Cowes week fireworks

[tim griffin]

well we went to the fireworks bit disapointed, with the show
the amount of boats out unlit or showing the wrong lights was scary, one rib
hit a water taxi up the rear end and mounted the transom (1.5 METRES HIGH)
speed was guessed at 20knots in the river , driver drunk cops called , ribs blasting through the anchorage, boats not allowing for the tide to turn so swinging into each other, anchors getting fouled, boats driving over peoples anchor lines, drunks bloody chaos,last time my wife wants to go out on the water unless its a MTB my son works on the water taxi's and he had a couple of confrontations with drunks, i did a shift for him during the week and mad people out on small boats at night unlit and speeding its a wonder no one was killed any other horror stories of Cowes week .
regards tim
www.griffmarineservices.co.uk

[nik]

Here is the result of one of those speeders.

"However, sadly towards the end of the evening we had an incident where a rhib making its way back to Hamble from viewing the fireworks at Cowes hit a mooring buoy off Hamble. Out of the 7 persons aboard 2 were thrown into the water one of which has suffered facial injuries, and 4 received impact injuries and one was just suffering from shock. Resources were able to respond quickly due to being on patrol due to the events at Cowes; Hamble Lifeboat was able to be on scene within one minute and administer first aid and ensure swift medical evacuation via ambulance to Southampton General Hospital with the assistance of Hill Head Coastguard rescue team. We believe the casualties 5 men and 2 women to be from the Hamble area.”

mca report

[nik]

Mulling it over it some more, I suspect this may be an example of a person thinking they know where they are going and not planning a route so as to avoid charted obstacles. I am assuming it was dark.
Nick.

[peteb]

There is a report here about it :-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/h...re/3564594.stm

[Andy]

Just seen this on the local TV news. The front of the RIB looks snapped as if the nose was folded over towards the stern from about a 3rd the way down the hull from the bow tip. The boat looks like a right off.

It hit a mooring buoy. One of the passengers has serious facial injuries and all passengers have injuries of some type. By all accounts this was a very nasty accident.

[Richard B]

Pleased to say that over towards Egypt Point we avoided all the sillyness. We anchored close to the shore where there was a fantastic festival-like atmosphere with crowds filling the shingle beach, and everyone afloat was sensible and courteous.

Our return to Yarmouth was event free and all craft we encountered were lit correctly and travelling at sensible speeds.

It was a beautiful clear night and perfect for the event - surprising after the awful conditions during the day.

Terrible to hear about the accident. So sad their evening ended in such a traumatic way.

[timw]

Despite vowing not to go after the dire warnings a few weeks back....I actually did go with a bunch of friends.

We left Bucklers Hard at 8.00 ish and went over to Egypt Point (must have been near Richard B) and rather than anchor just kept station on tick over.

We had a brilliant time, and navigated safely back to the Beaulieu River, the only hard bit at the upper reaches in the dark, but did OK.

I didn't see any nonsense at all and all the boats around us were having a great time.

It was great to be back on the Solent again for the weekend...put the boat in "Rib City" in Cowes on Saturday...met Mike C on his Humber.

Boat is back on the river in Fulham now having had it's annual salt water taste.

[Richard B]

Pleased to hear you had a good time Tim, over on the civilised side away from the rif-raff

Beaulieu River can't be an easy one - I haven't done that one at night so nice one.

[Andy]

TimW, glad you are safe and enjoyed the experience. Night passages are very rewarding. If you had fun you really should do an RYA Advanced course if you plan to do more. The risks are real.

I cancelled our trip from Portsmouth as the forecast was not that good, and looked like a wind (4-6) over tide head on chop on the return passage. I was not prepared to put my passengers at risk, however I was kicking myself a little as the wind did seem to drop and the sea was looking calm at Portsmouth at 8:30 when my curioisty got the better of me and a poped down to have a look at the conditions. However facing the same forcast I would cancel again.

I am looking forward to next year already.

[timw]

Beaulieu River can't be an easy one - I haven't done that one at night so nice one. [/QUOTE]

Luckily I had local knowledge from one of my crew.

A flash git who has a house on the Beaulieu River with it's own private jetty. Lived there all his life so knows the river with his eyes shut. Without him we would probably have run aground at some stage.

If I won the lottery I would buy a house on the Beaulieu River with it's own private jetty.

[brucehawsker]

...with Richard and Louise in the dark going back from Cowes to Yarmouth was, as our 14 year old son put it, "an expereince of a lifetime". Having wondered to herself earlier in the day on the journey from Yarmouth to Lymington whether her husband had gone mad ordering our new rib, my wife said of the journey to Cowes and back, and the fireworks, "incredible".

Thanks again for the life, the experience and the education.

Bruce

[brucehawsker]

for 'life' read 'lift'

[Richard B]

Originally Posted by brucehawsker

as our 14 year old son put it, "an expereince of a lifetime" ... my wife said of the journey to Cowes and back, and the fireworks, "incredible"...

That's what it's all about! It's a pleasure to share experiences like that, and it certainly was a day of contrasts. What should have been an easy daytime passage was a quite an ordeal, and the night-time covering of the same ground was beautiful.

It's been interesting to read the comments on ybw.com motorboat forum where one member suggests that anything over 4kts is reckless at night - we travelled at 14-18kts, made best use we could of natrual and electronic navigation aids, and I got excellent feedback from all on board - you all noticed the main hazard of the passage before I did which was great assistance. The confidence from having alert observers on board is very valuable indeed.