Jump to content

Body found in Harecastle Tunnel

junior

By junior
in General Boating

 Share

Featured Posts

John Holden Proficient

John Holden

Posted
Posted

 

Have you clicked on the daily mail link and seen the photo of this chap sitting on his high-up 'captains perch' welded to the very back edge of the boat?

 

Here's the link.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2711749/Wife-screamed-hours-help-husband-hit-head-disappeared-water-pitch-black-canal-tunnel.html

 

 

Imagine going through Harecastle sitting on that perch. Chances of hitting your head on the roof in the dark as you enter the low section are pretty high in my opinion. And sitting on that perch you're going to fall off backwards, in my opinion.

 

 

MtB

 

 

Yes, I hit my head going through Harecastle, not too hard but enough to move me back a foot or so to lighten the impact.

 

Of course he may not have struck his head but had a stroke or fainted.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tuscan Veteran

Tuscan

Posted
Posted

Have you clicked on the daily mail link and seen the photo of this chap sitting on his high-up 'captains perch' welded to the very back edge of the boat?

 

Here's the link.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2711749/Wife-screamed-hours-help-husband-hit-head-disappeared-water-pitch-black-canal-tunnel.html

 

 

Imagine going through Harecastle sitting on that perch. Chances of hitting your head on the roof in the dark as you enter the low section are pretty high in my opinion. And sitting on that perch you're going to fall off backwards, in my opinion.

 

 

MtB

Very sad but I would agree with you Mike. This is a tunnel I always treat with respect,

Link to comment
Share on other sites
furnessvale Influencer

furnessvale

Posted
Posted

The doom mongers theorise about stuff getting trapped between your prop and rudder and the tiller moving suddenly sweeping you into the canal....

Several weeks ago I was steering along minding my own business when without warning something hit the rudder. It must have struck the balance plate because the tiller was wrenched out of my hand and flung onto full lock. I have no idea what it was.

 

Fortunately, I was standing where any steerer should stand, in the hatches.

 

It has never happened before (in forward gear), and hopefully it will never happen again but once is enough.

 

I look at all these modern boaters standing out on the counter and cringe.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted

Several weeks ago I was steering along minding my own business when without warning something hit the rudder. It must have struck the balance plate because the tiller was wrenched out of my hand and flung onto full lock. I have no idea what it was.

 

Fortunately, I was standing where any steerer should stand, in the hatches.

 

It has never happened before (in forward gear), and hopefully it will never happen again but once is enough.

 

I look at all these modern boaters standing out on the counter and cringe.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

As I said.. Lilly's, oh and a cardboard coffin.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pete & Helen Proficient

Pete & Helen

Posted
Posted

Its taken me a long time to read through this topic and there is a lot of speculation on what happened, opinions on what is safe and not safe etc.. etc.. etc... I think you have to look at this as in any incident in life and evaluate how you see it in your own life. For me, I have to admit I am always a little spooked by long tunnels and although I stand on the back of the counter on the canal, as its more comfortable for me, when in a tunnel I always stand inside the profile of the boat. I have a hard hat that looks like a baseball cap which I intend to wear whenever I am in a tunnel in future and get the other half to be with me as well (doesn't seem so spooky when there are two of you.)

Accidents will always happen but if we can learn from them then all the better. I think a lot of people will look at this incident and see ways in which they can reduce the chances that it will happen to them. It may have been a one off, but I am sure its almost happened before to people on here.

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Machpoint005 Veteran II

Machpoint005

Posted
Posted

I wish we could put this one permanently to bed.

If a tragedy occurs and the person affected is standing next to me is directly affected, I will be sympathetic & very considered in my comments to them.

If the person affected is 10,000 miles away in the Australian Outback, the I will feel free to make fun of the whole thing if I (strangely) so choose.

If the person affected is at some point in between the two the I will choose an in-between position and comment accordingly. I will not always get the balance exactly right. Thats life.

Mostly it behoves people to avoid the media if they have a tragedy.

In this case I think we can comment freely.

 

Well put. Humour is a very effective way of dealing with our own mortality.

I look forward to the day when a recently bereaved person, when asked by the meeja on live TV 'how do you feel', replies 'how the f*ck do you think I feel?'

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
system 4-50 Veteran II

system 4-50Donate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

2 additional ideas:

Every boat to have a good means of illuminating the area behind the boat - to make finding the faller easier. Assumes there is more than one crew.

A kill-cord for use in tunnels - so that the boat doesn't travel miles after the faller has fallen off.

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.