Very interesting but stupid

[andy01842]

Had a nice interesting day. First went to Felixstowe, Landguard Fort and watched the shipping coming and going. Heard a call to the CG for assistance from yacht which was motor sailing when the oil pressure alarm had gone off. He checked the oil but there was none and he did not know where it had all gone. The life boat was dispatched and the boat was towed in, took over an hour. I think I would have sailed back and called for some one to give me a tow into the marina, if only to save my embarrassments as well as the time of the lifeboat.

On the way home I stopped at SYH Levington just to check on the slip as I hope to be using the slipway in a few weeks. The slip was roped off and closed. I went into the office to find out what was happening. I was told that “at 7 o clock that morning someone in an attempt to avoid paying to use the slip had tried to launch their boat. The boat had floated off the trailer ok but the 4x4 with the trailer still attached was at the bottom of the slip and would need a barge with a crane to recover them.” I had a look but the car could not be seen at low water, it must be quite deep at the end of the slip! I wonder what the size of the 4x4 and the boat was to launch them both, I know the slip is very steep and slippery when wet but….. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[sailorman]

check-out Robertsons in Woodbridge they have a slip CliveG uses it

 

[Koeketiene]

Saw that too - slipway roped off, I mean.

Saw some people taking pictures & pointing, but couldn't see a car (@ 15H00)

 

[William_H]

This story sounds a bit weird. I imagine like me you are doubting if there is or was a car at the bottom of the slip.
If so it must be aweful steep. I would call the slip I use very steep as it goes to 1 metre deep in about 6 metres of boat length. It has some nice knobs in the concrete now but used to be quite smooth concrete.
I have used it for 20 odd years with just a 2WD family sedan (auto) and never done any more than put it in park and put handbrake on.
Never had any fear of the car slipping in. Or wheel spinning on rertrieval of a ton of boat.
So is there any more story? olewill

 

[Guest]

I have seen odd cars slipping on launch slipways when lots of green slime etc. Usually when they have the car wrong way round for bad conditions ! Drive wheels should be at the lower end ... ie front wheel drive should be reversing UP slips ... gives maz weight on drive wheel because of car angle. Seems opposite to climbing snow hills !!

A 4x4 if used properly should manage it .. as we all know !! So must have been a cracking error !!

On holiday one toime in Devon ... saw a Lada Niva go onto beach to recover a speedboat on trailer ... fine till trailer started to exit water and weight of baot setlled ... trailer wheels sunk in ... Niva dug itself into the beach ... tide coming in ... they then unhitched ... put Niva up beach and tried to pull out with speedboat painter .... Woolworths String !! PING ! So they borrowed a rope from another ... by this time Niva is well in the water .... wife and child are hanging onto Speedboat .... trailers well under ... needing a "head" dive to find hitch ...

Offered to help - but guy was sure he was ok ... so it became incredible Spectator event ....

It happens !!

 

[Blueboatman]

Even better as I found is to use a long rope and keep the vehicle at the topof the slip,so long as the jockey wheel weight is within its legal limits.

 

[davidwf]

Given that SYH have a wire rope and pully so you can attach the wire to the trailer and then keep car on the level I don't really know why anyone would drive down the ramp which is very steep.

Much better slip is at Woolverstone very wide and nowhere near as steep as SYH. Howver if you are planning on using Woolverstome check first as there is some building work planned for July that might cause the ramp to be closed.

 

[Lakesailor]

 

[Guest]

[ QUOTE ]
Even better as I found is to use a long rope and keep the vehicle at the topof the slip,so long as the jockey wheel weight is within its legal limits.

[/ QUOTE ]

Totally agree ... with only one rider - that there be enough room at top to allow the tow out as well ! I always even with a raised Land-Rover did rope to trailer trick.

The jockey wheel should take it ok - as s=you shouldn't have such weight on it anyway - otherwise tow car is seriously at risk.
Jockey wheel problems though can stem from a bad "tyre" ... I had one that was old and cracked ... the solid rubber that is ... caused no end of pain !

My LR (first one had a tow bar fitted to passenger side front as well as rear ... with Lockheed winch in centre. That gave very good system ....

 

[andy01842]

I was told that the incident happened at 7 AM which would be at low water and that there is a big step at the bottom of the slip, I can only guess that the trailer wheels went over the step. When I looked at about 5 PM their was an oil film on the water and a fender in the water attached to something, I assume a car! I do not understand how the boat floated off as I would think any boat going down such a steep slip on a trailer would fall off the back of the trailer if it was not secured at the bow. I was also told that 2 divers and a barge with a crane were on order for today and the slip would be open for business late today, Monday.

 

[Keith 66]

There is nothing in the world quite so ingenious as a congenital idiot /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Guest]

Nowt so daft as folk !!

At Thronham Marina I was launching my Alacrity on its trailer at their slip. I set it just above the lower end of the concrete ... and waited for tide to advance ... trailer connected to car by rope ...

Marina Bosun came along and complained that he would have to wait too long for me and he had work to do ... so he started to slack the trailer away from the car on the rope ... of course the wheels went over the end and into the mud. Boat floated of a good deal earlier ...

Getting that trailer back up on the concrete was a hell of a pull ... but we did it ... (Capri 2.8i) ....

I am sure that there was no way it could have been done with boat weight on there - even a tractor would have had trouble ...