Misadventures on the Thames

[Aquafan]

We departed Limehouse on the Tuesday after the bank holiday at 13.00hrs in torrential rain plus thunder and lightning heading back to Teddington and were just a few hundred yards from Tower Bridge when there was a series of bangs from the props which felt like and was a rope wrapped around the duoprops. Luckily we still had some propulsion although we couldn’t go any quicker than 7 or 8 knts with the tide behind us without a heavy vibration.
Anyone who has taken a boat through London will know you need your wits about you especially around Tower Bridge, the trip boats and the tide running and in torrential rain made the situation treacherous but we made it to Teddington Lock but on engaging reverse the engine stalled but were able to restart and just made it to the wall.
I am insured with Navigators and General (very good company) which includes membership of River and Canal Rescue who sent a marine engineer to us from Maidstone!. Les arrived at 11.00 the following morning who was magnificent.
What a wonderful invention outdrives are as we were able to lift the drive for him to get access and he eventually cut the thick polypropylene rope off and all seems well and we were able to continue our journey back to Marlow.
But I now need to make sure there is no damage to the props which means getting the revs up to about 3000rpm which isn’t easy on the non tidal Thames.
The experienced skippers amongst you all know this is not such an unusual experience on the tidal Thames and particularly in a single engine boat can be very dangerous and there isn’t much you can do about it but keep a good look out which I was.
A big thanks to The River and Canal Rescue team and to Les who were superb.
The boat is an Aquador28C with a single engine D6- 310 engine with a DPH outdrive
Will I go back through London again? …. of course

 

[Chris_d]

Exactly the same happened to me a few years ago, just gone through Blackfriers bridge and both engines (duoprops) stopped dead with a thump, had picked up a huge mooring rope which caught both drives!
Restarted both engines as I was rapidly heading back toward the bridge with the tide, put them into gear and one immediately stalled as the rope had locked it solid, after doing a 360 as the one engine that stayed running spun us round we were able to limp on but clearly with some rope still attached :-( Got to Teddington and same thing as you in the lock, engine stalled when reverse engaged. We limped out and lifted both drives to cut about 2metres of 40mm diameter rope off! All normal for the rest of the journey upstream.

Props were a bit bent and the shaft seals on both drives were damaged so needed replacement, but it is testement to the robustness of the DPE drives that they took this abuse and were relatively cheaply repairable.

After that experience I am half inclined to go through central london on one engine only next time, that way you can't loose the second engine.

 

[CX54WEK]

Not sure I would call RCR for something around the props!

The OH just gets his arms wet and does it himself. If we called RCR everyone we picked something up they would be following us around with our own personal van

 

[Actionmat]

I got my arms wet by Hammersmith Bridge. On a rainy day when Thames Water had released tons of untreated sewage:disgust: not an experience i wish to repeat.

 

[Leighb]

My sympathies. As it happens we were in South Dock on Tuesday during all that rain and lightning.
I am also insured with N&G, is that extra cover you mentioned part of their normal policies?
Worth knowing if so.
We came up to Teddington next day in very different conditions I am glad to say!!

 

[oldgit]

Similar thing happened to us with my old Princess 33, picked a a real lump of nylon hawser up by Chelsea Bridge.
Stalled engine dead.
Limped back down, hoping to go into St Kats and really struggled to get across to their moorings.
Made fast and waited to enter lock.
Raised leg to try again to shift obstruction,as leg raised prop rotated in the tide and released the rope which then drifted off downstream.

 

[UK-WOOZY]

im a member of erith yacht club so sail the thames regularly. the previous yachts i had have had outboards so can just lift up to free props. now i jave a jeanneau with inboard. it has no rope cutter. if i want to get one how do i find one to suit mine? thanks

 

[Chris_d]

im a member of erith yacht club so sail the thames regularly. the previous yachts i had have had outboards so can just lift up to free props. now i jave a jeanneau with inboard. it has no rope cutter. if i want to get one how do i find one to suit mine? thanks

https://www.asap-supplies.com/propeller-drivetrain/rope-cutters

 

[Lower Limit 1909]

im a member of erith yacht club so sail the thames regularly. the previous yachts i had have had outboards so can just lift up to free props. now i jave a jeanneau with inboard. it has no rope cutter. if i want to get one how do i find one to suit mine? thanks

Spend quite a bit of my time on the tidal Thames. In the days of having an OB I reckon it was a case of disentangling something every 8-10 hours of use below hammersmith. Moving to a single prop shaft with a very inaccessible prop a few years ago I researched rope cutters heavily. The following article was a very useful read.
http://www.yachtingmonthly.com/gear/propeller-rope-cutter-test-30012
There are pros and cons to the various designs so it's worth working out what's best for your boat and the type of cruising you do.

3 years and around 250hrs on the central and upper tidal Thames since fitting a rope cutter I've not had a single incident that stopped me although there have been a few occasions wher some clunks and vibrations suggested something being chewed up.

I do wonder whether the design of duoprops makes them more prone to getting tangled up with stuff (and less inclined to release them via going into reverse) compared to a simple 3 blade prop. It's only anecdotal but the vast majority of prop entanglements tales I hear about seem to involve duoprops. I'm probably getting into Motorboat forum territory.

 

[Aquafan]

I am inclined to agree with your thoughts re duoprops and would be interested if anyone else has any facts to back them up also as far as I know there are no rope cutters available for duoprops or am I wrong?

 

[Chris_d]

I am inclined to agree with your thoughts re duoprops and would be interested if anyone else has any facts to back them up also as far as I know there are no rope cutters available for duoprops or am I wrong?

Yes no rope cutters for Duoprops and worse at picking up ropes as props are contra rotating, so reversing to unwind a rope has limited chance of working