A25 solo locking

[kerrye]

If you can stand at the helm and get your body out of the helm roof, you could probably lock thru easily from that position. It wasn't possible for me because we were carrying our Kaboat on the helm roof. If I had to lock thru solo I probably would have dropped the Kaboat in the water, towed it, opened the helm hatch and worked from there.

[DesertAlbin736]

I guess if you had a long enough boat hook handy?

Screen shot1.jpg

[Sunsetrider]

What about standing at the helm and hooking through the open top? Might not holding the cable/rope from that location be sufficient?

[kerrye]

Yes. There is sometime a problem with some kinds of boat hooks which have a forward protrusion from the hook. This can be too long and stops the hook from going behind the fixed cables. This means the pole has to be angled up or down to reduce the length of that protrusion behind the cable and allowing the hook to catch. This can be a real PIA in some circumstances. So a boat hook with minimal protrusion past the hook is the best option.

[DCatSea]

No one mentions life jackets. (Mea culpa!) You really don't want to be thrashing around in a lock pound when water is coming in or going out, without one. Or, come to think of it, trying to separate two converging hulls when you are at the waterline. Recommend non-inflatables.
As a Thames lock-keeper for 2 glorious summers (Boveney) the SOP for person-in-the-pound was (IS) to toss a flotation device / line and get the sluices shut PDQ. Undertows in locks are vicious
Boveney Lock, near Windsor, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boveney_Lock pix show lock pound and the unique small boat slide (The remnant of a 17th - 19th century flash lock - great fun in kayak.

[kerrye]

Amen on PFD’s. We always had ours on in a lock. As an aside do people know that lock masters on the Erie earn $100k+

[DCatSea]

I certainly wasn't making that in the 60s. But then, neither was Eric Clapton