You may have read an article in November's issue of Dive magazine about an RYA Boat Handling course. On that occasion, the author had enjoyed an uneventful couple of days on the water learning to manoeuvre the boat and perform various safety drills. Unfortunately things don't always go so smoothly and the following is an account of what can happen when things don't go to plan.
On October 1st 2000 Joy and I attended a course organised by a friend in Evesham Sub-Aqua Club. Thirteen students - six members of ESAC, ourselves and some work colleagues - along with four instructors launched two RIBS and two Fletcher speedboats (a 170 and an Arrowbeau) from Beachley slip beneath the old Severn Bridge. We launched at high water with the intention of practising the manoeuvres in each of the boats and returning to Beachley before low water made the slip inaccessible.
All went well until the final changeover when my group transferred from the larger of the two RIBS to the 170 - recently purchased by one of the students. It hadn't been handling all that well as a good deal of water had splashed over the bow and, with no facility to drain off, had been collecting in the engine compartment. A quick look inside the compartment showed that the bilge was nearly half full. We immediately transferred again, this time into the smaller RIB, and followed the ailing speedboat back upstream towards Beachley. On the way we ran into some fast moving choppy water and whilst we were bouncing around in the waves the RIB's A-frame snapped clean off taking the radio aerial and lights to the bottom of the Severn.
Back at the slip we used the hand-held radio to call up the Arrowbeau and remind the crew that time was moving on and low water approaching. We were told to "go to Channel 77 and stand-by" - five minutes passed and nothing happened - we called back on 77 - still no response. The instructor in the waterlogged 170 then picked up a call on Channel 16 saying that the big RIB had capsized and that the crew, who had all been in the water, were now aboard the Arrowbeau. The small RIB set off downstream again to assist them and recover the capsized RIB.
It transpired that during a high-speed turn demonstration the console and bottle-rack of the big RIB had broken free from the deck and been hurled into the water taking the instructor with it and breaking his nose in the process. The only thing that stopped it going to the bottom were the power cables connecting the console to the outboard - one of which had sheared off. Later inspection showed that the console was held on by inch-and-a-half self-tapping screws that hadn't been glass-fibred over. Water had been gradually seeping down the screws and rotting the wood of the deck until there was nothing much left for them to bite into. The stress of all the high-speed turns had finally become too great and the screws had all let go. Of the three students onboard at the time one suffered concussion and a gash on the head which was later diagnosed as a fractured skull, another a bruised ankle and the third - owner of the 170 - mild hypothermia (not being a diver he was wearing normal clothing and a waterproof jacket). Everyone on the course was wearing a lifejacket.
Once the radio call was received an ambulance was called - it took a while to arrive though as no-one at ambulance control seemed to know where Beachley slip was despite the fact that it is directly beneath the old Severn bridge and that the Severn Area Rescue Association is based there - fairly conspicuous landmarks you would think! Once on the scene however the crew quickly dealt with the injuries.
In the meantime the rest of us set about recovering the boats onto their trailers. This went quite well until we tried to recover the big RIB . The broken power cable and waterlogged battery rendered the engine tilt control inoperative but we eventually managed to winch it onto the trailer with three people sitting in the bow and half-a-dozen lifting the stern to keep the prop off the concrete of the slip. The tide had fallen so far, by this time, that another half-an-hour or so and the RIB would have been impossible to recover.
At this point the situation turned from mild chaos to total farce as an Air ambulance appeared overhead and attempted to set down on the bank of the Severn. In a classic case of Chinese Whispers the message sent to ambulance control - 'seventeen people safely ashore, three in need of medical attention' - had become - 'two boats with seventeen people onboard have collided on the Severn' - by the time it reached the Air Ambulance control centre. The helicopter crew were quickly informed by the ambulancemen that the situation was under control and that they weren't needed. This done, the casualties were whisked off to A+E, the boats secured for travel and everyone headed home.
We learned some good lessons about rescue management as well as boat handling on the day. I'm sure the instructors would have preferred us not to have needed to, even though they could not be blamed for what happened. I also think that in many ways the course was more successful than the one featured in the magazine (injuries notwithstanding) as it emphasised the importance of thorough equipment maintenance, keeping rescue and first aid skills practised and how easily a minor incident can escalate into a major one.
Roll on the Advanced Course!!
David Salt
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