Over reaction perhaps,

[SaltIre]

I was a member of a group that chartered two yachts from a company on the West Coast of Scotland. On the first night the other yacht lost propulsion while anchoring. Three of us worked out that the cable to the gearbox was intact and also that the lever on the gearbox was working - which left only two possibilities:
- the gearbox was knackered
- the prop had fallen off
Next day we sailed back to the charter base, in company, and the skipper sailed onto a mooring. When a diver went down, sure enough - no prop!

It was interesting that the charter company were happy for us to sail back...

 

[snowbird30ds]

On breydon water there's a dogleg just after the bridge with a few posts missing right on the bend, it's got small buoys there but all the hire bumph says keep between the posts, with the gap in the posts that makes it look like it should be straight on to a novice.

 

[The Q]

What many don't know on the broads is that except in a few rare places, is if your boat sinks on the majority of the rivers and broads it will only drop at most 6ft in many places only 3 or 4feet. You could stand on the cabin roof and not get your feet wet.. only in the old shipping channel through Breydon to Norwich is it as deep as 30ft even then past Brundall it's back down to 6ft or less.
Where those motor cruisers keep going aground it's only 3 or 4ft deep at high tide.

Some years ago a very good sailer was sailing a Reedling keelboat the near the first start in the 3 Rivers Race, he'd just left Horning, Hauled up the Spinnaker, caught a gust through the trees, tipped, filled up and sank in the middle of the river..
The entire 100+ boat fleet then passed him, both sides, standing on the foredeck up to his knees in water holding the mast.