Turning the boat around
Turning the boat around in a winding hole is a daunting task for a beginner. Inevitably you’ll have a crowd of other boaters laughing at you or offering advice. If you’re lucky, your first winding hole will be in the middle of nowhere with earthen banks, so let’s assume that will be your first experience.
Everyone on the canal has advice for the poor chump steering the boat and at least half that advice is wrong. Learn to tell the difference.
A nice example of turning around in a winding hole
As you approach, you’ll want to cut power, even though it means you lose a lot of control. Anticipate before the middle of your boat approaches the middle of the winding hole and apply a short, full burst of reverse power. You don’t need to stop the boat completely. Then, turn the tiller hard right or left and push the throttle forward. This should turn the boat around the middle. You also want to point the bow toward the softer bank (probably not the tow-path side). Ideally you don’t want to hit the bank, but if you do, don’t worry. With the bow against the bank, you’ll find it’s a lot easier to move the stern of the boat. Some winding holes are lined with stone, however, so avoid a full speed crash.
Your first winding hole will seem like a slow-motion nightmare, but as long as you’re not in a marina surrounded by moored boats, it’s not that difficult.
To avoid hitting the bank, apply short, full bursts of reverse with the tiller in line with the boat. Then continue to steer the stern of the boat, applying short bursts of forward thrust and pushing the tiller hard right to move the stern right and hard left to move the stern left.
Winding holes are rarely round. They’re often little more than a wider part of the canal and sometimes they have one or two straight sides, making a sort of triangle. Winding holes are sometimes marked with the size of boat that can successfully turn around.
Turning in a marina
This is undoubtedly a high-stress situation, and the only solace I can offer is that it’s a different kind of stress than most of us have to contend with in our day-to-day lives. A mistake on the canal usually just means you’ve hit a moored boat and an irritable head will pop out and curse you with a charming English (or Welsh or Cornish or Scottish or Irish) accent.
Don’t be afraid to apply full reverse thrust. It’s a little alarming to see the water churning behind you, but it takes quite a lot to reverse the momentum of the boat.
Of course if you make a mistake on the canal, remember that you’ll probably see the witnesses to your disaster again and again if they are traveling the same direction as you. They may be waiting for you at the next lock or sitting at the next table at the pub that night. Thus it pays to be polite to people on the canal.
AVOID pushing your boat away from another boat by placing the pole against the superstructure—the upper, probably prettily painted part—of that boat.
Actually, you’ll find most people want to offer you friendly advice. True, half that advice is wrong, but generally it’s kindly meant. Often there will be a concerned boat owner who’s happy to take your bow line and guide your boat away from his boat. The reality is, however, that you will hit other boats. Be prepared to use the pole on your boat to push your boat away.
Try to keep facing forward when reversing. It’s very easy to accidentally put the boat in reverse when you meant to go forward because you’re now facing the rear of the boat. It’s very easy to get turned around in a lock, causing you to ram the gate you’re trying to avoid.
Turning in a marina on a windy day
Abandon all hope of a pleasant experience when trying to turn a boat on a windy day in a marina. The only advice I can offer is to try to gauge the direction of the wind and know that when your boat is perpendicular to the wind, you will be pushed away and plan your turn appropriately.
A good, if hard to hear example of reversing a narrowboat
Reverse
Realistically there’s only one direction you can steer a boat in reverse and that direction is straight back. You will need to get the boat pointed in the proper direction with forward momentum and then apply reverse thrust and hope you’ve got the boat pointed in the right direction. Keep the tiller in line with the boat and then pray to the canal gods.
Of course that never works and you will often find the boat veering right or left. Your best bet then is apply a short burst of forward throttle and push the tiller right to turn the front of the boat left and push the tiller left to go right; or to move the stern of the boat, push the tiller hard right to move the stern right or hard left to move it left. Again, don’t be afraid to churn water during these maneuvers.
Buy cheap, two-way radios for your trip. They will work as intercoms from your spotters in the bow to the driver in the stern. You can also use them when sending people ahead to check the status of a lock or when to enter a tunnel.