Brentford Possible Blockage

[mark99]

Lockie at Teddington advised sunk boat at Clitherow Lock. Lock 99. We was the only bote out of Brentford lock 101 earlier into Thames which we thought was unusual.

[alan_fincher]

[MHS]

Oh dear, Boater Sam will be along any moment to blame CRT for this. 

[Tumshie]

Oh no that's awful. What a horrible thing to happen, I hope all people and pets are safe. 

[Boater Sam]

1 minute ago, MHS said:

Oh dear, Boater Sam will be along any moment to blame CRT for this. 

Wrong. Don't do plastic ones. I don't blame CRT for the errors , they are more to be pitied than scorned.

Have to ask who's water is the boat in? Or who's water is in the boat?

 

Is that the bow on the cill? Reversing down the lock? I find it distressing to see any boat in this condition. All crew safe? No animals harmed? No pollution, was it out of fuel?

Proves big fenders won't keep it afloat.

 

 

 

 

[mark99]

Ouch. I cannot tell if that's the front or rear of the boat. Houdini hatch?

 

Could be a reverse layout.

 

Is it a narrowboat?

Edited May 5, 2019 by mark99

[Bee]

I managed to get the bow of my old boat on the cill reversing down a lock, so used to getting the fore end near the gates that I wondered what was happening when the back end carried on going down and the front stayed where it was. Fool.

[alan_fincher]

9 minutes ago, mark99 said:

Ouch. I cannot tell if that's the front or rear of the boat. Houdini hatch?

 

Could be a reverse layout.

 

Is it a narrowboat?

Odd one isn't it.

 

Almost looks like a pulpit rail in one picture, buth the other fairly c learly shows what looks like a full steel narrow boat.

Not sure why the lock has been left full, othe than to make sure everything stas as wet as possible?

[mark99]

The lockie said something about insurance assessor delay. The CaRT site suggested cilled boat.

[Tumshie]

7 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

Not sure why the lock has been left full, othe than to make sure everything stas as wet as possible?

Maybe this is a daft though but if the boat is already sunk leaving it under water is probably not going to cause any more damage but it might stop silly people trying to get onto the boat for nefarious or just plain daft reasons...... no?

 

 

Though I suppose leaving it there could cause more contamination as oil and diesel leaks out so probably not such a good idea after all. 

 

 

[mark99]

The upper lock gates seems slightly open; perhaps the rudder got pinched between the gates which can be a sure sinking unless quick paddle drop. That gap would allow the lock to remain filled.

Edited May 5, 2019 by mark99

[Boater Sam]

Putting fresh glasses on it does look like a narrowboat, stern on cill, lots of skylights. I didn't see the other photograph showing the roof.

That would be more sensible, a simple cilling whilst descending a lock. But there is a top ground paddle drawn.

The rail on the stern could be a hoop for a canopy but its a very unusual shape.

Seems to be an all white boat. Heart breaking for someone.

 

Surprised it didn't slide off the cill as it lost buoyancy. I've never cilled a boat, thankfully, and hope I never will.

Edited May 5, 2019 by Boater Sam

[mark99]

I notice the upper paddle is open however. Mmm. Could have been a panic reaction to try to refill the lock.

Edited May 5, 2019 by mark99

[alan_fincher]

21 minutes ago, Boater Sam said:

Surprised it didn't slide off the cill as it lost buoyancy.

I think they would seldom do that, (but see below...)

Usually once on the cill they stay there, and the outcome depends almost entirely on whether someone stop the lock emptying before the front end becomes engulfed.
 

Maybe a shorter boat is more inclined to slip off, (assuming nothing such as the rudder or a fender trapped in gates of course), because it will assume a more downhill attitude than a longer boat, for any given amount the level has dropped?  Generally though people seem to manage not to cill the very short ones in my experience.

[Scholar Gypsy]

Facebook comments suggest that the boat was going uphill and the bows got caught underneath something. So not really a cilling,

[mark99]

4 minutes ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

Facebook comments suggest that the boat was going uphill and the bows got caught underneath something. So not really a cilling,

 

Makes more sense.

 

CaRT stoppages "cause" appear incorrect though (not that that detail matters too much).

Edited May 6, 2019 by mark99

[Bee]

I've always thought that little 'tab' that some builders leave sticking out where the bottom of the stempost meets the bottom plate is asking for trouble. If that catches some sort of crack or bit of ironmongery on the cill then things could go badly. It was quite possible to catch the bottom pintle of double ended joey boats on things and lift a gate off or some other disaster and leaving that 'tab' on illustrates that a good many boatbuilders are not that knowlegable.

[alan_fincher]

35 minutes ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

Facebook comments suggest that the boat was going uphill and the bows got caught underneath something. So not really a cilling,

This seems plausible.  I'm wondering if it is some kind of "barge style" narrow  boat,and has a pulpit rail at the front - uncommon but not unheard of.  White seems to be a popular colour for "barge style" narrow boats, in my experience.

[Alan de Enfield]

13 minutes ago, Bee said:

I've always thought that little 'tab' that some builders leave sticking out where the bottom of the stempost meets the bottom plate is asking for trouble. If that catches some sort of crack or bit of ironmongery on the cill then things could go badly. It was quite possible to catch the bottom pintle of double ended joey boats on things and lift a gate off or some other disaster and leaving that 'tab' on illustrates that a good many boatbuilders are not that knowlegable.

Not quite sure how anything would stick on there when the bow is so much further forward.

 

 

[ditchcrawler]

1 hour ago, Bee said:

I've always thought that little 'tab' that some builders leave sticking out where the bottom of the stempost meets the bottom plate is asking for trouble. If that catches some sort of crack or bit of ironmongery on the cill then things could go badly. It was quite possible to catch the bottom pintle of double ended joey boats on things and lift a gate off or some other disaster and leaving that 'tab' on illustrates that a good many boatbuilders are not that knowlegable.

I have know that to happen on a boat, luckily he got away with it, again a boater with many years experience of single handing so at the paddles, but not something he was expecting to happen, Its now been modified. 

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Not quite sure how anything would stick on there when the bow is so much further forward.

 

 

Think about the moment you are about to clear the cill, its possible the bow wouldnt be touching the gate in every case

[MtB]

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Not quite sure how anything would stick on there when the bow is so much further forward.

 

 

 

 

I see from your photo the builder actually foresaw the risk and welded on a guard to prevent the handling eye from catching on anything, exactly as you are claiming cannot happen. 

 

 

[Ray T]

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Not quite sure how anything would stick on there when the bow is so much further forward.

 

 

Reeves Hull, got one on our boat never caught it on anything ......yet. 

[MtB]

 

Given that bow on this boat is said to have 'caught on something', this could actually be exactly what happened to sink it!

 

 

 

 

[Horace42]

Perhaps the hull go punctured by hitting some underwater debris (eg. stolen motorbike??) - and just sank.

[matty40s]

How do you know the motorbike was stolen?