Dunked Like A Teabag...

[BlueStringPudding]

What an evening I had last night! Long story this, so get yourself a cuppa:

 

We were moored in Stratford basin, Kev was at work on a late shift and I came home from work just as the weather was turning nasty (6 ish). We were moored against one of the pontoons, bow in at the bank as always. The bow was secured with a rope to two cleats on the bank-side, the centre rope on a pontoon cleat and the back rope had been brought forward to create a second middle rope, a bit further back from the other and was tied to the pontoon's rearmost cleat. About 15ft or so of our back end was sticking out as we're a darn sight longer than the pontoons. But we've always moored here like that (as do all the other longer boats) and never had a problem.

 

Like this (black arrow shows roughly the direction of the wind):

 

 

Well, the weather got wetter and windier. And windier. And windier. Until some of the gusts were so strong they were pushing the boat out 3ft from the pontoon, and the two middle ropes (which were attached to the roof rails - only place to tie them to) were listing us over at an increasingly worrying angle . I tightened the bow ropes but couldn't pull the back of the boat in any further as the wind resisting my pulling, was tipping us further over and the pontoons were so slippery I couldn't get any purchase on them.

 

Concerned we were top heavy (water tank nearly empty) I took everything heavyish off the roof (only a few planters and some logs) and went back inside. But then a couple of very strong gusts tilted the boat so far over that I went flying and realised it just wasn't safe to be on there – there was a very real chance of us tipping right over. So after much consideration I abandoned ship! I stood for ages in the rain wracking my brains as to how I could better secure the boat but it was so blowy and wet and dark, I was struggling to think of a safe option. There was no-one around, not even aboard a short boat moored near us.

 

I went away for twenty mins or so to warm up and try to think of a plan - I phoned Kev but couldn't get through. Eventually I decided I had to try and save the boat. So I went got back on the boat, I got down to just one layer of clothes despite the cold and rain (I float like an anvil as it is and didn't need layers of clothing dragging me down if I plopped in), put on a lifejacket and went back out to tackle the ropes. I edged along the pontoon, managed to untie our centre rope and remove it. I then edged round the gunnels to the opposite side (on the water side of the boat) retied the rope to the roof railings on that side and hurled the rope across the 8ft or so of water to the neighbouring pontoon. I edged back round the gunnels, literally crawled along the neighbouring pontoon (which was like an ice rink) and bouncing about in the wind, and I secured the rope to the cleats on that pontoon. This meant that although we now only had one rope resisting the push of the wind against the back of boat, there was also one rope pulling us from the other side to counteract the tipping over of the boat, plus the bow rope.

 

Like this: (Gawd forbid a boat try to moor next to us the following morning, they'd have been garroted)

 

 

I managed to get back in the boat, shivering cold and wet but relieved that we felt much sturdier in the wind. The creaking ropes made a gawd awful noise, but we were moving far less. I took off my life jacket and finally Kev phoned me having just got my messages. I was quite shaken but alright and told him what I'd done which he agreed sounded like the securest option. I went outside as we talked to improve the phone reception and slipped and went straight into the water!

 

My phone skidded out of my hand across the pontoon, I didn't have my life jacket on, and I don't swim! Twat, I thought to myself. My phone had slid to a standstill on the pontoon about 4ft out of my reach and Kev had heard the splash and was panicking - I could hear him calling to me on the phone. I meanwhile had become wedged between the boat and the pontoon edge. I was in a lot of pain but thankfully not completely submerged because of becoming wedged in. I tried a couple of times to pull myself out but with one leg buckled up under me and half of me in the water, I couldn't do it. But I also knew that thanks to the new rope I'd tied, I was fairly unlikely to get completely crushed. I shouted to Kev that I was ok, half in the water but stuck so clearly not drowning! After a few attempts I managed to haul my ample weight out of the water and lay on the pontoon, drenched, in the rain and the cold, grumbling about my hurt leg and trying to calm Kev down on the other end of the phone who was about to phone an ambulance! Blimey.

 

After a while I’d gathered my wits, emptied the water out of my boots (my fave red biker boots too, bugger) and decided it’d be safer to clamber back along the pontoon and into the boat in my socks – and they did indeed prove grippier than the boots had.

 

A colleague of Kev’s drove him home so he was back from work much earlier than usual and gave me some much needed pampering (including a double brandy!). My inner thigh now looks black and interstingly lumpy like I’ve been repeatedly kicked with a pair of football boots. The inside edge is so swollen I can’t stand with my legs parallel! And I seem to have buggered the tendon at the back of the knee and there’s a lump the size of an egg on the side of my shin. Other than that a few muscles strains and a sniffle is all that’s wrong. Thank goodness. No need for ambulances or doctors. Phew. I’m walking like Douglas Bader and aching like a bastard, but to be honest I’m thankful for the pain, because if I hadn’t got wedged between the boat and the pontoon, I might not be here to tell the (rather lengthy) tale.

 

One last thing: Once I got back into the boat and got out of my wet clothes I notice that while I’d been away umming-and-arring about how to better secure the boat or whether to remain abandoned-ship, the boat must have tipped very very heavily indeed in the wind. I know this because our TV (which isn’t heavy) is mounted on a cantilevered bracket on the port side of the lounge – the hinges on the bracket are fairly stiff and it takes two hands to pull it out from the wall – it had swung out a good 45 degrees from the wall just from the force of the wind pushing the boat over. Blimey. Glad I wasn't on board when that happened.

 

And what have we learned so far, boys and girls?

1. Never tie a narrowboat by its roof railings (even if it’s all you got to tie to!) - just moor somewhere else.
   
2. If you tile your bathroom, have heavy crap on your roof and your water tank's almost empty, you’d probably ought to reballast your boat - or poo more to fill up the toilet tank.
   
3. Never wear red biker boots on a pontoon (they’ve always been my grippiest boating footwear but not in this case)
   
4. Don’t tie a long boat to a short pontoon unless you’ve got cleats low down on the side of your boat
   
5. Check the weather forecast
   
6. If you’re gonna fall in try to get a hefty thigh or two wedged in – squashy bits heal better than lungs full of water, if you’re lucky enough not to break any bones.
   
7. Buy a spare rope
   
8. Don't take a phonecall outside in crappy weather
   

 

FIN

[Bones]

Golly gosh! Well, I am pleased you are OK, that is the most important thing indeed! The problem is, you have such a good style of writing that my tea is now all over the monitor from where I went from 'OMG thats awful' to the most stunning cartoon mental images (perhaps it is the way my brain works) - which were far too amusing to control my mouth muscles!

 

Thank goodness the boss isn't in.

 

I trust you will be resting amply and taking it easy - I am impressed you got yourself out of the water, and you are OK.

 

PHEW.

[alan_fincher]

Yeah!, Yeah!

 

Apart from that, how was your evening?

 

 

Seriously: I'm very glad you are OK - sounds very scary, although I did expect part of the story to be the mobile vanishing under water, I must admit.

[Daftmare]

What an evening I had last night! Long story this, so get yourself a cuppa:

 

We were moored in Stratford basin, Kev was at work on a late shift and I came home from work just as the weather was turning nasty (6 ish). We were moored against one of the pontoons, bow in at the bank as always. The bow was secured with a rope to two cleats on the bank-side, the centre rope on a pontoon cleat and the back rope had been brought forward to create a second middle rope, a bit further back from the other and was tied to the pontoon's rearmost cleat. About 15ft or so of our back end was sticking out as we're a darn sight longer than the pontoons. But we've always moored here like that (as do all the other longer boats) and never had a problem.

 

Like this (black arrow shows roughly the direction of the wind):

 

 

Well, the weather got wetter and windier. And windier. And windier. Until some of the gusts were so strong they were pushing the boat out 3ft from the pontoon, and the two middle ropes (which were attached to the roof rails - only place to tie them to) were listing us over at an increasingly worrying angle . I tightened the bow ropes but couldn't pull the back of the boat in any further as the wind resisting my pulling, was tipping us further over and the pontoons were so slippery I couldn't get any purchase on them.

 

Concerned we were top heavy (water tank nearly empty) I took everything heavyish off the roof (only a few planters and some logs) and went back inside. But then a couple of very strong gusts tilted the boat so far over that I went flying and realised it just wasn't safe to be on there – there was a very real chance of us tipping right over. So after much consideration I abandoned ship! I stood for ages in the rain wracking my brains as to how I could better secure the boat but it was so blowy and wet and dark, I was struggling to think of a safe option. There was no-one around, not even aboard a short boat moored near us.

 

I went away for twenty mins or so to warm up and try to think of a plan - I phoned Kev but couldn't get through. Eventually I decided I had to try and save the boat. So I went got back on the boat, I got down to just one layer of clothes despite the cold and rain (I float like an anvil as it is and didn't need layers of clothing dragging me down if I plopped in), put on a lifejacket and went back out to tackle the ropes. I edged along the pontoon, managed to untie our centre rope and remove it. I then edged round the gunnels to the opposite side (on the water side of the boat) retied the rope to the roof railings on that side and hurled the rope across the 8ft or so of water to the neighbouring pontoon. I edged back round the gunnels, literally crawled along the neighbouring pontoon (which was like an ice rink) and bouncing about in the wind, and I secured the rope to the cleats on that pontoon. This meant that although we now only had one rope resisting the push of the wind against the back of boat, there was also one rope pulling us from the other side to counteract the tipping over of the boat, plus the bow rope.

 

Like this: (Gawd forbid a boat try to moor next to us the following morning, they'd have been garroted)

 

 

I managed to get back in the boat, shivering cold and wet but relieved that we felt much sturdier in the wind. The creaking ropes made a gawd awful noise, but we were moving far less. I took off my life jacket and finally Kev phoned me having just got my messages. I was quite shaken but alright and told him what I'd done which he agreed sounded like the securest option. I went outside as we talked to improve the phone reception and slipped and went straight into the water!

 

My phone skidded out of my hand across the pontoon, I didn't have my life jacket on, and I don't swim! Twat, I thought to myself. My phone had slid to a standstill on the pontoon about 4ft out of my reach and Kev had heard the splash and was panicking - I could hear him calling to me on the phone. I meanwhile had become wedged between the boat and the pontoon edge. I was in a lot of pain but thankfully not completely submerged because of becoming wedged in. I tried a couple of times to pull myself out but with one leg buckled up under me and half of me in the water, I couldn't do it. But I also knew that thanks to the new rope I'd tied, I was fairly unlikely to get completely crushed. I shouted to Kev that I was ok, half in the water but stuck so clearly not drowning! After a few attempts I managed to haul my ample weight out of the water and lay on the pontoon, drenched, in the rain and the cold, grumbling about my hurt leg and trying to calm Kev down on the other end of the phone who was about to phone an ambulance! Blimey.

 

After a while I’d gathered my wits, emptied the water out of my boots (my fave red biker boots too, bugger) and decided it’d be safer to clamber back along the pontoon and into the boat in my socks – and they did indeed prove grippier than the boots had.

 

A colleague of Kev’s drove him home so he was back from work much earlier than usual and gave me some much needed pampering (including a double brandy!). My inner thigh now looks black and interstingly lumpy like I’ve been repeatedly kicked with a pair of football boots. The inside edge is so swollen I can’t stand with my legs parallel! And I seem to have buggered the tendon at the back of the knee and there’s a lump the size of an egg on the side of my shin. Other than that a few muscles strains and a sniffle is all that’s wrong. Thank goodness. No need for ambulances or doctors. Phew. I’m walking like Douglas Bader and aching like a bastard, but to be honest I’m thankful for the pain, because if I hadn’t got wedged between the boat and the pontoon, I might not be here to tell the (rather lengthy) tale.

 

One last thing: Once I got back into the boat and got out of my wet clothes I notice that while I’d been away umming-and-arring about how to better secure the boat or whether to remain abandoned-ship, the boat must have tipped very very heavily indeed in the wind. I know this because our TV (which isn’t heavy) is mounted on a cantilevered bracket on the port side of the lounge – the hinges on the bracket are fairly stiff and it takes two hands to pull it out from the wall – it had swung out a good 45 degrees from the wall just from the force of the wind pushing the boat over. Blimey. Glad I wasn't on board when that happened.

 

And what have we learned so far, boys and girls?

1. Never tie a narrowboat by its roof railings (even if it’s all you got to tie to!) - just moor somewhere else.
   
2. If you tile your bathroom, have heavy crap on your roof and your water tank's almost empty, you’d probably ought to reballast your boat - or poo more to fill up the toilet tank.
   
3. Never wear red biker boots on a pontoon (they’ve always been my grippiest boating footwear but not in this case)
   
4. Don’t tie a long boat to a short pontoon unless you’ve got cleats low down on the side of your boat
   
5. Check the weather forecast
   
6. If you’re gonna fall in try to get a hefty thigh or two wedged in – squashy bits heal better than lungs full of water, if you’re lucky enough not to break any bones.
   
7. Buy a spare rope
   
8. Don't take a phonecall outside in crappy weather
   

 

FIN

 

 

Goodness - poor you! And all this in Stratford Basin, which I would have thought would be nice and safe.

Lots of lessons for us all here.

Do hope you recovery soon.

Jo.

[MoominPapa]

Blimey! That sounds scary, but a good story for the store!

 

Dragging the topic round to boring boaty things, how hard is it _really_ to tip over a boat with a pull at roof level? I know the answer will vary between boats: Melaleuca is nearly 3ft deep, and has a LOT of weight under the floor to keep her down that far. From experience it's pretty difficult to create any significant heal at all with the centre rope, so I tend not to worry about it, doing things like stopping the boat with a centre rope around a bollard from quite reasonable speeds. Am I risking problems? Would I be with a shallower, lighter, boat?

 

MP.

[alan_fincher]

From experience it's pretty difficult to create any significant heal at all with the centre rope, so I tend not to worry about it, doing things like stopping the boat with a centre rope around a bollard from quite reasonable speeds. Am I risking problems? Would I be with a shallower, lighter, boat?

 

MP.

Chalice is the reverse, being under-ballasted, in my view, particularly at the front, where she draws very little, if the water tank is empty. She also has a tall cabin, (very large internal headroom), exacerbating problems if she is anchored by a centre line.

 

Early on we had anxious moments when she was left tied to a bollard by a centre rope close to the foot of one of the Whilton/Buckby locks, which are deeper than most on the Grand Union, (about 9 foot fall in each).

 

As the paddles were drawn to empty it, water rushed between her bow and the bank, forcing it away from the bank. As the centre top was tied, it couldn't more, so the boat heeled over alarmingly.

 

Damage was limited to cupboard doors opening, and crockery cascading out, but it shook us up.

 

I now make a point of tying front and aft, not by the centre line, if leaving the boat below a deep lock that's about to be emptied.

 

But to make one go right over - very hard indeed, I'm guessing. I think BSP may have found the tipping experience alarming, but I think it highly unlikely that the boat could be overturned in this way.

[FadeToScarlet]

Blimey! That sounds scary, but a good story for the store!

 

Dragging the topic round to boring boaty things, how hard is it _really_ to tip over a boat with a pull at roof level? I know the answer will vary between boats: Melaleuca is nearly 3ft deep, and has a LOT of weight under the floor to keep her down that far. From experience it's pretty difficult to create any significant heal at all with the centre rope, so I tend not to worry about it, doing things like stopping the boat with a centre rope around a bollard from quite reasonable speeds. Am I risking problems? Would I be with a shallower, lighter, boat?

 

MP.

 

The Duck is somewhat tall and shallow, and is relatively easy to tip. It's easy to have a 10-15 degree list when stopping the boat on the centre line, if not more- after losing a few plates from the drying rack, I tend to clear the surfaces of loose and breakable things before going boating.

 

The second-worst time, I think, of having the boat over was near St. Pancras. I fixed the prop shaft and put the engine in gear, forgetting we were only tied with a centre rope. The heel was quite alarming, enough to lose things off the roof, open the cupboards inside, and tip things off the work surfaces.

 

The worst time, of course, was somewhat assisted by Fotheringay Bridge...

[dor]

If you tile your bathroom, have heavy crap on your roof and your water tank's almost empty, you’d probably ought to reballast your boat - or poo more to fill up the toilet tank.

 

Well what do you expect if you put it on the roof instead of in the toilet tank?

 

 

Glad you are (more or less) OK. Do you have loops welded on the gunwales for fenders? Perhaps you could use a chain from one of these rather than use the roof rails.

[MoominPapa]

The worst time, of course, was somewhat assisted by Fotheringay Bridge...

Well. I suppose that was a force applied at roof level! Somewhat special case though.

 

MP.

[carlt]

The worst time, of course, was somewhat assisted by Fotheringay Bridge...

It can happen to anyone!

[BlueStringPudding]

And I'm glad we didn't have the wind turbine up too! Definitely need more ballast.

 

Well what do you expect if you put it on the roof instead of in the toilet tank?

 

 

Glad you are (more or less) OK. Do you have loops welded on the gunwales for fenders? Perhaps you could use a chain from one of these rather than use the roof rails.

 

Yes we do have those loops and it crossed our minds to use them in the future, but they're tiny and quite thin metal, I think they'd twist or buckle if they were used to hold the boat against strong winds. Plus it'd need to be very skinny rope or chain to fit through them.

Edited March 4, 2009 by BlueStringPudding

[sueb]

Please report the incident to BW as they may need to do something about the slippy pontoons.

Sue

[FadeToScarlet]

And I'm glad we didn't have the wind turbine up too! Definitely need more ballast.

 

 

 

Yes we do have those loops and it crossed our minds to use them in the future, but they're tiny and quite thin metal, I think they'd twist or buckle if they were used to hold the boat against strong winds. Plus it'd need to be very skinny rope or chain to fit through them.

 

They're also probably not that well welded onto the gunnels- we had some, but we lost two when they were twisted off by the fenders we hung from them. Moral of the story- fenders on snap-hooks, remove them when going down a real narrow canal!

[Naughty Cal]

Sounds like you had an "interesting" evening.

 

Have only been on Cal once when it was really windy but it was blowing us against the pontoon. She does heel over but she is only light when compared with a steel boat. It was the bumping into the pontoon that was annoying. You just have to hold onto your drink!!!!!!

 

Not had a night like yours though

[BlueStringPudding]

Chalice is the reverse, being under-ballasted, in my view, particularly at the front, where she draws very little, if the water tank is empty. She also has a tall cabin, (very large internal headroom), exacerbating problems if she is anchored by a centre line.

 

Early on we had anxious moments when she was left tied to a bollard by a centre rope close to the foot of one of the Whilton/Buckby locks, which are deeper than most on the Grand Union, (about 9 foot fall in each).

 

As the paddles were drawn to empty it, water rushed between her bow and the bank, forcing it away from the bank. As the centre top was tied, it couldn't more, so the boat heeled over alarmingly.

 

Damage was limited to cupboard doors opening, and crockery cascading out, but it shook us up.

 

I now make a point of tying front and aft, not by the centre line, if leaving the boat below a deep lock that's about to be emptied.

 

But to make one go right over - very hard indeed, I'm guessing. I think BSP may have found the tipping experience alarming, but I think it highly unlikely that the boat could be overturned in this way.

 

That was what I was rather hoping, but I was surprised how extreme it became. The venetian blinds on the front window, being a vertical wall aren't fixed down at the bottom edge; and so have alwasy been a good indicator of when the boat's listing sufficiently to mean the toilet tank's nearly empty (bizarre, I know).

 

But last night the blinds were a complete parallelogram, all pressed up against the right-hand wall. We were at far great-an-angle than anytime we've pulled the boat into the bank just on the middle rope (and that's a fair old list that has lost us a few wine glasses in the past!)

[Naughty Cal]

You narrowboaters are spoilt. We get a list everytime a tank needs filling/emptying.

[BlueStringPudding]

Please report the incident to BW as they may need to do something about the slippy pontoons.

Sue

 

Good idea. I was amazed how slippery they were and that was before the frost hit - there was a coating of ice on them at 7am. This morning I cast off the boat from the pontoon in my socks! It was bloody freezing but the only way to grip to the surface!

 

You narrowboaters are spoilt. We get a list everytime a tank needs filling/emptying.

 

So do we! We're essentially a giant floating off-centre pootank! So listing is perfectly normal! That's why last night felt so extreme because it was really really bad, even by our lopsided pootank standards.

[Naughty Cal]

Good idea. I was amazed how slippery they were and that was before the frost hit - there was a coating of ice on them at 7am. This morning I cast off the boat from the pontoon in my socks! It was bloody freezing but the only way to grip to the surface!

 

 

 

So do we! We're essentially a giant floating off-centre pootank! So listing is perfectly normal! That's why last night felt so extreme because it was really really bad, even by our lopsided pootank standards.

 

If only it was just the poo tank. Thats makes her lean one way, the water tank the other and the fuel tank affects how high her nose sits (higher when full). Get the water tank empty, the poo tank full and the diesel running low and you have an interesting view on the world.

[Chris J W]

Sorry if this is a daft question - but why didn't you re-moor onto the other pontoon so that she'd be pushed into it, rather than away?

[Water Rat.]

Goodness me! I am so glad you are ok'ish. It sounded really frightening. So much for living a tranquil life on the water. Thank you for telling us everything so clearly, I have certainly learned a thing or two and am definately going to buy a boyancy aid in case I am ever alone in rough weather. I never really thought about getting one before, except for children. Hope the bruises heal soon.

[churchward]

Good idea. I was amazed how slippery they were and that was before the frost hit - there was a coating of ice on them at 7am. This morning I cast off the boat from the pontoon in my socks! It was bloody freezing but the only way to grip to the surface!

 

 

 

So do we! We're essentially a giant floating off-centre pootank! So listing is perfectly normal! That's why last night felt so extreme because it was really really bad, even by our lopsided pootank standards.

 

Very glad you are here to tell the tale and not too seriously injured. Boaters are made of stern stuff eh?

[PeterF]

I believe that another useful learning is to moor stern in beause the mooring points tend to be lower down on the rear of the boat and closer to the sides of the boat compared to the bow hence this would limit the heeling over more. Additionally there are normally 2 mooring points at the rear so you may have some chance, depending on location of cleats on the pontoon to have both sides attached which would further restrict the amount of heel. It may not solve the problem completely but I believe on short pontoons you are better rear in with a line to the top of the boat compared to bow in with a line to the top of the boat.

 

If you have to spend a lot of time on shorter pontoons would cutting a notch into the gunwhale half way along with a heavy bar welded in for a middle rope be a good idea. I do not know of the practicalities of this, someone else may have a more informed view.

 

PeterF

[Tim Lewis]

I believe that another useful learning is to moor stern in beause the mooring points tend to be lower down on the rear of the boat and closer to the sides of the boat compared to the bow hence this would limit the heeling over more. Additionally there are normally 2 mooring points at the rear so you may have some chance, depending on location of cleats on the pontoon to have both sides attached which would further restrict the amount of heel. It may not solve the problem completely but I believe on short pontoons you are better rear in with a line to the top of the boat compared to bow in with a line to the top of the boat.

 

If you have to spend a lot of time on shorter pontoons would cutting a notch into the gunwhale half way along with a heavy bar welded in for a middle rope be a good idea. I do not know of the practicalities of this, someone else may have a more informed view.

 

PeterF

 

We had a nightmare trying to moor stern in on the pontoons at Stratford (Bancroft) Basin last September, we tried two before we found one that had any depth and even then it was a struggle. We wished we'd carried on round the corner to the towpath moorings, it would have saved us about three quarters of an hour!

 

Tim

[alan_fincher]

We had a nightmare trying to moor stern in on the pontoons at Stratford (Bancroft) Basin last September, we tried two before we found one that had any depth and even then it was a struggle. We wished we'd carried on round the corner to the towpath moorings, it would have saved us about three quarters of an hour!

 

Tim

So if BSP adds much more ballast, she ain't going to be able to moor there anyway !

 

Although to be fair "the boat formerly known as Most Game" does look rather shallower draughted than Fulbourne.

[FadeToScarlet]

Goodness me! I am so glad you are ok'ish. It sounded really frightening. So much for living a tranquil life on the water. Thank you for telling us everything so clearly, I have certainly learned a thing or two and am definately going to buy a boyancy aid in case I am ever alone in rough weather. I never really thought about getting one before, except for children. Hope the bruises heal soon.

 

DOn't get a buoyancy aid, get an auto-inflating lifejacket. A buoyancy aid will only help you swim, but wearing any normal amount of clothing will slow you right down. Plus if you're unconscious and wearing one, you will probably die because it won't turn you right-side up.

 

Contrarily, an auto-inflate 175N plus lifejacket will inflate itself when you're in the water, and it will turn you right-side-up. Swimming when wearing one is admittedly harder, but it will support you properly and will more than compensate for heavy normal clothes. It is also a lot easier to wear, and less restrictive and hot than a buoyancy aid, so you're much more likely to wear it!

Edited March 4, 2009 by FadeToScarlet