Hi All,

On our last trip from Lake Champlain down the Hudson to New York City,
we spent a pleasant night at the Schuyler Yacht Basin in Schuyler NY.
The owners Phil and Judy Dean have crafted a perfect tool for hitching
to the vertical pipes and cables recessed in the walls of the locks in
the Champlain Barge Canal and Erie Canal locks.  It is a stainless
steel "J" shaped hook, with a large curved end so it hooks around the
pipe or cable easily.  It has a  hollow tube welded at a 90 degree
angle across the near end (so it looks sort of like a capital "J")
through which you pass a line attached to the bow and stern (or
wherever you want longitudinally)  It was perfect for the New York
locks whether you are short handed or not.

Their web site is http://www.saratoga.org/syb  Don't know if they are
there this time of year.

They are great folks - we really enjoyed our stay there.  Recommend it
if you are coming up the barge canal into Lake Champlain.

Best
Peter & Linda
:-)

Peter Brownell
MV Destiny
Marine Trader "Tradewinds" 47 CP
Lake Champlain Vermont

Here's a website that has further info on docking tools.
http://www.dockareni.com/

Also, if you would like to make your own, as I did, do this:
Take ~ 4ft of 5/8" clear plastic tubing (purchased at Home Depot)
Thread a section of 3/8' line, ~ 35 feet, through the tubing.
Tie a bowline so you have approx a 4 1/2 ft loop.

You can now very easily drop this loop over a piling, bollard, or whatever.
Works easy and cheap!

Leslie and Doug Folkerth
Happy Clamz
32 Nordic Tug
Gainesville, FL
----- Original Message -----
From: Peter Brownell
To: great-loop@lists.samurai.com
Sent: Friday, March 24, 2006 8:42 AM
Subject: GL: Rope-gripper Stick for Locking

Hi All,

On our last trip from Lake Champlain down the Hudson to New York City,
we spent a pleasant night at the Schuyler Yacht Basin in Schuyler NY.
The owners Phil and Judy Dean have crafted a perfect tool for hitching
to the vertical pipes and cables recessed in the walls of the locks in
the Champlain Barge Canal and Erie Canal locks.  It is a stainless
steel "J" shaped hook, with a large curved end so it hooks around the
pipe or cable easily.  It has a  hollow tube welded at a 90 degree
angle across the near end (so it looks sort of like a capital "J")
through which you pass a line attached to the bow and stern (or
wherever you want longitudinally)  It was perfect for the New York
locks whether you are short handed or not.

Their web site is http://www.saratoga.org/syb  Don't know if they are
there this time of year.

They are great folks - we really enjoyed our stay there.  Recommend it
if you are coming up the barge canal into Lake Champlain.

Best
Peter & Linda
:-)

Peter Brownell
MV Destiny
Marine Trader "Tradewinds" 47 CP
Lake Champlain Vermont

http://lists.samurai.com/mailman/listinfo/great-loop

I don't think we're communicating well here. This originally came up in the
context of holding position in a lock as found on the Erie Canal and some
Canadian locks. There, you are not loop over anything, rather you are
passing a line, hook, or chain around a fixed pipe or dirty steel cable.

This requires a different approach. I've been using a boat hook to pass a
loop over a bollard or cleat for years. If one needs security, one can use
masking tape to hold the rope in place. The device referred to is reasonably
priced, but silly shipping charges lower its value.

Ron Rogers