Thursday, 2 August 2007

Heed the warnings!

Still moored above Osney lock.

As it turned out a fine day I started to do some more painting on the roof. Unfortunately by the time I had it all masked up and sanded the sun had warmed the boat up too much so I had to leave the painting until this evening when it cooled down.
In the meantime we went for a walk via Folly Bridge where a hire boat has come to grief. This is what happens when people ignore red board warnings from those in the know.

On board were not the hirers (they had abandoned the boat downstream) but someone who should have known better. The boat will have to be salvaged and lifted as it is almost blocking the main channel on the Thames at Folly Bridge. This would need to be done before they can re-open this section of the river to navigation, as the stern is under water and you cannot see the tiller arm you have no idea where the hull ends.

Along the way we crossed a bridge over the Bulstake stream where 4 huge round hay bales had been washed down river and jammed under the bridge.

Ray the lock keeper was aware of their presence but has a problem with how to remove them as they weigh about a ton, but being full of water will make them heavier. They don’t want them breaking loose and jamming up a sluice down stream.

1 comment:

MortimerBones said...

I was delighted to see your pictures this morning. I noticed the boat as I came past on the bus this morning and wondered what the story was. Do you know what happened?!