Hotel boat sank

IT WAS quite an experience for those on the hotel boat Ruby that was moored at Victoria Quays in Sheffield—as it was getting lower and lower in the water.

The narrowboat, at the basin of the Sheffield & South Yorkshire Navigation, was being used at the time as boutique accommodation by the Houseboat Hotels group, Alan Tilbury reveals.

Water 'sloshing about'

It was a guest who heard water 'sloshing about' who telephoned the owner, who told him to switch on the bilge pump, as it was quite normal for water to get into a narrowboat.  But that did not cure the noise, which was getting worse.

By the time owner Kathryn Marsh arrived the stern deck was under water, and within minutes the boat had sunk and was on the bottom.

This week an operation will start to re-float the narrowboat and find out the cause of it sinking.