Boat falls off cradle killing owner at Weymouth

[JumbleDuck]

Yes, I think you have something here, the theorists have overlooked this one .

Likewise, I drop one leg at a time while antifouling the patches at an unnamed yard but with two akro props in place that are tied in to the cradle.

Experience. And props, so the boat is always additionally supported.

 

[JumbleDuck]

“My” yard only uses wooden props and wedges for all the boats and has done for 53 years. The T&Cs ban the use of cradles. I can’t say whether it’s without incident because I’ve only been there since 2002 but clearly it’s not an inherently unsafe system.

The yard I used to use, McKellar's Slipway in Kilcreggan, used wooden props and wedges with occasional oil drums for smaller boats like mine. But then Ian and Ronnie McGrouther (a) had owned and run the yard for sixty years, (b) went round every boat every day, checking every prop and (c) absolutely forbade anyone else from fiddling with things.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Cradles have four legs for redundancy, so you can drop one.

The world is full of cretins who cannot see if their boat is likely to be blown over.

Ho hum.

 

[doug748]

It's not safe. They just get away with it.

“Subjectivity measures nothing consistently.”

 

[oldharry]

The three legged stool is a time-honoured concept.
Actually I don't think I know of any yards making an issue of cradle legs being lowered, the issue is letting clueless customers fiddle with the cradles.

Different configuration. Ive never seen a three legged boat cradle. Must be a reason for that? Though come to think of it thats how many bilge keelers sit ashore, on two keels and the skeg.

This discussion puts me in mind of Orwells 'Animal Farm": " Four legs good, two legs bad!"

 

[penberth3]

...This discussion puts me in mind of Orwells 'Animal Farm": " Four legs good, two legs bad!"

...and I'm surprised how many people have never heard of Isaac Newton.

 

[Biggles Wader]

...and I'm surprised how many people have never heard of Isaac Newton.

How many legs did he have then?

 

[Resolution]

The three legged stool is a time-honoured concept.
.

IIRC, the reason why the three legged stool is common is that all three legs will always contact the ground even if the legs are not of exact equal length. So it will not rock, whereas a four legged stool or chair can often rock unevenly.

 

[doug748]

...and I'm surprised how many people have never heard of Isaac Newton.

How many legs did he have then?

Nonsense, everybody has heard of him, they said he over acted but he was my favourite as a kid:

He had one leg, BTW
-)

 

[DownWest]

Robert Newton was a good actor, but the drink killed him.

 

[Poignard]

Robert Newton was a good actor, but the drink killed him.

Very likely. Drink and the devil did for the rest.

 

[JumbleDuck]

IIRC, the reason why the three legged stool is common is that all three legs will always contact the ground even if the legs are not of exact equal length. So it will not rock, whereas a four legged stool or chair can often rock unevenly.

Though it's possible to prove that by rotating a four legged stool you can always find one orientation in which all four legs touch the floor. I used to set it as a challenge for first year engineers.

Hint: The proof is very easy, and relies on the Intermediate Value Theorem.

 

[Martin&Rene]

Back to the original discussion on the safety of cradles, I find it rather odd that the latest edition of YM on page 42 has a picture of somebody who has raised up the yacht cradle by setting it on 4 piles of bricks.

 

[VicS]

Back to the original discussion on the safety of cradles, I find it rather odd that the latest edition of YM on page 42 has a picture of somebody who has raised up the yacht cradle by setting it on 4 piles of bricks.

Perhaps the cradle was raised to gain height in order to drop the rudder ...if it was not possible/ acceptable to dig a hole. Bricks however are bad... Always use wooden blocks

Though it's possible to prove that by rotating a four legged stool you can always find one orientation in which all four legs touch the floor. I used to set it as a challenge for first year engineers.

Hint: The proof is very easy, and relies on the Intermediate Value Theorem.

My kitchen stool always rocks. All four legs never touch the floor at the same time. no matter how much I rotate it.

Modern office chairs have five castors ( something to do with Elfin Safety) Perhaps boat cradles should have 5 props

 

[JumbleDuck]

My kitchen stool always rocks. All four legs never touch the floor at the same time. no matter how much I rotate it.

Sorry, I should have said that the proof is for rotating an evenly-legged stool on an uneven floor. Cut an inch off one leg of it and it will clearly always wobble on a flat floor.

Modern office chairs have five castors ( something to do with Elfin Safety)

Nah, it's to get an even exhaust beat, assuming it's four-stroke.

 

[TOKOLOSHI]

How many legs did he have then?

3 like Jake the Peg!

 

[lw395]

Back to the original discussion on the safety of cradles, I find it rather odd that the latest edition of YM on page 42 has a picture of somebody who has raised up the yacht cradle by setting it on 4 piles of bricks.

Presume someone's nicked the wheels?
It's iportant to use the right kind of bricks....

 

[Lucky Duck]

Just walked past the boat in question which is still sat forlornly on the hardstanding

 

[sailor211]

This is probably a clueless question, but hey ho.
Is it not possible, when a boat is propped up, to put another prop alongside an existing one, then remove the first one so that where the first one was can be anti-fouled, painted, etc?

Back when I was a lad that is what we did. The. Those days it was put props and probably 4 a side plus bow and stern.