Nantwich lock sinking

[Richard T]

Strangely this ahppened to a boat in front of us on our very first hire in 1974 at the same lock. It was about the first lock some hirers had worked on their own - their holiday was rather short. The boat was refloated the following morning and we were on our way again. The holiday addicted us to boating and we are still at it nearly 50 years on.

[Ogwr]

Is this fake news ? There being no locks in Nantwich

[Captain Pegg]

13 minutes ago, Ogwr said:

Is this fake news ? There being no locks in Nantwich

 

That has been addressed in the thread. The sinking happened at Cholmondeston lock to which Nantwich is just about the nearest town.

[magnetman]

 

There was a lock in Nantwich. It has now sunk according to the thread title.

 

 

[doratheexplorer]

On 12/11/2023 at 22:37, Arthur Marshall said:

I know I'm a beginner at this, only had the boat 35 years, and I'm sure the "experts" on here will tell me why I'm wrong in a minute. The fact remains, there's only two ways to sink a boat in a lock, and both of them are because you're too near a gate.

This isn't true.

 

But for my tuppence worth, the best advice whatever technique you use, is work the lock slowly, raise the paddles slowly and keep an eye on your boat at all times.  If you go boating long enough, at some point something will go wrong unexpectedly in a lock.  The outcome of that will depend on how quickly you spot it going wrong and how much time you have to put it right.

[Arthur Marshall]

1 hour ago, doratheexplorer said:

This isn't true.

 

But for my tuppence worth, the best advice whatever technique you use, is work the lock slowly, raise the paddles slowly and keep an eye on your boat at all times.  If you go boating long enough, at some point something will go wrong unexpectedly in a lock.  The outcome of that will depend on how quickly you spot it going wrong and how much time you have to put it right.

You're right, of course . I'd forgotten the bloke who went into the bottom of Chester staircase, tied his boat to the bottom of the ladder and went up to the top lock filling as he went. Got back to the bottom lock, lock full, no sign of boat ...

And your tuppence is worth a lot more than that. It is indeed the only way to keep safe.

[Cheshire cat]

I've had two incidents in locks. The first one involved a coping stone sticking out such that the gunnel got stuck under it. The boat took on a dramatic list before it lifted the coping stone and extracted itself. It was either at Knowle or Lapworth. Can't remember which.

 

Second incident we were descending locks on the K&A, sharing with a hireboat. The hirers let their boat drift forward and the button got caught on the gate. The engine bay was just about to get flooded when the button chains broke. Splashdown was dramatic to say the least. We all needed to moor up and put the kettle on after that.

[Paul C]

3 hours ago, Cheshire cat said:

Second incident we were descending locks on the K&A, sharing with a hireboat. The hirers let their boat drift forward and the button got caught on the gate. The engine bay was just about to get flooded when the button chains broke. Splashdown was dramatic to say the least. We all needed to moor up and put the kettle on after that.

 

That's interesting - in theory "they say" the fenders should have a weak/sacrificial link for just such a scenario. It sounds like the hireboat did - but not that weak.

[ditchcrawler]

Just now, Paul C said:

 

That's interesting - in theory "they say" the fenders should have a weak/sacrificial link for just such a scenario. It sounds like the hireboat did - but not that weak.

That is why mine are on cord not chain

[enigmatic]

1 hour ago, Paul C said:

That's interesting - in theory "they say" the fenders should have a weak/sacrificial link for just such a scenario. It sounds like the hireboat did - but not that weak.

My sacrificial link got snapped by a thick reinforcement beam on the inside of a gate designed by an insane person that hates boats on the River Great Ouse. Overhang was so big it still didn't release the fender and bow.

(fortunately, I was able to wind both paddles down in time)

 

 

 

 

[MtB]

5 hours ago, Cheshire cat said:

Second incident we were descending locks on the K&A, sharing with a hireboat. The hirers let their boat drift forward and the button got caught on the gate. The engine bay was just about to get flooded when the button chains broke. Splashdown was dramatic to say the least. We all needed to moor up and put the kettle on after that.

 

I had the same in reverse on the k&A. Bow fender caught in the gate going uphill and a gongoozler was pestering me with polite conversation so I failed to notice. Until my own weak link failed and the boat popped up making a huge wave with ran back and forth in the lock several times and battering the boat against the gate. When it all calmed down the wet water mark on the hull suggested the boat came within an ace of sinking. 

 

Lessons being:

 

1) Avoid people engaging you in convo at locks and walk away. 

2) Be on the bank not on the boat.

 

Had I stayed at the helm and allowed someone else to "work the lock for me", I'd have been powerless to do anything about it even if I'd noticed the bow fender snag in the gate.

 

[magnetman]

Don't have fenders.

 

 

[MtB]

Just now, magnetman said:

Don't have fenders.

 

What about the 'rudder between the gates' risk?

 

 

 

[magnetman]

Don't have a rudder which sticks out the back. Have an upswept starn design.

[MtB]

Just now, magnetman said:

Don't have a rudder which sticks out the back. Have an upswept starn design.

 

Too late. Should have told the builder in 1999.

[magnetman]

My country estate boat has this and it is impossible to get the rudder caught. Its not a narrow at 9ft beam but can easily be done with a narrow boat if the fabricator knows what to do.

 

It looks a bit Edwardian in a slightly Edwardian kind of way.

 

Inspection lunch.

 

 

 

[MtB]

1 minute ago, magnetman said:

Inspection lunch.

 

I LURVE this sort of worm play.

[magnetman]

Being a director always causes one to get good food on the table.

 

[MtB]

3 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Being a director always causes one to get good food on the table.

 

 

Being a director must have been a PITA. Best avoided if possible or one has to keep going out on boats inspecting stuff. When what one really wants to do is concentrate on massaging the quarterly trading reports and boosting the share price.