Wadda yer mean, WOT risk assessment (Maid of the Loch.)

Re: Wadda yer mean, WOT risk assessment

The winch only holds enough cable to get her half way up the slip, so they use an extension cable. At the half-way point she is chocked, the extension is removed, the main cable is paid out and reconnected and the haul-out starts again. The cables shown flailing around look quite weedy, so my guess is that the main cable was disconnected and whatever they were using to hold her in place gave way.

Poor buggers. The Heritage Lottery Fund led them well and truly up the garden path over funding before dumping them at the last moment; this current work was funded by a grant from the Scottish Government, but they have nowhere near enough to get her back into steam.
 
Re: Out of Control Paddle Steamer

Three threads on the same incident in one evening, plus full coverage on the BBC news, must be better than speculating about Breksit.
 
Re: Maid of the Loch winching out - bit of a failure

bikedaft said:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-46811391

Can't quite see from the vid what happened. Talk of a cradle breaking? Definite wire breakage, then slid back. Two guys running from under port side... Think h&s may have something to say before they retry...
Click to expand...

As per my post on the other thread, they have to pause winching halfway to remove a link wire as the winch drum won't take the full length. Looks to me as if the chocking arrangements during that failed. I think the light lines are for guiding her onto the carriage - the winch wire itself is a great heavy steel thing and I can't see it in the video. Which may be my lack of observational skills, of course.
 
Re: Maid of the Loch winching out - bit of a failure

People with powerboats on slipways often scare me, when I'm not too busy laughing at them.
This is just the same on a grand scale.
Very lucky no one was hurt, the boat is still in one piece and they get to have another go when they've got their shit together.
 
Re: Maid of the Loch winching out - bit of a failure

According to the report on BBC Scotland tonight, they were in the process of checking that she was properly settled on the cradle. Images of heavy timbers which had been broken off. Does the winch wire afix to the cradle? Think that it might. Seemed to be hawsers fixed to the ship just in front of the paddles, relatively light. Were they just to pull her forward whilst she was still afloat?

Ash
 
Re: Maid of the Loch winching out - bit of a failure

bikedaft said:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-46811391

Can't quite see from the vid what happened. Talk of a cradle breaking? Definite wire breakage, then slid back. Two guys running from under port side... Think h&s may have something to say before they retry...
Click to expand...

That Launch went rather smoothly.

On a serious note, glad no one got hurt. I’ve seen one go south when I was a kid and that was not pretty. I would think they would block the cradle as soon as they stopped.
 
Re: Wadda yer mean, WOT risk assessment

JumbleDuck said:
The winch only holds enough cable to get her half way up the slip, so they use an extension cable. At the half-way point she is chocked, the extension is removed, the main cable is paid out and reconnected and the haul-out starts again. The cables shown flailing around look quite weedy, so my guess is that the main cable was disconnected and whatever they were using to hold her in place gave way.

Poor buggers. The Heritage Lottery Fund led them well and truly up the garden path over funding before dumping them at the last moment; this current work was funded by a grant from the Scottish Government, but they have nowhere near enough to get her back into steam.
Click to expand...

Opera is a far more deserving cause, Opera goers buy most Lotto tickets, see :sleeping:
 
Re: Maid of the Loch winching out - bit of a failure

JumbleDuck said:
As per my post on the other thread, they have to pause winching halfway to remove a link wire as the winch drum won't take the full length. Looks to me as if the chocking arrangements during that failed. I think the light lines are for guiding her onto the carriage - the winch wire itself is a great heavy steel thing and I can't see it in the video. Which may be my lack of observational skills, of course.
Click to expand...

Thanks.

I did look for other maid of the loch posts before starting this one, but failed to spot the other 2(!) Sorry
 
Re: Wadda yer mean, WOT risk assessment

Excuse my ignorance - but how do they wedge a 500t ship on rails whilst they remove the extension in the winching hawser? Many pit props at an angle?
 
Re: Wadda yer mean, WOT risk assessment

bikedaft said:
Excuse my ignorance - but how do they wedge a 500t ship on rails whilst they remove the extension in the winching hawser? Many pit props at an angle?
Click to expand...

I can't remember. They had a very nice animation showing the whole process, but I can't find it. Remember that if the slipway is at 5o, say, the component of weight down the tracks is only 500t x sin(5o) = 43t. Still enough to take seriously.

Is she really 500t, by the way? The only figure I can find online is the steamboat association's 110000lbs, and since that is 555 US tons and she is 555grt, I suspect some confusion. It would be a bit of a coincidence otherwise ...
 
Re: Maid of the Loch winching out - bit of a failure

bikedaft said:
Thanks.

I did look for other maid of the loch posts before starting this one, but failed to spot the other 2(!) Sorry
Click to expand...

Same - helpful that the mods have made the thread title a bit clearer, so that there might not be a fourth.

Thank goodness no one was killed. Those guys under the boat looked pretty nimble. I hope that the cause and solution are identified quickly so that the project can go ahead.
 
Re: Maid of the Loch winching out - bit of a failure

There are many boatyards which use winches and cradles on rails. One would have thought the process and problems well understood by now. I imagine there are many old, retired shipyard workers smirking to themselves over the video-clip......
 
Re: Maid of the Loch winching out - bit of a failure

zoidberg said:
There are many boatyards which use winches and cradles on rails. One would have thought the process and problems well understood by now. I imagine there are many old, retired shipyard workers smirking to themselves over the video-clip......
Click to expand...

It's only the second time the Maid has been on the cradle in forty years, but yes, they should know how to work it.
 
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