Emsworth Drama

tome

tome

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 Mar 2002
Messages
8,201
Location
kprick
www.google.co.uk
Just heard on the news that a RIB went aground on a falling tide this evening and a female passenger decided to walk ashore

Stuck up to her waist in mud, she was rescued by Hayling Inshore and CG helo India Juliet. All safe

Sheez, Emsworth's a rum place alright
 
Emsworths a grand place - when the tide is in! Anyone messing with Chi harbour mud will very quickly learn it wins every time.

This lady was lucky. Very lucky. A child was drowned by the incoming tide in the Prinstead mud just 3 years ago despite the efforts of the Rescue services.
 
Some of the mud up the Helford is like that: FWIW I established that, as I suspected, you can, and should, crawl/swim on it rather than try to walk.
 
Remember seeing a spaniel 'jump ship' from a bilge keeler dried out in Emsworth, the dog had a great time, mud from head to tail!
 
i once saw a guy ski out to his half tide mooring across the deep soft mud on ordinary snow skis. I expected a calamity but unbelievably it worked.
 
Years ago i had a 1/2 tide mooring at Emsworth. A couple of times I got caught with insufficient water to get ashore in the dinghy.

My method was to put all my gear in the ding and then push it across the mud leaning on the transom...with most of yr weight taken off yr feet it was like pushing a sledge.

Got pretty muddy of course but better than waiting 6 or 7 hours for the tide in the early morning!

Nick
 
Once broke the centreboard of a Wayfarer dinghy trying to tack up Benfleet Creek against the falling tide. We had to wade back up the edge of the creek in the mud towing the boat for about half a mile. Eventually reached the slipway looking like the creatures from the black lagoon.
 
The mud is fine .... if you are dressed for it and don't stand still ...

Recently had to replace 2 poles at the 1/2 tide mark, a group of 7-8 of us all standing around in the mud - wasn't a problem at all .... must be the practice we've had...
 
East Coasters will, of course, know what I mean by splatchers - sort of broad short skis shaped a bit like boats. YM did a tongue-in-cheek article on crossing mud some years ago in which they featured and we had a pair in the office for many years, courtesy of JDS.

Even shallow mud can be nasty. Last spring I got stuck in the mud outside our house which is just a foot deep down to shillet - but could I move - could I h*ll! Neighbours had to come to the rescue with ladders and two short planks (which is pretty much how I felt at the time!).
 
The bay of mont St Michel still has a shoe I left there 20 yrs ago. It was so stuck it was leave the shoe or leave my leg!
 
I had a half tide mooring in a river near cardiff with waist deep mud on the banks but hard shingle on the river bed.

In one spot a storm water drain had scoured a small channel enabling you to walk down to inspect m,ooring chains etc.

After checking my moorings I was hosing myself down when I heard shouts from the river, A newcomer to the club seeing me walk down thought it was OK but didnt use the scoured channel.

We slid a plywood dinghy down on a rope attatched to the club tractor and even with 4 of us heaving on a rope (all covered in black mud by then) the guy struggled to free himself.

A suggestion of pulling out with the tractor was over ruled on the grounds we could pull his legs off.(Im not joking)

mud is far more dangerous than people would first realize.
 
A standard trick in extremis is to stick a water hose down by the the stuck limb, and pumping water through. This will help to reduce the stick.
 
Makes it a bit difficult to get ashore to turn the tap on without taking yer leg along though innit /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
It reminds me of an incident some years ago.

We were out sailing in Strangford Lough and one of our party absolutely had to get back by a certain time. This coincided with low tide when there remained an expanse of about 25 yards of mud between the water and the end of the slipway. We left the boat on its mooring and got into the dinghy, a fairly solid and heavy GRP affair. After becoming enslimed and stuck we gave up the struggle. About a quarter of a mile away there was a rocky outcrop which only involved a few yards of mud. Already very late, we had to lug this heavy dinghy around the foreshore, over rocks, through mud etc.

Finally exhausted we got to the yard and went to the car.

"Who has the car keys??"

"Well actually", I replied diffidently, "they're still on the boat......"

John
 
[ QUOTE ]
A standard trick in extremis is to stick a water hose down by the the stuck limb, and pumping water through. This will help to reduce the stick.

[/ QUOTE ]
On the Coastguard mud rescue teams we use long metal tubes into the mud by the casualty's feet, fed by either water (as in a water fire extinguisher) or compressed air, depends on the kind of mud and which works best in the circumstances.
 
[ QUOTE ]
The Baie of Mont St Michel still has a shoe I left there 20 yrs ago.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm impressed. Can you confirm that the carpark is poor holding ground? (That from a French pilot.)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top