NB on weir at Ditchford, R. Nene

[Proper Job]

................

 

Ps not sure why they haven't started winching. Photos are deceptive but it looks to me as if you could winch it into the lock cut.

With the front third of the boat to one side of the fulcrum and the stern two thirds in the flow to the other side of the fulcrum, your going to need one big F'off winch to go against that force.

 

Any risk of destabalising the boat in the current conditions could lead it to going down on to the sulices and probably sinking. Then they've got a serious salvage job on their hands

[boathunter]

Surely the solution is to close the sluices for ten minutes. With the flow stopped the boat should pop back up and float away!

 

I wonder why it hasn't sunk?

I don't think that's going to pop back up, it must be half full of water. I'd guess the stern is on the bottom/bank.

 

Amateur view - Lift the stern to allow the water underneath and take the pressure off.

[Guest]

Surely the solution is to close the sluices for ten minutes. With the flow stopped the boat should pop back up and float away!

 

 

Extremely unlikely surely? - for one thing it looks well 'pinned down' now by the barrier and at least the engine compartment will be full of water -

[cheshire~rose]

Very sad. It's clear a lot of you are experienced boaters and wouldn't have got into this situation, but for the rest of us it's easy enough to see what happened and learn a lesson without putting ourselves in a similar position.

 

For myself the more events like this that I read about the more respect I'll have for rivers set against a plodding, relatively difficult to manouvre NB. I'll be reading and learning for years before I dare venture onto such a river, particularly down-stream when it's clear events happen so quickly there's barely time to react before it can go so horribly wrong.

 

My "wise after the event" comment would be that if the island was extended with armco or similar, this couldn't have happened? I'm fully expecting others to say there'd be no need if you could handle your boat properly, but it's a fact that some people have little experience and the only way to gain it is by having a go...

 

You should not let dicussion of these types of events put you off going on rivers. I alsways find the discussions on here very helpful as it makes me stop for a moment and think about how we might react if faced with the same circumstances and with the benefit of people joining the discussion who are far more experienced than I am ever likely to be I would hope that a few words of wisdom lodge in the grey matter in such a way that should the circumstances arise I will find them at the forefront of my mind in an emergency.

I understand the river rose quite fast on this occasion and so the people on this boat may have been caught on the river unexpectedly but there are many occasions when rivers can be very calm and beautiful places to take your boat and so long as you make sure you are well prepared they are perfectly safe to use and it is a great pity when people are put off.

 

After all we all think nothing of jumping in the car and getting on the motorway do we? Where is the pleasure to be gained from that? Lets all remember this is a very sad incident for the people involved and whatever happened should not stop us from enjoying our boats

[boathunter]

Granted, but all the same I think I'll potter about on the canals for a while. lol

 

When I learned to sail in a dinghy I could afford to make cock-ups all the time - it wouldn't sink and if it ended upside down or stuck in some trees it didn't really matter. The difference with a NB is you don't have that luxury and a completely different approach is required. I don't think you could do that ^ too many times before your insurance premium became unmanageable (if you were still alive and keen to carry on). I think the owners here were very lucky the bows jammed in the lock approach enabling them to get off - a few meteres further back and they could have slipped under the barrier and headed down the weir backwards. Doesn't bear thinking about.

[Guest]

Good post Cr.

 

Rivers add another dimension to boating - a little more challenging sometimes, but that is the appeal.

 

Dangerous only if people are reckless and/stupid or get caught unawares by something totally unpredictable.

 

Additionally some like the Aire are quite benign under normal conditions, even when the boards are on amber and it's running faster than usual after rain it's a pussy cat, different of course if it's flood conditions but then you'd have to be stupid to venture onto any river with the boards in the red.

[Tuscan]

My one experience of the Nene was a pleasant cruise down to Forheringay, there is generally fairly limited mooring. On the return it started to rain and we ended up tied to a tree in the flooded garden by the pub at Wadenhoe whilst the lock was lifted for flood relief. We were there over a week. However there were quite a few warnings not to boat if the river started rising. I am so glad the owners are safe.

[GUMPY]

As has been said before

The River Nene is a sometimes navigable flood control system.

It is a really unpleasant place to be when there is some fresh on and will bite you at the slightest oppotunity.

[blackrose]

It's also difficult to image a different design of weir protection that might have prevented this. Or maybe not. A far longer barrage at say, 45 degrees to the flow might have prevented the boat from blocking the river flow so badly...

 

I imagine something like this may have saved the boat.

 

 

Google maps linky.

 

MP.

 

Looking at that image I can see that trying to enter that lock with the river running fast would not be a good idea. Even if you managed to get the bow of the boat into the lock there would still be a lot of pull on the stern towards the barrage.

Edited November 2, 2012 by blackrose

[blackrose]

Very sad. It's clear a lot of you are experienced boaters and wouldn't have got into this situation, but for the rest of us it's easy enough to see what happened and learn a lesson without putting ourselves in a similar position.

 

For myself the more events like this that I read about the more respect I'll have for rivers set against a plodding, relatively difficult to manouvre NB. I'll be reading and learning for years before I dare venture onto such a river, particularly down-stream when it's clear events happen so quickly there's barely time to react before it can go so horribly wrong.

 

You are correct to the extent that navigating rivers needs a bit more understanding, awareness and respect because they are not always as forgiving as canals if or when you make a mistake.

 

My experience generally tells me not to take my boat out in adverse conditions including when the river is running fast.* Others can do what they like with their boats, but I'd rather not test my boat handling skills in such conditions and reduce the risk by not moving in the first place.

 

(* The only exception I've made to that is the tidal Thames through London. Although there are hazards you don't really have locks and weirs to think about in the fast flowing conditions).

Edited November 2, 2012 by blackrose

[the grinch]

from a post on FB it would appear that the boat is now half submerged and there is damage to the stern end steelwork.

as said previously the only way to start a winching recovery is to stop the flow temporarily but also a big pump is going to be needed as well. until the flow reduces its going to difficult to get one on site.

the other thing i find incredible is the arrival of yet another narrowboat!! why is there no sign or preventative methodd being employed at the lock above?

[Proper Job]

I imagine something like this may have saved the boat.

 

 

 

 

 

Not necessarily. The trouble with any weir protection is that once the boat is sideways across the stream, the current acting on the submerged portion of the hull trys to roll the boat over.

 

Seen it happen on several occasions with all different types of boat

[Guest]

 

I wonder how many boats are lost this way in France?

 

I was interested to see a number of unguarded weirs on La Sarth including this one, nothing more than a (pretty small) notice to alert you.

 

[Proper Job]

Common sense boating and hardly any boats using them (in comparison to UK inland waterways)?

[Guest]

Common sense boating and hardly any boats using them (in comparison to UK inland waterways)?

 

Probably - what struck me though is how difficult they are to spot at river level with out the great big orange barriers we so often see. As can be seen from that pic. the arrow on the land directing you to the lock is barely visible - it would not be be too difficult to imagine somebody going left and not right at that point. The sign warning of the weir from memory didn't actually say where it was.

Edited November 2, 2012 by The Dog House

[Tam & Di]

Probably - what struck me though is how difficult they are to spot at river level with out the great big orange barriers we so often see. As can be seen from that pic. the arrow on the land directing you to the lock is barely visible - it would not be be too difficult to imagine somebody going left and not right at that point. The sign warning of the weir from memory didn't actually say where it was.

 

Two important bits of kit are a decent set of cruising maps, such as the Navicartes, and some binoculars. You're right about the visibility of some of the signage, and a French owned pleasure barge went the wrong way on the Marne last year, near Damery I seem to recall, towards the weir rather than the lock. There was no appreciable flow and they were travelling upstream anyway, but they did hit some rocks and put a hole in the boat, which sank very rapidly.

[Proper Job]

This one that I came across on the river Cher last year is much the same.

 

 

No protection and no signage that I could see

 

Our H&S police would go apoplectic

[Tam & Di]

No protection and no signage that I could see

 

Our H&S police would go apoplectic

 

But you have to carry personal insurance, so you look after yourself rather than demanding someone else stops you doing stupid things. .

[RLWP]

This one that I came across on the river Cher last year is much the same.

 

 

No protection and no signage that I could see

 

Our H&S police would go apoplectic

 

Why? Isn't that weir set up like that so shallow drafted boats can pass over it going downstream?

 

Richard

[Guest]

Why? Isn't that weir set up like that so shallow drafted boats can pass over it going downstream?

 

Richard

 

Are there any or many unprotected like that in the UK though? - as in where deeper drafted boats could flounder.

[Proper Job]

Why? Isn't that weir set up like that so shallow drafted boats can pass over it going downstream?

 

Richard

You couldn't have gone over it in much more than a canoe

 

There is also a cable that runs across from the top of the two green posts. Not quite sure what it was for. It might help in times of high water(?) but would be-head you at the level we saw it

[the grinch]

the wire above i think is so that the slacker boards can be lifted, some french weirs have moveable panels that can be raised or lowered according to what level is required.

 

 

http://www.jph-lamotte.fr/files/plais-hist_lorrains.htm#photo-03

 

scroll down to the bottom drawing

Edited November 2, 2012 by hamsterfan

[Keeping Up]

You couldn't have gone over it in much more than a canoe

 

There is also a cable that runs across from the top of the two green posts. Not quite sure what it was for. It might help in times of high water(?) but would be-head you at the level we saw it

 

You can hang a net from it, and then play small-boat-tennis

[PaulJ]

Short interview with owners on local news - My link

Edited November 2, 2012 by PaulJ

[boathunter]

So I guess the NB is still stuck where it was this time yesterday... For some reason I expected there to be more of a rush to get it out. I would have thought it'll be happily collecting more and more debris until the river if effectively dammed? That can't be helpful.

Edited November 2, 2012 by boathunter