top tips

for inland cruising

Roger Harper turns his 60 years of cruising

experience into a handy guide for waterways

and canal cruising in Britain and Europe

CRUISING

A

fter 60 years of canal cruising

both in Britain and France,

someone asked me what bits of

kit I consider must-have rather

than simply nice to have aboard.

So to stimulate discussion I came up

with the following list under three main

headings: mooring, kit on board and

paperwork. Some of these tips may apply

not just to canal boaters but to other

yachtsmen as well, so do let us know if

you disagree with some – or even all – of

my suggestions.

MOORING

Most boats spend 99% of their time either

moored or anchored, so techniques and

equipment are well worth getting sorted.

Lines and ropes

No matter what the books say, you do not

need lines 20m or 30m long (long enough

to reach the tops of the very largest locks)

for regular use. Ropes of this length are a

pain to handle; try coiling this length after

each lock – sometimes more than ten

locks per day – particularly when wet or

cold. Most locks have ladders securely

bolted to the lock wall, so lying alongside

one and moving your mooring line up – or

down – the rungs as the lock fills or

empties is much easier than trying to

throw a line over a bollard on top.

For those odd occasions when you do

need a long line, use a bowline, a sheet

bend or any type of hitch that can be

undone quickly and easily to connect

shorter lines together.

Avoid using polypropylene rope, it soon

ages and begins to break up into small

needle-like pieces, which not only make a

mess but can get into your skin and

become difficult to remove.

Ropes with spliced eyes are almost

useless on boats and while a spliced eye

may be stronger than a bowline, I’ve

found that spliced eyes soon wear out, as

all its use is concentrated on one spot. If

you need to moor and tie to a bollard, a

suitable hitch can soon be put into

whatever line you use.

20

D

av

id

J

G

re

en

/A

la

m

y