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Firefighters come to the rescue when couple's narrow boat starts sinking on the canal at Wigan


Alan de Enfield

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Firefighters come to the rescue when couple's narrow boat starts sinking on the canal at Wigan | Wigan Today

 

A couple in their 60s were descending the famous flight of locks between New Springs and Ince when the bow end caught one of the walls, dipped down and began shipping water.

 

The occupants safely got off the boat but the oily water began flooding its front end.

 

When a crew from Hindley arrived on the morning of Sunday June 26, parking up on a nearby housing estate and walking the rest of the way, the craft was under water at one end.

They brought pumps which jettisoned the dirty water and the boat was righted again, but a spokesman for the fire crew said he thought the engine was damaged and fixtures and fittings would probably need replacing during a trip to a dry dock.

The boat could not be re-started but Canal and River Trust volunteers then arrived to tow it away so the canal could reopen.

 

The locks on the Leeds and Liverpool canal between New Springs and Ince

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Just now, The Happy Nomad said:

That must be a pretty rare occurence?

 

I concede I had never really considered that a particular risk.

 

Most people try not to jam their boat in the tapered bit by staying mostly parallel to the chamber walls.  

 

I've seen a few boats at dubious angles in broad locks and recommended they go back a few feet so they can straighten up.

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1 hour ago, David Mack said:

I suspect they caught the stern on the cill, rather than the bow catching on a wall.

 

 

Whichever is was, they were obviously not paying attention while the lock was emptying or they'd have noticed as the bow "dipped down and began shipping water", and done something about it. 

 

Or being more charitable perhaps they were total newbies and saw it happening, but just didn't figure out what to do about it quickly enough. 

 

"The bow end caught one of the walls" does sound to me a bit like a rationalisation of what happened, by someone who doesn't understand the cilling risk.

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Just now, MtB said:

 

 

Whichever is was, they were obviously not paying attention while the lock was emptying or they'd have noticed as the bow "dipped down and began shipping water", and done something about it. 

 

Or being more charitable perhaps they were total newbies and saw it happening, but just didn't figure out what to do about it quickly enough. 

 

"The bow end caught one of the walls" does sound to me a bit like a rationalisation of what happened, by someone who doesn't understand the cilling risk.

 

I think you should read some of the posts above. The stern didn't get caught on the cill.

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Doesn’t matter how long you have been doing it. We nearly lost our boat last year in a lock in Leicester. Dubious repairs on the gate meant a hang up. The fender at the rear was under water at the worst point with the bow hung on a piece of steel plate. Fortunately Mrs S had taken off all the vandal locks.

first time we went through that lock - 1980.

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32 minutes ago, roland elsdon said:

Doesn’t matter how long you have been doing it. We nearly lost our boat last year in a lock in Leicester. Dubious repairs on the gate meant a hang up. The fender at the rear was under water at the worst point with the bow hung on a piece of steel plate. Fortunately Mrs S had taken off all the vandal locks.

first time we went through that lock - 1980.

 

Totally agree. 

 

We once got caught out in a mechanised big wide A&CN lock when the gunwale caught under a metal bolt and plate in the lock wall. It looked totally innocuous but was enough to stop one side of the boat rising.

 

Mrs HN caught my attention with the horn and I hit the emergency stop button. The boat was listing at quite an alarming angle before it broke free. I couldnt see how close the water had got to the engine bay vents.

 

Experienced drivers crash cars, experienced pilots crash planes and experienced boaters sink boats.

 

 

Edited by The Happy Nomad
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2 hours ago, The Happy Nomad said:

That must be a pretty rare occurence?

 

I concede I had never really considered that a particular risk.

 

I have seen that happen before when we were ascending the flight several years ago. The 30 year's experience, live-aboard, crew of the boat accompanying us didn't notice the bows had slid into the gate recess despite the skipper stood by the gate. In a state of panic he ran to the cruiser stern and into the boat to rescue his cat (????). I was at the lock above when I heard the commotion so cycled back down to the bottom gate and wound the paddle up to lower the level. He was convinced the boat had sprung a leak and was sinking.

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A safe pastime interspersed with danger and locks are potentially very dangerous. Problem is the safe & dangerous times often blend together and become one mildly risky and relaxing hobby. It takes a bit of a pessimistic imagination to foresee probs which are rare occurances, easier to look on the bright side. 

 

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We've had this discussion before but to me going uphil in a lock is potentially more risky than downhill when we're more aware of cilling, especially with leaking bottom gates, eg when lock is filled it can be easy to relax and take your eye off the ball while the water level is dropping leaving bows stuck on cill. Same when in reverse, all to easy to bump into gates, overbalance and topple over into the water, then it's a gruesome end, particularly if you were sat on the taff rail and tried to hold on to the lever, applying full throttle on the way down. 

 

Please think about it folks. Stay safe. 

Edited by nb Innisfree
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3 hours ago, The Happy Nomad said:

That must be a pretty rare occurence?

 

I concede I had never really considered that a particular risk.

Used to be rather common until additional boards were added to prevent the bow from over-sailing the top of the gate and below the balance beam.  Even so it is worth keeping an eye open for it as (a) some fenders catch on quite small bits sticking out (b) sometimes the boards are damaged by heavy handed boaters who do not stop in time (c) sometimes in a wide lock there is a gap at the edge which can catch a boat that is allowed to go across the lock.

 

We were sharing a lock going down hill with another boat just last week and I, as lock setter, had to ask both to back off as their fenders were catching.

1 hour ago, The Happy Nomad said:

 

Totally agree. 

 

We once got caught out in a mechanised big wide A&CN lock when the gunwale caught under a metal bolt and plate in the lock wall. It looked totally innocuous but was enough to stop one side of the boat rising.

 

Mrs HN caught my attention with the horn and I hit the emergency stop button. The boat was listing at quite an alarming angle before it broke free. I couldnt see how close the water had got to the engine bay vents.

 

Experienced drivers crash cars, experienced pilots crash planes and experienced boaters sink boats.

 

 

I thought I recall a member here having a lengthy debate with BW (as at the time) over such an incident on the Leeds and Liverpool. In that case IIRC it was a protruding stone that had been like that for some time but dangerous nonetheless.

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29 minutes ago, Victor Vectis said:

My experience is that when things go wrong in a lock they go wrong very quickly.

 

Indeed. Once they start going down it all happens very quickly. This one was ISTR a insecure weed hatch, but it shows once overwhelmed they do go  down like a stone.

 

 

Edited by The Happy Nomad
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26 minutes ago, The Happy Nomad said:

 

Indeed. Once they start going down it all happens very quickly. This one was ISTR a insecure weed hatch, but it shows once overwhelmed they do go  down like a stone.

 

 

Might have been too late anyway but nobody making an attempt on bottom paddles. 

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On 27/06/2022 at 10:31, TheBiscuits said:

No, nose jammed in the gate recess, stern went down.

 

 

img_1_1656315171620.jpg.1c330ab6f5a2b7d0ac3c1b592067e3c9.jpg

 

Photo Credit: Ian Monk via Facebook

News report is still wrong then. If the bow jammed as the lock was emptying, then the stern would have gone down first, yet the report says 

"when the bow end caught one of the walls, dipped down and began shipping water.

The occupants safely got off the boat but the oily water began flooding its front end."

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19 minutes ago, David Mack said:

News report is still wrong then. If the bow jammed as the lock was emptying, then the stern would have gone down first, yet the report says 

"when the bow end caught one of the walls, dipped down and began shipping water.

The occupants safely got off the boat but the oily water began flooding its front end."

 

Of course its wrong, but then that is not exactly unusual is it?

 

Sloppy journalism created for the masses doesnt have to be factually correct.

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One has to feel sorry for the boaters in these situations... possibly a moments lack of attention /distraction and their home is ruined...

 

Single boat in a wide lock always needs care, we've got a lot more careful having had few near misses ourselves and reading of incidents such as this...

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