Speeding in Thurne Dyke!

[goodall_m1]

Today was supposed to be the start of a week on the Broads for me, but a project that is going sour at work with a deadline looming, meant that I am slaving over a hot computer instead of taking Tazman and his brood out on Fair Freedom.

All is not lost as they have gone on their own, after all Taz has done three whole weeks on the Broads with me so he knows his way around.

Gary, who normally crews for me when we go sailing, has gone with him to provide another pair of hands in my absence.

Some of you may remember that this time last year I embarassed myself in Thurne dyke by managing to reverse over my own trailing mooring line when turning the boat around and got myself a prop wrap!

Well the first report from this year's trip on Fair Freedom is that,

as they turned off the Thurne into Thurne Dyke,

they opened her up to kick the stern around and then went to slow down the revs and....

something parted in the throttle linkage and it jammed at full ahead!

Put it in reverse! I am already going full astern.. No you're not

In a few moments Fair is now charging up Thurne Dyke at a considerable pace

with the slipway looming ahead and boats moored on both banks...

Pull the kill cord!

The engine stops and peace reigns but the boat is still doing about 6 knots, and there are no brakes!

Put her alongside the bank!

Tazman manages to get ashore with a line and tame the raging monster by belaying on a post and calm is restored.

There must have been quite a few boaters moored up wondering "what the **** do they think they are doing".

Well please accept an apology from the crew of Fair Freedom, they may have kicked up a bit too much bow wave and wash

but I am told that they managed to avoid hitting any other boats and with a runaway Bounty 44 that is almost a miracle!

(Perhaps she handles easier at speed!)

Oh what a way to start your first trip in command!

The engineer is coming down from Freedom to fix the problem...

[trambo]

I bet there was some clever sod saying "Bl**dy hire boats. All the same!"

[goodall_m1]

Blimey

I can think of few places worse than Thurne Dyke to have that sort of failure

Hats off to the crew for dealing with this problem without anyone getting hurt

Let alone damaging any boats

Yeah I bet there were

Rod

After another call last night I had even more of a surprise.

It seems that Gary, on the helm, was so busy avoiding the moored boats that he didn't pull the kill cord until AFTER Tazman had jumped on the bank!

I'm told that they were up to the concrete heading near the end by that time so there were no posts and Taz still managed to stop the boat with the engine still in forwards.

(It is a good job he is a heavyweight!)

One of the guys on a nearby boat is reputed to have said something like "Blast I didn't have the camera! That would have been a great you-tube post!"

Taz is glad he didn't as while he was wrestling with the runaway his pants fell down around his ankles!

[teadaemon]

I can sympathise - last September I was out on Hustler 5 from Hunter's Yard, coming in to moor up at the top of Thurne dyke we got caught by a stray gust of wind (I think due to the disturbed air flow around the windpump) and before I could do anything (I was at the bows ready to jump ashore) we were sailing down the dyke in a howling gale with no room to turn head to wind. Fortunately there weren't that many boats moored up, and we managed to get the sails down and come alongside (with some help from a very nice chap on another boat) before I sailed an irreplaceable heritage yacht up the slipway at the end of the dyke.

Normally when this happens the cable has come loose at one end or the other. I hope that's the case, as replacing a 40 foot long throttle cable is not an easy job.

[MY littleboat]

It sounds like some quick thinking averted a far more serious incident - well done..

However, a very serious question emerges - isn't it about time that all hire craft had to adhere to more stringent standards more in line with MCA coding for coastal boats - yes I know this is a little extreme, but I wonder how often incidents like this occur and how often the outcome is different because those onboard the boat either lack the experience or calmness to deal with the situation or, god forbid, just panic

Again well done in a difficult situation, however I have to say it just for the fun of it....bl**dy hirers!!!

[Oddfellow]

Taz also tells me that his trousers managed to fall down during this incident

Absolutely well done to Taz and the crew for avoiding a catastrophy. You did everythig right and I'm so sorry that it happened.

What had actually happened was that the pin that secures the gear cable to the hydraulic direction valve had come adrift so the morse only had control over the engine speed.

It's a right shame that Martin can't make it this year, especially seeing as this has been booked since their return of the boat at the same time last year.

[teadaemon]

It sounds like some quick thinking averted a far more serious incident - well done..

However, a very serious question emerges - isn't it about time that all hire craft had to adhere to more stringent standards more in line with MCA coding for coastal boats - yes I know this is a little extreme, but I wonder how often incidents like this occur and how often the outcome is different because those onboard the boat either lack the experience or calmness to deal with the situation or, god forbid, just panic

Again well done in a difficult situation, however I have to say it just for the fun of it....bl**dy hirers!!!

Only if you want to put the hire fleets out of business, with the consequent large increase in tolls for private boaters.

I have studied the various MCA codes in the past, and I can't recall anything in them that would have prevented an incident such as this. Between the BSS and the Hire Boat Code, hire boats on inland waterways are already quite well regulated, and although I might quibble about small parts of both schemes, in general they're both fit for purpose and work well.

[MY littleboat]

Whilst I sympathise that more stringent tests would put a strain on hire companies, why shouldnt commercial opearators that offer vehicles for public hire have more stringent testing? To use the addage - it would put hire companies out of business suggests that many craft would fail surely...

I've seen alot of craft broken down over the years and whilst I agree that the BSS has increased safety to a degree it doesnt cover fundamental engineering that may go wrong.

I'm just glad that this incident didnt cause further damage

I do feel that times are changing and the self regulation nature of the Broads companies will come to an end after the recent spate of incidents, just look at what is happening with hire companies and the EA at the moment... Isn't there a consultation currently underway regarding this very subject?

[goodall_m1]

What had actually happened was that the pin that secures the gear cable to the hydraulic direction valve had come adrift so the morse only had control over the engine speed.

It's a right shame that Martin can't make it this year, especially seeing as this has been booked since their return of the boat at the same time last year.

So Andy, as I read it then when Gary went full astern, to slow her down, she actually went to full ahead.

If he had put her into the neutral position would he have stopped the prop, and then only had the momentum to deal with?

Even if I had been there that one would have confused me, although I might have gone for the kill cord quicker than he did...

I have had the odd engine problem on hire boats over the years, mainly though on sailing yachts, but I've never had one to this exact fault.

As Rod said, what a place for it to happen!

Still they all seem happy to continue the voyage, so I wish them better luck with the remainder of the week.

[teadaemon]

Whilst I sympathise that more stringent tests would put a strain on hire companies, why shouldnt commercial opearators that offer vehicles for public hire have more stringent testing? To use the addage - it would put hire companies out of business suggests that many craft would fail surely...

I've seen alot of craft broken down over the years and whilst I agree that the BSS has increased safety to a degree it doesnt cover fundamental engineering that may go wrong.

I'm just glad that this incident didnt cause further damage

I do feel that times are changing and the self regulation nature of the Broads companies will come to an end after the recent spate of incidents, just look at what is happening with hire companies and the EA at the moment... Isn't there a consultation currently underway regarding this very subject?

Self-regulation of hire boats has ended. As I mentioned before, all hire boats have to comply with a hire boat BSS (which in certain areas is considerably more stringent that that private boats have to comply with), and hire operators must also comply with the hire boat code (written and administered by the MCA). This already covers things like frequency of servicing and inspection of engines and associated components, something which isn't actually covered by the MCA's various codes. Any operator that chooses not to comply is likely to be refused a licence to operate by the Broads Authority, and without that, they don't have a business.

My comment about putting hire companies out of business wasn't because I thought many wouldn't comply (although applying codes intended for seagoing vessels to inland waterways vessels, particularly narrowboats and similar means that lots wouldn't comply for reasons that aren't actually relevant to their intended use), it's because the cost of the required surveys and paperwork is probably enough to render the boats too expensive for customers to hire (or at least for enough customers).

[Oddfellow]

Martin: you're absolutely right.

My Little Boat: There's just a little too much suggestion that Hire Boat Operators are are the big bad wolves in these forums. If you think, for one moment, that any operator would willfully send out a boat that has not had standard engineering checks carried out on it, you're in cloud cuckoo land. Who in their right mind would want their boat to break down, or worse, be involved in an accident? Who would benefit from this?

The reality is that a hire boat is checked over more often than a private boat and mostly by people that 1) know what they're looking at 2) have the ability to fix it 3) appreciate the consequences of a failure. The further reality is that a hire boat gets more hours than a private boat and so demands these further regular checks. Additionally, it's impossible to check everything and totally impossible to guarantee against failure. Sadly, this is one of the points that some people simply can't get as things break and often without warning.

Trying to impose more stringent checks would put many operators under massive strain; prices would have to rise considerably (remember, the Broads is the cheapest navigation on which to hire a boat) as more engineers would have to be employed to carry out the checks (in the same amount of time) and you would still never be able to guarantee against failures, especially those caused by neglect of the customer or willfull misuse.

I've seen a lot of craft broken down over the years too but the suggestion that the BSS has played any part in the recution of this demonstrates a lack of understanding of what the BSS covers, cause it sure isn't the engine. I've seen a lot of Richardsons crews out to boats and Barnes and Herbert Wood's, does that mean they're less reliable than mine or TopCrafts? No, it means that they have huge fleets in comparision to ours and are statistically more likely to break down due to the numbers. I've seen plenty of private boats under tow too, helpped save one from sinking a year or so ago opposite the ferry inn and had plenty in my yard for repair too, I have one now, arrived yesterday.

The BSS didn't stop a boat catching fire in Wroxham Broad last night at about 6 pm and it didn't stop it sinking either. Initial information suggests that it was a private boat and there were no casualties.