From Newsgroup: uk.rec.waterways
On 15/11/2025 12:45, Martin Nicholas wrote:
Would be nice to hear what the team think:
https://youtu.be/rlulbUdQig0
Me thinks the 'working' pair could do no more. A more brightly coloured towing line might be desirable in these modern times.
Well there really wasn't a problem was there? Avoidable, probably, but
nobody died, was injured and not even any paint was scratched?
The problem really was that the oncoming boat bows were drawn into the
stern of the towing motor.* This was predicted by the towing motor
steerer but probably not by the oncoming boat steerer - who, had they predicted it, would have got on the bank with a centre line.
Playing devil's advocate, this section might have been a good time for
the motor (or butty) steerer to take in some of the line length and
pre-empt things.
Many years ago I remember David Blagrove suggesting an orange flashing
light on the bow of the towing boat to warn people in these less
enlightened times. I don't know if anyone ever adopted this?
Chris D
*There is an explanation of this in my book - detailed below :-)
--
https://www.Deuchars.org.uk
Author & Publisher: "A Boaters Guide to BOATING"
Mixing old and new waterway techniques. ISBN 9780953151202
Details:
https://www.deuchars.org.uk/publication/
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