Sunken boat, Droitwich staircase

[Alan de Enfield]

28 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.

 

 

Wasn't it Dianne Abbot that wanted to increase the police force by 100,000 and pay them £10 a year ? (the budgeted cost was £1m)

[Crewcut]

Driving anything including a boat under the influence should be illegal if it isn't already but if nothing's done about it whether it is or not is irrelevant. I taught a couple with their first boat new to our marina and old enough to know better to sail it and one of them would crack a beer every single time as soon as we left the marina. I tried to convince her that associating going sailing with drinking alcohol isn't the best idea but she still does it...😒

[MtB]

16 minutes ago, Slow and Steady said:

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.

 

 

A friend of mine is a retired copper who if prompted after a pint or three, will happily regale you with tales of how few real coppers there are nowadays. There were weekend shifts sometimes when he was just one of three on duty, expected to police the whole of Berkshire from Slough to Hungerford. And how making just one arrest would result in the arresting officer spending a day or more in the office filling in paperwork so they were always reluctant to arrest anyone, as it was such a ball-ache for them. Really quite disturbing and the reason he was delighted to get out when he did.

 

 

[bizzard]

3 hours ago, Naughty Cal said:

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.

S

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.

Sounds like it was the ''Margoletta''.

[Mike Tee]

1 hour 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 !

No doubt after the alcohol has passed through their system into the cut, they will turn up suitably chastened with so many stories between them that the truth will never appear. Any (financial) charges that are made above their deposit will be promised and immediately forgotten about. Legal follow up will be so fogged by time, memory and multiple stories the only winner will, as usual, be the lawyers.

I much prefer, as mentioned above, the Hells Angels type response which is immediate and memorable. I know, I'm a bad boy for suggesting that. I'm really, really sorry.

[Tony Brooks]

33 minutes ago, Mike Tee said:

I much prefer, as mentioned above, the Hells Angels type response which is immediate and memorable. I know, I'm a bad boy for suggesting that. I'm really, really sorry.

 

The trouble is that is exactly where the no enforcement and turn a blind eye approach leads, or more truthfully has lead. Keep an eye open for parking infringements, some of which are extremely dangerous but never seem to dealt with. If laws are not enforced they get ignored by a larger section of the population.

[mrsmelly]

2 hours ago, frangar said:

Having been hit by an all female hen party on a Willow Wren boat who thought it was a great laugh I’d beg to differ

This made me smile. I used to supervise some boats hired out on the Thames. We did allow same sex parties, it wasnt my choice but hey ho. The very worst by far was two narrowboats hired out to one group of females for a hen party weekend. They raced each other on the Thames one night and one boat hit a moored gin palace at speed and caused a lot of superficial, but expensive damage to one side, including ripping a deck cleat out. We had a policy in those days that meant each single sex party member had to give a deposit of 100 pounds, so there was around 2k in their deposits pot. I went to the boat earlyish next morning back on our moorings and was met by a couple of VERY apologetic girls. They took immediate responsibility and asked if their deposit was enough to cover the damage!! 

I remember it well for several reasons, not least of which was they were all young/student doctors lol.

[Hudds Lad]

Problem is that some folks mentality is that they’ve paid a damage deposit so they’re going to get their moneys worth, plus its a contact sport, innit?

[Barneyp]

1 hour ago, Stroudwater1 said:

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? 

It's not discrimination if applied equally, so no single sex groups is not discrimination, both sexs are being treated equally. 

The problem for the hire companies is that there are lots of single sex groups that don't cause any problems, and there are mixed sex groups that do cause problems.

The hire companies choose to accept these bookings on the basis that in most cases there isn't a problem so it makes commercial sense, but they seem to ignore their moral and (commercially more significant) legal responsibility to keep people safe.

The hire companies are legally obliged to keep their staff, customers and the wider public safe. That obligation gives them the right to refuse or cancel any booking if they think it isn't safe, so if they accept a booking and then when the people hiring turn up with a huge quantity of alcohol the hire companies could just cancel the booking there and then.

Interestingly some of the hire companies have rules about the ratio of adults to children for safety reasons, but they don't seem to worry about safety in other situations.

[john6767]

From Facebook, RCR are on site

 

 

Based on what has been said on Facebook the sinking happened after dark last night, and one of the three boats has been abandoned, the whereabouts of the third unknown.

[Mike Hurley]

2 hours 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?

 

 

 

 

Only takes 1 to be non binary, transgender and/or identifies as a goat, problem solved.

[MtB]

8 minutes ago, Mike Hurley said:

Only takes 1 to be non binary, transgender and/or identifies as a goat, problem solved.

 

You seem to know a lot about this. Lemme guess, you're the goat!   🤣 🤣

[gatekrash]

The police were called after they rammed one boat, they did turn up and took statements.

 

Spoke to ABC this morning and they said the hirers are denying any wrong doing, but they have pages of email complaints identifying them. All now located and removed from the boats.

Manager has told me it'll be costing them more than their deposits - presumably as they were in breach of their hire conditions they will be chasing them for damages.

 

Apparently the crew on the sunk one spent the night in the lock ... Not sure whether it was sunk at the time 😁

[Mike Hurley]

4 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

You seem to know a lot about this. Lemme guess, you're the goat!   🤣 🤣

Just kidding😁

[Naughty Cal]

2 hours ago, bizzard said:

Sounds like it was the ''Margoletta''.

Brinks Ultima

[CanalRetentive]

Any idea how it sank?

[Naughty Cal]

2 minutes ago, CanalRetentive said:

Any idea how it sank?

It ceased to float.

[Jimbobs]

According to one of the Facebook groups our little gang of Einsteins decided to moor overnight in the lock. The lower gates leaked during the night and hey presto!

I wonder what the angle got to before the first one woke up??

[MtB]

6 minutes ago, CanalRetentive said:

Any idea how it sank?

 

Well the photos show the arse end of it up on the cill... 

 

 

 

1 minute ago, Jimbobs said:

According to one of the Facebook groups our little gang of Einsteins decided to moor overnight in the lock. The lower gates leaked during the night and hey presto!

I wonder what the angle got to before the first one woke up??

 

 

Maybe they are all still asleep in there now!!

 

 

[AndrewIC]

1 hour ago, Barneyp said:

It's not discrimination if applied equally, so no single sex groups is not discrimination, both sexs are being treated equally. 

I am not a lawyer, but I’m not sure that would wash. Any one of the (all male) party (or even all but one) could argue that, had they been female, the hire would been allowed, and therefore they were being discriminated against on the ground of their sex.

 

Given that gender reassignment is also a protected characteristic, it would be a brave company that waded into that territory.

 

As it happens, the party of chaps we met on a pair of ABC boats on the Bridgewater & T&M a couple of weeks ago couldn’t have been nicer, even the ones dressed as pirates.

[David Mack]

5 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Maybe they are all still asleep in there now!

Sleeping with the fishes!

[MtB]

3 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Sleeping with the fishes!

 

Hardly any of it is underwater. Just the fore end and a bit of cabin.

 

 

[Naughty Cal]

1 minute ago, MtB said:

 

Hardly any of it is underwater. Just the fore end and a bit of cabin.

 

 

Which begs the question did it actually sink?

[Tracy D'arth]

3 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

Which begs the question did it actually sink?

I would imagine that there was far more of it under water before the lock emptied completely.  The life ring has floated off the roof! That didn't hold it up then?

 

There seemed to be a lot of bedding etc wedged in the front doors which was probably washed to there as the water emptied from inside.

Edited May 21, 2022 by Tracy D'arth

[ditchcrawler]

4 hours ago, frangar said:

Having been hit by an all female hen party on a Willow Wren boat who thought it was a great laugh I’d beg to differ

I have helped clean caravans after all female hiring, not fun