Cowes chain ferry now working

10/10 too the staff running the ferry with the added tidal surge on top of a high spring tide, they really should not be carrying people off, says he with a wrecked back.

Is it not beyond them to build a portable raised gangplank like they have stacked up in St Marks Square in Venice, that get put out in similar tidal conditions.
 
I did wonder what the insurance ramifications may be, but it's good to see people simply trying to help; even an inflatable dinghy would surely have been a better, safer bet but I suppose it was unplanned and there wasn't one handy.
 
+1 to the crew for trying to help but I cannot help thinking that whoever has responsibilities for this farce as a responsible employer might now be considering its health and safety policies. They have already damaged a few cars but the damages for the PI claims which might arise from this personal service might well exceed the few thousand as paid out for those car cases leaving aside the stress caused to the crew of working in these conditions. I suspect that instructions are now being given not to repeat this added value service and to moor up in such circumstances . If I was the councils insurer I would be looking carefully at the systems and controls which operate before a serious accident happens with FB6
 
If a couple of years a ago they suspended fb5 due to high tide no-one would have battered an eyelid. But now, due to the goings on with fb6, if they said "suspended due to high tide" they'd never live it down. Between a rock and a hard place.
 
You might have thought if they had such issues withFB5 then before wasting funds they would have considered the impact of high tides on any new model though? maybe secretly they want an excuse to obtain funds to build a swing bridge after public outcry reaches a loud enough level?
 
It would have to be a remarkably fast opening and closing swing bridge with the amount of sailing boats going past, more like a revolving door - a completely silly idea - I expect work to commence shortly...

Maybe they'll sell FB6 to the Marines, that would be about right when it's they who are needed at Cowes at the moment - either as a stand in landing craft ferry or to storm the council offices, either would be good. :)
 
Seajet said:
Well unless they destroy a lot of places either end it would have to describe a pretty sharp, right angle cornered ' U ' more like a fairground ride, but they might bring up some fascinating history like more evidence of the Vikings the Folly is supposed to be built upon...:)
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Well I was joking about the tunnel but a high level fixed bridge say 65ft clearance might work, not in the exact same location maybe and perhaps a one laner like the ferry ramp approach to the Holyhead/Dun Laoghaire car ferry with traffic control. OR a simple floaty ferry like fb6 not on chains at all but with side tied tug like on the lower ferry in Dartmouth which copes well enough with faster tides and bigger height range surely than in the Medina. Actually cars can always drive round the long way anyway, only pedestrians truly need a short cut.
 
All I would hope to see this year is a reliable passenger service back in use by Easter and a water taxi service which is not summoned to help out whenever there is any degree of tide running. I doubt having travelled on the replacement boat at high tide a Dartmouth type solution would work but cleary if they restored an efficient water taxi then this would reduce the number of people waiting to cross as foot passengers and missing the red jet to Soton.
 
Having tried the Dartmouth ferry with the small tug prodding a raft around, I'd not want to be the skipper if they tried that in the narrow fast flowing funnel at Cowes.

It should be remembered that while we mainly weekend yotties jest, this is deadly serious for local people with jobs they're trying to get to; I don't know what I'd do in that situation, an inflatable canoe is out due to tides and stowage, maybe an arrangement for a decent sized rigid dinghy with an outboard between East Cowes Marina and Shephards Wharf ? - Possibly shared with others, ie a freelance ferry ! - Sounds pricey but I haven't asked.
 
Seajet said:
Having tried the Dartmouth ferry with the small tug prodding a raft around, I'd not want to be the skipper if they tried that in the narrow fast flowing funnel at Cowes.

It should be remembered that while we mainly weekend yotties jest, this is deadly serious for local people with jobs they're trying to get to; I don't know what I'd do in that situation, an inflatable canoe is out due to tides and stowage, maybe an arrangement for a decent sized rigid dinghy with an outboard between East Cowes Marina and Shephards Wharf ? - Possibly shared with others, ie a freelance ferry ! - Sounds pricey but I haven't asked.
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lpdsn said:
To be honest I was just taking the mickey out of a stupid comment.
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It was a flippant comment which whooshed over your head...

As for the cable car jobs, there'd be an awfae clanging and probably a bit of a stoppage in the works spitting out B & G instruments when a J Class or similar manouvered around there :)
 
Seajet said:
It was a flippant comment which whooshed over your head...

As for the cable car jobs, there'd be an awfae clanging and probably a bit of a stoppage in the works spitting out B & G instruments when a J Class or similar manouvered around there :)
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I watched an old antiques roadshow that showed a transporting device near Newport SW IIRC where a bridge section, loaded with people and maybe cars or carts when designed by Brunel(?) was raised up and taken across the water on cables originally a means of getting workers from threir homes to a factory t'other side Simple principle, might be a tad slow, but practical ? .
 
Middlesbrough. A lot of supporting structure is needed though so it wouldn't be a cheape project.
 
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