Heavy rainfall in January and February sank boats at their moorings and left other stranded high on dry land. Over 40 boats were damaged on the River Weaver near Northwich.
The heavy rainfall and rising water levels prompted an early spike in River Canal Rescue call-outs. RCR managing director, Stephanie Horton, reports boats were left submerged and others separated from their moorings and pushed onto towpaths or wedged against pontoons and other craft.
At Acton Bridge, on the River Weaver, RCR was called upon to assist 10 boats; some were lifted onto the towpath and several more needed assistance after sinking in nearby Winsford. In addition to these, RCR estimates over 30 vessels were affected by the flood, where waters rose by three metres overnight, leaving a large number of vessels to be recovered.
Stephanie comments: “While not all these situations can be avoided, owners can help prepare their boats for such events by checking mooring ropes are loose enough to cope with sudden changes in water levels, and if the mooring is at risk of flooding, run a rope to locations that can still be accessed even in a flood situation.
“To stop a vessel drifting onto land when water levels rise, position a scaffold pole or poles, or a boarding plank, between the boat and the river/canal side edge and fix it into position. This acts as a mooring post, preventing flood waters from floating the boat onto land.”
In 2020 over the waterway system River Canal Rescue reports their engineers attended 231 incidents.
Of these 186 were major and 45 minor, 55 per cent more than the 149 (105 major and 44 minor) in 2019. Major is defined as submerged, partially sunken or grounded craft, plus salvage work; minor as situations which on attendance, can be resolved without the need for a full rescue team.
Storms Brendan, Ciara, Dennis and Jorge, plus lockdown restrictions, were the main reasons for the unprecedented rise. Vessels across the UK were either battered by bad weather at the start of 2020 or suffered water ingress, due to a lack of maintenance, as people struggled to get to their boats. Another contributing factor was the river Avon sluice gate failure in September, when RCR recovered and stabilised 50 boats in under three days.
In contrast, the number of general call-outs, such as electrical, fuel and engine issues, flat batteries, over-heating and gear box failures, fell by 17 per cent, from 3450 in 2019 to 2850, the decrease probably due to fewer people cruising the waterways.
Thanks to River Canal Rescue for this information and images
