Closest to disaster....

[Wanderer Vagabond]

Working on the principle that it is far cheaper to learn from other people's mistakes than from your own (and can be far more entertaining!) how close have you ever come to disaster? and how did you avoid it?

 

To set the ball rolling I'll relate my own pratfall which dates from a trip with family along the Trent and Mersey. Always aware of the risks of cilling a boat we always pushed the boat as far forward in the lock as possible when going down. On this occasion my son was steering the boat whilst my wife and I operated the lock. All going to plan, wife closed rear gate of the lock as I opened the paddle(s) on the front gate. What I had failed to notice was that the bow of the boat was touching the lock gate and as the water drained from the lock the bow was not going down (the stern was!). Instant panic and shut all paddles to see what was happening. Rather bizarrely for some reason my first thought was that something had sunk in the lock and we were resting on top of it. The rather more prosaic reason turned out to be that the bow fender was caught on one of the cross beams of the lock gate. Solution was straightforward to refill the lock and push it off the gate but I learnt the lesson that if you are not watching what you are doing things can go wrong very rapidly. I would like to think that the fender would have broken before the boat began to sink but I wouldn't like to bet my house on it!

 

Having exposed myself to the expected ridicule, what is the closest YOU have come to disaster?

[Smelly]

I got nattering descending Marple in similar circumstances; there was daylight shining under the boat before the person I was nattering to noticed how low the stern was.

 

Then again; sticking my hand through the bottom of the boat wasn't funny either!

[David Mack]

The rather more prosaic reason turned out to be that the bow fender was caught on one of the cross beams of the lock gate.

 

Which is why you should always have a weak link in the chains holding your bow fender - hacksaw through one side of a link.

 

David

[ditchcrawler]

Working on the principle that it is far cheaper to learn from other people's mistakes than from your own (and can be far more entertaining!) how close have you ever come to disaster? and how did you avoid it?

 

To set the ball rolling I'll relate my own pratfall which dates from a trip with family along the Trent and Mersey. Always aware of the risks of cilling a boat we always pushed the boat as far forward in the lock as possible when going down. On this occasion my son was steering the boat whilst my wife and I operated the lock. All going to plan, wife closed rear gate of the lock as I opened the paddle(s) on the front gate. What I had failed to notice was that the bow of the boat was touching the lock gate and as the water drained from the lock the bow was not going down (the stern was!). Instant panic and shut all paddles to see what was happening. Rather bizarrely for some reason my first thought was that something had sunk in the lock and we were resting on top of it. The rather more prosaic reason turned out to be that the bow fender was caught on one of the cross beams of the lock gate. Solution was straightforward to refill the lock and push it off the gate but I learnt the lesson that if you are not watching what you are doing things can go wrong very rapidly. I would like to think that the fender would have broken before the boat began to sink but I wouldn't like to bet my house on it!

 

Having exposed myself to the expected ridicule, what is the closest YOU have come to disaster?

I would suggest you rehang your fender before you go out next so its free to ride up over the bow.

[mykaskin]

You don't need a fender to get hung up in locks:

 

 

Mike

[nina]

Exactly the same though not our fault. I was on the bottom lock, husband steering the boat, no problems up until then. Lock almost empty then 2 children at the request of their father, open top lock before out boat had emerged. Result? Sudden gush of water throws our boat backwards onto cill bending the skeg. I rush up to top lock and father of girls who is sat on his own boat drinking wine, tells me to ***** off unaware that our boat has been seriously hindered (tiller won't steer).

Result? After safely mooring boat after limping out of lock, husband pays drunk father a visit with a windlass in hand. By pure accident of course. Not good but no harm done.

We end up spending 2 days out of a week in a dry dock in Cropredy at the cost of 150.00 pounds.

 

That's why I think children should be surpervised at locks and health & safety should apply. If not for them then for us.

[Theo]

Which is why you should always have a weak link in the chains holding your bow fender - hacksaw through one side of a link.

 

David

 

I tried that and it works well but once the weak link has been spread out then you need to repair it with two shackles and another weak link. What I use these days is a nice thick cable tie pulled in tightly.

 

Nick

[Graham Davis]

Exactly the same though not our fault. I was on the bottom lock, husband steering the boat, no problems up until then. Lock almost empty then 2 children at the request of their father, open top lock before out boat had emerged. Result? Sudden gush of water throws our boat backwards onto cill bending the skeg. I rush up to top lock and father of girls who is sat on his own boat drinking wine, tells me to ***** off unaware that our boat has been seriously hindered (tiller won't steer).

Result? After safely mooring boat after limping out of lock, husband pays drunk father a visit with a windlass in hand. By pure accident of course. Not good but no harm done.

We end up spending 2 days out of a week in a dry dock in Cropredy at the cost of 150.00 pounds.

 

That's why I think children should be surpervised at locks and health & safety should apply. If not for them then for us.

 

I might be thick, but was this on a staircase or something?

[JDR]

Quite tame compared to some above but.....

 

First time out on the boat by myself, Gt Ouse, decent flow on the river. First lock I get to is Cardington, a ninety degree left turn in front of a weir. I spend too much time trying to make a perfect entry rather than "get the front in quick" technique needed. By the time the bow is in the entrance the stern is heading for the weir and revving the nuts off the engine is holding boat in place but not making any headway away from weir. Luckily my guardian angel Steve had followed me in a tender suspecting rightly that I was an idiot. Tied the tiller to one side then managed to get a rope to shore. Two of us pulling got it lined up with lock , back on boat and job done.

 

The weir was protected so I wouldn't have lost the boat but could have spent a nerve wracking few hours stuck on the boon.

 

Lesson learnt-rope is better than an engine in some circumstances and get the front in quick and the rest will follow.

[David Mack]

I tried that and it works well but once the weak link has been spread out then you need to repair it with two shackles and another weak link. What I use these days is a nice thick cable tie pulled in tightly.

 

Nick

 

Err..... The weak link is there to protect you in the event of an impending disaster, not to be used on a regular basis!

 

And if the the link has spread then judicious use of a brummagem screwdriver will close it again (assuming it hasn't fallen off).

 

Have you actually checked your cable tie will fail if you hang up on the fender. I recall reading of someone whose fine rope 'weak link' didn't fail when put to the test for real.

 

David

[blackrose]

You don't need a fender to get hung up in locks:

 

 

Mike

 

Were you doing this as some sort of controlled demonstration in how not to take your boat through a lock Mike?

 

I only ask as it looks like the same boat as your avatar and if this happened to me I think the last thing I'd do would be to stand back and take a picture.

 

I can't see anyone refilling the lock?

Edited December 18, 2011 by blackrose

[onionbargee]

You don't need a fender to get hung up in locks:

 

 

Mike

I did exactly the same thing with Tadworth, though in a wide lock, the bow got jammed in the top gate recess when the boat was diagonal across the chamber.

 

 

Also i never use bow fender, they are just asking to get hung up.

[journeyperson]

One or more of the River Avon locks has a swing footbridge across the lock which needs to be swung away before filling the lock. We were going up alongside another boat and nobody thought about moving the swing bridge until I realized from my position on the stern that an accident was imminent. By the time the paddles had been dropped the boat and bridge had made contact but no damage was done. Going down it isn't possible to enter the lock with the bridge in the closed position, but going up is a different matter. There are operation notices but none of us read them beforehand.

[Wanderer Vagabond]

I've just seen this one in a link from 'Retirement with No Problem' blog:-

 

http://waterwaynews.blogspot.com/2011/08/bw-recover-stricken-boat-photos.html

 

so you dont even have to have closed the lock gates before you can get into trouble, scary

[Janet S]

We ended up almost with a disaster at Barrowford Locks at the back end of October...

 

Everything was going well...we were using our usual tactics of R.J. going ahead to prepare the next lock...I was opening the gate paddles to go down when I suddenly realised that the bow of the boat was stuck in the gate ...I dropped the paddles then raced back to get on the boat and kick her into reverse...

 

It was all over in seconds, but made me very well aware of how careful you need to be...and just for once, I forgot about my camera...!

 

Janet

[Tinally]

At the end of my first season with "Tinally" at Boston marina, the steering became what you might call a little worn, culminating one afternoon in my cruising steadily past my mooring while frantically spinning the helm in the hope that it would respond! A burst of reverse made me dead in the water and a passing mariner kindly threw me a line and pulled me in.

 

The boat was due to come out of the water the following week anyway, so I added "a new helm, cable etc" to my shopping list. There were several jobs to be done on her that winter ( come to think of it, it seems there always are! ) and with being busy and the weather being very cold, repairs were done at the last minute before re-launching, in fact fitting the new helm unit and cable was the last thing I did. It all went in remarkably easily and I looked to the stern as I spun the wheel and watched the steering arm moving from side to side. Packed up, went home,came down early next day for the launch.

 

Now in those days we launched from the trailer at the Grand Sluice in Boston and having been craned in I pulled "Tinally" out of the way and went through the usual post launch checks, i.e.

 

"Can I heard a bubbling sound from anywhere?"

 

and checking under the floor that there is not actually any water coming in! Checks satisfactorily completed I breathed a sigh of relief and fired her up, push off, opened the throttle and turned to starboard towards my mooring. The boat turned to port and headed towards the boom guarding the sluice!

 

I had to look down and make sure I was actually turning the wheel the right way.....and I was. A millisecond or two passed and I realised my ghastly error. When I put the helm in I checked the steering arm was moving freely, but didn't stop to consider if it was moving in the right direction!! My new helm unit worked in the opposite direction to the old one, so to turn right, I had to turn left and you would not believe how incredibly difficult I found it to override my instincts and navigate a way to my mooring. I'm told that spectators ( where do they all come from when you're in trouble? ) were convinced I was pi.....slightly inebriated as I zig zagged back and forth across the river to my mooring.

 

When I phoned the company that supplied the helm unit they sent an adaptor that allowed the cable to travel in the opposite direction and the situation was resolved with an afternoon's fiddling about, but it has taught me never to take anything for granted and check and double check what you've done is actually producing the right results!

Edited December 18, 2011 by Tinally

[Ally]

Exactly the same though not our fault. I was on the bottom lock, husband steering the boat, no problems up until then. Lock almost empty then 2 children at the request of their father, open top lock before out boat had emerged. Result? Sudden gush of water throws our boat backwards onto cill bending the skeg. I rush up to top lock and father of girls who is sat on his own boat drinking wine, tells me to ***** off unaware that our boat has been seriously hindered (tiller won't steer).

Result? After safely mooring boat after limping out of lock, husband pays drunk father a visit with a windlass in hand. By pure accident of course. Not good but no harm done.

We end up spending 2 days out of a week in a dry dock in Cropredy at the cost of 150.00 pounds.

 

That's why I think children should be surpervised at locks and health & safety should apply. If not for them then for us.

is it me? This doesn't make sense in my head........?

[DaveP]

August on the Calder & Hebble coming down from Cooper Bridge

 

Single-handing my 58': so plant it diagonally in the lock before opening the bottom paddles, get chatting to a gongoozler and notice just a bit to late that the tiller arm has swung across over the lock side and is holding the rear up. Fortunately I don't travel with a pin in it and the rudder wasn't too close to the cill and a good kicking made it roll over the stone and the boat to drop the couple of inches back into equilibrium.

 

Thus on all subsequent C&H short locks the tiller bar was removed and stowed before opening the paddles!

[matty40s]

is it me? This doesn't make sense in my head........?

 

it's nina, she doesn't like kids........

 

must be the third time she has said they must be locked in the gas locker whilst out cruising.....

[Gazboatman]

Going through Stourport basins not so long ago after buying our 50ft springer. After entering the first basin just after leaving the river Severn there is a tightish turn into the next narrow lock. I was operating the locks and after getting the second lock ready I thought it would be a good idea to sit on the enge where I expected the boat to hit the wall and try lessen the impact or atleast help the boat around the turn with my feet!

 

Now I must add this was the first time we had ever navigated a narrow boat and the only experience we had was on the wide sharpness and Gloucester and the 40 miles of wide Severn and this was our first time where any skills in controling the boat were needed.

 

Anyway the boat hit the wall with a bang just missing both my legs as I pulled them out of the way! I dred to think what a mess that could have made.

 

Was such a stupid thing to do and made me realise how quickly things could go wrong without thinking, needless to say I didn't try that again!

[bizzard]

is it me? This doesn't make sense in my head........?

Perhaps they'd reversed into the lock going up hill and it surged backwards and clobbered the cill when the top paddles were opened.

 

Sorry forget this i've just re-read it.

Edited December 18, 2011 by bizzard

[Graham Davis]

Glad it isn't me being thick then, because I queried it earlier.

[Midnight Rider]

Exactly the same though not our fault. I was on the bottom lock, husband steering the boat, no problems up until then. Lock almost empty then 2 children at the request of their father, open top lock before out boat had emerged. Result? Sudden gush of water throws our boat backwards onto cill bending the skeg. I rush up to top lock and father of girls who is sat on his own boat drinking wine, tells me to ***** off unaware that our boat has been seriously hindered (tiller won't steer).

Result? After safely mooring boat after limping out of lock, husband pays drunk father a visit with a windlass in hand. By pure accident of course. Not good but no harm done.

We end up spending 2 days out of a week in a dry dock in Cropredy at the cost of 150.00 pounds.

 

That's why I think children should be surpervised at locks and health & safety should apply. If not for them then for us.

 

 

is it me? This doesn't make sense in my head........?

No, I can't get my head round this one. If you are going down the 2nd lock in a 2 lock staircase then the next boat down has got to refill the top lock, open the gate, take the boat in & close the gate before they can send any water down. You should be well clear by then.

[safsnowball]

If you substitute "bottom paddles" for "bottom lock" and "top paddles" for "top lock" then it makes sense. I think that's what Nina was trying to say

[nina]

No, I can't get my head round this one. If you are going down the 2nd lock in a 2 lock staircase then the next boat down has got to refill the top lock, open the gate, take the boat in & close the gate before they can send any water down. You should be well clear by then.

 

 

I didn't say it was a staircase although we went down up and down two lots of staircase locks on the same cruise, one being Watford without any problems. It was two separate locks but close together. As I walked to the second (bottom) a girl came up the hill and started opening the top lock. Seen it happen several times before when people are in a hurry to get into a lock before the boat inside the lock has exited.