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Stranded Narrowboat on Calder & Hebble Re-floated

pig

By pig
in General Boating

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pig Community Regular

pig

Posted
Posted (edited)

Tipped off by the announcement on Waterscape of the stopppage on the C&H to get the narrowboat "Pipistrelle" off the towpath and back in the water after the January floods, I wandered down on Tuesday to take a few pictures.

The firm employed for the job arrived about 1030, unloaded a compressor and large airbag, 2 blokes in wetsuits went in and positioned the airbag. They pumped it up a bit, then waited for their boat to come upriver from Wakefield, where they'd launched it.

There was a problem with the boat, so it didnt arrive till about 1300.

The operation ended about 1630.

The video shows what happened.

I'm no expert on boat salvage, so I won't comment until others have seen it.

The video is about 33 MB (sorry, dial-up people), lasts about 10 mins, and is worth watching IMHO.

 

Link to video:

 

http://www.btinternet.com/~toothy/

 

then click on "rescue.wmv"

Edited by pig
carlt Veteran II

carlt

Posted
Posted
Highly professional.....not! Nice to see all Health&Safety rules were applied! A coat of blacking needed i think!

Not how I'd have done it. Tirfors and ground anchors, on the off-side would have been much more stable, and predictable, than pulling it with a boat, on a space hopper, but at least they have their boat back!

 

The owners are a lovely couple, who offered me assistance, when I needed it, some years back.

NB Esk Rising Star

NB Esk

Posted
Posted

That was great..........especially liked the guy in the day-glo jacket, must'a been the technical advisor. :lol:

 

I thought they might have floated it off, last week.

magpie patrick Veteran II

magpie patrick

Posted
Posted

Good heavens, makes you realise how people kill themselves doing "simple" jobs!

 

Looks like she shipped a fair amount of water during the rescue, and I bet they were thinking what I was "why won't the bl**dy back come off!" as well as half expecting the front to go under while they tried!

 

Great Video Pig (quick note though, it'as actually nearly twenty minutes long)

twocvbloke Rising Star

twocvbloke

Posted
Posted

Gawd almighty!!! That was the worst thing I had ever seen in my life!!! They nearly sank the poor boat!!! If it were me I'd have had people on the opposite bank pulling the boat, carefully, back in, or I'd have used a boat with a little more momentum and something like a bungee line to pull it in, that was highly unprofessional in my opinion!!! :lol:

RobinJ Experienced

RobinJ

Posted
Posted
Tipped off by the announcement on Waterscape of the stopppage on the C&H to get the narrowboat "Pipistrelle" off the towpath and back in the water after the January floods, I wandered down on Tuesday to take a few pictures.

The firm employed for the job arrived about 1030, unloaded a compressor and large airbag, 2 blokes in wetsuits went in and positioned the airbag. They pumped it up a bit, then waited for their boat to come upriver from Wakefield, where they'd launched it.

There was a problem with the boat, so it didnt arrive till about 1300.

The operation ended about 1630.

The video shows what happened.

I'm no expert on boat salvage, so I won't comment until others have seen it.

Looks like about 35', wouldn't like to have seen that done with a boat any longer!

From the position in the water, appears to have taken some water on?

Probably difficult to get any sort of crane to that area, but I think I'd have preferred two bags instead of one!

I would also have been worried about the skeg and rudder!

Still it did get it back in the water.

carlt Veteran II

carlt

Posted
Posted
That was great..........especially liked the guy in the day-glo jacket, must'a been the technical advisor. :lol:

More likely the BW waterways supervisor, making sure they didn't disturb any hanging baskets.

  • Greenie 1
Greybeard Proficient

Greybeard

Posted
Posted

That's a water pump that guy is setting up at the end it's not a compressor for the airbag.

 

I think that was was one of the worst displays of health and safety I've ever seen and I work in the demolition trade that historically has scant regard for safety.

 

I'd love to read the method statement...................... :lol:

AlanJ Collaborator

AlanJ

Posted
Posted

Cricky - that was scary, glad it wasn't my boat.

I hope they have got all the water out of the bottom of the boat - I trust they didn't damage the hull/prop/rudder while putting it back in.

I guess, next stop would be the dry dock to make sure all is well...

charles123 Rising Star

charles123

Posted
Posted

I thought they made a poor job of it, a heavier boat to tow it in would have done it in a fraction of the time, the video does not show if they sealed up the front doors and vents I would guess not, that could have been easily done preventing any water getting in

 

Charles

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