In message <6i9ctlFp118sU1@
mid.individual.net>, at 07:18:30 on Thu, 4
Sep 2008, John Williamson
btinternet.com> remarked:
>>> Oh, & while the WTD applies, time spent on the vessel while sleeping
>>>& eating doesn't count, so a crew of 4 can be moving 24 hours a day,
>>>6 days a week.
>>>
>>> It *could* work, according to this envelope I've just covered in
>>>calculations.
>> A crew of one isn't practical for a lot of the locks through which I
>>assume you'd be trying to get two boats one after the other. If there
>>was only one boat there wouldn't be enough room for 4 people to live...
>
>If the infrastructure is updated,
If you are going in for major upgrades to the infrastructure, then lots
of things get easier. The conservationists might not be happy though.
>then single manned working through a lock is easy. When I was living on
>a boat, I could go through a modern lock very nearly as quickly on my
>own as a crew of 2,
Just one boat then?
>if it was set my way to start with.
if
>The convention was to use a motor & a butty, to help the movement of 50
>tons of goods using a single 10 or 20 horsepower engine. The normal
>working crew was a steerer for each boat & someone on a bike to set the
>locks.
I think the canals were in existence long before bikes were invented.
>Between locks, the boats were lashed side by side, so only one steerer
>was needed. On wide canals, such as the Grand Union & the Leeds &
>Liverpool, they used wide boats. So, you need one steerer between locks
>& one lockwheeler who helps at locks, & the lockwheeler could be
>replaced by a lockkeeper, so you only need one person per boat, plus
>one person per lock.
Wide canals are easier, because there's more room for the accommodation
*and* cargo on one boat.
>But.....
>It was normal for a family of 4 or more to live on board, with two
>sleeping in the stern cabin & 2 in the bow cabin. When they had more
>children, they could buy a butty, have 2 extra cabins & the older kids
>would start working. There are even laws still in force about the
>minimum size of the cabins.
And you think that you'd be able to find families to operate boats,
today? Where would they put the 42" TV? [Joke].
>One major problem with canals is that traffic is limited to one boat
>per lock, which takes about 10 minutes, so the absolute maximum
>capacity of a canal for goods at the moment in the UK is the equivalent
>of one articulated lorryload every 10 minutes in each direction.
This is ably demonstrated when one goes through locks next to a
motorway. As you say, progress is a stately one lock every approx ten
minutes, meanwhile HGVs are thundering past every 2 seconds. In the
winder the cruising hours are limited by daylight, and weather.
>It's finacially viable (just) for niche cargoes, where there's no
>urgency & both ends of the trip have a wharf. The record from Limehouse
>Dock to Birmingham's about 5 days.
--
Roland Perry
