Towing the boat

[BilgePump]

4 hours ago, BWM said:

Not an unusual sight near London!

And why not? Dawncraft 25 pulling a Norman Conquest 20. Great boats!

[Tacet]

4 hours ago, Tacet said:

Do you have specific written confirmation from your insurers that full cover is in place when bow hauling?

 

3 hours ago, Captain Pegg said:

Yes, I do.

Does it specify the species of beasts that are permitted - or is it open-ended?

[Captain Pegg]

1 minute ago, Tacet said:

 

Does it specify the species of beasts that are permitted - or is it open-ended?

 

The beast is me.

[ditchcrawler]

Forgive me for I have sinned, today I towed a boat without reading my policy or ringing my insurance company. he had broken down in Woodseaves cutting. Thankfully we didn't sink or sink anyone else. To add to the mistamina we are now both moored on the longterm moorings

[Wanderer Vagabond]

26 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Forgive me for I have sinned, today I towed a boat without reading my policy or ringing my insurance company. he had broken down in Woodseaves cutting. Thankfully we didn't sink or sink anyone else. To add to the mistamina we are now both moored on the longterm moorings

In fairness, how many narrowboat incidents ever result in an insurance claim? (other than a sinking). My boat has been scraped a number of times over the years by other boats but, unless the damage was really significant, I wouldn't bother with a claim. We have probably all towed others at one time or another (I certainly have) you just need to realise that if you put in a claim it may well be refused.

 

I remember towing a cruiser through Saltersford and Barnton Tunnel as the guy concerned didn't trust his outboard for some reason. I made very clear from the outset that since it was a cruiser steered by the outboard, I would have no control over what happened to his boat in the tunnels and avoiding the tunnel walls was going to be exclusively down to him, he accepted that and sure enough his boat hit the tunnel walls on a couple of occasions scraping the gelcoat. I took as much care as I could, but without steerage on the towed boat it was almost inevitable. He accepted the damage caused and we went our separate ways.

[Tacet]

I towed a small cruiser a few miles to Stanground Lock on the Middle Levels as it was moving so slowly; it had a tiny outboard.  The owner said it had taken a week to get from Denver and having towed it, I can quite believe it.  The hydrodynamics were similar to a housebrick.

[Drayke]

On 20/04/2022 at 14:42, BWM said:

Not an unusual sight near London!

This also happens quite a lot on the K&A.

[Ronaldo47]

My first canal holiday was in 1976, when a group of us hired Black Prince's entire original  fleet of two boats.The owner suggested that we might like to try breasting them up to go through the wide locks like the working boats used to with their buttys. We did try it on just  one occasion, at some of the locks at Braunston. It was certainly simpler and quicker than going in one after the other, as it avoided the need to secure the first boat as the second boat came in, made entry and exit faster, and as both boats were identical, lashing securely together at bow and stern was simple.  There was no mention of insurance conditions: as we had had it from the owner's mouth, we assumed it was OK! 

Edited April 21, 2022 by Ronaldo47
typos

[enigmatic]

Out of curiosity I checked my Craftinsure policy. No reference to towing under the exclusions (though a restriction on commercial use of my boat would obviously rule out charging people for it!)

[Ronaldo47]

On 20/04/2022 at 16:45, Ronaldo47 said:

My understanding is that, in Victorian times, "emergency" seems to have just meant something that had happened (emerged) unexpectedly and needed to be dealt with promptly,  and did not necessarily mean that what had happened involved danger.  So towing someone who you came across  who had just broken down, would be an emergency (an event that had just emerged), but giving someone a pre-arranged tow, would not. Away from home at present so I can't consult a (proper) dictionary. 

Back home now. 

 

EMERGENCY dictionary definitions: 

 

"Situation or sudden occurence demanding immediate action; (attrib) used, arising etc. in an emergency " [Oxford Illustrated dictionary, 1981 edition]

 

"A sudden condition or state of affairs calling for immediate action" [Websters Comprehensive Dictionary of the English Language, 1998 edition].

 

These are the complete entries in both cases.

[MtB]

1 hour ago, Drayke said:

This also happens quite a lot on the K&A.

 

Indeed it does, and I find myself wondering what the value of a total loss might be, should all three of them sink. About £50 I guess.

[Alan de Enfield]

8 minutes ago, Ronaldo47 said:

Back home now. 

 

EMERGENCY dictionary definitions: 

 

"Situation or sudden occurence demanding immediate action; (attrib) used, arising etc. in an emergency " [Oxford Illustrated dictionary, 1981 edition]

 

"A sudden condition or state of affairs calling for immediate action" [Websters Comprehensive Dictionary of the English Language, 1998 edition].

 

These are the complete entries in both cases.

 

 

Prettty much the same as I quoted 24 + hours ago :

 

a serious, unexpected, and often dangerous situation requiring immediate action.

[Ronaldo47]

Agreed, but "emergency"  does not necessarily imply seriousness or  danger, although serious and dangerous situations are often emergencies.  Of course, an insurance company can be expected to assert a definition that is most advantageous to them. 

[ditchcrawler]

On 19/04/2022 at 23:38, Chirag said:

Hi anyone know who can tow me from little Venice to Camden 

 

[Pierre Thomas]

Whereas valid insurance is a condition of licensing your boat on CRT waters, it’s not a requirement of navigation. 

[ditchcrawler]

Towed another yesterday, only a little way in reverse to get him out of the mud

[Stroudwater1]

These two came through Suttons Stop together last year, couldn’t identify them?
 

 

seen at least 3 other longer term towing too in the last year, two at Braunston and the boat that caught fire on the Coventry.  

[Mike Adams]

If I still had the Silverlit I would have done it for you. But in those days you could tow a Regent's Lighter around the Paddington arm without worrying about all the junk tied up on the towpath 'cause there wasn't any.

[LadyG]

On 20/04/2022 at 17:38, robtheplod said:

What about temporarily fitting some sort of outboard motor - would a beefy electric one do??

RCR use an outboard, but not if you have no steering. The tiny rudder on an outboard won't replace the standard size rudder plate, but possibly an oar might assist, if it can be jury rigged

I

[ditchcrawler]

8 minutes ago, LadyG said:

RCR use an outboard, but not if you have no steering. The tiny rudder on an outboard won't replace the standard size rudder plate, but possibly an oar might assist, if it can be jury rigged

I

I thought they steered by thrust.

[Alan de Enfield]

29 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I thought they steered by thrust.

 

Don't question the expert !

[Movin' on]

21 hours ago, Stroudwater1 said:

These two came through Suttons Stop together last year, couldn’t identify them?
 

 

seen at least 3 other longer term towing too in the last year, two at Braunston and the boat that caught fire on the Coventry.  

 

Looks like a Dobson front and a Dawncraft rear to me