BCN:Wolverhampton

We left our moorings and set off for Autherley Junction.  It took a little longer than expected due in part to another long line of moored boats associated with the Wolverhampton Boat Club.   Turning onto the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal at the end we found the turning for Wolverhampton easily enough with its bridge and lock immediately after.    Then we were on the climb.  Not all the locks had similar architecture unlike the Shroppie and the lockside bollards are wooden square ones, useless for letting a rope turn slip to gently slow a boat.   So in order to work in a standard way it was a matter of slowing the boat to minimum forward movement and climbing up the lock ladder to close the offside mitre gate.   Pat went on immediately to prep the next lock leaving me to fill the lock, exit and close the top gate.   This worked well with no delays and the 21 locks were completed in 3 hours including an opposite direction in our favour.  The only setback was at lock 2 when I lost the boat, i.e. the boat was in the canal with nobody on board drifting slowly further away.  There is always a degree of sloshing in a short pound, so when the boat appears stopped for me to get off and close the top gate, it might suddenly be caught up in the water movement and decide to leave on its own.   Solution was simple - just to leave the top gate open, open the downstream, paddle and generate a reverse flow in the canal.  The boat quickly came back.   At the top we found a pleasant looking 24 hour mooring with grass for Alfie and train noises from the nearby railway viaduct and station.

Wolverhampton Top Lock & Basin

Comments

[Alf]

"nobody on board drifting slowly further away"
Try motoring out on power, then just before getting off, put the gear into reverse, (practice will tell you exit speed & reverse revs) boat floats out, & whilst you close up, will gently come back to you, engage forward gear into next lock & repeat. Due to the shape of lock mouths the boat will always be within reach when it gets back to the "mouth".