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How Often Do People Fall In?


rivershine

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9 hours ago, Irob said:

 . I dont walk gunnels unless i,m in the marina,  

Don't know if you saw my post but all the people I have pulled out the boat was alongside when they fell in, apart from one  tied up. The only case I personally know of where someone fell in on the move was Blisworth tunnel and that was on a Wyvern hire boat, cruiser stern with the built up bits, they stepped backwards between the cabin and the built up bit in the dark. They were following us through and we waited for them at the lock.

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8 minutes ago, Peter Reed said:

Don't know about their spannering abilities but i hear that they are good leggers.

 

 

Octopusses pi only have two legs, so they would be no better than humans,unless they didn't mind getting their hands dirty:)

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I've fallen in once in 30+ years of boating (6 years living aboard) and that was walking across the gangplank in Anglesey basin with our 8 month old daughter and the plank snapped! Luckily water was very shallow hence the plank in the first place 

My wife has fallen in every year since living aboard excerpt last year! Our daughter has also fallen in once on her own when she was 18mths old - we forgot to do up the fastening on the cruiser stem skirt and she lent on it falling straight in. She was quite happy floating on her back kicking her feet and was most upset I pulled her out!

We do tend to boat in quite difficult conditions at time, including darkness, snow and ice. Our last trip down Knowle locks was in the heavy snow before Christmas in complete darkness  - working locks with a foot or more lying snow was interesting! In these conditions we take extra care and all of us have lifejackets on. The most difficult thing in snow was getting on and off the boat and not knowing what if anything is under the snow that you are stepping onto!

Tom 

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18 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

The Bunny fell in too

Getting him out could have been a hare raising experience.

I've been in twice in 35 years. last time I was closing the single top gate on a full lock and instead of the gate moving I slid under the beam and into the lock. I was across the lock and out the other side in no time.

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1985 Fell in bow hauling the motor out of Ellesmere Port. Full domestic in progress walked backwards  straight in, Domestic ended very rapidly as wife unable to maintain argument due to laughing at me. Fire out single motor no facilities other than buckit and chuck it  in engine hole. 

1990 fell off top planks at marsworth slipped on ice covered top sheets and fell in putting arm through window ( Perspex) on way in. That was cold, fortunately bath and rayburn available.

1981 fell off bike riding up gangplank onto deck. Drunk self inflicted. 

1987 Wife fell in at marsworth on way to our wedding bow hauling butty into 3rd lock down. Came up and said ' they've dredged it'

so four times since 1980 between us.

on a serious note we lost a friend in the 90s on the Aylesbury arm who went in whilst single handing . If I was doing a lot of single handing I might get a bouyancy aid.

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Yet to fall in in 45 years of frequent leisure boating.  Wife not yet fallen in after 29 years.

Mind you I came close last Sunday. Returning from an ice-breaking trip and wrestling with a frozen rope and a mooring covered in black ice.

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On 11/01/2018 at 00:36, Wanderer Vagabond said:

Genuinely curious as to why you think this is the case. I can understand the argument of taking a blow to the head knocking you into the water (failing to duck under a low bridge/tunnel/ overhanging branch, etc) but none of the people I've ever helped out of the water had suffered any head trauma from just falling in. Generally when falling we tend to be quite protective of our heads, of course not falling is by far the best option.

 

On the odd occasion I've had a near miss it has always been on unexpected ice or slippery mud on a lock side or the walkways across the gates. If one loses one's footing and goes down like the proverbial sack of spuds I think a bump to the head is highly likely, followed by a long fall down to the water where another bump to the head (on the sill for example) is likely on arrival down there. 

Completely different from just walking into the water having forgotten its there, as quite a few anecdotes seem to describe. 

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4 hours ago, cuthound said:

Yet to fall in in 45 years of frequent leisure boating.  Wife not yet fallen in after 29 years.

Mind you I came close last Sunday. Returning from an ice-breaking trip and wrestling with a frozen rope and a mooring covered in black ice.

Well, I've 44 years of frequent leisure boating and I've fallen in 5 times. 3 times from a moored boat, once from a boat leaving a lock and once (the most recent) from a boat into a Thames lock. I've never hurt myself and have always had the luck to be able to get out, either on my own or with someones help.

All were entirely to my carelessness and inattention.

The most recent was into Benson Lock during a Thames trip in May 2016.

So 1.  I am not improving with experience.

     2.  Once every eight and a half years isn't too bad.

 

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On 30/11/2017 at 18:29, RLWP said:

I fell in once, but I'm not a liveaboard so that's not relevant

Richard

Same here. Once in five years.

I no longer own a boat which makes it even less relevant.

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