Jump to content

Thames High Water

Serenity Malc

By Serenity Malc
in General Boating

 Share

Featured Posts

blackrose Veteran II

blackrose

Posted
Posted (edited)

Yello,

 

Well if that's all the owners of a fabulous wheel housed narrow boat think of their barge ...... well ..... f*ck them.

:lol:

 

Make sure you stay safe my buddy ... my 10hp little boat is available.

 

Malc. B)

 

Cheers, you too. Things coming down in the current keep hitting the bow of my boat. Now that the island is underwater it's really like being in the middle of the river. I just hope a tree doesn't come down and hit me - that's all I need now.

 

Are you sure you still want this mooring Malc? :P

Edited by blackrose
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Serenity Malc Collaborator

Serenity Malc

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

Yello,

 

Make sure your ropes are good and solid .... have some supplies on board .... and look after number one .... before you feel tempted to look after people who are too stupid or too rich to worry about the stuff that you and I would worry about.

 

Stay safe .... Malc B)

Edited by Serenity Malc
Link to comment
Share on other sites
matty40s Veteran II

matty40s

Posted
Posted

Take care you guys from another stuck on a river.

The Soar hasn't been in the green now for almost 5 weeks but at least i have had the security of locks to get in when it gets really bad.

I took a piccy of a log over 3 feet in diameter and 4 feet long above barrow lock the other day,really wouldnt like to get hit by that. Let CaRT know,but the guys who came to empty the water out of the crane barge today didnt have any interest in removing it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
OldGoat Veteran II

OldGoatDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

You missed the bit about the boat being chained and padlocked.

 

I was in that water up to my knees yesterday and it is bloody freezing! Painfully cold!

 

I am a nice bloke but to unlock it you'd probably have to get most of your body under to find the padlocks at the bow and stern. Also that boat could roll and I'm not risking my neck for a neglected boat.

 

 

Oh, well in that case discretion is the better part of valour!

 

I was bout to steal some of your photos and put them on the ybw site, but it might be nicer if you were inclined to pop them over yourself

Here - photos of St. Aines from the bridge

Teddington_Lock was asking about it and your pics show what it's like somewhat above Bell Weir.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
blackrose Veteran II

blackrose

Posted
Posted (edited)

Yello,

 

Make sure your ropes are good and solid .... have some supplies on board .... and look after number one .... before you feel tempted to look after people who are too stupid or too rich to worry about the stuff that you and I would worry about.

 

Stay safe .... Malc B)

 

Yes, good advice. I agree with that.

 

Oh, well in that case discretion is the better part of valour!

 

I was bout to steal some of your photos and put them on the ybw site, but it might be nicer if you were inclined to pop them over yourself

Here - photos of St. Aines from the bridge

Teddington_Lock was asking about it and your pics show what it's like somewhat above Bell Weir.

 

Feel free, by all means take the photos. I'm moored on the upstream end of The Island, otherwise known as Kingfisher Island. Just downstream of Friary Island.

Edited by blackrose
Link to comment
Share on other sites
keble Rising Star

keble

Posted
Posted

Up here near the source of the Thames (cirencester, river Churn) the levels are very high and close to spilling onto a busy local road. To prevent that they will have to release more water into the Thames pretty soon. It'll be coming your way ...

But the Severn does look like it's starting to ease off at last, you can just see the lock beams at Diglis (Worcester) now. My link

Link to comment
Share on other sites
blackrose Veteran II

blackrose

Posted
Posted

Up here near the source of the Thames (cirencester, river Churn) the levels are very high and close to spilling onto a busy local road. To prevent that they will have to release more water into the Thames pretty soon. It'll be coming your way ...

But the Severn does look like it's starting to ease off at last, you can just see the lock beams at Diglis (Worcester) now. My link

 

Living on a river does make you realise what incredible systems they are. I know that the Thames has a huge catchment area but the sheer volumes of water that are coming past very fast and just keep coming, day after day, week after week, is staggering.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
smileypete Veteran II

smileypete

Posted
Posted (edited)

That will mean I'll have no electricity and that will also isolate the sockets in the kitchen of the house which are on the same circuit. It's not my house and I don't think the owner would be very happy about it. She's 70 and she's having a hard enough time as it is. Anyway, I estimate it will need to rise another foot before it reaches the socket.

 

I just took this picture out of my window, across the river with a long lens. I've already loosened the ropes of 2 unattended boats on the other side of the river today. The owner of this boat actually lives in the house next to the mooring! What am I supposed to do - patrol the entire reach saving boats whose owners don't understand or are too lazy to do anything? If he can't be bothered to sort it out I don't see why I should? It's actually chained and padlocked so there's not much I can do anyway. You'd think it might occur to one of the owners to check!

 

P1000878.jpg

 

Maybe worth calling at the house if poss, see what's happening about it. Maybe the owner really doesn't care less, but maybe they're elderly and don't know what to do.

 

cheers,

Pete.

Edited by smileypete
  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
ditchcrawler Veteran II

ditchcrawlerDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

Up here near the source of the Thames (cirencester, river Churn) the levels are very high and close to spilling onto a busy local road. To prevent that they will have to release more water into the Thames pretty soon. It'll be coming your way

How is the Tesco car park, dry or waterlogged

Link to comment
Share on other sites
boathunter Rising Star

boathunter

Posted
Posted (edited)

Mike,

 

Respect for the way you are dealing with all this. Take care of yourself and let other boaters take care of their own boats. Or not, as the case may be. Let them live by their decisions.

 

MtB

 

What a nice looking boat though? Maybe they're away and the lights are on a timer (like some folk do to avoid the burglars knowing).

 

Seems quite common for boats to be capsized by their mooring ropes/chains on a rising river. Does anyone know how your insurance would view this? Would they just say "tough, you sank it yourself"?

 

It's a wonder you couldn't nip over, save it and claim salvage rights - after all, if it's destiny is to be sunk...

Edited by boathunter
Link to comment
Share on other sites
boathunter Rising Star

boathunter

Posted
Posted

I think Mike is best looking after his own wellbeing. What if he dies attempting to free a boat whose owner does not care enough to be there him/herself?

I absolutely agree with that. Just pondering the siuation where it sinks because it seems in nobodies interests to save it.

 

IF by saving it, it became yours, I'm sure a safe way would be devised to go and grab it. It would be worth going to some expense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Teadaemon Proficient

Teadaemon

Posted
Posted

I think the salvage rules only apply in open sea. The Thames counts as a harbour for slavage claims, IIRC

 

MtB

 

I'm sure I've had this discussion on here before, but the law relating to salvage applies anywhere on tidal waters, or on connected waterways navigable by seagoing vessels.

 

There's no difference between being at sea or in a harbour when it comes to whether you can claim salvage, but as another requirement is that the vessel is 'in peril', it can be that it's harder to prove a salvage claim in a harbour than at sea. If a vessel is moored up at the side of a river, then even if it's empty then it's going to be very hard to prove it's been abandoned, which would mean that you'd need the owner's permission to attempt salvage (of course if you'd made reasonable efforts to contact them and they weren't around, and the boat needed something doing urgently to stop it sinking, then you'd probably still get a salvage award for doing whatever was necessary to sort the situation out).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
bargemast Influencer

bargemast

Posted
Posted (edited)

To do something about this nice looking boat that's likely to sink if nothing is done, which really would be a terrible shame, someone should try to talk to the owners, maybe they are desperate and haven't got the slightest idea what to do to avoid the sinking.

 

I don't know the situation, but it sounds much too dangerous under these circonstances for Mike to cross the river in his dingy, isn't there a bridge not too far away to cross the river by car, bike or foot ?

 

If that would be possible, there's no need to go on that listing deck, but it could possibly be done from the bank, if the boat is against the bank of course.

 

Someone with a good, well insulated wetsuit could maybe cut the chains (if there's still some part of it above the water-level), forget about the padlocks, they can be replaced when the level is back to normal.

 

A battery angle grinder, or an air-operated one with an air-bottle would be the tool to use, or even a good Heavy Duty Bolt Cutter.

 

I hope that something can be done by someone before it is too late.

 

Peter.

Edited by bargemast
Link to comment
Share on other sites
FadeToScarlet Veteran

FadeToScarlet

Posted
Posted

Talk to the EA perhaps? If it sinks they'll have a pollution incident from the diesel, oil and antifreeze. They'll have the kit, manpower and insurance to do it, and probably have owner contact details too.

 

Talk to the EA perhaps? If it sinks they'll have a pollution incident from the diesel, oil and antifreeze. They'll have the kit, manpower and insurance to do it, and probably have owner contact details too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Teadaemon Proficient

Teadaemon

Posted
Posted

If the boat is listing due to being held down by mooring chains on one side, then it's a lot more stable than one listing to that extent due to water in the bilges or a dangerous load. Personally, I'd have no particular qualms about getting on board if necessary. Of course cutting the chains is going to cause the boat to come up very quickly, and depending on where and how it's done there is a danger from the loose chain, in addition to the danger from working in or around fast flowing water.

 

If it were me standing to loose my own boat then I might be inclined to take the chance (although hopefully I wouldn't have et my boat get into that situation in the first place), but the more I think about this situation, the more I'd be inclined to suggest that the situation has already got to a state where any intervention is likely to be too dangerous to anyone involved. As others have mentioned, no boat is worth somebody's life.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
blackrose Veteran II

blackrose

Posted
Posted (edited)

I've seen the boat listing before - either from sitting on the bottom and listing to starboard or like now listing to port from high water levels (just not as badly as now). It's a nice looking boat but also very neglected. The hull is so rusty at the waterline, I don't think it's been blacked for many years.

 

I didn't manage to get to the house today as I had to go to Gloucestershire, but I'm back now and the water levels have remained stable. I will definitely go to the house tomorrow and give them a knock. The boat is owned by an old geezer and his son. I guess the son is either away or doesn't care.

 

I cross the river every day in my dinghy to get off the island, even with the river in flood. Ferrygliding across a river in flood is fairly easy, but I'm not going 100 yards downstream to the narrowboat because my little outboard will struggle to get me back. There are no bridges in the area. You have to go about 3 miles downstream or 2 miles upstream.

Edited by blackrose
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.