[Pie Eater]

According to a post on UK.REC.WATERWAYS the 47ft narrowboat HOLLY has not been returned from hire. The boat was hired from the 9th March to 23rd March from Middlewich Narrowboats by a man from Hertfordshire who was intending to sail single handed.
He is now listed as a missing person and the police helicopter has been searching for the boat.

Steve

[Theo]

Pie Eater, on Mar 27 2007, 01:03 PM, said:

According to a post on UK.REC.WATERWAYS the 47ft narrowboat HOLLY has not been returned from hire. The boat was hired from the 9th March to 23rd March from Middlewich Narrowboats by a man from Hertfordshire who was intending to sail single handed.
He is now listed as a missing person and the police helicopter has been searching for the boat.

Steve

Holly should be fairly easy to recognise. She has a long front deck covered by cloths, a bit like Theodora. She is a most delightful boat. We hired her many years ago. Apparently a few people tried to buy her but Chris Cliffe would not sell.

I am sure that everyone will keep a look out for her.

Nick

[Carrie]

Blimey, I hope the guy's ok. I'm all too aware that if anything happens to you when you're single-handed and somewhere quiet, it could be days before the alarm is raised. Fingers crossed he's just being very naughty.

[Theo]

Theo, on Mar 27 2007, 03:37 PM, said:

Holly should be fairly easy to recognise. She has a long front deck covered by cloths, a bit like Theodora. She is a most delightful boat. We hired her many years ago. Apparently a few people tried to buy her but Chris Cliffe would not sell.

I am sure that everyone will keep a look out for her.

Nick

To my amazement there has been no comment on this from either this forum or uk.rec.waterways. When other boats went missing late last year there was a huge amount of comment on the matter.

Nick

Ha!

Carrie and I were posting at the same time! I echo what you said. What an odd thing: to hire a narrowboat when you are feeling suicidal.

N

This post has been edited by Theo: 27 March 2007 - 07:49 PM

[purplehaze]

I too am very suprised about the lack of interest, why? A man and a boat is missing, very worrying why are not members involved/looking etc.
Julie

[Liam]

Asked a daft question (Was it from Middlewich Narrowboats, but that was answered above).

Do we know which route the boat was supposed to be going? I've not been around lately with one thing and another but as it's in my neck of the woods I'll keep an eye out.

This post has been edited by Liam: 27 March 2007 - 09:23 PM

[carlt]

purplehaze, on Mar 27 2007, 10:15 PM, said:

I too am very suprised about the lack of interest, why? A man and a boat is missing, very worrying why are not members involved/looking etc.
Julie

It has been read 240+ times. There are only so many things you can say. I'm sure anyone will keep a look out but, like other topics that get repeated for various reasons, you could probably do a search for peoples' opinions on stolen/missing boats.

[Christine]

If its anything like the boat we had from Middlewich with full tanks at the outset, he'll need a pump out very soon.

Seriously though, I'm surprised they would hire out to a singlehander, although there's nothing in the terms and cons. on their site. If it's an attractive looking boat, maybe he has done a runner (well, a crawl)

The website states:
HOLLY
47’ 4+2 BERTH
7’ long front deck with traditional cratch and cloths giving extra sleeping/sitting/dogs area Boatmans cabin and forward engine room. Easy handling - Good for Beginners.

I do hope there is not a tragic outcome. Maybe we should start a vigil in the pubs along the route, a la NB Cragdale?

[Keeping Up]

I think the difference here is that it's all third-hand. If the owners had appeared on the forum and said "help, my boat has been stolen" we'd probably have reacted differently.

[allybsc]

[quote name='Christine' date='Mar 27 2007, 11:30 PM' post='118242']
If its anything like the boat we had from Middlewich with full tanks at the outset, he'll need a pump out very soon.

Seriously though, I'm surprised they would hire out to a singlehander, although there's nothing in the terms and cons. on their site. If it's an attractive looking boat, maybe he has done a runner (well, a crawl) ]

When I was talking to Adam last year he told me that a man took out Holly every year for three weeks and went down single handed to London and back, he had done it for a few years, it's probable that this person has taken ill or has had an accident, not that I'm saying this is the same person, just saying that they do let experienced boaters go single handed.

[Pie Eater]

Update from Middlewich Narrowboats :-

Holly is still missing. The most recent unconfirmed report is that the boat was spotted at the top of the Wolverhampton 21 locks heading towards Gas Street Basin about a week ago.

The media have now started to get involved to raise publicity.

Anyone moored in that area?

Steve

[Pie Eater]

This mornings update from Middlewich Narrowboats:-

There have been no further sightings of the missing narrowboat 'HOLLY' since it was seen a week ago at the top of the Wolverhampton 21 flight.

Steve

[Theo]

Pie Eater, on Mar 29 2007, 10:47 AM, said:

This mornings update from Middlewich Narrowboats:-

There have been no further sightings of the missing narrowboat 'HOLLY' since it was seen a week ago at the top of the Wolverhampton 21 flight.

Steve

She is such and unusual boat that it is unlikely she can go missing for long. I am surprised that the police helicopter search did not find her.

Where are you getting the MIddlewich updates from, Steve? I emailed them yesterday and they haven't replied.

Nick

Pie Eater, on Mar 29 2007, 10:47 AM, said:

This mornings update from Middlewich Narrowboats:-

There have been no further sightings of the missing narrowboat 'HOLLY' since it was seen a week ago at the top of the Wolverhampton 21 flight.

Steve

She is such and unusual boat that it is unlikely she can go missing for long. I am surprised that the police helicopter search did not find her.

Where are you getting the Middlewich updates from, Steve? I emailed them yesterday and they haven't replied.

Nick

Pie Eater, on Mar 29 2007, 10:47 AM, said:

This mornings update from Middlewich Narrowboats:-

There have been no further sightings of the missing narrowboat 'HOLLY' since it was seen a week ago at the top of the Wolverhampton 21 flight.

Steve

She is such and unusual boat that it is unlikely she can go missing for long. I am surprised that the police helicopter search did not find her.

Where are you getting the Middlewich updates from, Steve? I emailed them yesterday and they haven't replied.

Nick

[Pie Eater]

Nick

The info is direct from the company who have promised to let me know if they hear anything further. Apparently the police helicopter searched the Llangollen Canal and nearby areas.

Steve

[trish]

Hi

On behalf of Middlewich Narrowboats, may I take this opportunity to thank everybody helping to locate Holly.

We appear to have NO sightings of Holly since last week (approx 20 March), an unconfirmed sighting of her heading towards Gas Street Basin. There have been NO sightings at all during this week. What this implies I'm not quite sure........

If we have any further news, I will post on here immediately. Once again, thanks to everyone.


Middlewich Narrowboats

[Theo]

trish, on Mar 29 2007, 02:37 PM, said:

Hi

On behalf of Middlewich Narrowboats, may I take this opportunity to thank everybody helping to locate Holly.

We appear to have NO sightings of Holly since last week (approx 20 March), an unconfirmed sighting of her heading towards Gas Street Basin. There have been NO sightings at all during this week. What this implies I'm not quite sure........

If we have any further news, I will post on here immediately. Once again, thanks to everyone.
Middlewich Narrowboats

I sincerely hope that you get her back undamaged. My family and I had a couple of excellent holidays in Holly. One of them up the Macclesfield and Peak forest in a heat wave.

Nick

[Maverick]

Perhaps a description such as the colour scheme etc may help some of us keep an eye open for her. Tried uk.rec.waterways with no luck is it a forum or website? Full address?????

Hope it all has an happy ending.

[trish]

I have used a picture of Holly as my personal photo. In my gallery, you will find another picture of the cratch area.

Trish

[Keeping Up]

I have merged the two topics so that anyone reading it will know that the pictures are available.

Welcome Trish, let's hope someone here can spot the boat quickly for you

Allan

[Jon]

Above is the picture of the boat.

Trish, can you confirm is this is being treated as a missing persons enquiry or a stolen boat?

Who is the best person to contact if there is any information (ie, which Police Force, or your office?)

I will also pin this topic.

Jon