Sunken Soar boat raised

THE narrowboat that sank in the Soar near Kegworth just before Christmas has been raised and the navigation is now clear.

It was Robert Slivinki who told us of the sunken boat between Ratcliffe Lock (58) and Kegworth Flood Lock (57) that was reported to Canal & River Trust on the 21st December and being around two feet under the water was a hazard to navigation.

Two orange buoys had been placed in the river, but there was no intimation how boats should pass, with the steel hull quite capable of ripping off a boat's propeller.

Down into the river

However, the people from River & Canal Rescue arrived last Thursday, and by Friday it had been raised and was being pumped out, as Robert's picture shows. Not being like the normal sunken boat in a lock, this rescue needed someone to go down into the river to attached the floatation bags that are used in these circumstances, with the fella pictured getting the short straw.

The bags were securely fastened to the sunken boat's hull, the diver coming away and air pumped in with the boat slowly being raised. Then a winch on the front of a Landrover pulled the floating boat to the bank where is was then pumped-out and secured.