Patricia sinks at The Ocean (Stroudwater Canal)

[Stroudwater1]

Oh dear, glad to hear all on board are OK. Could have been very nasty.
 

Looks like  one of the mud boats was being towed. 
 

 

Patricia in happier times 

 

[Stroudwater1]

Sadly it is proving very tough to refloat Patricia. She is pretty much underneath the new railway bridge completely on her side.
 

To make matters worse there was a leakage of possibly diesel a couple of weeks ago and a kingfisher appeared to have died as a result. 
 

Finally the canal level has been drained right down this week  but still it wasn’t possible to right her. Another go next week. It’s 2 months since she sunk so hopefully it will be sorted soon. 
 

Apologies I only have pics from a friend. I noticed @5239 seems to be in attendance. 
 

 

Edited January 30 by Stroudwater1

[billh]

Very unfortunate incident and a difficult recovery to say the least.

We had a similar ex BWB machine for many years, fortunately it never sank  in our ownership. If it is of any help, ours weighed around 18 tonnes in a length of 32ft.  and much of the ballast was poured concrete about 6ins thick over the rear 3/4 of the hull. It was always top heavy  and unstable due to the weight of the digger arm when closed up , at max height. I suspect that was the problem here, boat being moved with stabiliser legs up.

I think the first stage of recovery would be to get it right road up. I assume there is no access for a crane? If a winch could be attached to the top of the boom of the digger it might be possible  to right it , then lower the canal level  until gunnels are above water and pump out. Does it have any ballast tanks  built-in which could aid refloating (once righted)? I wish you well and hope she doesn't have to be cutup in-situ.

Bill

[matty40s]

A set of winches off the bridge, with a diver to employ attachments may be the best solution....having the diver to check for sunken obstruction that caused capsize first( shopping trolley, bike, other big thing)....

[MtB]

13 hours ago, matty40s said:

A set of winches off the bridge, with a diver to employ attachments may be the best solution....having the diver to check for sunken obstruction that caused capsize first( shopping trolley, bike, other big thing)....

 

 

But did it capsize and sink? 

 

Or did it sink and capsize? 

 

Irritates me when the press say a boat "capsized" when they mean it sank. Certain types of boat can capsize without sinking. Not this one though, granted! 

 

 

 

 

[brianthesnail96]

Bit of a pain to access there. Woodchester Sawmills have a couple of classic timber tractors (including a brilliant little Latil with all wheel steer) with decent sized winches and spades. Might be worth an ask. A friend here has a WW2 tank transporter which I'm sure would move it but I don't think you'd get it close enough. I certainly wouldn't fancy taking it over the swing bridge! 

[Francis Herne]

4 hours ago, MtB said:

But did it capsize and sink?

Almost certainly. Those BW dredgers are alarmingly unstable - the JCB arm is really too tall and heavy for a 7ft beam, especially on the later steel-cabined version which Patricia is.

 

I heard conflicting rumours that the arm moved uncontrolled due to a hydraulic system failure and/or collided with the bridge. Don't know if either is actually true.

Edited January 31 by Francis Herne

[Onewheeler]

I'd wondered what was happening. Went past the Ocean on the train on Wednesday and it looked like a muddy swamp.

[IanM]

There used to be a drainage culvert at Bonds Mill. If that was useable then it would have been fairly easy to put a few dams in and drain that section down a bit to at least put some floatation bags on the thing.
 

However several years ago the culvert was apparently leaking and the access was filled with clay without looking at the reason for the leak which was the paddle wasn’t seated correctly. 

[carlt]

23 hours ago, matty40s said:

A set of winches off the bridge, with a diver to employ attachments may be the best solution....having the diver to check for sunken obstruction that caused capsize first( shopping trolley, bike, other big thing)....

There is absolutely no way the Highway Authority would give permission to winch off a bridge. 

 

[Francis Herne]

12 minutes ago, carlt said:

There is absolutely no way the Highway Authority would give permission to winch off a bridge.

 

It's a railway bridge. Not that Network Rail are likely to either.

[carlt]

Just now, Francis Herne said:

 

It's a railway bridge. Not that Network Rail are likely to either.

They're even worse than the Highway Authority.

 

 

 

 

[matty40s]

18 minutes ago, carlt said:

There is absolutely no way the Highway Authority would give permission to winch off a bridge. 

 

I used a bridge in Birmingham to attach a ratchet winch when Baldocks rudder became dislodged by a itinerant dumped fridge.

I didnt ask permission...😋

[carlt]

6 minutes ago, matty40s said:

I used a bridge in Birmingham to attach a ratchet winch when Baldocks rudder became dislodged by a itinerant dumped fridge.

I didnt ask permission...😋

That's how the "independents" do it. Formal organisations have to ask.

 

I once slipped a boat using borrowed BW stop planks in an overnight operation.

 

The planks were returned before dawn, none the worse for their experience.

 

A couple of days later the patrol officer turned up and, knowing exactly what I'd done, said "Why didn't you just ask?"

 

I asked if he would have said "Yes" and his reply was "Of course not."

 

That's why I didn't ask.

[ditchcrawler]

13 minutes ago, matty40s said:

I used a bridge in Birmingham to attach a ratchet winch when Baldocks rudder became dislodged by a itinerant dumped fridge.

I didnt ask permission...😋

I know someone who changed an engine like that, I don't think he asked ether 

[MtB]

29 minutes ago, carlt said:

That's how the "independents" do it. Formal organisations have to ask.

 

I once slipped a boat using borrowed BW stop planks in an overnight operation.

 

The planks were returned before dawn, none the worse for their experience.

 

A couple of days later the patrol officer turned up and, knowing exactly what I'd done, said "Why didn't you just ask?"

 

I asked if he would have said "Yes" and his reply was "Of course not."

 

That's why I didn't ask.

 

Hence the old wisdom "Better to beg forgiveness than ask permission..."

 

 

Summed up by Emo Philips with little tale about wanting a bike:

 

"When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one, and prayed for forgiveness."

[Peanut]

I heard the story of a lumpy boat stepping their mast from a bridge, saved paying for carnage.

[Alan de Enfield]

8 hours ago, Peanut said:

I heard the story of a lumpy boat stepping their mast from a bridge, saved paying for carnage.

 

Wouldn't paying to have it done via a crane minimise the risk of carnage ?

[Peanut]

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Wouldn't paying to have it done via a crane minimise the risk of carnage ?

I was up very late, I should go to bed earlier.

[Paul C]

Would be interesting to know how it is eventually recovered, given the location and that winching off the bridge is a no-no. Can vehicles access anywhere even vaguely near the site?

[Wafi]

9 hours ago, Peanut said:

I heard the story of a lumpy boat stepping their mast from a bridge, saved paying for carnage.

Many years ago I may have slightly done that (albeit dropping the mast rather than stepping it). The event organisers had hired a crane for the purpose, but they also laid on a fantastic prizegiving dinner that continued into the small hours. This caused us to oversleep, and we missed the crane.

[nebulae]

Dredger "Augustus Gloop" has removeable float tanks each side. making a narrow dredger into a wide one As the Stroudwater is a wide canal (and Thames and Severn Canal) could the sunk dredger be modified in the same way (always assuming it can be salvaged.)

[junior]

On 31/01/2025 at 22:59, matty40s said:

I used a bridge in Birmingham to attach a ratchet winch when Baldocks rudder became dislodged by a itinerant dumped fridge.

I didnt ask permission...😋

Albion was launched when new by being winched out of the hold of Viktoria (floating dry dock) using tirfor winches attached to the East Lancs Road at Astley and lowered into the canal. Nobody cared back then...

[Alan de Enfield]

15 minutes ago, junior said:

Albion was launched when new by being winched out of the hold of Viktoria (floating dry dock) using tirfor winches attached to the East Lancs Road at Astley and lowered into the canal. Nobody cared back then...

 

You lowered the East Lancs Road - clever stuff !