Commendation for Versadock!
"A violent storm hit Rhu Marina on 3rdJan 2012 and resulted in the RNLI having to rescue five people from yachts in the Marina, the sinking of a number of vessels and much other damage to boats and to the Marina’s pontoons. Sitting on its Versadock, my boat was probably the safest place to be in the Marina and I was most impressed that both the boat and the Versadock survived completely unscathed".This comes from a Versadock Customer who keeps his boat on a Versadock drive on dock all year round at Rhu Marina and was fully expecting to find a very damaged floating dock and boat after the storm," The whole marina looked really trashed! The fuel berth and a number of other pontoons had completely disappeared!
The waves in the marina were at least 1 metre high and the floating dock must have been banging away for hours into the steel and concrete side of the pontoon. There’s barely a scratch to show for it but I will strategically place a couple of old car tyres, just to cushion it in the future. As I told you, this was the 3rd damaging storm of the Winter. The first (and most gentle) was violent enough to slide the boat back half-off the dock until my rather ‘loose’ bow rope stopped it going any further! This was a valuable lesson and the Versadock dock-cleat that Chris sent me and I fitted at Christmas must have saved the day on 3rd Jan"
This is what the Marina and RNLI had to say about the storm:
Quay Marinas statement:
On Tuesday 3rd January, Rhu Marina was hit by the exceptional storm which affected much of the Central Belt of Scotland and which was described by weather experts as the worst storm in Scotland this century.
The storm caused damage to a significant number of boats and part of the Marina's floating infrastructure has also been affected.
Marina staff did their best to minimise damage at the time but there came a point when conditions were so severe that working afloat became unsafe.
Owners of damaged boats have already been informed and Quay Marinas and the marina owners, The Crown Estate, have met at the marina to action a process of survey and planning for both emergency repairs and long term restoration of the pontoons, services and equipment. Customers will be kept informed as work progresses over the coming weeks.
The storm caused damage to a significant number of boats and part of the Marina's floating infrastructure has also been affected.
Marina staff did their best to minimise damage at the time but there came a point when conditions were so severe that working afloat became unsafe.
Owners of damaged boats have already been informed and Quay Marinas and the marina owners, The Crown Estate, have met at the marina to action a process of survey and planning for both emergency repairs and long term restoration of the pontoons, services and equipment. Customers will be kept informed as work progresses over the coming weeks.
RNLI statement:
At 0841 hours on Tuesday 3rd January, 2012 Clyde Coastguard requested the assistance of Helensburgh RNLI lifeboat crew as there were 5 persons on board 3 yachts in Rhu Marina, one of which had broken free from its mooring, that required assistance to get ashore. The persons had been on board their yachts overnight and with a heavy sea running through the marina and with storm force winds recorded, were unable to get ashore. As weather conditions were exceeding the lifeboat’s operational limits, the lifeboat crew had to go out onto the marina walkways to assist. The extreme weather conditions had caused several yachts to break their moorings in the marina and several vessels had sunk. The marina pontoons were moving vertically by some 1 metre making it virtually impossible to walk on them.
In very dangerous conditions 8 crew members proceeded out onto the pontoons to assist the 5 persons from 3 vessels ashore. At times the crew had to proceed on hands and knees due to the violent movement of the walkways.
By about 0935 hours, all persons were safely ashore, and as a precaution an ambulance crew checked out 2 of the rescued persons. The wind direction was westerly with gusts of 61 knots recorded in the marina (Force 11 – Violent Storm); Clyde Coastguard reported gusts of 77 knots at Greenock.
Colin Gardiner, Operations Manager, commended the crew for their actions in, what he described as the worse conditions he had ever seen in the Marina.
