A BOAT sunk in Thurlwood Top Lock on Heartbreak Hill at Rode on the Trent & Mersey Canal closed the waterway yesterday, Thursday.
A recovery is underway, and it is hoped the boat can be raised sometime today, Friday, Keith Gudgin tells us.
Have to wait
With the lack of winding holes on the flight, boaters have to wait either below or above the lock until the boat is removed.
Linda Andrews of Cheshire Cat Narrowboat Holidays tells us that the boat had no stern fender and so the rudder caught between the bottom gates going up. Needless to say, the gates pinned the rudder, and therefore the back of the boat, and the water just came up over the top of it, and remarks:
"It's one of the things I always tell my students—make sure your stern fender covers the rudder, and if it doesn't, turn the tiller sideways when ascending locks. Stop at the next chandlery and buy a bigger stern fender."
Very good advice.