Missing boat - Holly - NOW FOUND!

[Moley]

Another thought for Middlewich:

 

Was Holly's name and Middlewich info. panel signwritten, or stick-on (peel off) vinyl lettering?

[trisha]

Hi

 

The lettering on Holly is the stick on type, but it doesn't just peel off. It would probably have to be scraped off, and would then damage the paintwork underneath.

 

Trish

[Liam]

Every time I visit the forum, and see that another post has been added to this thread I always think that it'll be an announcement that the boat or the hirer has been found or something... not the case as yet, though.

 

It still amazes me that it's not yet been found, which leads me to wonder where the boat is still floating.. as in, has it been craned out and stuck in some old barn out of the way somewhere? That would make sense but Mr King's dissapearance doesn't, due to the fact he's not used his credit card, been home or still has access to his car.

[Moley]

Narrowboatworld, today's news, man's body found in the Birmingham & Fazeley.

 

Hope it's not this King bloke

[cheshire~rose]

Narrowboatworld, today's news, man's body found in the Birmingham & Fazeley.

 

Hope it's not this King bloke

 

It seems very sad but not all that unusual for a body to be found in the canal, especially in a city centre

 

http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/mail/n...-name_page.html

 

I think that they would spot a boat sunk in that area fairly easily?

[mareco]

Narrowboatworld, today's news, man's body found in the Birmingham & Fazeley.

 

Hope it's not this King bloke

 

I hope not too.

 

It's also quite a (horrible?) coincidence that further down on that Narrowboat World article there is a PAUL King mentioned

[Mart]

Hi,

Yes another newbie here. Myself and various mates hired narrowboats a plenty in the 70s, 80s and 90s, and must have had up to 25 fantastic holidays.

 

I have been following the Holly, Missing Boat story and despite the seriousness have been having a great reminisce!

 

Not being too morbid can I ask how deep those flashes or lagoons are near Northwich? We came a "cropper" when despite my

advice (as captain!) my steerer decided to venture on to one of the lagoons when we were running well ahead of our schedule.

We became completely aground on an old sunken boat and if it wasn't for a very helpful and noble passing boat might still be there!

It took over an hour to free us by using the passing boat to tow us off.

 

No, we hadn't hired from Middlewich narrowboats! but apologies to Simolda Boats from Nantwich!

[carlt]

I hope not too.

 

It's also quite a (horrible?) coincidence that further down on that Narrowboat World article there is a PAUL King mentioned

It seems a shame that, following one little misprint in a local rag, ALLAN King's tragic suicide will be forever credited to Paul.

[nine9feet]

....apologies to Simolda Boats from Nantwich!

 

A name I have not heard/seen in a long time!

 

First few canal holidays in the '70s were with them. Strange boats when I think back because they were centre cockpit wheel steer.

 

Had a lot of fun though, including getting one stuck solid in a lock, suspended in mid air!

 

John

nine9feet

[Dodgy Dave]

morning guys,

 

just to let you know in case you haven't seen it.. grannybuttons.com has this morning

posted a reported sighting of Holly now heading towards Lincolnshire.. and the North Sea..!!

 

don't know how concrete this one is.. but as far away from the BCN as you can get..

 

perhaps any eagle-eyed members moored at Brayford Pool could keep a look out?

 

best regards

 

Dodgy Dave of Ocker Hill

'Make Mine A Magners'

[Audi Fan]

morning guys,

 

just to let you know in case you haven't seen it.. grannybuttons.com has this morning

posted a reported sighting of Holly now heading towards Lincolnshire.. and the North Sea..!!

i read this rather worrying comment on the grannybuttons site

 

We took a weekend break on Holly in the middle of feb and were very worried when we saw the news about her. For the 1st day and a half all was great but by the end of our 2nd day Holly started listing very badly on the right hand side. This got so bad that other boats were stopping us and asking us if we owned the boat, when we said no, they suggested we take Holly straight back to the yard as there was something very wrong with her. We did ring the owners who suggested switching on the bilge pump in the boatmans cabin, but to no avail, they then suggested we use our luggage on the opposite side to balance the weight, this didn't work. We finally got Holly back to the yard but due the listing on the boat had to go through the last lock backwards due to steering problems. We thought no more of this as Adam joked that this was normal and sometimes the boats come back in even lower in the water. I just pray now that this chap is ok. Holly is a beautiful boat, it'd be so sad if she has sunk

Posted by: jo | Friday, 13 April 2007 at 02:21 PM

[Purple Fairie]

Ooh! That's our neck of the woods! But if he is heading this way he would have to go on the Tidal Trent, and the lock keepers would at least log him?

 

Will, naturally, keep an eye out but we're not at home all day... unfortunately!

[Supermalc]

morning guys,

 

just to let you know in case you haven't seen it.. grannybuttons.com has this morning

posted a reported sighting of Holly now heading towards Lincolnshire.. and the North Sea..!!

 

don't know how concrete this one is.. but as far away from the BCN as you can get..

 

perhaps any eagle-eyed members moored at Brayford Pool could keep a look out?

 

best regards

 

Dodgy Dave of Ocker Hill

'Make Mine A Magners'

 

No need to.......there's a lock keeper at either end, so no way to get onto the Witham/Fosse Dyke without being spotted.

 

Might be an idea to phone them just to be sure they know about this though.

[Supermalc]

We took a weekend break on Holly in the middle of feb and were very worried when we saw the news about her. For the 1st day and a half all was great but by the end of our 2nd day Holly started listing very badly on the right hand side. This got so bad that other boats were stopping us and asking us if we owned the boat, when we said no, they suggested we take Holly straight back to the yard as there was something very wrong with her. We did ring the owners who suggested switching on the bilge pump in the boatmans cabin, but to no avail, they then suggested we use our luggage on the opposite side to balance the weight, this didn't work. We finally got Holly back to the yard but due the listing on the boat had to go through the last lock backwards due to steering problems. We thought no more of this as Adam joked that this was normal and sometimes the boats come back in even lower in the water. I just pray now that this chap is ok. Holly is a beautiful boat, it'd be so sad if she has sunk

Posted by: jo | Friday, 13 April 2007 at 02:21 PM

 

This is indeed worrying news, I fear a tragic end.

 

Being trusting, and therefore nieve I thought all hire boats would be sent out in a safe condition. That despite knowing they are often sunk in locks, and how Canaltime actually have a plate welded front and back instead of doors, to try to prevent some of them.

 

So it wasn't until I read Sam's post a few days ago, when I learnt just how dangerous some are, and how desperate some hirers are to supply the boat.

 

Now I don't know the canals of the area at all, but if he hired for a week, how far would he go, and when would he turn back. I would assume this to be a fairly small area, so where is the deep water on this/these stretches. Are locks deep enough to hide a boat on the bottom without others running into it. If.....and I stress the IF it has sunk, would it be upright, or if listing, will a narrowboat roll over. Excuse my ignorance of them, I really don't know. Does the ballast keep them upright?

 

Becuse if....again IF it was relying on a bilge pump to keep it afloat, and these can stop, would the boat sink overnight. Even in relatively shallow water would you wake up? or would you be able to get out? Remember it was cold. If the chap was experienced, as has been suggested, would he have tried to make for shallow water when he realized the boat was in fact sinking, and then had an accident getting ashore, or even just got cold, with no way of getting warm. Too far from help; mobile on the boat; no fire or facilities due to sinking.

 

Given it took several days to find a body in the Brayford last year, despite it only being a few feet deep, and knowing pretty much which area to search, it took divers several days before it was found. So it could be a long search

[Moley]

Sorry, I don't rate this sinking theory.

 

How many places are there on the system where a boat could sink without trace, and deeply enough to not be hit by other craft passing?

 

In any event, wouldn't there be lots of floating debris and a massive diesel slick?

[fuzzyduck]

In any event, wouldn't there be lots of floating debris and a massive diesel slick?

 

On the BCN would anyone notice?

[Mark L]

On the BCN would anyone notice?

 

I feel that people might be over concerned about this idea that hire boats are at risk of sinking! All the boats I have worked on are well maintained. Also, if a stern tube fails, it usually only floods up to the engine bulkhead and by that time you would have quite a bit of warning to moor up! The weekly checks by a company are more than enough to spot these coming in advance.

 

Even on the BCN, people would notice a sunken boat- it is very difficult to find water that is over 7 feet deep to submerge a craft, without notice! we usually complain that the bottom is too close to the top.

 

Mark

[mayalld]

This is indeed worrying news, I fear a tragic end.

 

Being trusting, and therefore nieve I thought all hire boats would be sent out in a safe condition. That despite knowing they are often sunk in locks, and how Canaltime actually have a plate welded front and back instead of doors, to try to prevent some of them.

 

So it wasn't until I read Sam's post a few days ago, when I learnt just how dangerous some are, and how desperate some hirers are to supply the boat.

 

I fear that you are being unfair on the hire companies.

 

I cannot imagine that any company would allow a boat to go out in an unsafe condition.

 

No company can ever produce a boat that is invulnerable to incident, but to suggest that boats might be going out in an unsafe condition is scaremongering.

 

The symptoms described sound very much like a plumbing leak putting fresh water into the cabin bilge, and people would notice a wet floor long before the boat sank.

 

Now I don't know the canals of the area at all, but if he hired for a week, how far would he go, and when would he turn back. I would assume this to be a fairly small area, so where is the deep water on this/these stretches. Are locks deep enough to hide a boat on the bottom without others running into it.

 

No.

 

Even in a lock, where the invert is rather deeper than the general channel, whilst it might just be possible for a boat to sink to roof level, it would not leave sufficient remaining water draft to allow other boats to pass.

 

So, any sinking in a lock would have to be in a lock that nobody else has tried to pass since then.

 

Working on Middlewich's normal cruising area (on the basis that if there has been an accident, he was probably in the cruising area, rather than way off course), I can think of only one lock which this could be in, namely the offside lock 66 at Wheelock.

 

This lock is currently signposted as out of use, but is workable, and has no stop planks in place. If a boat had managed to sink in the chamber, it could have gone unnoticed.

[fuzzyduck]

Would anyone care to confirm the report of the sighting on the Hatton flight on the 28th of March.

 

And the colour?

 

http://www.normanboats.co.uk/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3782

Edited April 17, 2007 by fuzzyduck

[Hairy-Neil]

I cannot imagine that any company would allow a boat to go out in an unsafe condition.

 

The weekly checks by a company are more than enough to spot these coming in advance.

 

The last boat we hired we had to have the engineer out to three times in four days. Half way through the fifth day an electrical wiring fault filled the boat full of acrid smoke......Game over.....

[Liam]

Not being too morbid can I ask how deep those flashes or lagoons are near Northwich? We came a "cropper" when despite my

advice (as captain!) my steerer decided to venture on to one of the lagoons when we were running well ahead of our schedule.

We became completely aground on an old sunken boat and if it wasn't for a very helpful and noble passing boat might still be there!

It took over an hour to free us by using the passing boat to tow us off.

Not very deep at all. It's only the sourrounding farm land which has fallen, causing the canal to cover it completely. I've been out into the middle flash and it's only about 2 foot deep.

[trish]

Hi

 

I can confirm that the boat has been spotted on the Hatton Flight on 29 March. A gentleman has sent us a picture which our Manager and engineers have confirmed is Holly, now painted blue, the cratch covers and cratch boards have been removed and so the boat does look totally different. I have sent a picture to Jon and hopefully he will get this up as soon as possible. The gent. on the boat said that he was heading to Oxford doing up the boat and selling it. If anyone wants a copy of the picture, please pm me and I will send one to you.

 

Trish

[Supermalc]

I fear that you are being unfair on most of the hire companies.

 

I cannot imagine that any company would allow a boat to go out in an unsafe condition. Neither could I, until I've read recent posts.

 

Bardney Lock is deep enough to hide one boat on top of another, without showing through the water. Even there though, it would take a lot of stormy weather to wash away the debris and oil slick without someone noticing.

 

You have only to trip getting off, bang your head on falling and if you land in 3 inches of water face down you'll drown.

 

I was lucky going to Foxton with Fuzzy two years ago. It was dark and we still had a few locks to do. No problem at all for me, as I am used to coming through Bardney alone, and in the dark, where a false step will mean almost certain death for me, so am usually very careful. I can't swim, and if I could manage to swim to the edge, I wouldn't have enough strenght to get out, unless I could get to a ladder.

 

I'm also not a 'townie' I was brought up, and lived in the countryside until I was nearly 30, so do not have to rely on street lighting when out after dark.

 

The locks were very close together and I walked up to the next one to prepare it while Alan filled Fuzzy's petrol tank. Walking around the lock to wind up the other paddle I walked on the 'path' as the wet grass was soaking my shoes........only it was the spill weir, hidden from moonlight by the shadow of the hedge, with grass over the top. Not being familiar with canals, I did not realize they had 'man traps' alongside. All the locks I had so far been around are safe to walk around the edges.

 

I fell in, banging my head badly. It was almost dry, and only about 1 1/2 feet deep, however had I split my head open and been knocked out I would have been out of sight, and probably not found until too late.

 

 

[Les Mitchell Hynd]

Hi

 

I can confirm that the boat has been spotted on the Hatton Flight on 29 March. A gentleman has sent us a picture which our Manager and engineers have confirmed is Holly, now painted blue, the cratch covers and cratch boards have been removed and so the boat does look totally different. I have sent a picture to Jon and hopefully he will get this up as soon as possible. The gent. on the boat said that he was heading to Oxford doing up the boat and selling it. If anyone wants a copy of the picture, please pm me and I will send one to you.

 

Trish

 

 

Now we are getting somewhere. Can we have a link to this photograph please?

 

Les

[fuzzyduck]

I've asked Trish to mail me a copy of the pic for Dawncraft Owners.

 

I'll post it up here as soon as it shows up. (till Jon gets his own copy up)

 

edited to say.

 

I'm glad we're not looking for a corpse, or a guy who's gone completely off the rails. The game is afoot.

Edited April 17, 2007 by fuzzyduck