The mystery of how 'Abigail' sank

[Steve King]

Looking at the photo of the nb stranded in Lock 14 of the Offerton flight in the September Waterways World (p46) I almost dismissed the incident as just another narrowboat hung up on the cill. However, closer inspection of the photo reveals that it is the bow of the boat that is up in the air this time, not the stern. And the bow is not just caught on the cill but sitting completely across it with the top lock gate open. The text observes that 'a narrowboat became wedged whilst going down Lock 14. Going down? Backwards? Surely not. And what did the crew do to sink the boat if that was the case, open the bottom gate paddles whilst forgetting that the top gate had yet to be closed? Very unlikely I'd say.

 

The plot thickens if you look at the item that had now appeared on nbw:

http://www.narrowboatworld.com/

Here there is no claim that the boat was locking down so perhaps we can assume that it was locking up, which would seem much more likely. The boaters claim that the boat 'had caught on something in the lock and had become jammed'. The text goes a bit awry now when it states 'Abigail was neither on the cill or caught in a lock gate' as it is clear from the photo that the boat must indeed be resting across the top cill. A BW investigation finds that 'that brickwork in the lock was not protruding or in such condition to have been the cause of the incident' and 'it is considered the most likely cause of the incident was that the crew of the boat concerned, regrettably, did not manage the locking appropriately'.

 

So what went wrong? And why haven't the boaters concerned or BW managed to pin-point the reason for the sinking?

 

Well, I have a theory as to what happened. The boat was locking up and the crew would have filled the lock as usual, and then opened the top gate. What they did not perhaps notice was that the water level in the next pound was rather low. As they motored out of the lock the boat ran aground on the top gate cill. This would explain why the crew thought the boat had jammed - it had, on the bottom of the lock. Perhaps the front of the boat rose as it grounded, causing the stern to dip until water started to enter somewhere. Or perhaps the level in the lock started to drop off due to leakage through the bottom gates. Either way, the boat filled with water and sank in the lock.

 

I think it behoves us to understand the real reason for this sinking (whatever it is if I'm not correct) so as to be able to avoid this happening in the future. On leaving a lock it is important to check that the boat has sufficient depth available to clear the cill. If in doubt, motor out slowly so as not to get stuck there with dreadful consequences.

 

Any thoughts?

 

 

Steve

[bottle]

With reference to 'narrowboatworld'

 

Another 'mistake', I think, the photographs are of two different boats and they are also in different locks, one narrow, one wide.

[DHutch]

I see what you mean.

 

Certainly its not unknown if a pound is low that you are unable to get out of the lock, happened to use only recently going up the middlewhich flight.

 

However clearly then the stern much have ended up low enough that it took on water?

- To drop the leval in order to tip the boat stern down you would have to drop the whole leval of the pound, and even if it was a fairly short one i would have thought that would happen slow enough that you would have time to reverse off and back into the lock before anything when suffenentlyly wrong? Unless you drew a bottom paddle!!

- Only other thing i can is that if the draught of the boat increases along its lenght the further on you got the more it would tip, and if you hit it fast enough, you might be able to get it ride up far enough to get the stern under? But that seams unlikly unless they where really gunning it and managed to get up a fair bit of speed in half the lenght of a lock?

 

Certainly something to get the grey matter going!

 

Daniel

[Kraken]

With reference to 'narrowboatworld'

 

Another 'mistake', I think, the photographs are of two different boats and they are also in different locks, one narrow, one wide.

 

I'm not sure NBW made a mistake. They refer to two different incidents in two different locks, one in Offerton Lock 14, the other in Weston Lock. It's not completely clear though, and easy to get the wrong impression.

[magnetman]

Regarding the narrow lock pictured first I think this is the subject of the story.

I reckon they were going up in the lock, the bow (probably the fender) has jammed on the lock gate and looked like the bow was going to go under so they have emptied the lock in a panic and the bow got caught on the cill as the lock emptied.

[DHutch]

Regarding the narrow lock pictured first I think this is the subject of the story.

I reckon they were going up in the lock, the bow (probably the fender) has jammed on the lock gate and looked like the bow was going to go under so they have emptied the lock in a panic and the bow got caught on the cill as the lock emptied.

That is possable, however although its hard to tell from the photo it looks very much like front of the boat overlaps with the (open) top gate, which fits with the story of hitting something while going out?

- Also with most boat its quite hard to 'cill' the bow even if lowing the lock becuase it tends to slide off it.

 

 

Daniel

[Scotty]

......... there is no claim that the boat was locking down so perhaps we can assume that it was locking up

The boat was definitely locking down

 

Abigail taken from behind

 

http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/local/...randed_in_lock/

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10...canal-lock.html

 

Note the bow fender has been snapped loose, possibly hung on the bottom gate

Edited August 17, 2008 by Scotty

[magnetman]

That is possable, however although its hard to tell from the photo it looks very much like front of the boat overlaps with the (open) top gate, which fits with the story of hitting something while going out?

- Also with most boat its quite hard to 'cill' the bow even if lowing the lock becuase it tends to slide off it.

 

 

Daniel

Had another look at the picture and I agree, it does seem like some sort of technically impossible maneouver has taken place. It is rather odd. Why is the lock empty with a boat in it which has already clearly gone up thats what bothers me that goes against all the natural instincts I can think of.

[Theo]

I see what you mean.

 

Certainly its not unknown if a pound is low that you are unable to get out of the lock, happened to use only recently going up the middlewhich flight.

 

However clearly then the stern much have ended up low enough that it took on water?

- To drop the leval in order to tip the boat stern down you would have to drop the whole leval of the pound, and even if it was a fairly short one i would have thought that would happen slow enough that you would have time to reverse off and back into the lock before anything when suffenentlyly wrong? Unless you drew a bottom paddle!!

- Only other thing i can is that if the draught of the boat increases along its lenght the further on you got the more it would tip, and if you hit it fast enough, you might be able to get it ride up far enough to get the stern under? But that seams unlikly unless they where really gunning it and managed to get up a fair bit of speed in half the lenght of a lock?

 

Certainly something to get the grey matter going!

 

Daniel

 

It seems to me that the only way that the boat could have arrived in this state is that the boat jammed as it left the lock. The lock then drained, either through leakage or through someone drwing the bottom paddles. It seems unlikely to me that it would have been leakage as only a really gross leak would have been more than a flow around the boat could have replaced.

 

Nick

[magnetman]

The boat was definitely locking down

 

Abigail taken from behind

 

http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/local/...randed_in_lock/

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10...canal-lock.html

 

Note the bow fender has been snapped loose, possibly hung on the bottom gate

Ah, I assumed from the NBW picture that the boat was going up or possibly going down backwards...

[Steve King]

The boat was definitely locking down

 

Thanks for that Scotty, expecially the photos. So what looked in WW and nbw like the top of the lock is in fact the bottom - amazing. I stand corrected on my diagnosis of what went wrong. Still somewhat of a mystery though. Surely a bow fender wouldn't be strong enough to hang a boat up like that so perhaps there was a projection on the lockside which tipped the boat and jammed it as it descended - but if so why has it not been located?

 

 

Steve

[magnetman]

Note the bow fender has been snapped loose, possibly hung on the bottom gate

from that picture its quite clear the boat wasn't caught on the lock gate.

even if it is a bit of protruding brickwork, it does take quite a while for a boat to get into that position, someone should be watching the boat every second of its passage through a lock and I think this is what BW are on about when they suggest that the crew "did not manage the lock appropriately".

[Theo]

Thanks for that Scotty, expecially the photos. So what looked in WW and nbw like the top of the lock is in fact the bottom - amazing. I stand corrected on my diagnosis of what went wrong. Still somewhat of a mystery though. Surely a bow fender wouldn't be strong enough to hang a boat up like that so perhaps there was a projection on the lockside which tipped the boat and jammed it as it descended - but if so why has it not been located?

 

 

Steve

 

I wonder if they had side fenders out. These cause the boat to fit too snugly in the lock, perhaps pushing the bottom plate against the side of the lock and fouling the lock side.

 

Nick

[dove]

We nearly did the same trick a few years ago coming down Atherstone.

 

When opened the gate paddles the boat came forward as normal but the button went to one side of the mitre and the boat trapped in the corner. I noticed somthing was wrong after the level had dropped about two feet and the bows were still pinned in the corner. After dropping the paddles the boat fell back, lucky for us.

 

We always watch the boat now.

 

 

Andrew

[alan_fincher]

I'm completely bemused by several of the posts here.

 

The boat was clearly locking down, and most of the explanations just don't fit the facts.

 

I've looked again, and I still hold exactly the same view as I did when this story was first published in multiple sources.

 

The boat has jammed in some way in the lock on it's way down, apparently at a point maybe about one third of the way back from it's bows.

 

The only way I can see it as boater error is if something like the addition of side fenders was making it over beam.

 

We had a very frightening incident descending a broad lock on the Grand Union, where we were sharing with another boat, and became jammed. Quick thinking prevented what could have easily been a sinking.

 

The cause was a rubbing stone on the side of the lock that had been "repaired" by shuttering around it, then building up with concrete. This had produced a hard edged "ledge" about 2" wide, sufficient for our base-plate to hang on, tilting us towards the other boat, and jamming us so we were becoming hung in mid air.

 

My strong feeling here is that unless it was fenders, this boat has become caught on some unevenness in the lock side. Once tilted, and wedged, the boat isn't then able to fall off it naturally.

 

No doubt people will suggest again that quick intervention could have avoided this. Having just worked through that flight in the last few weeks, and seen how fast the Worcester & Birmingham locks can empty or fill, I'm not so sure.

 

For once I agree with NBW - a likely BW white-wash. We had a major fight with BW to get remedial action to the "ledge" that might have sunk us. THis despite a former lock-keeper and working boatman living beside the lock, who confirmed several boats had become hung before us.

 

Alan

 

Edit:

 

One final thought.

 

Is it possible that the bow fender has not been displaced in the incident, but has instead deliberately moved to one side by an experienced crew, so that the stem post will descend the gates safely, with no chance of anything getting caught ?

Edited August 17, 2008 by alan_fincher

[fender]

Surprised many people seem to think Abigail was going up. WhenI first saw the pictures in the papers it was obvious she was locking DOWN.

 

Methinks the boat somehow got its rubbing strake caught on the lockside and its bottom plate lip caught in one of the grooves between the bricks lower down. Its possible that someone getting on or off the boat and causing it to slightly tilt prodcued a one in a millon chance of such an evetuality occuring.

 

Look at this picture again and think about what I've said. Look at the bows and the rubbing strake as it descends to meet the top of the lock chamber (especially where I've drawn a red arrow)

 

 

PS If this is the case then a lot of our locks have the potentiality for such an event recurring because so much lime/mortar is missing from between the brickwork.

Edited August 18, 2008 by fender

[stickleback]

What I cannot understand is how the gate come to be open if the boat had jammed while descending? It looks impossible....

 

Stickleback

[fender]

What I cannot understand is how the gate come to be open if the boat had jammed while descending? It looks impossible....

 

Stickleback

 

They emptied the lock fully to save the boat as rear had gone down in the water. Makes sense. The news reports do mention the pound being emptied as well. In the pictures the boat is clearly far away enough from the bottom gates allowing them to be opened.

 

I see NBW this morning have a headline screaming:

 

"Monday—Headline News Suspected 'white-wash' by British Waterways over Abigail getting stuck in lock"

 

I suspect there was some cover up since I have pointed out that it may have been brickwork with little or no mortar that formed the 'ledge' on which Abigial sat.

 

I have not yet read the conclusions offered by NBW - at this point in time they have not yet uploaded the breaking news feature on this matter.

Edited August 18, 2008 by fender

[fender]

NBW now has its report online. Disbelief at BW's explanation that the experienced boatcrew were responsible for the mishap.

 

PS I realise that NBW's breaking news is a rehash of a previous report on the incident!

Edited August 18, 2008 by fender

[fender]

The other pic from the newspaper shows clearly how Abigail sits in the lock.

 

I've drawn two futher red arrows, showing where the rubbing strake and the potential catch point of the bottom plate lip must have caught.

 

Sorry probs uploading pic!

 

Finally managed to upload!

 

Edited August 18, 2008 by fender

[AMModels]

Having personal experience on hanging up on the bottom gates when locking down I have to say its a possibility that they hung on the gates and as the water level decreased the angle of the boat caused it to catch further back and then end with the bow above where it would have been on the water level. Alternatively the boat caught about 10ft back from the fore end on some protruding brickwork and thats why the fore end is higher than the water level.

[alan_fincher]

Thank goodness for Fender!

 

I was beginning to think I was the only person to hold the view I do of what has likely happened.

 

I can still see no way at all that the bow fender, or the bottom gates could have been involved.

 

The bow is high in the air, and the nose of the boat well back from the bottom gates, (which is why it has been possible to open them).

 

Whatever got caught is not at the bows, it is some way back from the bows, precisely as fender has indicated.

 

Unless the cause is a fender, or some other hanging or protruding object on the boat, it's very hard to see the cause as anything other than a lock defect.

 

As an aside.....

 

Various reports indicated it was removed with a crane.... How? I don't think I'd have dancied venturing under it to try and get slings in place!

[mayalld]

Thank goodness for Fender!

 

I was beginning to think I was the only person to hold the view I do of what has likely happened.

 

I can still see no way at all that the bow fender, or the bottom gates could have been involved.

 

The bow is high in the air, and the nose of the boat well back from the bottom gates, (which is why it has been possible to open them).

 

Whatever got caught is not at the bows, it is some way back from the bows, precisely as fender has indicated.

 

Unless the cause is a fender, or some other hanging or protruding object on the boat, it's very hard to see the cause as anything other than a lock defect.

 

Well, now that we have got over the initial batch of people who came to conclusions that were way off beam because they hadn't even worked out which way the boat was going....

 

I see three possible causes of this incident;

1. Caught on protruding brickwork 10 feet back from bow.
   
2. Caught on bow fender.
   
3. caught on side fenders.
   

Any of these could have caused the boat to develop a list to starboard as seen, and to wedge as seen, 10 feet back, whilst the stern (in a slightly wider bit of lock) dropped free.

 

I note your dismissal ow option 2, but cannot agree with it.

 

The bow fender appears to have been displaced, which must raise the question as to its involvement. As you rightly note, the boat was far enough back to allow the bottom gates to open. We must, however allow for two things here;

• as the stern went down, and the bow up, the front of the boat desribes an arc, which moves back from the gate.
  
• As you work down the stempost, it becomes shorter the nearer the normal water line you get
  
• As the boat settled down by the stern, it may have moved backwards before finally jamming
  

Not conclusive evidence that it was a bow fender hangup, but nothing that makes it impossible or unlikely.

 

Given that the condition of the lock can easily be examined, and that no apparent ledge was seen, I have to say that a fender hangup is most likely IMHO

[SteveE]

Well, now that we have got over the initial batch of people who came to conclusions that were way off beam because they hadn't even worked out which way the boat was going....

 

I see three possible causes of this incident;

1. Caught on protruding brickwork 10 feet back from bow.
   
2. Caught on bow fender.
   
3. caught on side fenders.
   

Any of these could have caused the boat to develop a list to starboard as seen, and to wedge as seen, 10 feet back, whilst the stern (in a slightly wider bit of lock) dropped free.

 

I note your dismissal ow option 2, but cannot agree with it.

 

The bow fender appears to have been displaced, which must raise the question as to its involvement. As you rightly note, the boat was far enough back to allow the bottom gates to open. We must, however allow for two things here;

• as the stern went down, and the bow up, the front of the boat desribes an arc, which moves back from the gate.
  
• As you work down the stempost, it becomes shorter the nearer the normal water line you get
  
• As the boat settled down by the stern, it may have moved backwards before finally jamming
  

Not conclusive evidence that it was a bow fender hangup, but nothing that makes it impossible or unlikely.

 

Given that the condition of the lock can easily be examined, and that no apparent ledge was seen, I have to say that a fender hangup is most likely IMHO

 

Agreed - option one to take into account what the person who was on the boat said.

Does anyone else think that the obsession with signage, see another thread currently), about cills is misplaced and that, if any more notices are needed, they should convey that fact that the drawers of any paddles should keep a close eye on the boat in the lock and be prepared to drop the paddles if anything goes wrong, as with Abigail and the other disasters which have been discussed this year, including rudders stck in gates, front fenders caught under and over, side fenders over-beaming boats, etc, etc?

SteveE

[magnetman]

Agreed - option one to take into account what the person who was on the boat said.

Does anyone else think that the obsession with signage, see another thread currently), about cills is misplaced and that, if any more notices are needed, they should convey that fact that the drawers of any paddles should keep a close eye on the boat in the lock and be prepared to drop the paddles if anything goes wrong, as with Abigail and the other disasters which have been discussed this year, including rudders stck in gates, front fenders caught under and over, side fenders over-beaming boats, etc, etc?

SteveE

The irony with more and more signs is they all take a little bit of time to read and understand properly, meanwhile attention is taken away from the boat. Its a bit like those signs by the road saying, in small print, "35 people have been killed or seriously injured in this area during 2008". So a this point drivers are looking away from the road. Oops there goes number 36.