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Scaryest Boating Moment?


Guest Quo Vadis

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Being the last boat in the lock from the River Weaver to the Manchester Ship Canal and having to move backwards to let the boats out which ended up with a bladeful, and then being let out into the Ship Canal with Ariel's hold covers only tied down with string... of course once the wind got under them it was rather scary... the boat ended up listing rather alarmingly right over to the right, and with each gust of wind the boat rocked violently. One big sail!

 

This was Easter 2010 in the really bad weather, made worse by the fact it was sheeting it down, and I couldn't see my nose through my glasses and having problems with the accelerator set up on the boat which meant I couldn't get any more than half revs out of the engine. Was quite releaved when I bounced my way off the boats and past the lighthouse and into the Ship lock into Ellesmere Port.

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Being told on the phone by the Limehouse lockkeeper not to go too far past the lock entrance before turning into the tide as it was running out very fast and I wouldn't make it back, and then doing the manouvre and finding that at full revs I only just had enough power to get to the lock.

Edited by blackrose
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Two occasions: In a strong wind at Henley, in the middle of the Thames when the engine died.

The second, also on the Thames, when Sandy, my wife, jumped off the bow onto the bank and the bank gave way! She slid like a frog down the crumbling bank into chest high water. Took quite an effort to get her onboard again without mincing her with the prop. The bank was too high to get her out that way.

 

John

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Two occasions: In a strong wind at Henley, in the middle of the Thames when the engine died.

The second, also on the Thames, when Sandy, my wife, jumped off the bow onto the bank and the bank gave way! She slid like a frog down the crumbling bank into chest high water. Took quite an effort to get her onboard again without mincing her with the prop. The bank was too high to get her out that way.

 

John

I have a wooden ladder for which i made a plywood centre piece,so it doubles as a gang plank.I've rescued one person with it,they simply climbed up out of the water.i wouldn't be without it. bizzard.

 

And if the waters too deep,just lash the top rungs to your bollard firmly. bizzard

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Stuck in the middle of the Severn below Bevere Lock with a rudder hanging off when we did the StourPort Ring comes close to my scariest moment but is not.

During the same holiday and getting halfway up the Black Delph locks and finding a pound was to low to fill the lock but only discovering this when we where almost at the top of the lock.

As it was was starting to get dark we where advised by some friendly boat owners we would be better off going down to the bottom of the flight and over night there.

So the scariest thing I've done on a boat was to take a 52ft boat down a lock backwards and not being able to see how close the front was to the cill.

But I did have a lot of trust in my OH to tell me how close I was.

Oh and ntw the private boat owners who gave the advise also helped us locking back down as we had 3 others locks to go back down, forwards in the other 3 lol.

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which one???

 

2 i can think of!

 

going up to ricky fest, got to wide water lock, and i only tied off with the centre rope under the bridge (stupidly) the force from the lock caught the bow pulled on the centre and nearly rolled my boat!!!

 

or

 

a week later, going up the thames, thames goes into flood, just getting through windsor great park (the royals bit) get to the 2nd road bridge and the narrowboat infront of me just stops!!! in the middle of the bridge at full RPM!!! (think it was about 2500) i've seen this and dumped my throttle to everything my poor little thumper will give me!!! inch by inch making my way up to the railway bridge hoping and praying that my boat will hold strong enough to make it to the lock, just passing through the railway bridge and the water was running so fast it hit the railway bridge pillar raised a foot and dropped 2 foot as it passed around the pillar!!!! i was s*****g and brick!!! and about 100 yards after the railway bridge my boat launches off like a polaris missile!!!

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So the scariest thing I've done on a boat was to take a 52ft boat down a lock backwards and not being able to see how close the front was to the cill.

 

Surely the fact that your stern was within a foot of the bottom gates would have told you that

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Luckily so far I have not been really scared whilst boating - tripping off the front of rafted up cruisers with my tool box in hand was not so much scary as very annoying and wet. Still being nicknamed Von Trip and Magnus (as in Pike) at a garage should have told me something.

 

My worst experience though was attending a broken down boat in a school party of several boats where despite clear and written instructions to the contrary had tried to tow one of the boast that had broken down boat. The result was that the towline had snapped taught across the front deck of the boat and whipped a student's feet from under him. Unfortunately he drowned. Maybe this an several other less serious incidents have made me more aware of what can happen or maybe I just do not see the dangers other do. For instance I was perfectly happy running down the Thames with the red boards out but then I know that river and am confident with the boat. I was far more scared perched on close to the roof seating at the O2!

 

Edited to add:

 

No way would I try to go through Black Potts railway bridge going upstream in JennyB with a flood running since they emptied the Jubilee River flood control scheme into the Thames at that point. Especially having inched up through Maidenhead bridge in floods. However I suspect the tiller will give far more feel and control than a wheel so it will be easier to keep the boat absolutely head to current.

Edited by Tony Brooks
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Surely the fact that your stern was within a foot of the bottom gates would have told you that

Yes but bear in mind it was only our second trip and never thought of stuff like that.

If it was now would be more confident as we have more experience

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My scariest - but I was too green to know they were scary was back before red mooring markers at locks on the Avon. Heading upstream we stopped under Evesham bridge and had to pull the boat through (it on full throttle) against the current. Next year the same hire firm sent us onto the Severn where the lockies were (unknown to us) working us through long after hours as the river was in flood and us starting from Worcester at 1pm was still heading upstream at about 1mph with june darkness falling. At Stourport (finally) the locky had the lock ready for us and we (anchorless) blissfully chugged on our way little guess how dodgy our trip had been. Next night we reached bridge 75 on the S&W - in those days we got up early (5am) and got a few hours in passing sleeping boats. (Incidentally the hire base had new people in charge who knew less than we did about the dangers of rivers.)

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No way would I try to go through Black Potts railway bridge going upstream in JennyB with a flood running since they emptied the Jubilee River flood control scheme into the Thames at that point. Especially having inched up through Maidenhead bridge in floods. However I suspect the tiller will give far more feel and control than a wheel so it will be easier to keep the boat absolutely head to current.

 

 

yeah, we left staines that morning but by the time we got to windsor the red boards were going up! and coming up to black potts railway bridge i was deliberately inching across the river too, to try and find some form of void in the flow... i found the left hand side (although i am not supposed to but with little choice) not as bad as the right hand side or the centre!!! :captain:

 

i'm also greatful that no other boats were coming down at that point in time and yes having a tiller makes a hell of a difference in feeling the water and knoing where to go and being able to see what you need to do based on the water coming at you!!!

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Going from Salters Lode to Denver sluice at neep tide and hitting the sandbank below the sluice, bouncing off and getting pushed sideways by wind and tide towards another sandbank and the New Bedford river. Had to turn back towards Salters lode to regain control then tried 180 degree turn to try again and ran aground on opposite bank, got off only to ground again trying to complete the turn. Finally got into Denver lock after 10 minutes that seemed like a lifetime.

 

TC

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Coming out of Wells next the Sea in a Force 5 turning 6, getting to the bar and seeing the wind farm vessels being tossed around by the waves and knowing we are next in line. This is the only time I have genuinely doubted the abilities of NC. By now it is too late to turn around we are on the bar, gingerly we pick our way through the growing waves until we are faced with a wave taller than our boat beam on. We have little choice but to turn into the wave to meet it bow first but this risks sending us out of the channel and being beached on the bar which would certainly have ended in disaster. The crew of the boat in front of us, who we travel with on a regular basis and have a much bigger vessel were so concerned fo our safety that they were too busy looking for us and missed the next large wave, luckily they got away with it. At one point all they could see was the tip of our VHF aerial until NC popped up from behind the wave, jumped the top and sufed down the back side of the wave before luckily lifting her nose to meet the next wave.

 

Thankfully once clear of the bar the sea was a little less confused. There was a large swell with waves some 1.5m high but they were spread far enough apart to allow us to get onto the plane and head back for Boston and home. Oddly by the time we had entered the Wash the sea was ironing out nicely and by the time we reached the Boston channel the sea was almost like a mill pond.

 

Other than that our other scary moments seem quite trivial. Falling between our friends boat and the pontoon in the ice wasnt great but die to the thickness of the ice i didnt crash through so was lucky. It was scary at the time as i was stuck beneath their bathing platform and had i gone through the ice would have been in deep trouble, now we just look back and laugh at it :lol:

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I have a wooden ladder for which i made a plywood centre piece,so it doubles as a gang plank.I've rescued one person with it,they simply climbed up out of the water.i wouldn't be without it. bizzard.

 

And if the waters too deep,just lash the top rungs to your bollard firmly. bizzard

 

Yes - I think everyone should have a means to rescue a person from the water - waterlogged clothing is very heavy. It was not on my boat though.

 

John

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