The Art of Mud Rowing

[Snowgoose-1]

The link refers to the rescue of a dinghy stranded on the mud at Woodbridge. Seems a bit over the top, four fire engines and coastguards from Felixstowe, Holbrook and Shingle street. One never knows the full story though. I expect it was a sailing dinghy.

I have managed rowing a hard dinghy one up on mud . I have seen others do it at Maldon but do others have any experience ?


Emergency services called to River Deben to rescue person stuck in dinghy on mud flats

 

[LittleSister]

Would be much harder, perhaps impossible, if you only had paddles, rather than oars, which would normally the case in a sailing dinghy. Harder still two or more up.

I have rowed more than once an inflatable, two up with provisions, over/through mud which still had maybe an inch of water over it (not enough to float, but it helped), when we arrived late at our then remote river mooring that only had dinghy access around high water.

I've also rowed through ice in a rigid dinghy, two up. Had to 'drop' the oars' blades' edges hard onto the ice to break slot holes through it, haul the dinghy forward and repeat. The ice was thick and hard enough that the oars would stay in the initial holes, just rounding them a little, so there were left behind us what looked like pairs of 'footprints' either side of the clear track opened up by the dinghy. It was quite hard slow work, so lucky our mooring at the time was quite close to the harbour shore. The main channel of the harbour, where ferries (and more current) passed, was clear of ice.

As you say about the rescue you report, one doesn't know the full story to know whether the scale of the response was warranted, but even if it wasn't directly, it might be considered a good training exercise in case of a potential future more challenging rescue of that type.

 

[oilybilge]

Last summer I went for a swift pint at the Butt and Oyster, and came out to find my dinghy high and dry in the mud. You'd have thought I'd have known better, but no.

Anyway I found I could 'pole' the dinghy through the mud by sticking an oar vertically into the mud just behind the transom, and levering the dinghy forwards with it. It took a bit of effort, and I came close to breaking the oar. What made it easier was jumping into the air each time I pulled the oar, thereby relieving the dinghy of approx 80kg of extra weight.

Not the most graceful thing I've ever done, but it got me to the water and gave everyone else a good laugh.

 

[LittleSister]

The first time I visited Pin Mill and the Butt & Oyster, in a friend's boat, we did it the other way around. Came out to find the dinghy afloat, still tied up, but some considerable distance from the water's edge. One of our number had to go wading to retrieve it so we could get back to the yacht.

Those who sail only in the Med, Baltic etc. with negligible tides, just don't know what they're missing!

 

[M Hill]

Looks like a perfect use of a rocket line!

 

[Leighb]

Last summer I went for a swift pint at the Butt and Oyster, and came out to find my dinghy high and dry in the mud. You'd have thought I'd have known better, but no.

Anyway I found I could 'pole' the dinghy through the mud by sticking an oar vertically into the mud just behind the transom, and levering the dinghy forwards with it. It took a bit of effort, and I came close to breaking the oar. What made it easier was jumping into the air each time I pulled the oar, thereby relieving the dinghy of approx 80kg of extra weight.

Not the most graceful thing I've ever done, but it got me to the water and gave everyone else a good laugh.

Interesting, I have also used the same technique. It is very effective but you need fairly strong oars. Not sure if it would work if two in the dinghy? In my case I only needed to get a few yards to reach the slipway to avoid getting out into the mud.

 

[Rappey]

Anyway I found I could 'pole' the dinghy through the mud by sticking an oar vertically into the mud just behind the transom, and levering the dinghy forwards with it. It took a bit of effort, and I came close to breaking the oar. What made it easier was jumping into the air each time I pulled the oar, thereby relieving the dinghy of approx 80kg of extra weight.

Not the most graceful thing I've ever done, but it got me to the water and gave everyone else a good laugh.

Exactly that, with a good pair of oars.
Moored boats create a crater in the mud. Go down one of those and its a nightmare trying to go uphill to get out.
Once skilled at mud rowing you can progress to using and oar in each hand and go twice as fast !
For high speed you run through the mud while leaning on the dingy transom and using it as a sledge.

 

[LittleSister]

Looks like a perfect use of a rocket line!

Decades ago in Norfolk, myself and a bunch of mates were knocking a football about on a field-cum-campsite bounded on one side by the dune sea wall. We heard a sudden noise and a sizeable metal tube thudded into the ground close to us, line attached to one end of it. It could have caused serious injury had it hit one of us. Turned out some sort of rescue was being carried out by a lifeboat off the beach the other side of the sea wall, and they'd overshot.

 

[LittleSister]

For high speed you run through the mud while leaning on the dingy transom and using it as a sledge.

I vaguely recall that 'traditional' mud shoes were something like two short lengths of plank with straps that'd go over the top of your boots - somewhat like short, wide skis.

 

[MikeBz]

I vaguely recall that 'traditional' mud shoes were something like two short lengths of plank with straps that'd go over the top of your boots - somewhat like short, wide skis.

Splatchers. My Grandad had a pair he used at Maldon. His summer job was fishing from a smack, and in the winter he picked up winkles from the mud. We have it easy…

 

[LittleSister]

Splatchers. My Grandad had a pair he used at Maldon. His summer job was fishing from a smack, and in the winter he picked up winkles from the mud. We have it easy…

Ah, yes, 'Splatchers'. Did I get the description about right?

 

[MikeBz]

Ah, yes, 'Splatchers'. Did I get the description about right?

I seem to remember that they were almost square but it was maybe 58 years ago and I was only 5 at the time. They did have straps. I remember him rowing me up to Beeleigh in the smack’s boat (which they called a skiff at the time), and gazing over the side at the flatfish swimming in the crystal clear water. I also remember being on the Lizzie Annie (smack MN23) with him and him dredging up oysters, then prising one open with a penknife and swallowing it - put me off them for life! “Like licking phlegm off a tortoise” as Frank Skinner put it.

Back to the topic, according to the article the occupant of the dinghy (“adrift on the mudflats” which is something of an oxymoron) was fine and simply left to wait for the tide to float him off. Without being critical, I’m intrigued as to how the decision process goes to send four fire engines - it’s hard to see how much of an exercise it would have been. We had a similar situation at Brightlingsea some years ago when a dinghy landed in the mud a few yards short of the sailing club ramp. Several Coastguard vehicles, fire engines, ambulance etc. Those present (I wasn’t) reported that it was a ridiculous over reaction.

 

[tillergirl]

People have forgotten the secrets of the East Coast. The rocker! Many, many years ago when I didn't have a pot... I bought our first boat and on a mooring outside Heybridge Basin we needed a dinghy. I needed to scratch build a pram dinghy and I was taught about the rocker. To slide over the mud you need a. a pram dinghy, and b. rocker. A pram dinghy instead of a stem dinghy (whether traditional or plastic) which would dig into the mud whereas a pram dinghy presents a flat front. Then increase the effectiveness and efficiency by building the rocker i.e the curve from bottom of pram front down to the centre of gravity of the dinghy and then back up aft so the transom barely kisses ther surface of the water. Then when on the mud you place one foot ahead of the central thwart and one aft. And then gently rock the dinghy added by one oar. Simples. The rocker prevents any suction, the pram design with sides splayed has stability. Peeps deride them as old fashioned but they are efficient.

 

[LittleSister]

. . .I needed to scratch build a pram dinghy and I was taught about the rocker. To slide over the mud you need a. a pram dinghy, and b. rocker. A pram dinghy instead of a stem dinghy (whether traditional or plastic) which would dig into the mud whereas a pram dinghy presents a flat front. Then increase the effectiveness and efficiency by building the rocker i.e the curve from bottom of pram front down to the centre of gravity of the dinghy and then back up aft so the transom barely kisses ther surface of the water. Then when on the mud you place one foot ahead of the central thwart and one aft. And then gently rock the dinghy added by one oar. Simples. The rocker prevents any suction, the pram design with sides splayed has stability. Peeps deride them as old fashioned but they are efficient.

That would be the Mk1, to serve while one was constructing a sort of mini-DUKW, but with tracks, rather than wheels, chain driven by a modified Seagull or perhaps British Anzani engine.

That in turn would have to suffice until suitable small hovercraft came onto the market. For these one would need some training, not so much to cope with the rather approximate steering and lack of brakes, but mainly to develop that Mobo'ers technique of facing rigidly forwards to avoid eye contact with the mud spattered, deafened people waving their fists behind you.

 

[DanTribe]

Splatchers. My Grandad had a pair he used at Maldon. His summer job was fishing from a smack, and in the winter he picked up winkles from the mud. We have it easy…

Mastodon footprints from Secret Waters.

 

[Plum]

The link refers to the rescue of a dinghy stranded on the mud at Woodbridge. Seems a bit over the top, four fire engines and coastguards from Felixstowe, Holbrook and Shingle street. One never knows the full story though. I expect it was a sailing dinghy.

I have managed rowing a hard dinghy one up on mud . I have seen others do it at Maldon but do others have any experience ?


Emergency services called to River Deben to rescue person stuck in dinghy on mud flats

What may appear to be over the top in terms of resources is quite normal and necessary for a mud rescue.

 

[Plum]

Ah, yes, 'Splatchers'. Did I get the description about right?

Splatchers went out of fashion many decades ago, replaced by much more efficient and safer "mudders" Mudder Boots | For Marshland Mobility

 

[DanTribe]

Last summer I went for a swift pint at the Butt and Oyster, and came out to find my dinghy high and dry in the mud. You'd have thought I'd have known better, but no.

Anyway I found I could 'pole' the dinghy through the mud by sticking an oar vertically into the mud just behind the transom, and levering the dinghy forwards with it. It took a bit of effort, and I came close to breaking the oar. What made it easier was jumping into the air each time I pulled the oar, thereby relieving the dinghy of approx 80kg of extra weight.

Not the most graceful thing I've ever done, but it got me to the water and gave everyone else a good laugh.

I have a cherished memory of Pin Mill. The tide was off the end of the hard and we were waiting to use the Grindle to scoot down to the deeper water. A group of 4 "chavs" were trying to embark in a plastic dinghy big enough for one. There was much discussion and advice being given in a rich language. They managed to get aboard and started down the gulley when a ship passed and the wash caused a tidal bore back upstream and they all fell out. We deemed it best not to laugh!

 

[Juan Twothree]

For high speed you run through the mud while leaning on the dingy transom and using it as a sledge.

This is my preferred method. You can get quite a turn of speed on.

 

[Snowgoose-1]

This is my preferred method. You can get quite a turn of speed on.

When the mud is steep to it can be both impressive and exciting. Bit like the the winter Olympics downhill toboggan. You still need to remember not to let go.