PLA Safety Notice to Narrowboats

[teddington_lock]

I know most of you chaps are MoBo'ers , but i suspect there is the occasional narrowboat user that frequents the forums.

Recieved this from the PLA today , a timely reminder about the dangers of navigating ( especially NB's ) in the Pool of London.

Please have a read. What struck me was the speed with which it sank completely. Very little time to do anything.

http://www.pla.co.uk/pdfs/maritime/Safety_Bulletin_Issue_1_Sept_2012.pdf

 

[TrueBlue]

I know most of you chaps are MoBo'ers , but i suspect there is the occasional narrowboat user that frequents the forums.

Recieved this from the PLA today , a timely reminder about the dangers of navigating ( especially NB's ) in the Pool of London.

Please have a read. What struck me was the speed with which it sank completely. Very little time to do anything.

http://www.pla.co.uk/pdfs/maritime/Safety_Bulletin_Issue_1_Sept_2012.pdf

At the time it was assumed that the boat - being an elderly Springer with an air cooled Lister - that the engine air intake was the culprit. Even without the extra plating (and presumably no attempt at removing ballast to compensate), generally such intakes are usually no more than a couple of inches above the waterline. Not very sensible and not particularly suited to canal use.



Note:-
I remember Chris Coburn (he who crossed the channel and circumnavigated the British Isles in Progress, commenting that he designed the boat to have no open vents or drains lower than the cabin sides. Even the front deck could be covered and splash boards fitted - but the boat was designed for extreme cruising...

We once hired a boat from "the Wing Commander" to do the Thames ring in the summer and on reaching Teddington we found that the loo holding tank was full of river water. So even seasoned boa\t designers make mistakes.

It was common for early NBs to have a large vent on both sides of the engine bay each about 8" x 3" as air cooled Listers were the engine of choice. Typically there's no steel bulhead between the engine compartment and the rest of the boat, so once about 50 gallons (?) have bee shipped the rest overflows into the hull.

 

[rosssavage]

No lifejackets, sunk in ten seconds.... Jeeez!! Thankfully no injuries.

 

[No Regrets]

All round incompetence.

The builder, the Skipper and the crew have hopefully learnt something.

I always take a look under the floor-step hatch into the hull, to check for water ingress before, during and after cruise.

When tidal, I ensure myself or the crew take a quick look every thirty minutes.

You never know if a through hull fitting has failed, until there's a problem, so hopefully you see it when it's a SMALL problem, these poor people appeared to scuttle down to the back of the boat, making things worse!!

 

[Captain Coochie]

You check youre not sinking every half an hour ?
Mind you it is an old broom

 

[thames cruiser]

You check youre not sinking every half an hour ?
Mind you it is an old broom

ROFL!

 

[boatone]

The problem is that that safety notice will probably never be seen or read by anyone that really needs to take notice !

 

[CX54WEK]

You check youre not sinking every half an hour ?
Mind you it is an old broom

 

[Wavey]

A very ancient and decrepit narrowboat that should have been scrapped. Overplated to facilitate a sale. Sold to someone who knew no better who took it out on a river it was never designed for. I would hope that notice is posted on a NB forum as a word of warning. They were very lucky help was readily at hand.

 

[TrueBlue]

A very ancient and decrepit narrowboat that should have been scrapped. Overplated to facilitate a sale. Sold to someone who knew no better who took it out on a river it was never designed for. I would hope that notice is posted on a NB forum as a word of warning. They were very lucky help was readily at hand.

Quite a discussion on this forum - here

The problem is that there are a lot of folks desparate to find somwhere to live and a boat is seen as an inexpensive alternative. NBs hold their price quite well, so some are driven down to the tatty end of the market. I suspect that the boat in question was being moved for that purpose.

 

[No Regrets]

You check youre not sinking every half an hour ?
Mind you it is an old broom

Sigh....Not exactly what I said

I check for Oil loss, Coolant loss, Water ingress, Stowaway itinerant forumites, usual stuff...

 

[teddington_lock]

We've printed it out and popped it up at Tedders , we have a lot of NB'ers come through , so hopefully the right people will see it.

By and large , the NB'ers are pretty clued up , but we do get the occasional one that really doesn't have a clue , we try to advise them and hope for the best.

 

[Bilgediver]

I know most of you chaps are MoBo'ers , but i suspect there is the occasional narrowboat user that frequents the forums.

Recieved this from the PLA today , a timely reminder about the dangers of navigating ( especially NB's ) in the Pool of London.

Please have a read. What struck me was the speed with which it sank completely. Very little time to do anything.

http://www.pla.co.uk/pdfs/maritime/Safety_Bulletin_Issue_1_Sept_2012.pdf

I am always alarmed when I see these and other openings just abov the waterline on narrowboats which operate on canals from where they can easily venture onto tidal rivers. Even on canals these openings drastically reduce the damage stabilty situation.

 

[Bru]

At the time it was assumed that the boat - being an elderly Springer with an air cooled Lister - that the engine air intake was the culprit. Even without the extra plating (and presumably no attempt at removing ballast to compensate), generally such intakes are usually no more than a couple of inches above the waterline. Not very sensible and not particularly suited to canal use.

Actually perfectly suitable for CANAL use, albeit a cause for concern if the boat is taken onto waters for which it was never designed

It was a pretty standard setup on many narrowboats built in the 1970s and fitted with the ubiquitous air cooled Lister SR2. In fact, the original vent would have been even closer to the (original) waterline but the requirements of the Boat Safety Scheme neccesitate welding up the lower part of the vent which appears to have been done on the Springer in question

I'm sceptical about the "overplating of the entire hull" thing, both as to it having been done as as to it been the single cause of the boat being too low in the water. It would be unusual for a Springer of that vintage to suffer from extensive corrosion due to the high quality steel used in the construction for all but the last few years of the companys existence. I suspect there may have been an excess of additional ballast as well but it's a moot point

Clearly, something was seriously amiss plus the crew were not properly prepared

We, by the way, owned the original and very first Springer narrowboat "Badger" for many years and I would have been very leery about taking her out onto the tidal Thames even after the air vent was reduced as per my comment above.

I don't see how the boat could have been adequately prepared to be safe in the conditions that could be encountered - the air vent would have to be stopped up which would necessitate removing part of the aft deck to allow air into the engine space and that wou;d leave the boat vulnerable to flooding and loss of power if a wave broke over the back deck.

There are plenty of narrowboats which are, or could easily be made, suitable for such conditions but not that one IMO

 

[thames cruiser]

Sigh....Not exactly what I said

I check for Oil loss, Coolant loss, Water ingress, Stowaway itinerant forumites, usual stuff...

Too late John. It matters not what you meant, only how it was perceived!
And you have to admit, it makes a healthy change from all that Sealine-bashing that we are more used to!

Hope to see you and the missus out on 'the old broom' again real soon (no pun intended!)

 

[No Regrets]

I'll have you know I have NEVER bashed any Sealines.

I may have clubbed a few Walruses, but that was another forum....

We'll be out next weekend if the weathers OK, and she's not back in Hospital Love to see you guys!

 

[ADLS]

All round incompetence.

The builder, the Skipper and the crew have hopefully learnt something.

I always take a look under the floor-step hatch into the hull, to check for water ingress before, during and after cruise.

When tidal, I ensure myself or the crew take a quick look every thirty minutes.

You never know if a through hull fitting has failed, until there's a problem, so hopefully you see it when it's a SMALL problem, these poor people appeared to scuttle down to the back of the boat, making things worse!!

Standard procedure check and recheck, thers so much on a boat that CAN GO Wrong and if acted upon quickly are only problems and not disasters.

Now the NBoaters should have taken more time to examin the boat in the water before charging out onto the tidal thames. My old boat Lazy Days was over-wintered in a shed in Holland, each spring the hull would be checked, painted and anti-fouled. She would then be craned back into the water but left in the cradle untill checks were made below. the last time this was done a leak was found at the depth sounder transducer so she was lifted out and it was resealed. the boat was put back in and moored up for engine checks, we then moved into a free berth for further checks, fill up water etc. Now we were fit for sea.

While working in Denmark I would help deliver a banks sailing boat, while heading up the coast to Copenhagen we noticed water coming into the cabin while healed over to starboard, the sink skin fitting had failed this we quickly sealed of with a wooden spud basher while healed over to port. No washing up done that W/E.

I was amazed at how low air intakes were fitted to that NB as even wash on a canal would enter???????????

 

[TrueBlue]

Now the NBoaters should have taken more time to examine the boat in the water before charging out onto the tidal thames.


I was amazed at how low air intakes were fitted to that NB as even wash on a canal would enter???????????

I don't suppose that the owners were aware of wash caused by boats on an open river. Being a bit uncharitable, I don't think they would be aware of anything to do with water - canals generally are relatively safe places.

The boat in question was likely built over 40 years ago when the Lister / Petter engines were air cooled and canal boats could not go fast enough to cause much wash. It was common for the air intake to be placed ridiculously low. I suspect the designers were constrained to fit the vent between the top rubbing strake and the Oxter (?sp) plate.

Such design obviously worked on the canal system as sinkings are rare and those caused by water ingress through an air vent even rarer (I've never heard of one.)