"River Rescue Service"

[mlines]

We had a surpise trip out yesterday evening on the Thames.

James spotted a friend of ours posting on the YBW forums that he had broken down at Shiplake lock. We contacted him and he was initially expolring ways of getting it started (Diesel boat, probably air inthe fuel system somewhere). After a hour he called up saying it would not start and the River Rescue services would not come out until Monday once he had re-mortgaged his house.

So we went down to Val Wyatt with various bits and pieces and "launched the lifeboat". Shiplake lock is 5 minutes from Val Wyatt so we quickly located him. Rather than mess about further with repairs we went straight for the recovery as it was going to be easier to fix it in its home marina which is Thames & Kennet in Reading.

Therefore we hooked up a standard "push tow" with my boat strapped to the side of his and about 2 metres of my boat sticking backwards from his. This (according to the RYA book ) gives maximum control. As his is a 24ft Cruiser our 18ft Bowrider was dwarfed. James then drove our boat the 5 miles upstream through 2 locks and under Sonning Bridge, a superb bit of piloting as the large cruiser obscured most of the vision. We had about 6" clearance each side of the lock and, given the mess we have see the hire boats get into, James' skill at getting two boats tied together into the lock entrance was impressive (once in the lock entrances we walked the boats in on ropes). He then took both boats together into T&K marina and put the failed boat into its mooring which was at the back of the marina through all the boats. The final mooring required a 180 degree turn between pontoons.

By then it was dark so we had to go back down the Thames in the dark, back through the lock, mooring up at around 10:00 pm.

A great skill test, and adventureous trip and, as you can tell, I am proud of James for doing (I sat in the failed boat and drank coffee, its nice to be on a boat with cooking facilities!)

[baasboat1]

Well done to both of you! Sounds like a good deed to a friend in need, now about that salvage claim.

Great piece of boat handling from James, that will boost both your confidence levels

Well done again!

[zippy]

Good work!! great to see there are still some selfless people around!

As for getting the boats throught the locks, i was cacking it putting Aviator through Hythe lock this weekend so fair play to you and James! great boat handling skills!!

[ian h]

but at least Hythe Marina is still water once inside the lock.
No fast running tides preventing you berthing

[zippy]

but at least Hythe Marina is still water once inside the lock.
No fast running tides preventing you berthing

exactly! much qudos to the new river rescue team!

[jokaboat]

Hythe's OK unless you have a bloody great big powerboat in front that shoves you backwards when it moves off, especially when you're single handed

[JORIDAPILOT]

We were once pushed from one side of Hythe to the other, heading in, fenders on starboard side and tight to the lock wall, but long lines as the lock water level was much lower than the marina.
When they opened the sluices we were pushed laterally across to bump against the opposite side, with no fenders out.
I think they opened them too quickly, but we were just not ready and didn't react quickly enough, as usual when the unexpected happens everyone panics.

Next time I would have someone on each line to draw them in as the level rose and keep the boat tight to the wall, and try and moor further back, we were right up the front even though we were the only boat in the lock. And perhaps have a roving fender that could be deployed as necessary.

Having said that, the last time everything went perfectly with no bumps and scrapes anywhere. But the change in water level was very small so the sluice current was minimal.

[cem]

saw something on tv a while back involving lock sluices, they are meant to open the one away from the boat first thus pushing the boat to the wall rather than away from it..... not sure how much difference that would have made though

[salamis]

When the boys were very young and before BSS in the early 1990's we would sometimes take our boat out on the river Wey rather than hike off down to the coast. We would mke a point of always opening the one sluce gate on the other side of the lock to the boat as opening both gates would just push and try to spin the boat inside the lock.
Those days are long gone now when you could turn up pay for a days river licence and drop your boat in and off for a riverside pub lunch.

[zippy]

interesting. theres almost another thread here for lock techniques in small boats. its all very well the big 40 ft flybridges which weigh 10 tonnes but our little boats tend to get thrown around a bit more than most!!

in Hythe i was very conscious of moving out of the lock that the lines were in the water and therefore hazard to prop / bow thruster..

hopefully we will get some more practice this weekend if the weather plays ball!

[Capn Jack]

Well done James, thats quite a feat at your young age. A couple of very decent chaps you both are.

[betty boop]

if you want scarey lock experiances try Shoreham, at low tide (locking in ) when the swing gate is opened ur suddenly looking at a 10m high wall of water rushing in - scarey as hell for those not expecting it. and just as bad locking out at low tide with a sudden rush out