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Boat sunk at Droitwich - man has died


She25

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I push my tiller arm hard over but be aware it can jam on lock sides..that gave me a scare until I managed to free it

Indeed, it does depend on design though.

 

Some (?? Lots) will extend beyond the edge of the boat profile.

 

We once managed to snap the wooden tiller extension/handle off a hire boat by catching it on a gate edge.

 

I do think though the tiller wouldn't need to be hard over to avoid getting stuck between the gates, just 45 degrees would do it, then if the boat was thrust backwards the rudder would more likely deflect further rather than get shoved between the gates.

Edited by MJG
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A very sad and tragic story, and shows how easily incidents like these can happen. Last week we shared a lock with an experienced boater who when descending became hung up on the cill. We had both left our boats to run forward and help our partners with stiff winding gear. When he looked back his stern was against the gate. He leapt back on his boat and tried to move it forward but it had already become stuck.

 

We were all experienced boaters and acted very quickly, closing the paddles and opening up the others to re-fill, but despite our prompt action his boat had already hung a couple of feet above the water and water was flooding in at the front through the drain holes.

 

Even though I am very experienced and obviously aware of this danger, I was amazed just how quickly it all happened.

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I push my tiller arm hard over but be aware it can jam on lock sides..that gave me a scare until I managed to free it

Patty, as I said in my earlier post, if you're going to do that (and I do too) you need to ensure that your tiller arm is not long enough to foul the lock sides. Glad you got away with it though :)

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I am sure this would help, but there is an assumption I think that if your fender gets trapped between the bottom gates (but not the rudder) then something (the chain, or the fender) will snap or break before the stern of the boat is dragged down and starts taking on water.

 

If your rudder gets stuck between the bottom gates, the lock will fill as normal. But if your stern fender gets stuck between the gates they will be held a few inches apart, allowing lots of water to flow through. This will slow the rate of fill of the lock, giving you more time to act, and possibly more chance you will notice something is wrong too.
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Look at old boats

Fenders that overhang rudders

Snap links or rope to fenders

Tiller strings

Efficient work practice it was a working environment , with bigger heavier more risky equipment ( butty tillers and helms.

Stop trying to reinvent look what went before

 

What is it with front fenders on multiple chains?

  • Greenie 2
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If your rudder gets stuck between the bottom gates, the lock will fill as normal. But if your stern fender gets stuck between the gates they will be held a few inches apart, allowing lots of water to flow through. This will slow the rate of fill of the lock, giving you more time to act, and possibly more chance you will notice something is wrong too.

 

Yes - as I say it would help, and reduce not eliminate the risk. It's still not an experiment I want to try!

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Is it actually normal that the rear fender does not extend beyond the rudder's edge? I have only been on two narrowboats, but on both the fender did not protect the rudder (I learned this when I accidentally reversed into a wall during turning and it gave a nasty crunch!).

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Is it actually normal that the rear fender does not extend beyond the rudder's edge? I have only been on two narrowboats, but on both the fender did not protect the rudder (I learned this when I accidentally reversed into a wall during turning and it gave a nasty crunch!).

Not normal but neither is it unknown or actually it's even quite common.

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No need for anything other than good rear fenders

Which is fine if it's your own boat.

 

However if you happen to hire a boat and the fender doesn't extend enough you will also need to take alternative precautions.

 

That said of course lots have a bumper type rather than a traditional rope fender and they normally do extend sufficiently!

 

We have hired boats where the traditional type didn't though.

Edited by MJG
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As someone said earlier, decent rear fenders would eliminate risk.

 

Essential, I'd agree, but they reduce the risk rather than eliminate it, I'd add. Good practice first and foremost, with the button or fendering providing assistance.

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Am I the only one here who always puts his tiller fully over in a lock to ensure the rudder can't foul the gates?

 

The button may protect it much of the time, but the button can potentially push up, bend sideways, get squashed, drop off, be above a beam the rudder may hit, or whatever.

 

If anyone else is doing (or going to do) this, it's also important to ensure your tiller arm does not extend beyond your boat side so it can't foul the lock wall (but that's desirable anyway imho).

But (as I know to my cost having used this approach for most of my boating time) this is no excuse not to continue to keep a close eye on what is happening. Occasionally it is possible for the tiller. turned to right angle, to catch on something as the boat rises and to bend or break. The worst case was on the Sheffield and South Yorkshire (admittedly a bit larger than the narrow canals) where the lock had been expanded using some very large piling and our tiller slipped in between with unwanted consequences.

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No need for anything other than good rear fenders and checks.

 

 

I seem to remember the regulation (or licence condition or whatver it is) that requires fenders, specifically states the fenders must extend beyond the structure of the boat including the full extent of the rudder.

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I seem to remember the regulation (or licence condition or whatver it is) that requires fenders, specifically states the fenders must extend beyond the structure of the boat including the full extent of the rudder.

 

The law states :

 

Every vessel navigated on any canal shall have ready for immediate use proper fenders of suitable material and in good condition and the master of such vessel shall use such fenders whenever there is a risk of the vessel striking against any other vessel or against any wall, lockgate, bridge or other thing.

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The law states :

 

Every vessel navigated on any canal shall have ready for immediate use proper fenders of suitable material and in good condition and the master of such vessel shall use such fenders whenever there is a risk of the vessel striking against any other vessel or against any wall, lockgate, bridge or other thing.

 

 

Hmmmm that's not what I was thinking of. ISTR a reg mentioning the rudder specifically, and the fenders having to extend beyond it when held in the straight position.

 

But maybe I'm dreaming...

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The gentleman's mother has been talking to the local news about what happened. She confirmed the rudder got trapped.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-36902019

 

Her quote is "Mrs Green said: "I've had a look at the boat now it's out of the water and there are marks on the rudder where it had stuck in a gap on the lock gates.".

 

Was it trapped in the gates or did it get caught in missing plank? I'm guessing it was the in the gates as if it was a missing plank you would not have been able to fill the lock?

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hmm sad news indeed, mine has one of those steel bars that extends past the rudder with a large rubber block on the end, i shall now be very very aware of the dangers, i usually work the locks with the gf doing the steering, i always keep an eye on the boat in the lock at all times to ensure its not drifting towards gates, i tell gf to keep it in the middle, this is another thing i had not been aware of and now shall watch out for.

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The lesson we all should learn from this desperately sad incident (and previous incidents) is that no-one should remain inside the cabin of a boat whilst it is transiting a lock.

 

Admittedly this isn't the cause of this man's death in this case, but the people inside the boat came very close to losing their lives it appears to me.

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Begs the question, should boats be made to have a Houdini hatch on the roof....

 

These things thankfully are still very very rare though.

 

The last incident I can think of where somebody died actually drowning inside a boat was the Drum Major sinking on the Leeds Liverpool way back in 1998. There may of course be others but I cant recall any. Four people died in that particular incident.

 

https://www.gov.uk/maib-reports/contact-and-sinking-of-narrow-boat-drum-major-while-descending-in-steg-neck-lock-on-the-leeds-and-liverpool-canal-near-gargrave-england-with-loss-of-4-lives

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Going up the GU solo I caught my swan neck in the bottom gates of Hunton bridge lock. I was up opening the top paddles when I spied with moi liddle eye that the bottom gates hadn't closed too properly, I could see a gap, so closed the paddle sharpish and went to have a look, yes my swan neck was trapped and had bent it upwards so that the tiller was pointing to the sky like a Howitzer barrel, emptied some water from the lock to release it. I carried on uncomfortably up the canal with the howitzer tiller still threatening the sky meaning to stop at the next pub, get my propane torch out, heat it up and bend it back. I got to the pub. When I came out after a few Fullers ESB I didn't bother with the propane torch but grasped hold of it and heaved it down and bent it back cold, into the more usual field gun barrel angle and sailed away to the next pub.

So the motto is never take your eyes off the boat when in a lock.

That^^

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