Update: Boat sank outside marina

Published: Friday, 29 January 2010

YESTERDAY afternoon (Thursday) the narrowboat Stepping Stone sank just as it reached its marina on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.

It was first understood the boat had just left left Reedley Marina, but in fact had cruised to Burnley and back and had nearly reached home when it started to sink, Peter Lloyd tells us.

According to witnesses, once this was noticed the boat sank very quickly. The usual suspect would be the weed hatch or stern tube however the boat had run out of fuel and was being towed home without the engine running.

No-one is believed to have been injured. Ironically there had been a crane on site all day engaged in lifting out a boat for repair work and putting one back into the water, but Peter says that unfortunately it left about an hour before the sinking occurred.  There are more of Peter's pictures on his blog:

www.nbgecko.blogspot.com