Boat sunk - Thames Estuary

"This incident could very easily have had a different outcome."

Sounds about right !. Scary that she went down so quickly - no time for full mayday etc. An EPIRB could have helped, but so close to shore I doubt many of us (me included) would think of it.

Good to hear they all came through it.
 
There are several concrete groynes sticking out from the N shore east of Gravesend and W of Coalhouse Point, submerged near HW but all usually clearly marked and lit FL.G.2.5s. Watch out!
Lucky escape indeed.
 
I was trying to remember exactly what it is like up there. Presumably day time, so should be able to spot it all ok. Are there any that stick out further than you expect? Not a boat you know presumably? Would be interesting to know what the boat was.

Lucky escape indeed with the temperature as it is just now, even so close to the shore.

Note to self - keep PLB in pocket of waterproof when next out.
 
I think they are all marked with posts as far as I remember. The lengths of groyne do vary.
Trying to find out home of boat, name rings a bell with me.
 
Just been looking at Google Earth. There are loads of posts on the north side bank that stick out quite far round Coalhouse Point . I tend to stay on the south side till past the point, but maybe they didn't. Chart is on the boat so can't see what is underwater.

Perhaps Leon knows what happened.
 
I was at the boat yesterday doing some jobs and heard the mayday relayed by Thames Coastguard. Sounds awful as they didn't have time to give any details apart from 'taking on water and sinking' and thats where the call ended.

Glad everyones ok, could have been much worse...


Jack
 
Thanks for the link. I was sailing on The Blackwater yesterday and heard Thames CG responding to the Mayday but not getting any reply. I thought the boat name sounded familiar but later realised that the name is just similar to a boat that moors near Bradwell.

A bit if a shocker and rather close to home.

Morgan
 
A bit more info.
Boat indeed hit one of the groynes, it seems, as I mentioned above, which are indeed all marked. She sank so only tip of mast and sail was visible.
She was raised by PLA later same day and is in their depot E of Gravesend.
Still trying to find out whose she is. Not a Hollowshore member but I'm sure I've seen the name round here somewhere.
 
Have found a fuller report on the incident yesterday on RNLI's website.

http://www.rnli.org.uk/who_we_are/press_centre/news_releases/news_release_detail?articleid=417657

Haven't ever been up this stretch of river. Been looking in Janet Harber's latest (19th) edition of 'East Coast Rivers'. On page 148 it says 'To help scour the Diver shoal, the PLA has built six groynes, exposed at low water, on the north side of the reach, marked by lit (Fl G 2.5s) beacons at their southern ends. The beacons are difficult to see coming up river by day and no better at night when the shore lights mask the beacon lights'. According to the RNLI report this incident happened in broad daylight (11 am) yesterday (Tuesday 17th). If they were travelling up river at the time, maybe they had difficulty seeing the beacon lights. That said, LW was 1246 yesterday (-1hr 15m ish at Tilbury) so the groynes would presumably have been clearly visible.
 
The groynes and their marks are, of course, mentioned in East Coast Pilot !
Having passed that way quite a few times, I do not agree with Janet's comment that they are 'difficult to see' in daylight.
There were perhaps other circumstances that caused this boat to hit reportedly one of them.
 
I agree that they are well mentioned in any pilot, well marked on the charts and easily visible. I made dam sure that I was well away from them as I went past when going to London.

They are just short of Gravesend, in a quieter part of the river, so it was jolly lucky that someone on the bank spotted the incident and reacted quickly.
 
According to my electronic chart the groynes dry .6m and the tide was 1.8m (I have to say I am always suspicious of the tidal calcs made by the charting software as it seems to differ from other sources). On this tide, if you went between the Green posts marking the S end and the Yellow ones marking the N end in a 27' yacht you would most likely be in the poo.

There is considerable pressure on small boaters to keep out of the main channels by staying just outside the main channel markers. With these groyne markers that advice is disastrous. The specific danger of these groynes is well documented. However, as the marks are known to be difficult to see and with the general advice to stay just outside main channel markers in a small boat, I think the PLA should make more effort to highlight the danger that they created.
 
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..........However, as the marks are known to be difficult to see and with the general advice to stay just outside main channel markers in a small boat, I think the PLA should make more effort to highlight the danger that they created.

[/ QUOTE ]
Sorry, I don't agree. They are not hard to see and the PLA job of marking and lighting them is perfectly adequate IMHO. And if you are running up river just outside them you are well away from the big stuff.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Sorry, I don't agree. They are not hard to see

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Well clearly not everyone agrees. That adds spice to life. I don't like navigating outside a buoyed channel but we are often encouraged to do so. In the case of these groyne markers that is a dangerous thing to do.
 
The thing about the Thames is that going up it you are particularly concerned about shipping; plastic bags etc. and the tide turning before you get to your destination. Navigation for the most part is straight forward, so maybe gets fairly relaxed.

They were very early on the tide, so keeping an eye on arrival time was presumably not a worry. It may be that they were keeping to the shallows to stay out of the tide. They may have been pre-occupied with traffic. Still not entirely sure where they were as my chart is on the boat, but if the groins are further out into the river and more spaced out than expected then they could be missed if your attention was elsewhere. Maybe the skipper usually goes up with more water under the keel and usually goes over the top, but this time he was caught out.

Presumably it the full story will turn up somewhere - maybe CHIRP?

BTW Sunsetgirl - where is Diver Shoal? Certianly a better written story on your link. Thanks for finding it. Now can anybody find any photos of the damage....?
 
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.......... Now can anybody find any photos of the damage....?

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I've got one but you can't have it..... /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
Hmmmm.

How did you manage that?!

The local paper describes a 1m hole. That is quite a gash. No wonder it didn't float for long. What sort of boat is it?
 
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