Narrow Boat Hit By Trip Boat On Tidal Thames

[magnetman]

I don't know anything about it but the pla fire boat just towed a cruiser style nb into Limehouse with the stern rail and tiller bent right over from a collision with a Thames trip boat.

 

I hope nobody was injured...

[RichardN]

shaken but currently draining a pint! I have to say she radioed a good calm mayday followed by wonderfully impressive reactions from the professionals on the river

[ditchcrawler]

Good reason for having a radio

[mrsmelly]

Good reason for having a radio

Naaah you dont need a radio on the commercial rivers you simply use ya mobile phone didnt you know

 

Tim

[Grace and Favour]

Naaah you dont need a radio on the commercial rivers you simply use ya mobile phone didnt you know

 

Tim

Or maybe even a Ouija Board - or a Derren Brown kit to foresee the unforeseeable

[ditchcrawler]

Naaah you dont need a radio on the commercial rivers you simply use ya mobile phone didnt you know

 

Tim

Its not just Commercial rivers, its also happening in coastal waters. Call the coastguard on the phone and the lifeboat can't join in the conversation.

[jenlyn]

Its not just Commercial rivers, its also happening in coastal waters. Call the coastguard on the phone and the lifeboat can't join in the conversation.

Conference call ;-)

[Black Ibis]

shaken but currently draining a pint! I have to say she radioed a good calm mayday followed by wonderfully impressive reactions from the professionals on the river

Not Indigo Dream that was hit?

[Tim Lewis]

shaken but currently draining a pint! I have to say she radioed a good calm mayday followed by wonderfully impressive reactions from the professionals on the river

 

Was it one of the Cotswold convoy out on the tideway today?

 

Tim

[RichardN]

Not Indigo Dream that was hit?

no, we are fine

[Naughty Cal]

How?

[magnetman]

AIUI the narrowboat was hit from behind by a large passenger boat.

[fudd]

We went out a couple of weeks ago. I know we are leisure boaters and the big ones need to earn a living and stay on time, but health and safety on the river should come first. In my opinion they really don't care about us amateur skippers.

Steve P

[WJM]

When? Where? What happened?!

[The Pipe]

We went out a couple of weeks ago. I know we are leisure boaters and the big ones need to earn a living and stay on time, but health and safety on the river should come first. In my opinion they really don't care about us amateur skippers.

Steve P

My experiences are different.

I've been up and down the tideway many times and have never felt that any of the commercial craft were showing a lack of consideration.

[WJM]

My experiences are different.

I've been up and down the tideway many times and have never felt that any of the commercial craft were showing a lack of consideration.

I will agree with that. But I guess if you are hesitant, slow and generally getting in the way then the workers might get a bit fed up.

 

I am wondering how this narrowboat got hit. Perhaps they had some technical problem, but in normal circumstances you would need to be doing something incredibly stupid to get hit.

[magnetman]

apparently a City Cruises tripper boat (they are BIG next to a nb) came up behind them and made contact destroying the guard rail and tiller on the nb. it happened in central London

[magnetman]

I passed south bank pier a couple of years ago outward bound towards limehouse with the tide and was almost struck by a large trip boat who was trying to 'bully' me into crossing the river to pass on the wrong side of them immediately upstream of a bridge. I held my line because as the downstream craft I felt I had priority and they had not used sound signals to indicate their intentions. had I crossed their path I would habe been too close to the bridge on a fast tide.

[Machpoint005]

Those big beggars probably lose sight of a narrowboat when it's close-to -- we are rather low in the water in comparison. Rules of the road there may be, but the reality is the same as it is on the tarmac roads, the bigger you are, the more priority you have.

 

I'd rather be alive and wronged than a dead man who was in the right!

[Naughty Cal]

How did they end up so close to such a large vessel?

 

Surely common sense would say keep well out of the way.

[Old Son]

How did they end up so close to such a large vessel?

 

Surely common sense would say keep well out of the way.

Straight away its the narrow boats fault!! Please find out what actually happened before suggesting who was to blame.

[NigelMoore]

If they were hit astern they were hit by the vessel coming up from behind them, at whatever angle, surely? Little they could have done if those were the circumstances.

 

But one cartoon has stuck with me for years – a worried little man in a tiny sailing dinghy, looking up fearfully at the bows of a looming tanker about to run them over, with unconcerned wife knitting up front saying “Don’t let him bully you dear, steam gives way to sail”.

[magnetman]

if I had a choice between hitting a bridge or a passenger vessel hitting me i'd choose the latter and let the investigators decide fault.

 

there are a lot of bridges on the Thames in London.

if youhit a bridge it is your fault and might be hard to prove you were forced off course by another boat

[Guest]

if I had a choice between hitting a bridge or a passenger vessel hitting me i'd choose the latter and let the investigators decide fault.

 

there are a lot of bridges on the Thames in London.

 

Would it matter if you were down in Davy Jones' locker though????

 

Surely being run down by a much faster larger vessel is more likely to lead to your boat sinking than hitting a bridge

 

(I pose that as a question BTW not ever having been on the tidal Thames)

[WJM]

if I had a choice between hitting a bridge or a passenger vessel hitting me i'd choose the latter and let the investigators decide fault.

 

there are a lot of bridges on the Thames in London.

if youhit a bridge it is your fault and might be hard to prove you were forced off course by another boat

If you hit a bridge pier you will bounce off unscathed almost every time. If you get run over by another boat you will sink almost every time. I know this first hand!