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Boating is contact sport…


BobDav

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During my first ever proper trip out this week, I had a big reality check on how easy you can get yourself into trouble.

 

I misjudged a winding hole and managed to hit the bow dead on into the v of the winding hole which I think was protected by a series of wooden planks.  It shook the whole boat and caused me to panic a bit.  I then reversed and hit the stern on the far concrete bank with similar effect.

 

Other boaters who witnessed this were gracious and forgiving as I struggled to get things corrected and one offered some great advice for the future.

 

My concern is about checking for signs of damage particularly less obvious signs, and the likelihood of weakening the hull when the impact is dead on rather than a glancing impact.

 

Any thoughts gratefully received.

Edited by BobDav
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Steel hulls are pretty strong and most low speed impacts will do nothing more than remove paint.

 

Higher speed impacts result in dents or even split welds, but these are rare.

Edited by cuthound
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I wouldn't worry too much. Given the abuse hire boats get every week, and they survive, it's not likely that a couple of bangs will hurt it, it's quite strong bow on.

 

When we first hired a few years ago, the guy teaching us to wind actually told us to hit the bank of the winding hole and use it to pivot on, I made sure I hit it properly when I turned in the middle of the week, wouldn't do that now I've got to pay for the broken crockery myself!

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My mooring is near a winding hole, and my observations suggest that a lot of folk think it is necessary to use a lot of revs for every manouvre when turning a boat.  Misjudged, this leads to harder impacts than needful.

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26 minutes ago, Ex Brummie said:

In 1989, returning from Llangollen, I shot out from under the bridge into Trevor Basin like a cork from a bottle. The rudder was ineffective and I hit the bank opposite hard. The dent is still on my stem and I've not sunk yet.

 

On the way up we watched that happen to several hire boats and felt rather superior with out better boating boating skills. On the way back that very same thing happened to me, I totally underestimated that cork out of a bottle effect 😀.

 

.........Dave

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1 hour ago, BobDav said:

During my first ever proper trip out this week, I had a big reality check on how easy you can get yourself into trouble.

 

I misjudged a winding hole and managed to hit the bow dead on into the v of the winding hole which I think was protected by a series of wooden planks.  It shook the whole boat and caused me to panic a bit.  I then reversed and hit the stern on the far concrete bank with similar effect.

 

Other boaters who witnessed this were gracious and forgiving as I struggled to get things corrected and one offered some great advice for the future.

 

My concern is about checking for signs of damage particularly less obvious signs, and the likelihood of weakening the hull when the impact is dead on rather than a glancing impact.

 

Any thoughts gratefully received.

 

If the winding hole is tight or the wind unfavourable then its quite acceptable to poke the bow into the V of the winding hole and power round on the engine, so what you did was fine, maybe just a little more assertive than you intended. 😀

 

...............Dave

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29 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

On the way up we watched that happen to several hire boats and felt rather superior with out better boating boating skills. On the way back that very same thing happened to me, I totally underestimated that cork out of a bottle effect 😀.

 

.........Dave

The first time we went to Llangollen, in a hire boat, I did the same thing the boat did not turn and the bow hit the concrete edge opposite.  The important thing to remember is not to wait there for the aqueduct to be clear!

 

This post is timely, we will be going up the Llangollen on Sunday, so back down on Tuesday, I will try not to do it again.

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