Scary Moment in York

[Midnight]

Witnessed a very lucky escape tonight from the bathroom window.

With the river steadily rising we had earlier moved down to the Queen's Staithe and managed to get onto the last remaining mooring. Later another 57ft 'ish boat arrived and with limited options turned back upstream and went to moor opposite on the Kings Staithe. Coming alongside perfectly all seemed to go well until single-handed skipper stepped onto the jetty with the centre rope. He then decided to pull it back to a different position but the strong flow took the bows out into the stream. He hung on to the remaining bit of rope and a passer by came to help, but the flow was too strong and the boat broke loose with the skipper still on the jetty. Amazingly at the same time the York Rescue team arrived for their nightly shift. Seeing the boat in distress and side-ways on the the flow they immediately reacted and used their powerful inflatable to nudge the boat over towards the trip boat jetties where the skipper managed to clamber aboard. 

Phew they don't come any closer than that!

[mrsmelly]

3 minutes ago, Midnight said:

Witnessed a very lucky escape tonight from the bathroom window.

With the river steadily rising we had earlier moved down to the Queen's Staithe and managed to get onto the last remaining mooring. Later another 57ft 'ish boat arrived and with limited options turned back upstream and went to moor opposite on the Kings Staithe. Coming alongside perfectly all seemed to go well until single-handed skipper stepped onto the jetty with the centre rope. He then decided to pull it back to a different position but the strong flow took the bows out into the stream. He hung on to the remaining bit of rope and a passer by came to help, but the flow was too strong and the boat broke loose with the skipper still on the jetty. Amazingly at the same time the York Rescue team arrived for their nightly shift. Seeing the boat in distress and side-ways on the the flow they immediately reacted and used their powerful inflatable to nudge the boat over towards the trip boat jetties where the skipper managed to clamber aboard. 

Phew they don't come any closer than that!

Why the hell was he moving in the first place!!?

[Alan de Enfield]

9 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Why the hell was he moving in the first place!!?

Not everyone with a boat has either the knowledge or skill to operate it, the 1st time the conditions are anything less than perfect their weaknesses are exposed.

[Rickent]

4 boats have passed my mooring today, the soar is very high at the moment and the flow is considerable. Madness to be boating in that.

[peterboat]

1 hour ago, mrsmelly said:

Why the hell was he moving in the first place!!?

Thats easy he will have been moored further up near the bridge on the right hand side [museam gardens i think] maybe? and as the water goes up the mooring becomes unsafe! So he has to move to a safer mooring down stream its not choice its necessity!

[frangar]

York is really crying out for some better “flood proof” visitor moorings. Even at normal water levels the moorings at Museum Gardens leave a lot to be desired. 

[rgreg]

8 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Not everyone with a boat has either the knowledge or skill to operate it, the 1st time the conditions are anything less than perfect their weaknesses are exposed.

And even with all the skill and knowledge we can all get caught out sometimes.

[Detling]

Maybe centre ropes should be taken off on rivers, they are dangerous, use bow and stern lines. I have a long rope which goes from the bow and reaches the rear of the cabin roof so we use that when there is any flow. Also as this chap did you must point into the current when mooring.

[Nut]

glad he is ok and his boat .that will live long in his memory

[Bee]

1 hour ago, rgreg said:

And even with all the skill and knowledge we can all get caught out sometimes.

And that is so true.

[howardang]

9 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Not everyone with a boat has either the knowledge or skill to operate it, the 1st time the conditions are anything less than perfect their weaknesses are exposed.

Learning to handle a boat, and indeed the whole art of "boatmanship" is a process which never stops; none of us are total experts, and experiences like this are a sobering but important part of learning.  There is always something that can be learnt or  tweaked and sometimes, as in this case, the lesson can be more traumatic than at other times! I totally sympathise with the boater in York - we have all done similar things, and mostly, I suspect, we have  got away with it -  but I am sure he will remember the experience, which will help make him a more confident boater.

Howard

[mrsmelly]

Meanwhile I will ensure I am off the river well before its too late especialy when heavy continued rain has been forecast for days on end before the event. I do agree York is especialy dodgy I am just going up there but I aint going when its rained for days on end.

[Alan de Enfield]

1 hour ago, rgreg said:

And even with all the skill and knowledge we can all get caught out sometimes.

 

2 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Meanwhile I will ensure I am off the river well before its too late especialy when heavy continued rain has been forecast for days on end before the event. I do agree York is especialy dodgy I am just going up there but I aint going when its rained for days on end.

There are things to do to minimise the 'risks' - when boating on rivers, watching the weather forecast is one, another is checking on flood alerts / warnings - even, as a last resort, look how fast the water is flowing before trying to move the boat.

[peterboat]

17 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Meanwhile I will ensure I am off the river well before its too late especialy when heavy continued rain has been forecast for days on end before the event. I do agree York is especialy dodgy I am just going up there but I aint going when its rained for days on end.

If it rains in Richmond North Yorks I think it floods in York so sometimes you dont know Tim its a pain

[matty40s]

I spend a lot of time on the Soar and Trent, know when it's safe to go and when not to, how to tie up in flood and where to avoid in flood.

I do try to help people and share knowledge, especially with the tying lines to allow the boats to rise and fall safely. Two boats at Birstall on Friday, one will have coped with the Friday monsoon well, the other will now have been sunk if the owners were not on board as they tied front and back lines 90 degrees to bollards and tightly.

Poor advice by someone who should have known better, which could have resulted in people going out, was given by the Leicester Marina manager on Friday who assured me that the Soar was too low to go into flood. 

[rgreg]

11 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

There are things to do to minimise the 'risks' - when boating on rivers, watching the weather forecast is one, another is checking on flood alerts / warnings - even, as a last resort, look how fast the water is flowing before trying to move the boat.

Of course there are, and should be done, but despite taking every precaution we can still be caught out at times. I'm not saying whether he was right or wrong in this situation as I don't know the circumstances that led to him being there. 

[Midnight]

9 hours ago, peterboat said:

Thats easy he will have been moored further up near the bridge on the right hand side [museam gardens i think] maybe? and as the water goes up the mooring becomes unsafe! So he has to move to a safer mooring down stream its not choice its necessity!

^^^^^^^ yes he like us was on museum gardens. I moved yesterday morning when the level was obviously creeping up. He waited until the water went over the walkway.

4 hours ago, frangar said:

York is really crying out for some better “flood proof” visitor moorings. Even at normal water levels the moorings at Museum Gardens leave a lot to be desired. 

Yes a couple of floating pontoons would be a help in the worst of the floods. The Kings & Queens Staithe are pretty safe up to about 2metres after that the best option is to move down to Naburn or up to Linton

30 minutes ago, howardang said:

Learning to handle a boat, and indeed the whole art of "boatmanship" is a process which never stops; none of us are total experts, and experiences like this are a sobering but important part of learning.  There is always something that can be learnt or  tweaked and sometimes, as in this case, the lesson can be more traumatic than at other times! I totally sympathise with the boater in York - we have all done similar things, and mostly, I suspect, we have  got away with it -  but I am sure he will remember the experience, which will help make him a more confident boater.

Howard

Oh yes I'm not going to judge in this case. Last year after a particularly long single handed day on the Trent I pulled into Cranfleet Cut for the night. It was quite windy blowing off the towpath side. I reversed back to the towpath and jumped off with the centre rope. Only to see that I had inadvertently pushed the stick beyond neutral and into forward gear. I shouted to the dog to put it in neutral but he just looks at me with disdain. I hung on and managed to pull it in. Had to have a single malt before I could settle. Doh!!

[mrsmelly]

Just a quick one. Why oh why do people EVER use a centre line on a narrowboat to moor up with? Centre lines are for stepping off boat with to draw the boat alongside NOT for mooring. Of course temporary whilst on a short pontoon etc etc but to moor and leave a boat with the center line as a mooring rope 

[Alan de Enfield]

5 minutes ago, Midnight said:

^^^^^^^ yes he like us was on museum gardens. I moved yesterday morning when the level was obviously creeping up. He waited until the water went over the walkway.

 

That's the difference.

Engaging brain, thinking and planning ahead.

[rusty69]

1 minute ago, mrsmelly said:

Just a quick one

Is this a quick one like your ecofan thread, or a quick one like your Langley Mill thread? 

[mrsmelly]

5 minutes ago, Midnight said:

 

Oh yes I'm not going to judge in this case. Last year after a particularly long single handed day on the Trent I pulled into Cranfleet Cut for the night. It was quite windy blowing off the towpath side. I reversed back to the towpath and jumped off with the centre rope. Only to see that I had inadvertently pushed the stick beyond neutral and into forward gear. I shouted to the dog to put it in neutral but he just looks at me with disdain. I hung on and managed to pull it in. Had to have a single malt before I could settle. Doh!!

Dont get me wrong we have ALL done numpty stuff. I nearly hung ours up in a lock in the early days  Thank God for the axe!! I had to smile re the dog 

[Midnight]

Just now, mrsmelly said:

Just a quick one. Why oh why do people EVER use a centre line on a narrowboat to moor up with? Centre lines are for stepping off boat with to draw the boat alongside NOT for mooring. Of course temporary whilst on a short pontoon etc etc but to moor and leave a boat with the center line as a mooring rope 

There was another boat on museum gardens as well and guess what? Tied with bow, stern and centre rope. 

 

1 minute ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Engaging brain, thinking and planning ahead.

wot me plan? 

[peterboat]

My mate last year was on Museum gardens when the water went up he moved to Queen Staiths and still ended up with poles down to stop him going over the side!! He didnt misjudge it he just couldnt go through bridges to get to Naburn as he was that big!!

[Midnight]

4 minutes ago, peterboat said:

My mate last year was on Museum gardens when the water went up he moved to Queen Staiths and still ended up with poles down to stop him going over the side!! He didnt misjudge it he just couldnt go through bridges to get to Naburn as he was that big!!

If tomorrow's forecast is correct there's a good chance of that later this week. Today's forecast is good so if the level drops I'll be off back to Selby tomorrow for the safety of the Selby canal.

[mrsmelly]

2 minutes ago, Midnight said:

If tomorrow's forecast is correct there's a good chance of that later this week. Today's forecast is good so if the level drops I'll be off back to Selby tomorrow for the safety of the Selby canal.

Watch you dont miss the " ole " ont way passed