind as you approach the dock letting the wind slow your approach. nice and easy, no "carrier landing". drop sails. monohulls tie up from the bow and stern, you will be using the cross braces. 2 fenders will probably do. the tricky part will be when the water is lowered or is rising, you and crew must keep the boat steady. beach cats are ill-equiped for docking, the first time should be THRILLING! a paddle or two might come in handy also. hopefully this advise won't kill you! take some phots and let us know how it ended up going. you may end up dropping sails before you get into the lock and paddleing in. good luck!
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bill harris
hattiesburg, mississippi
prindle 16- "BLUE RIBBON"
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Posted: Jul 13, 2010 - 05:18 PM
LOL coastrat, You wanna see me kill myself. Well, if it gets a laugh out of someone; No problemo, I'll film the whole (or)deal for you. If it works out wrong You may have a hard time convincing my widow to post the movie though....HAHAHA.
I was thinking two fenders from the beams and one lanyard handheld should do the trick.
When making your final approach just before touchdown, how do you go from bows to windward to side on to the dock? The couple of times I have tried I needed to climb onto the bows to grab a bollard or a ring to tie it to. I never needed to tie off alongside anything. Of course the paddle would do it if it isn't blowing too hard I guess.
There's no crew. You don't seriously expect anyone to be dumb enough to crew for me. Last time my brother did we cracked the rear beam mount. The time before that we almost got hit by lightning.
There's massive thunderstorms forecast for tomorrow, so it sounds like the perfect day for me to get some practice in!
Andrew, thanks for the tip. Ill be sure to lube up the sail track. Its not Panama BTW, it's the North Sea. I want to pass the locks to get there and compete in a race.
(edit: I actually have a roller furling jib!)
edited by: dennisMe, Jul 13, 2010 - 11:19 PM -
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Posted: Jul 13, 2010 - 05:28 PM
Philip will do it! :)
edited by: andrewscott, Jul 13, 2010 - 05:28 PM -
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Posted: Jul 13, 2010 - 05:29 PM
Yes i was kidding, i know you are in the Netherlands -
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Posted: Jul 13, 2010 - 10:15 PM
the roller furl is nice, you could probably sail into the lock under the jib only then kill it. use the paddle as a boat hook to fend off if needed...nice and easy to the dock, better to paddle a little to get there than to play the human bumper. can't wait to see it on youtube "man 'dieing' to race boat"...just kidding...you will do fine i'm sure!...seriously, i cant wait to see it! as i have never sailed through a lock, but i did stay at a holiday inn that one time...
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bill harris
hattiesburg, mississippi
prindle 16- "BLUE RIBBON"
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Posted: Jul 13, 2010 - 11:48 PM
I lived on a house boat for about 15 years. The marina was 1 mile up stream from this lock and dam. The lock chamber is 600 feet long and 110 feet wide. The lift of the lock is about 60 feet. There is hardly any wind in the chamber do to the high walls. When we went through in the house boat, we would tie up to floating bollards set in the chamber wall. Going down was not to bad but when going up the currents from the fill valves could push you around. Had to stand by the floating bollard with an axe in case the bollard became stuck.
Since this lock is on a river there is not much current upstream but there could be a lot of current downstream.
On a cat the best way through one of these locks would be tied outboard of a power boat.
Holt Lock and Dam, Black Warrior River, Holt , Alabama.
edited by: skarr1, Jul 13, 2010 - 11:19 PM -
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Posted: Jul 14, 2010 - 12:07 AM
Wow, we have a lock on our local river and even that looks like it would be scary on a beachcat. That one above looks positively terrifying to me!
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Dave Bonin
1981 Nacra 5.2 "Lucile"
1986 Nacra 5.7 "Belle"
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
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Posted: Jul 14, 2010 - 06:56 PM
Dennis I would stop beforehand & do some recce on the lock as it fills & empties. I've done them in powerboats, & could get into the Great Lakes and/or Georgian Bay in 3 locks from my dock. We use vertical cables that are attached to the lock walls. You just loop a line loosely around the cable, & let it slide upwards as the water rises. Tie no knots, just loop & hand hold. One or two fenders will be adequate, but wear gloves & be prepared to fend off by hand. Going up just scrapes the fenders, but when you come down they tend to get pushed up above the sides of the boat unless you constantly fend off a bit by hand to let them fall back down. By observing the lock beforehand you can see where the turbulent sections are, & avoid them if possible.
The next problem is moving out after the lock opens. The easiest way would be to borrow, or buy a $100 electric trolling motor. When I picked my 5.7 up it had to be moved 4 miles across a lake to the only launch around. I just took an 8' 2x6 & nailed a piece of 2x4 vertically to one edge. I then secured the plank across the sterns with a couple of those mini herc straps, & secured the motor to the short piece of 2x4. One charged battery was good for a full power motor to the other side of the lake, with lots of juice to spare.
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Posted: Jul 16, 2010 - 08:36 AM
I have passed locks lots of times, just never in a beach cat! Sorry, I should have said that beforehand! We have loads of locks in the Netherlands, most of them are relatively benign.
I've actually been through these particular locks before, but that was ten years ago in a small yacht. A yacht is better suited for locks, with cleats everywhere, lots of storage and you can walk out to the pointy end without acrobatics plus I had a motor and crew back then.
This lock has only fixed bollards in the walls, but I can handle the takeover solo without letting the boat go.
I'll be sure to buy two decent fenders and tie them to the beams. Good thing the side of a cat is so straight!
I'll see if I can borrow a motor. That should make things lots more manageable! Great idea with the wooden temporary motor mount. That way, any old loaner should fit.
I'll get on with the necessary experiments and will post pics when I first attempt to pass those locks!
Thanks,
Dennis
