Col
Well-Known Member
Having had yet another brilliant weekend, meeting up with GeoffS, Happy and Duncan, I returned to the boat yard and started to clean up boat prior to heading home.
Suddenly there was an almighty crash, and I looked up to see one of the pontoon piles wobbling.
A 16ft Crownline had lost control in the ebb tide and was swept onto the end of one of the pontoons. The driver panicked and opened the throttle to miss it, but it just meant he hit it harder.
He went roaring up the river and beached it on a mud bank. A few of us went to see if we could help.
He had punched a hole about 10X20 inches in the rear quarter, some of it below water line.
He beached it because it was taking on water. Roger from the yard patched it up with squirty foam but there was still a chance it would take on water when the tide came back in as it was beached fairly stern down.
We hatched a rescue plan, I manoeuvred Blue Angel into position in the river (the tide was still flooding out) we secured a line to the ski eye on the back of his boat and made it off on one of my stern cleats.
Then the fun, I had to turn sideways across the river to get as straight a pull as I could. Then I had to tow him off the mud without getting swept onto the pontoons he had hit earlier. His boat came off surprisingly easily.
I put Blue Angel back on my mooring so that the damaged boat could be brought alongside. We then secured his boat to mine with a ratchet strap from my mid cleat to his Stbd rear cleat. This had the effect of holding the rear quarter just high enough for the damage to be above water. He was arranging a lift out for this morning.
So there you are, my good deed for the day.
<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.arweb.co.uk/argallery/colspics> Cols Picture Album</A>
Suddenly there was an almighty crash, and I looked up to see one of the pontoon piles wobbling.
A 16ft Crownline had lost control in the ebb tide and was swept onto the end of one of the pontoons. The driver panicked and opened the throttle to miss it, but it just meant he hit it harder.
He went roaring up the river and beached it on a mud bank. A few of us went to see if we could help.
He had punched a hole about 10X20 inches in the rear quarter, some of it below water line.
He beached it because it was taking on water. Roger from the yard patched it up with squirty foam but there was still a chance it would take on water when the tide came back in as it was beached fairly stern down.
We hatched a rescue plan, I manoeuvred Blue Angel into position in the river (the tide was still flooding out) we secured a line to the ski eye on the back of his boat and made it off on one of my stern cleats.
Then the fun, I had to turn sideways across the river to get as straight a pull as I could. Then I had to tow him off the mud without getting swept onto the pontoons he had hit earlier. His boat came off surprisingly easily.
I put Blue Angel back on my mooring so that the damaged boat could be brought alongside. We then secured his boat to mine with a ratchet strap from my mid cleat to his Stbd rear cleat. This had the effect of holding the rear quarter just high enough for the damage to be above water. He was arranging a lift out for this morning.
So there you are, my good deed for the day.
<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.arweb.co.uk/argallery/colspics> Cols Picture Album</A>
