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Sunken boat, Droitwich staircase


gatekrash

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Sunken ABC hire boat in the Droitwich staircase lock today.

 

Came through Tibberton at 5pm, it's a stag party on 3 separate boats. Hit various boats on the way up the canal, they were totally drunk. Caused chaos going through Hanbury moorings flat out and were witnessed racing each other along the canal.

Apparently did this at about half nine last night, so unlikely to be covered by their own insurance as it's after dark and they aren't allowed to move (hire company rules)

 

Why do ABC rent to groups like this, it's obvious 18-20 men on a stag do are going to get out of it and cause so much trouble.

 

 

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It’s only to be expected of certain hire fleets….usually ABC group & Willow Wren in my experience….perhaps it might make the hire companies think about who they hire to now they will be a boat down for a while….they certainly don’t care if you contact them about bad behaviour. 

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4 minutes ago, frangar said:

It’s only to be expected of certain hire fleets….usually ABC group & Willow Wren in my experience….perhaps it might make the hire companies think about who they hire to now they will be a boat down for a while….they certainly don’t care if you contact them about bad behaviour. 

That boat will be back out on hire in a couple of weeks. They don't mess about getting them back out for hire.

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4 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

That boat will be back out on hire in a couple of weeks. They don't mess about getting them back out for hire.

I guess it depends how far under it went….I do hope the hire crew are made to pay for it all including the recovery/loss of hire income and repairs. 

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5 minutes ago, frangar said:

I guess it depends how far under it went….I do hope the hire crew are made to pay for it all including the recovery/loss of hire income and repairs. 

We hired on the Broads on the first week of the season quite a while ago now. At the same time as we went out their brand new flagship cruiser went out on its first hire.

 

Half way through our two week hire we passed the yard and said brand new boat was in the slings with a big hole in the bow so we called in to ask what had happened. 

 

The boat had been going full tilt with the tide and hit a navigation marker on Breydon Water. The impact had holed the boat and crushed the steering position back against the galley wall.

 

When asked how the skipper had not been injured the answer was he was making a cup of tea 🤔

 

Needless to say they didn't get their damage deposit back!

 

When we took the boat back at the end of our hire, the boat was back in the water and ready for the next hirers. We had a good look round it and you wouldn't know it had been damaged or taken on water.

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I suppose if RCR charge a couple of thousand quid to refloat a boat and it costs another couple to clean it out, that's only a couple of week's hire fees. And there will be insurance anyway, so why would the hire fleet worry?

I reported being hit by a dayboat (no harm done except to a bit of paint) on the Llangollen that was belting along and got a very nice apologetic email back from the company saying they'd contact the boat hirers. As it came back gently I think they had.

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9 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I suppose if RCR charge a couple of thousand quid to refloat a boat and it costs another couple to clean it out, that's only a couple of week's hire fees. And there will be insurance anyway, so why would the hire fleet worry?

I reported being hit by a dayboat (no harm done except to a bit of paint) on the Llangollen that was belting along and got a very nice apologetic email back from the company saying they'd contact the boat hirers. As it came back gently I think they had.

That’s sadly what’s now wrong with the world… “you’ve  got insurance so why worry”….. much the same as I was told by plod after having £40k worth of kit nicked from a site…. Somehow it’s always someone else that pays….in reality we all pay through higher premiums. 

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36 minutes ago, frangar said:

That’s sadly what’s now wrong with the world… “you’ve  got insurance so why worry”….. much the same as I was told by plod after having £40k worth of kit nicked from a site…. Somehow it’s always someone else that pays….in reality we all pay through higher premiums. 

A chief constable somewhere or other has recently been reported as making the farcical suggestion that every burglary reported should result in the attendance of a policeman. This does not seem to have been appreciated by his colleagues.

Another, of course  has suggested that people who steal food to eat due to poverty should not be bothered by the police.

 

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1 minute ago, Arthur Marshall said:

A chief constable somewhere or other has recently been reported as making the farcical suggestion that every burglary reported should result in the attendance of a policeman. This does not seem to have been appreciated by his colleagues.

Another, of course  has suggested that people who steal food to eat due to poverty should not be bothered by the police.

 

Or the poor addicts who have to steal to get their fix, or the drunks with "mentol helf" who are really not responsible but are sick.

Just now, gatekrash said:

According to a post on one of our local forums, they've abandoned one boat, sunk another and ABC don't know where the 3rd currently is. Somewhere down the Severn we think !

Perhaps they will learn. Eventually.

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2 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

A chief constable somewhere or other has recently been reported as making the farcical suggestion that every burglary reported should result in the attendance of a policeman. This does not seem to have been appreciated by his colleagues.

Another, of course  has suggested that people who steal food to eat due to poverty should not be bothered by the police.

 

Why is that farcical? Have you been the victim of a burglary or theft? Maybe if you had arrived at your parents house to find it ransacked as I have you might appreciate some effort to catch the culprits…or perhaps if that’s not going to happen we should be allowed to carry out our own justice…when my kit was stolen and we said to plod we and the local hells angels which one of my crew was a member would sort it then we were told we would be arrested…..

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A few years ago you could not make all male/all female bookings. I'm not sure when that changed, but it looks like most hire companies. permit it now.

It all comes down to money. The 10 / 12 berth boats are nice little earners.

Out of interest, I just checked online how much a 10 berth ABC boat would cost next weekend. £1550 for 3 nights. 

I wonder if the hire companies insurance covers them for the loss of a boat in circumstances like this? I mean, who in their right mind would hire out 3 boats to a stag do and not expect trouble?

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Oh dear. I can’t really see how a hire company can decline a booking, all male crew? No sorry. It has discrimination possibilities all over it surely?

 

I have known an all male crew of 8 go out with Shire. The person receiving the boats in said they dread what conditions they return in. The one we passed almost floated above the water with the smoke of various kinds.
TBF unless you go past Hanbury mooring in neutral you are prone to get shouted at so maybe the flat out at Hanbury is a bit exaggerated?  
What a mess to leave though. Wonder if a drunk in charge of a canal vessel whilst traveling  will ever happen? It’s not just hirers who do this 🤣

 

 

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10 minutes ago, gatekrash said:

According to a post on one of our local forums, they've abandoned one boat, sunk another and ABC don't know where the 3rd currently is. Somewhere down the Severn we think !

I would have thought hire boats would all be fitted with trackers these days.

1 minute ago, Stroudwater1 said:

Oh dear. I can’t really see how a hire company can decline a booking, all male crew? No sorry. It has discrimination possibilities all over it surely?

Several companies used to have a policy of 'no single sex groups' for just that reason, although the all female parties were rarely a problem.

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16 minutes ago, gatekrash said:

According to a post on one of our local forums, they've abandoned one boat, sunk another and ABC don't know where the 3rd currently is. Somewhere down the Severn we think !

Presumably rather overloaded with 3 crews.

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I expect insurance is so expensive they only have the legal minimum and suck up the repair costs themselves.

Retro VW camper hire is the same, people treat them like crap, thrash them until the engine explodes then call the hire base to complain. I know a few who tried it and gave up because the nice little earner turned out to be full time loss maker.

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44 minutes ago, frangar said:

Why is that farcical? Have you been the victim of a burglary or theft? Maybe if you had arrived at your parents house to find it ransacked as I have you might appreciate some effort to catch the culprits…or perhaps if that’s not going to happen we should be allowed to carry out our own justice…when my kit was stolen and we said to plod we and the local hells angels which one of my crew was a member would sort it then we were told we would be arrested…..

Sorry, the word "farcical" was used ironically, as I thought would be obvious from the context. Judging by the response of other coppers, they think it's a daft idea,  which, in view of staffing levels and the virtual improbability of catching a culprit, it probably is.

If you want a decent police force, properly trained etc, you have to pay for it, not cut numbers endlessly and then try to patch it ip by arming "specials" with tasers.

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48 minutes ago, Big Bob W said:

A few years ago you could not make all male/all female bookings. I'm not sure when that changed, but it looks like most hire companies. permit it now.

It all comes down to money. The 10 / 12 berth boats are nice little earners.

Out of interest, I just checked online how much a 10 berth ABC boat would cost next weekend. £1550 for 3 nights. 

I wonder if the hire companies insurance covers them for the loss of a boat in circumstances like this? I mean, who in their right mind would hire out 3 boats to a stag do and not expect trouble?

I believe that some hire companies charge an extra per person deposit for stag/hen groups which they very often claim, I have heard £200 mentioned so for a 10 berth boat thats an extra £2000, so it really is a good earner. I don't think they can ban single sex hires anymore as thats against all the equalities acts etc, I suspect the extra deposit would also have to go if there was a legal challenge.

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5 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Sorry, the word "farcical" was used ironically, as I thought would be obvious from the context. Judging by the response of other coppers, they think it's a daft idea,  which, in view of staffing levels and the virtual improbability of catching a culprit, it probably is.

If you want a decent police force, properly trained etc, you have to pay for it, not cut numbers endlessly and then try to patch it ip by arming "specials" with tasers.

One Saturday night at about 12 o'clock I saw some scrotes raiding the local sports centre bar via the fire escape c/w flashing loud burglar alarm so I reported it to the police. 1/2 hour later they were still loading their getaway van and no coppers to be see. The next day 4 coppers on double time were going house to house enquiring if anyone had seen anything. Despite me leaving my details they made no special effort to contact me so when they got to my door I told them I hadn't seen anything. What's the point helping them if all they want to do is casually catalogue the crime when they could have had the scrotes bang to rights?

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14 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Sorry, the word "farcical" was used ironically, as I thought would be obvious from the context. Judging by the response of other coppers, they think it's a daft idea,  which, in view of staffing levels and the virtual improbability of catching a culprit, it probably is.

If you want a decent police force, properly trained etc, you have to pay for it, not cut numbers endlessly and then try to patch it ip by arming "specials" with tasers.

Judging by the way my local plod seem only too keen to put how they are stopping people parking on the curb etc on Facebook I suggest it’s less to do with lack of manpower and more to do with having an easy life 

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1 hour ago, David Mack said:

I would have thought hire boats would all be fitted with trackers these days.

Several companies used to have a policy of 'no single sex groups' for just that reason, although the all female parties were rarely a problem.

I doubt they could do that now, discrimination laws are ever tighter and ever more costly. You can’t  choose who to make a cake for now or who you rent a hotel room to so I suspect the same laws exist on the high seas of the W&B and Droitwich  😂
 

edit re charging extra, surprised they can get away with that as that too is discriminatory- apart from finding tutus and various anatomical inflatables how would they necessarily know? 

Edited by Stroudwater1
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'No all male groups' would be sex discrimination. 'No single sex groups' is not.

 

But I suspect the reason why these groups are accepted is commercial, and a response to changes since the 70s/80s when the majority of hirers were family groups.

Edited by David Mack
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9 minutes ago, frangar said:

Judging by the way my local plod seem only too keen to put how they are stopping people parking on the curb etc on Facebook I suggest it’s less to do with lack of manpower and more to do with having an easy life 

The only cops I ever see "on the street" are community police, not proper ones. They are there just for show and to direct people to the nearest public convenience. Real cops wouldn't lower themselves, they are far to self-important and busy in the station one finger typing up reports on crime they failed to attend.

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