So You Can Go Swimming!

[Labrador]

I think this event is a grand idea, if you don't like it don't  go near it.

[batrabill]

I asked what the plans are, and they say he river isn't closed. 

Wild swimming is pretty common these days, and I think its fair to assume they think know what they are doing. 

Personally, I'd worry a bit. They may assume people driving a 45 ft hire-boat have some basic skills.....

[Chelsea14Ian]

I just can't see the both  going along together,It would be to dangerous l.As I have said there are many points that need to be considered before it goes ahead.

[TheQ]

I've seen a swimmer going through Horning from Wroxham, wearing a black neoprene suit, black rubber hat and goggles. He was almost invisible and I was in a rescue boat , ( I radioed the other rescue boats and club with a warning) not in a 40ft hire boat with steamed up windows and having had a few.

As for not going near it, if your mooring is on route ( or in Beccles) what are you supposed to do?

Hire boat users are not likely to remember / know on which stretch of river they are likely to come across them, If they've been told. I've patrolled the river on many HSC regattas,  When i've warned boats whats going on, they in 90% of occasions seem suprised and say they no nothing about it.. (and then ask where they are and where  nearest pub is). All the boat yards know when it's on and are warned..

I'm quite happy with them having the event,

I'm just not sure they've chosen the right place, or time, A Sunday, July 1st is busy even for the southern broads

 

 

[johnb]

I don't really have an opinion about this, apart from the fact that if I were an insurance company I would probably not want to take the risk(s). 

[batrabill]

I’m told there is a full risk assessment which has been signed off by BA covering all the points here. 

[JennyMorgan]

1 hour ago, Labrador said:

I think this event is a grand idea, if you don't like it don't  go near it.

Local users may not have a choice, other than to avoid the river. 

We have a wild water swimming group on Oulton Broad,  not a problem on a wide broad where they stay outside the obvious navigable channel. These things do become competitive, human nature, and three swimmers abreast takes up what, eight or ten feet? Wrong time of the year perhaps. Full risk assessment taken by who and signed off by the BA who are experienced in such events? I'm not entirely heartened by that!  A tad irresponsible,  in my honest opinion. I'm all for it in principle, don't get me wrong, but we are talking about 200 swimmers in four groups of fifty in a relatively narrow river mixing it with boats going both ways and some of those boats will be zig zagging, just to make matters worse! Is the skipper of a Broom three decker going to be able to see a swimmer right under his bow? As a commentator has written on the EDP 24 website, 'barking'!

[ExMemberBobdog]

Lots of idle speculation about closing the rivers. Lots of speculation about closing moorings.  Lots of nonsense about plans not being thought through.  All based on what?  My guess is that it’s been very carefully thought through, that swimmers will be advised to keep close to one bank, that safety boats will be deployed, that one of the inshore Lifeboat teams will be at hand, and probably a Ranger launch and rib.  My guess is a small section of the mooring area may be roped off for the swimmers, but most of it left available for boats.  No real difference to other fun events in the Broads National Park, such as the highly successful Stand Up Paddleboard race that has taken place on the Ant, Bure and Thurne for several years.  The Broads National Park is for everyone to enjoy, not just old crusty killjoy boaters.  Good luck to them!  Personally I’ll be staying warm and dry; I gave up dinghy sailing because I got fed up of swimming in the rivers!

[SteveO]

It's not April 1 for another week, is it?

Boaters ploughing up and down the river.

Swimmers not always easy to see.

Sea toilets from sailboats discharging into the water.

Deep, cold. water with unpredictable currents.

"All are welcome to take part"

Doesn't seem very clever to me. 

 

[vanessan]

21 minutes ago, Bobdog said:

My guess is a small section of the mooring area may be roped off for the swimmers, but most of it left available for boats.  

The moorings to be used are presumably North Cove and Worlingham. Rope off even a small section of either of these and there will be room for one boat max. No doubt that space will be taken by event organisers or a BA launch. I still think it is dangerous to expect swimmers, boaters, anglers et al to use a stretch of river like that all at once. It’s a Sunday in July, I have seen day boaters from both WRC and Beccles going flat out on the Waveney. It is going to have to be extremely well controlled.

 

[Bound2Please]

38 minutes ago, Bobdog said:

No real difference to other fun events in the Broads National Park

[vanessan]

32 minutes ago, Bobdog said:

No real difference to other fun events in the Broads National Park, such as the highly successful Stand Up Paddleboard race that has taken place on the Ant, Bure and Thurne for several years.  The Broads National Park is for everyone to enjoy, not just old crusty killjoy boaters.

I can imagine 50 Stand Up Paddleboard racers heading up the Waveney, at least there’s a good chance they would be seen! As for old crusty killjoy boaters, I don’t think so. Many of the comments made have been by boat owners who are able to pick when and where they go and will probably avoid the area like the plague on that day. Those who will be mostly inconvenienced are the hirers. The Broads are certainly for everybody to enjoy but must remain safe and it seems some of us are of the opinion that the safety aspect has not thoroughly been thought through.  

[Guest]

43 minutes ago, Bobdog said:

Lots of idle speculation about closing the rivers. Lots of speculation about closing moorings.  Lots of nonsense about plans not being thought through.  All based on what?  My guess is that it’s been very carefully thought through, that swimmers will be advised to keep close to one bank, that safety boats will be deployed, that one of the inshore Lifeboat teams will be at hand, and probably a Ranger launch and rib.  My guess is a small section of the mooring area may be roped off for the swimmers, but most of it left available for boats.  No real difference to other fun events in the Broads National Park, such as the highly successful Stand Up Paddleboard race that has taken place on the Ant, Bure and Thurne for several years.  The Broads National Park is for everyone to enjoy, not just old crusty killjoy boaters.  Good luck to them!  Personally I’ll be staying warm and dry; I gave up dinghy sailing because I got fed up of swimming in the rivers!

Cracking post , first of all you slame some for speculation and then make not 1 but 2 wild  guesses !  .

I think you will find that the crusty old boater's as you put it are more interested in safety than anything else in the broads national park ( where ever that is ! ) 

[JennyMorgan]

Bob, I suspect that it has been very carefully thought through, by the optimistic organisers. I have yet to establish whether this went before the Navigation Committee or not . If it hasn't then it ought to have done. If it has then I'm surprised but there we go. If it were a smaller event I might be less cautious but groups of fifty, setting off enmass strikes me as a problem in the making.  The make believe BNP is for everyone, just that sometimes events are incompatible. There are risks attached to any event involving water, are those risks reasonable? I just don't want to see a tragedy, plain and simple.

[dnks34]

The more I read the more I cant help thinking this is utter madness however well the organisers think they have thought it through.  

There are plenty of safer still waters around that are more suitable to open water swimming so why risk starting a new trend on the Broads when it is clearly unsuited. Certainly in the navigable areas anyway.

 

 

[batrabill]

It seems highly unlikely that everyone involved - Beccles Council, Beccles Harbourmaster, BA and the organisers - have failed to consider the risks. 

These are surely the sort of organisations who are constantly being pilloried for ‘health and safety gone mad’. 

No guarantee, but as I have said above, all the issues raised here are covered in the risk assessment for the event. 

[Bound2Please]

Where can we see these risk assessments so that it might calm this thread down a little ?

 

[ExMemberBobdog]

17 minutes ago, Bound2Please said:

Where can we see these risk assessments so that it might calm this thread down a little ?

 

Not sure that you can, but damned sure that when the organisers asked for permission to stage an event such as this that the BA will have required them to submit such, will have reviewed them and made any approval conditional on changes that they saw appropriate.  That’s the way the BA works, they are safety obsessed.

[Bound2Please]

1 minute ago, Bobdog said:

Not sure that you can, but damned sure that when the organisers asked for permission to stage an event such as this that the BA will have required them to submit such, will have reviewed them and made any approval conditional on changes that they saw appropriate.  That’s the way the BA works, they are safety obsessed.

So (a) you havnt seen them

(b) you are surmising

and (c) you dont actually know if they have been done.

[JennyMorgan]

Bill, you seem remarkably well informed!

Re your list of apparent consultees, hardly reassuring!!

[ExMemberBobdog]

2 minutes ago, Bound2Please said:

So (a) you havnt seen them

(b) you are surmising

and (c) you dont actually know if they have been done.

I know enough about the BA to know they would not have permitted this without them.

[batrabill]

I asked the organiser! It wasn’t hard - they have a Facebook page - better than just making it up don’t you think?

Of course no one here has seen the risk assessment, this is is a discussion forum. 

The local Council, the harbour master and the BA ... that’s not enough? 

There is also much experience of other wild swimming events. 

Quite a lot of negativity here....

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, Bobdog said:

I know enough about the BA to know they would not have permitted this without them.

Have they permitted it as far as I know from the information out there there will be a test of water quality prior to this event if that fails its off is it not .

BA work in just the same way as any large organisation regarding risk assessments iv operated under them and written them too , that aside there's a huge risk here or can't you see that , would you want to be responsible for hitting a swimmer that you didn't see ? I know I wouldn't iv seen the result of prop's and humans first hand n it ain't pretty .

If it does go ahead with hire boats , private boats , day boats and angler's all using the same stretch of water as the swimmers then I hope to god it goes off without incident as that going to catastrophic for BA and all involved .

Best not to play with fire as one day you will get burned .

[Guest]

18 minutes ago, batrabill said:

Quite a lot of negativity here....

It must be alternative word day , I take it negativity is the new word for common sense ? 

[batrabill]

Jeez. Wake up.

It's a stream on negative stuff. Sounds like the Harry Enfield character "You didn't want to do THAT!"