Re-boarding: washing line between the rubbing strakes?

[Alan de Enfield]

18 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Any sort of place you can use as a foothold is handy. There is no reason not to have a well deck drain big enough to use as a step. 

 

Well - with a well-deck drain 8"+ above the water line I certainly could not get my foot up high enough to slide it into the drain (scuppers). And, even if the water was shallow enough for me to stand up in, I know I could not get my knee up above my chin to be able to put my foot in the drain hole.

 

I know I need a step of some sort well below the water line to get me high enough to then be able to lean over the deck and 'bounce' myself on board using both arms to pull and legs to push.

 

As a Diver, we have to practice and put into action, getting out of a pool deep end by 'bouncing up' onto the side which helps get your weight 'over centre' so you can do a 'free willy' and slither onto the poolside.

In 'real life' this proceedure is used to get back into a Rib and, in addition, normally relies on 1 or 2 folks grabbing you to give a bit of extra 'propulsion'.

 

Getting out of the water without a ladder is not easy.

 

 

[magnetman]

I've got out onto a narrow boat before with no ladder. This was a while ago. I used the side step to hold on and lift myself. 

 

I suppose it would be more tricky now that I am no longer young free single and rich.

 

 

 

 

 

It didn't seem a problem. I jumped in the Thames on a nice day with all clothes on from the boat and managed to get back out. Of course it was warm and no emergency but it didn't seem to present a problem for some reason. 

 

 

[Peanut]

While it is a sensible precaution to wear a life jacket, and have a means of re-boarding, it would be better not to fall in.  On lumpy water boats, it is recommended to wear a harness attached to a dead eye, of such a length to prevent you going over in the first place. I imagine few will, but on rivers, and on your own, or in winter, it might be a sensible idea.

[IanD]

7 minutes ago, Peanut said:

While it is a sensible precaution to wear a life jacket, and have a means of re-boarding, it would be better not to fall in.  On lumpy water boats, it is recommended to wear a harness attached to a dead eye, of such a length to prevent you going over in the first place. I imagine few will, but on rivers, and on your own, or in winter, it might be a sensible idea.

That would work at sea when the biggest risk is probably being washed or thrown overboard while steering in bad weather and high seas.

 

Most canal immersions seem to be while boarding/leaving the boat or walking along the gunwales, where this wouldn't work for obvious reasons...

[magnetman]

My worst canal immersion was in December 1999 on the Shroppie. Just out walking the towpath with my mother and our dogs. We went under a bridgehole and I slipped off the coping stone into the cut. It was surprisingly deep. Luckily not alone as I did need assistance to get out and it was quite remote. 

 

Back to boat lit fire and sorted it all out but I do remember thinking 'I thought the canal was much more shallow under bridges'. 

 

 

 

I recall the place name Tilstone. 

[IanD]

4 minutes ago, magnetman said:

My worst canal immersion was in December 1999 on the Shroppie. Just out walking the towpath with my mother and our dogs. We went under a bridgehole and I slipped off the coping stone into the cut. It was surprisingly deep. Luckily not alone as I did need assistance to get out and it was quite remote. 

 

Back to boat lit fire and sorted it all out but I do remember thinking 'I thought the canal was much more shallow under bridges'.

 

I recall the place name Tilstone. 

 

You should try falling in from the gunwale through the ice on Xmas day -- "bracing" doesn't even get close... 😞

[Alan de Enfield]

24 minutes ago, IanD said:

That would work at sea when the biggest risk is probably being washed or thrown overboard while steering in bad weather and high seas.

 

I'd suggest that most 'man overboard' accidents at sea are actually crew moving forward to adjust sails etc etc and this is why a "Jackline" is set up running from bow to stern, the safety line is clipped to the lifekacket and the other end to the 'jackline' allowing the crew to walk about on deck and have no risk of being swept overboard, even if a huge wave breaks over them.

[Wanderer Vagabond]

6 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

 

.....As a Diver, we have to practice and put into action, getting out of a pool deep end by 'bouncing up' onto the side which helps get your weight 'over centre' so you can do a 'free willy' and slither onto the poolside.

In 'real life' this proceedure is used to get back into a Rib and, in addition, normally relies on 1 or 2 folks grabbing you to give a bit of extra 'propulsion'.

 

Getting out of the water without a ladder is not easy........

 

 

That is much the procedure I use whenever I go swimming in a pool, it did however lead to one cheeky young lad walking past and saying,"Hey mister, you look like a seal getting out of the pool" fortunately he was just out of reach!

[wakey_wake]

On 09/11/2023 at 18:46, magnetman said:

Extra large cutouts for the well deck drain can be useful for getting out if one has a lot of upper body strength. 

Small ones are no good. 

 

I guess the cutout's cross section doesn't all have to allow water through, if you don't want it to.

Scuppers are a double-edged sword... drainage vs flooding?

 

On 10/11/2023 at 11:56, magnetman said:

[...] being on the Thames with a flow of about 3 knots I would have been finished orf so not really that worried about a reboarding opportunity.

I would expect that being swept down a river means having to reboard on something other than one's own boat.

[magnetman]

A while ago someone went in the River during flooding and he was washed a mile or two downstream including over a weir and managed to get out again. 

 

that must have been slightly hair raising at the time in a number of different ways. 

 

 

[wakey_wake]

2 minutes ago, magnetman said:

[...] he was washed a mile or two downstream including over a weir and managed to get out again.

Eek. I've seen on the telly, that some weirs tend to "rotate" stuff at the bottom. One could end up trapped there and being spun like a log. ☠️

Also rather hard for anyone else to reach.

[magnetman]

This geyser. 2014 floods. 

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-26724714

 

There was another one more recently where someone was washed down the River for quite some distance before getting out. 

 

Yes some weirs have anti scour sills which causes a hydraulic towback effect. This is what killed the paddle boarders in Wales. 

 

 

Not all Thames weirs have this although the one I end up in if I fall in does have an anti scour sill. 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 11, 2023 by magnetman