Jump to content

Boat stuck in Gosty tunnel


frangar

Featured Posts

Just seen this on fb. Does anyone know more about it?? 

I'm surprised if it's as reported it hasn't had more "airtime".....although some of the other articles by The floater" are a little..... shall we say....sensational  

 

"Stuck in a tunnel - for nearly a day

 
A 20-hour nightmare jammed in a low tunnel was the start of the cruising season for a boat leaving Hawne Basin on the Birmingham Canal Navigations, as Peter Underwood reports.

While making their way towards Netherton, and just after entering Gosty Tunnel the boaters found their boat, suddenly and without warning, stopped dead when it became jammed solid by a large log against the tunnel wall. 

Although only 500 yards long Gosty Tunnel is notoriously narrow, and shallow with a very low roof in places and travel through it is painfully slow at the best of times.

http://www.thefloater.org/the-floater-april-2017/stuck-in-a-tunnel-for-nearly-a-day"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Athy said:

Are you suggesting that it's a crap report?

 

Were the people and their boat successfully extricated? If so, how?

It says they were rescued in the report after another boat came along and found them and then phoned Hawne Basin who sent a boat in to help them...

Edited by frangar
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's certainly narrow and low and not much fun but I wouldn't say Gosty is shallow - we went through it in our three ft deep boat okay. It's just very very slow progress. 

A nasty place to get stuck all the same. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can easily believe they got jammed by a log - we came through a month or so ago and there were several large logs along the side between Gosty tunnel and Hawne Basin with several already floating in the canal. We definitely hit 1 or 2 going though the tunnel and thought at the time it would be quite easy to get jammed in there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

we did this canal trip from bumble hole down to the basin and back, recently...

what a place people are friendly and the little café was stunning ...great breakfast.

on the way down to the basin we we`re grounded 4 / 5 times very shallow,and crap around the prop..

 

Edited by canalsteve
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We got stuck in Gosty Hill Tunnel for a couple of hours once, broken down with a fuel filter problem. The tunnel profile made it rather interesting to pole ourselves out but we managed it eventually. By the time we got out it was too late to go to the pub so we moored overnight just outside the tunnel.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 29/04/2017 at 16:51, canalsteve said:

we did this canal trip from bumble hole down to the basin and back, recently...

what a place people are friendly and the little café was stunning ...great breakfast.

on the way down to the basin we we`re grounded 4 / 5 times very shallow,and crap around the prop..

 

 

Given the staggeringly slow progress through I experience with my 2' 8" draft boat I'm inclined to agree this indicates shallow water, as suggested by others too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Isn't Gosty Hill tunnel the one where the middle section has a lower roof because the tunnel sank due to mining subsidence? If so, wouldn't that middle section be deeper than usual? Going through there last year aboard Nuneaton on the BCN Challenge, I don't recall any difficulty with depth. I think we'd have drawn three feet or just under at the back. We had most of our large crew huddled near the bow as ballast in case the mast might otherwise scrape the tunnel roof, but as I remember it we fitted quite comfortably.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, mark99 said:

Terrible especially if you are scared of gosts.

Or even gorsts.

Anyway, we draw 2'8" static and I don't recall it being particularly slow, but inevitably fairly slow due to the need for the water to get past around the boat - the tunnel is pretty narrow. IMO with the clearance issues, it's probably not a tunnel you would want to romp through! Although according to our boat builder, you don't need to bother steering through it as the boat will rattle through without any risk of superstructure touching. I didn't want to try it though! But it would be interesting to set it off in gear and then retire inside until the outbreak of daylight!

Edited by nicknorman
Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, frangar said:

Sadly that link doesn't work for me...poss because I'm not a "friend" of the person concerned. 

Having never met any of these people I couldnt possibly be a " Friend "

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
  • 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.