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Rope round prop, consequences?


LadyG

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3 hours ago, IanD said:

And *definitely* don't fall in through the ice on Xmas day, even if there are people around... 😞

I slipped on an icy landing stage getting off the boat to go to work. As an excuse for arriving late it worked rather well. Only other time I've been in was when pulling in to the landing stage in the rain, boat kept going as I got off with the rope and hauled me off the end of the stage.

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12 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Only other time I've been in was when pulling in to the landing stage in the rain, boat kept going as I got off with the rope and hauled me off the end of the stage.

That made me laugh, sorry, but it's a sort of cartoon image 

I know I had the boat overtaking me once, that was a bit of a moment.

I always check I'm in neutral when I leave the boat now, and of course I try to avoid boating in the rain :)

Edited by LadyG
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6 hours ago, 1st ade said:

I've a vague recollection (years ago) of mum and dad picking up an interior sprung mattress on the prop. As they struggled to remove it, a gentleman (I use the term wisely) walked past and asked what the problem was? When they explained, he replied, "I'm the managing director of that firm 20 yards up the road from the next bridge, tell them I sent you to borrow a set of bolt croppers". They did, it worked, they returned the Bolt Croppers and the firm refused a donation. Thanks to "A Gentleman"

Was the gentleman concerned the director of a mattress firm?

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One possibly quite bad outcome of a rope on the prop is that you could be seriously injured if you were in a bight. 

 

Obviously a Voith Schneider prop is different to a normal screw propeller but bad things can happen very fast with rotating machinery and ropes. 

 

The fatality on one of the old woolwich ferries some yars ago was caused by a rope in a prop. 

 

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-19280818

 

 

Don't get your rope in the prop. It is a bad idea. 

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7 hours ago, Captain Pegg said:

For 99.8% of the time I have owned my boat it has been fitted with two centre lines that are not long enough to reach the prop. Yet I have still managed to end up with one of my own centre lines around the prop. 

 

Bad first trip? 😁

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9 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

Bad first trip? 😁

 

Very good but no. I inherited the boat with short centre lines and despite the fact they are only about 12' long I've learnt to use them effectively.

 

One of them broke and being well worn I replaced it with a spare but longer line I had in the bow locker as a temporary measure. It took just a matter of days before it found it's way around the prop. The offending person - I wasn't directly guilty - didn't appreciate the risk but of course they'd never had to previously.

 

At least it had the effect of making the line the right length again.

 

Edited by Captain Pegg
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Staplespun polypropylene floats. 

 

Good boat rope. 

Its not the cheap and nasty blue stuff that is split film poly. Staplespun is a different animal altogether and favoured by such illustrious craft as the Thames clippers. 

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1 hour ago, magnetman said:

The fatality on one of the old woolwich ferries some yars ago was caused by a rope in a prop. 

 

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-19280818

 

 

 

The Woolwich Free Ferries have never had screw propellers.  The proper ones had paddles, independently driven by separate steam engines.

 

The new and very new inferior versions have Voith Schneider propulsion units.

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16 minutes ago, Tacet said:

The Woolwich Free Ferries have never had screw propellers.  The proper ones had paddles, independently driven by separate steam engines.

 

The new and very new inferior versions have Voith Schneider propulsion units.

Actually the current ones have pod drive with screw propellers. 

 

 

 

 

The ones which were decommissioned a few yars ago did have Voith Schneider and it was one of these which wrapped the rope up and killed the kid. 

 

 

7 cylinder big Mirlees diesel. Nice. No longer in operation. 

 

Polish built electric drive is the order of the day. 

 

 

The current Woolwich ferries (one of which is kindly named after the kid killed in the bight of rope accident) were made by remontowa.pl

 

The vessels’ propulsion system has been designed around the principals of maximum efficiency, inbuilt redundancy, high reliability and low operating costs. Therefore, each vessel will be equipped with four azimuth thrusters powered by vertically mounted permanent magnet motors. Two Diesel generating sets are installed and in normal operation only one will be running at a near constant load with the battery installation providing the peak power demand for the crossings. When the propulsion power demand is low the excess generated power will be used to recharge the batteries.

https://remontowa-rsb.pl/en/produkty/b617-1-2/

They have Hydromaster azimuthing thrusters 

 

https://hydromasterpropulsion.com/woolwich-ferry/

 

Screw propellers in Kort nozzles. 

 

 

I liked the Voith gear more. 

Edited by magnetman
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7 hours ago, cuthound said:

That wasnt me, yes I have been up there but I didn't touch it. The incident with me happened near the Five Miles from Anywhere 

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14 hours ago, Captain Pegg said:

 

Very good but no. I inherited the boat with short centre lines and despite the fact they are only about 12' long I've learnt to use them effectively.

 

One of them broke and being well worn I replaced it with a spare but longer line I had in the bow locker as a temporary measure. It took just a matter of days before it found it's way around the prop. The offending person - I wasn't directly guilty - didn't appreciate the risk but of course they'd never had to previously.

 

At least it had the effect of making the line the right length again.

 

 

A well crewed boat is best with short lines, (see all hire boats), but the singlehander will run out of time to get the boat under control in a strong wind/strong stream situation.

I have used two long centrelines for four years, my favourite is a good thick rope, braid on braid which has sufficient weight to drop in to the open hatch when I have finished with it. The other is a thinner three strand non stretch nylon which is a bit shorter and which I would never want to deal with if it found its way to the prop. I try not to use this one as it is best to have more rather than less when the boat is large and requires full on control from the bank.

The braid is soft to handle and best for stopping the boat when I am on lock landing or towpath.

I think a short rope will find it's way to the prop easily, and will be less useful for a singlehander who really has to get it right first time. 

I have considered getting a floating stern rope, but have plenty of others (sinkers) at the moment 

Edited by LadyG
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1 hour ago, LadyG said:

 

A well crewed boat is best with short lines, (see all hire boats), but the singlehander will run out of time to get the boat under control in a strong wind/strong stream situation.

I have used two long centrelines for four years, my favourite is a good thick rope, braid on braid which has sufficient weight to drop in to the open hatch when I have finished with it. The other is a thinner three strand non stretch nylon which is a bit shorter and which I would never want to deal with if it found its way to the prop. I try not to use this one as it is best to have more rather than less when the boat is large and requires full on control from the bank.

The braid is soft to handle and best for stopping the boat when I am on lock landing or towpath.

I think a short rope will find it's way to the prop easily, and will be less useful for a singlehander who really has to get it right first time. 

I have considered getting a floating stern rope, but have plenty of others (sinkers) at the moment 

 

The whole point of a short centre line is that it is isn't physically long enough to reach the propellor even if dropped in the water. So it won't reach the prop easily. That's an obvious safety precaution for hire boats.

 

My centre lines are 12mm artificial hemp. I don't like thick centre lines because for something that is to be handled and tied and untied regularly while moving around the boat I want to be able to coil it up into a relatively tight coil and still be able to handle it comfortably. I have quite small hands too. I moved a boat with very long and thick centre lines a couple of weeks ago and I felt they just slowed everything down with faffing about managing the rope. A rope that can't get round the prop is also one that's less likely to get under your feet. 

 

I tend to use the engine to stop the boat and the centre line to secure it. Never had problems running out of line trying to stop a boat. Use a bollard or ring for the last bit if necessary.

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On 28/04/2023 at 09:48, Tracy D'arth said:

I have boated most of the UK canals.

I have had all sorts of rubbish on the prop from anoraks to yashmaks.  Never a zebra though. The worst are tyres I find.

Had bits of other persons ropes and fenders too.

I am not smug but have never got one of my own ropes on.  Its a simple case of care and common sense. There are some who have neither.

I have had a tyre round my prop total nightmare! Took the prop of eventually and cut the tyre off on the rear deck. My weed hatch is big enough to replace it from the inside so no hassle. 

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2 minutes ago, peterboat said:

I have had a tyre round my prop total nightmare! Took the prop of eventually and cut the tyre off on the rear deck. My weed hatch is big enough to replace it from the inside so no hassle. 

 

Other options are available.

 

diver.gif

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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6 hours ago, Captain Pegg said:

My centre lines are 12mm artificial hemp. I don't like thick centre lines because for something that is to be handled and tied and untied regularly while moving around the boat I want to be able to coil it up into a relatively tight coil and still be able to handle it comfortably. I have quite small hands too.  

I boated down the Nene with Fred Hermitage once and his centre line reminded me of a length of sash cord, he would hold the whole coil in one hand with ease and I don't mean 2ft coils

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On 28/04/2023 at 12:11, MtB said:

 

It's a bit like falling in. I don't do it. It's nothing to do with smugness, quite the opposite in fact. I am deeply aware of how easily it happens and take great care ALL THE TIME boating not to do it. Especially as a single hander. 

 

I have always considered that one day it will happen and I try to keep a weather eye on my surroundings so I know where I will head to get out when the fateful day arrives.

 

I realised how hard getting out can be when I once met someone soaking wet at T&K marina who had fallen in and said they spent 20 minutes swimming amongst the moored boats trying to find a ladder. 

 

 

And his hard it is to find anyone to help in a marina that otherwise always seems busy. I know!

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