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Hit Again!


Bettie Boo

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Quite shook up

 

We were just hit again - this time it was one of the Wyvern Hire boats (Willow).

 

3 young(ish) lads, didn't look/sound like they had been drinking; just not paying attention to what they were doing.

 

I asked if they had not seen us (we are moored on a straight stretch of canal with our back end about 2 boat lengths away from a bridge), with no other boats either in front or behind us at present. They said they had seen us, but were in the process of changing over tiller operators and it just went wrong. I don't think they had even managed to put it into reverse before hitting us.

 

As I was looking over the side to see if there was any damage and they were starting to cruise past once they had got straightened out, one of the lads said he didn't think there was any damage, at just about the same time I pointed out the fairly large gash "deep scratch" down the bow of our boat. the lad who was now at the front of their boat with a barge pole (not sure what he was planning on doing with that) offered to give me his mobile number. I asked them to be a bit more careful and not loose focus of what they were doing, that some of these boats are actually people's homes, not just expensive toys or hobbies and that I would call the hire company to report it.

 

I've called Wyvern and have left a message as the office is closed for the day.

 

Dave's not here, I'm on my own. Is there anything else I should be doing till he gets back? Like I said, just kinda shook up.

 

B~

 

 

 

ETA - Dave's back now, had a look and said gash would give the wrong impression, it's more of a deep scratch according to 'im. He's been over the side, and feels he can fix it himself

Edited by Bettie Boo
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Write down exactly what happened with times and locations while fresh in your memory. Date your record as this will be useful if it goes to court or arbitration. I would always try and photograph the crew and the driver but in a discrete way as if I was only taking pictures of both boats. Also mark location on a map.

 

I hope the damage is superficial?

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Thanx all :)

 

Dave's been back and had a look, and isn't too concerned at the amount of damage. I guess it just really startled me as it was a pretty full on hit, and I had been dozing on the sofa, half awake and half asleep when it happened. It was by far the hardest we've ever been in contact with anything since we've been living on the boat.

 

Anyway, I've had a couple of Bailey's with some coffee (or should that be the other way round?) and am feeling much calmer now. Think I'll go finish my nap

 

Ta for now

 

B~

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Bridge 'oles are always a hazard. You were only moored one boat's length away from such.

It may look enough but I've seen all manner of folks make a mess of it - especially if they are craft coming in the opposite direction.

Defensive mooring is a good tactic.

SWMBO often says "moor over there" - sorry, no, too near a bridge hole says I.

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Its worse when you are on your own..take care Betty and just ensure you've documented time/date/location and photo evidence...do follow up your message as sometimes people are not good at responding.

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We deep scratched our boat bow top bend last year. Wind 50 mph gust blew us under a nasty ledge.

 

I sorted it myself but it did cost approx 50 quid in materials and almost a whole weekend in time. Thats got to be £500.

Edited by mark99
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Was it an all male crew? I didnt think Wyvern hired out to all male/female crew's unless theyve changed their policy.

 

Glad it wasnt more serious for you, collisions can seem quite alarming when you experience them from inside, sometimes sounds and feels a lot worse than it is.

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My sympathies for being hit, but at least Wyvern are a reputable company who will almost certainly offer appropriatel repairs or compensation for you - unlike a smaller hire company whose boat hit us hard enough to cause major damage last year.

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We where rammed on Friday a idiot tried to turn his boat found on the Trent in Newark river was doing about 6mph he came passed us then turned towards us side ways on full revs still trying to turn it round right in to my starboard side with his bow, knocked my wife out of the shower and knocked me over bounced of me and onto the boat behind us ( funny enough he was just getting in the shower as well ) I was dreading looking at my side I thought there would be a great big dint in her but not a mark I can't be leave its not done any damage, there was a cruiser in front of me if he had hit him he would of sunk it

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Dave,

 

I've been hit, head on, by a hire boat and just accepted it was an accident, but with hindsight I wish I had taken details of the hire company and boat's name in case I subsequently found expensive damage to my boat. I would not sue someone's arse off. I would just like to cover my costs. If you inform the hire company promptly, they can retain the hirers' deposit and use this to sort out any damage. I agree with you that it would be sad if too many lawyers were busy on the cut.

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I'm with Dave on this. Wouldn't even consider claiming or even reporting any incident that just resulted in paint damage and possibly a slight dent and things falling over inside.

 

Although we've never been hit hard by another boat we've had our share of hitting the bank over the years! One particularly bad incident happened on the BCN Challenge a few years ago - we picked up a heavy coat just as we approached a narrows and lost all power and steering. Ended up hitting the narrows hard enough to put a dent in the bow but the only damage inside was a broken bottle of beer!

 

Tom

  • Greenie 1
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When the repairs cost over £400 it's bl**dy annoying, especially when you're not on the boat at the time so have no proof other than a hire boat cheerfully calling out (as they bounce their way down the canal) "well, it is a contact sport"

 

 

Grrrrrrr

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We have been bumped and scraped a few times over the years but luckily no lasting damage has been caused. We tend to pick and choose our mooring spots to try and avoid areas where we are likely to get struck.

 

We are heading to the Broads again next month so will have to be very vigilant and make sure we moor in sensible spots as most of the other boats on the move will be hirers many of whom will have little or no previous boat handling experience. We know its a bit of a risk but it is a risk we are willing to take as we love the Broads.

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For me, this thread confirms that the cut that I have known for most of my life has changed....or rather those that now use them. I have every sympathy for those who have suffered real damage at the hands of others, though such instances are mercifully rare.

In the main, steel sided canal boats are robust things and most collisions result in little more than loss of blacking or perhaps a minor score in the steelwork. I've been surprised at the number of suggestions to collect evidence for possible future legal action, sad that the " sue your arse off" mentality has now arrived on the waterways. I'm not sure that I want to venture out in such circumstances....I'm sanguine about the occasional accidental bump, usually occasioned by someone else panicking and responding poorly, such as the hire boat that swung broadside across the cut in front of me. I stopped within inches of their cabin side. No harm done, I took no notice and carried on once they had sorted themselves out. Should I have logged a near miss or informed the hire company?

 

Disappointed Dave

 

I actually agree with most of what your saying Dave.

 

Having spent over 1/2 my life in North America, I am well acquainted with the "sue for all they've got" mentality, however that doesn't mean I either condone or abide by it.

 

I was on my own and quite shaken up by the incident, and obviously didn't choose my words well in my OP (something I've unfortunately done more than once), when asking if there was anything else I should have been doing; I was actually thinking more along the lines of is there anything else I should be checking other than the hull on the boat. The impact was at the front side of the bow, where the water tank, water pump and bow thruster motor/connections(?) bits are located (I think) as well as the gas locker. I was unsure of what connections I should be checking and how to go about it, if needed.

 

Please consider, that although we live in a "steel sided canal boat", I have no clue as to how much damage it can withstand when being hit by another steel sided canal boat. I can only make reference to the fact a piece of ice brought down the Titanichuh.png or that if it had of been two cars hitting that hard, at least one would more than likely been written off.

 

I did call the hire company, and left them a message to say that we had just been hit by one of their boats, giving a brief description of the folks onboard and the boats name. I did that before I posted this topic & I did it as I was unsure of extent of damage. I will call them back today and let them know it was nothing more than a deep scratch which my husband will fix.

 

The kind folks who made suggestions about exchanging details and taking photos were just trying to assist and for that I would not come back and berate them, although it wasn't the advice I was actually looking for, they were just trying to help best they could.

 

Just the same as someone else suggested we are moored too close to a bridge hole, well the 70' boat that moored between us and the bridge yesterday must not have thought so, but there's really no sense in arguing that point is there? As I pointed out in the OP - we are on a straight wide(ish) section of canal, where numerous other boats including other WB's and paired up working boats have past with no issue, and when the incident happened there were no other boats moving within sight in either direction, the lads openly admitted they weren't paying attention to what they were doing.

 

I do agree with your comments about receiving the odd "bump", we've both done this ourselves on a couple of occasions, and have been on the receiving end of "bumps". Apologizes were made or received and everyone went on about their business. What happened yesterday was a fair bit more full on contact than a wee bump, or at least that's how it felt to me.

 

But thanks for sharing you words of comfort and knowledge - don't be too disappointedwink.png

  • Greenie 1
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Bridge 'oles are always a hazard. You were only moored one boat's length away from such.

It may look enough but I've seen all manner of folks make a mess of it - especially if they are craft coming in the opposite direction.

Defensive mooring is a good tactic.

SWMBO often says "moor over there" - sorry, no, too near a bridge hole says I.

 

I refer to that as the crumple zone!

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It's surprising how many novices can't think about two obstructions at once. Most of us would think about the bridge hole and what angle we need to be coming out of it at to avoid the moored boat. Novices often do one thing at a time, through the bridge first then think about the moored boat by which time it is probably too late, especially is they haven't worked out that a boat doesn't steer from the front like a car.

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It's surprising how many novices can't think about two obstructions at once. Most of us would think about the bridge hole and what angle we need to be coming out of it at to avoid the moored boat. Novices often do one thing at a time, through the bridge first then think about the moored boat by which time it is probably too late, especially is they haven't worked out that a boat doesn't steer from the front like a car.

 

Quite right Nick, but in this case the bridge is behind us.

 

As in...hire boat coming down the canal on a straight section, "oh there's a bridge up ahead and there's a WB moored between the front end of the hire boat and the bridge" we will need to pass the moored boat and then line up to go through the bridge.

 

But instead of doing that, for some reason, they felt it would be a good time to change over who was in control of the tiller to the point of no one actually being in control of their boat.

 

Anyway, we are still floating, so it could have been much worse :)

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With some trifling excuse, like, I need to light a fag or nip to the lav are common excuses to quickly hand over the tiller to someone else just before the point of impact, so they don't take the blame.

Edited by bizzard
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For me, this thread confirms that the cut that I have known for most of my life has changed....or rather those that now use them. I have every sympathy for those who have suffered real damage at the hands of others, though such instances are mercifully rare.

In the main, steel sided canal boats are robust things and most collisions result in little more than loss of blacking or perhaps a minor score in the steelwork. I've been surprised at the number of suggestions to collect evidence for possible future legal action, sad that the " sue your arse off" mentality has now arrived on the waterways. I'm not sure that I want to venture out in such circumstances....I'm sanguine about the occasional accidental bump, usually occasioned by someone else panicking and responding poorly, such as the hire boat that swung broadside across the cut in front of me. I stopped within inches of their cabin side. No harm done, I took no notice and carried on once they had sorted themselves out. Should I have logged a near miss or informed the hire company?

 

Disappointed Dave

If I lose paint below the gunwale, so what. That is why its blacked and not 4 coats of gloss.

 

I actually agree with most of what your saying Dave.

 

Having spent over 1/2 my life in North America, I am well acquainted with the "sue for all they've got" mentality, however that doesn't mean I either condone or abide by it.

 

I was on my own and quite shaken up by the incident, and obviously didn't choose my words well in my OP (something I've unfortunately done more than once), when asking if there was anything else I should have been doing; I was actually thinking more along the lines of is there anything else I should be checking other than the hull on the boat. The impact was at the front side of the bow, where the water tank, water pump and bow thruster motor/connections(?) bits are located (I think) as well as the gas locker. I was unsure of what connections I should be checking and how to go about it, if needed.

 

Please consider, that although we live in a "steel sided canal boat", I have no clue as to how much damage it can withstand when being hit by another steel sided canal boat. I can only make reference to the fact a piece of ice brought down the Titanichuh.png or that if it had of been two cars hitting that hard, at least one would more than likely been written off.

 

I did call the hire company, and left them a message to say that we had just been hit by one of their boats, giving a brief description of the folks onboard and the boats name. I did that before I posted this topic & I did it as I was unsure of extent of damage. I will call them back today and let them know it was nothing more than a deep scratch which my husband will fix.

 

The kind folks who made suggestions about exchanging details and taking photos were just trying to assist and for that I would not come back and berate them, although it wasn't the advice I was actually looking for, they were just trying to help best they could.

 

Just the same as someone else suggested we are moored too close to a bridge hole, well the 70' boat that moored between us and the bridge yesterday must not have thought so, but there's really no sense in arguing that point is there? As I pointed out in the OP - we are on a straight wide(ish) section of canal, where numerous other boats including other WB's and paired up working boats have past with no issue, and when the incident happened there were no other boats moving within sight in either direction, the lads openly admitted they weren't paying attention to what they were doing.

 

I do agree with your comments about receiving the odd "bump", we've both done this ourselves on a couple of occasions, and have been on the receiving end of "bumps". Apologizes were made or received and everyone went on about their business. What happened yesterday was a fair bit more full on contact than a wee bump, or at least that's how it felt to me.

 

But thanks for sharing you words of comfort and knowledge - don't be too disappointedwink.png

I think you handled it well, but I don't think you are over it yet so tell Dave to poor you another Bailey's or two before bed.icecream.gificecream.gif

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Quite right Nick, but in this case the bridge is behind us.

 

As in...hire boat coming down the canal on a straight section, "oh there's a bridge up ahead and there's a WB moored between the front end of the hire boat and the bridge" we will need to pass the moored boat and then line up to go through the bridge.

 

But instead of doing that, for some reason, they felt it would be a good time to change over who was in control of the tiller to the point of no one actually being in control of their boat.

 

Anyway, we are still floating, so it could have been much worse :)

 

 

 

Ah, I see, for some reason I had imagined the whole thing the other way round. So if my theory were to hold true they would miss you and hit the bridge.

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