I know I almost promised a report from Greece today, but it will not be. Peter of course has lots to tell from his trip to Greece, but that will come next week. What happened in our houseboat marina yesterday is too dramatic not to be told. I woke up early to strange noises ... and soon realised that this morning we were moored with no connection to land.
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Being woken up by strange noises
I fell asleep late on Friday night and was therefore very tired at 6am on Saturday morning. But those strange noises couldn't be ignored! Especially when you are home alone and living on a houseboat... Squeak, squeak, thump, thump and then .... bhamm. I pulled on a dressing gown and peered out.
And what did I see there? Well, there was one of my neighbours (also in a dressing gown) hauling a paddle board on a rope right in front of the bow of our boat. What the ....? I ran outside and could hardly believe the explanation I was given.
Part of the jetty has sunk.
"Part of the jetty has sunk," the neighbour explained. "There is no connection to land." This alone was hard to understand... but the paddle board, how did it come into play?
Well, another neighbour needed to get to work and had used the paddle board, which was then pulled back by a rope (and hit the bow of our houseboat, waking me up). I was tired and wondered if this was the moment I lost my mind, but no, it wasn't!
Temporary solution: emergency bridge
The neighbours called the Pampas marina staff who quickly arrived, even though they don't normally work on Saturdays. They helped us raise the emergency bridge between D dock (our dock) and A dock (the other dock with houseboats) so we could get to shore... without a paddle board.
What happens next?
The Pampas marina staff worked hard all day to get the boats that were pulled into the water. The plan is then to try to get a temporary jetty up so we don't have to use the emergency bridge. It blocks the inlet and has to be hoisted up and down all the time to let boats in and out. I spent most of yesterday running back and forth trying to understand what happened ...
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Lennart says:
Must feel cosy.
Good thing it didn't get worse!
17 September 2017 - 8:08
Helena says:
No injuries and quick solutions for us residents. But a bit shocking of course, and material damage.
17 September 2017 - 9:06
Mr Nils-Åke Hansson says:
One wonders what is the reason for this. The boats are fine, but the drowned houseboat is worse. Now you can write why this happened too.
Stay well
17 September 2017 - 9:01
Helena says:
No houseboat has been damaged. It is a small office on the jetty that has been destroyed. I do not know the cause, but it will of course be investigated.
17 September 2017 - 9:07
Husis blog says:
Wow, waking up to this must somehow be almost shocking. Hope you/they/someone finds what was wrong with the bridge so it doesn't happen again.
As always when something happens, it is nice to have "only" material damage.
17 September 2017 - 10:10
Helena says:
Yes, it was actually a bit shocking. But I agree. Although material damage is hard and sad, the most important thing is that no one was hurt!
17 September 2017 - 12:30
Mr Steve says:
Not exactly the wake-up call you want on a Saturday morning.
Praise to the marina staff who were quickly on site. Hope that everything will soon be back to normal.
17 September 2017 - 10:17
Helena says:
The staff were on site early and have done their best. It will be a while before everything is back to normal, but I hope they will have a preliminary bridge up relatively soon.
17 September 2017 - 12:31
Snows says:
But wow, what an awakening! I hope things get back to normal quickly.
17 September 2017 - 10:37
Helena says:
It will probably take some time before everything is fixed, but we may at least get a preliminary bridge fairly soon.
17 September 2017 - 12:32
Eva-Lotta says:
Wow, that wasn't a nice awakening you got! Luckily they could solve it temporarily to begin with, hope for a quick real solution! Eva-Lotta
(formerly Ezter)
17 September 2017 - 10:51
Helena says:
Yes, thanks to the emergency bridge we got a temporary solution quickly. That's great! Hopefully they can organise another temporary bridge soon.
17 September 2017 - 12:34
Elisabeth says:
How awful. What a wake-up call. I hope there was no damage to your houseboat.
17 September 2017 - 11:06
Helena says:
Thank you for your concern! No, none of the houseboats have been damaged. However, some small boats moored at the pier that sank have been damaged.
17 September 2017 - 12:35
Ama de casa says:
But what a drama! Nice to have such a quick temporary solution anyway. Luckily no one was hurt. The material damage is of course not at all funny, but compensable. I just hope that everyone has insurance that covers it all. But perhaps it is the Navy's insurance that will be used to organise the financial situation?
17 September 2017 - 11:20
Helena says:
Yes, I also hope that everyone has insurance. Have no idea how it will work, but guess it will take some time with everyone involved (both the marina and all private individuals who have small boats that were damaged). Hope it works out in a good way for everyone! And yes, the most important thing is that no one was injured!
17 September 2017 - 12:37
Ewa says:
I hope everything works out for you. Getting a little jealous of your accommodation. Enjoy living "on the lake" and do it as often as we can in our sailboat. The dream is to be able to do it all the time!
17 September 2017 - 12:31
Helena says:
This weekend's incident will be resolved, although it will take some time. The accommodation here is fantastic! Having a sailboat also sounds cosy! 🙂
17 September 2017 - 12:37
åsa in åsele says:
Ooups Huvva what an awakening you got, but lucky in bad luck that it is only material damage, such can be fixed. Well done by the staff to be quickly on site to find a solution to the problem.
17 September 2017 - 12:41
Helena says:
It will probably take time to fix everything, but that's the way it is. It's just material damage.
17 September 2017 - 16:48
Emma, sun like sun? says:
That's the thing about living a bit special, you also get to take part in some ... um ... special events.
Isn't it typical that it should happen just at that moment when you were alone!
However, I thought it was a good solution with the paddle board. Would have liked to see a photo of him balancing with a suit and briefcase or her in high heels and a tight skirt. (Stereotypical? What, no, you think?!)
Sorry I'm joking but it's a bit of a strange situation! Not a bit of fun if you have to leave or if something has been destroyed. Hope that it is quickly fixed and restored and that everyone who needs help gets it in the best way.
I'm glad you didn't get into more trouble!
17 September 2017 - 15:06
Helena says:
Well, that's how it is ... And isn't it typical that it happens when I'm home alone? I mean, it's not often I am ... The situation with the paddle board was a bit special actually. I didn't see it myself ... only when the board was pulled in again 😉.
17 September 2017 - 16:51
Matts Torebring says:
No hu so so terrible, almost a helpless statement. I first thought that your boat was also under water, which was not so bad. Hope you are still on dry land.
17 September 2017 - 16:32
Helena says:
No houseboats are affected! It is "only" our road to shore that is affected. However, there is other material damage, an office and a bunch of ordinary small boats among others.
17 September 2017 - 16:52
Across the board says:
Well, what an awakening! How is that possible, just like that....? So incredibly lucky that no one was injured or that any houseboat came along. Smaller boats can be replaced, but too bad about the office where there was probably a computer and other things ...
Hope you come to work dry-shod and that Peter finds his way home.
17 September 2017 - 17:12
Helena says:
Yes, it was a shocking awakening... I don't know exactly what happened, just that a jetty/pontoon with an office on it sank (taking the boats that were stuck with it). Yes, there was a computer in the office and it has now been removed from there. Unfortunately not completely dry. But I'll probably come to work dry-shod tomorrow 😉.
17 September 2017 - 19:06
Alexandra says:
But shit, what a thing!!! Good thing no houseboats were dragged underwater!
17 September 2017 - 17:51
Helena says:
Yes, indeed! No injuries and no damage to houseboats. However, in an office and on private small boats ...
17 September 2017 - 19:06
Maria's Memoirs says:
But oh so stressful to have to wake up to such things ...! Glad that your houseboat survived at least!
17 September 2017 - 18:50
Helena says:
Yes, I woke up quickly, so to speak 😉 Yes, our houseboat is fine!
17 September 2017 - 19:07
BP says:
Now I have looked at the pictures a number of times and I still find it difficult to understand what has really happened. So I understand that you also walked around all day wondering. I wouldn't want to live in that sinking houseboat, I can tell you.
I read the comments and am glad that there was "only" material damage and that Freedom survived completely. How nice!
17 September 2017 - 18:56
Helena says:
Yes, it's a bit hard to understand actually... It's ONE jetty/pontoon (with an office on top) that sank. The small boats attached to this jetty/pontoon were pulled down at the same time. NO houseboat is damaged. So the small house you see that sank is a small office.
17 September 2017 - 19:09
Ditte says:
Bad! And what an awakening! But I'm glad there were no injuries and that both your boat and other houseboats survived.
It's strange that this could happen, but a lot of things can happen that you couldn't have imagined. And certainly everything will be thoroughly investigated.
It is sad for those who have leisure boats that have been cancelled. But material things can usually be replaced.
17 September 2017 - 19:56
Helena says:
Yes, it's good that the houseboats survived, but sad about the office and the leisure boats. Hopefully people will be helped by insurance, but it's not fun ...
18 September 2017 - 6:08
Solan says:
Not the kind of awakening you dream of. But the marina seems ok and responded quickly. Hope everything is under control now. Sleep well Helena, everything will be fine ?
17 September 2017 - 22:22
Helena says:
Yes, it will work out. But it will probably take time before everything is fully resolved ...
18 September 2017 - 6:09
Susjos says:
Wow, what chaos!!! But as I said, it's good that no one was hurt, and it's great that the staff arrived quickly!
Hopefully everything will be resolved soon!
Hugs!
17 September 2017 - 23:02
Helena says:
A bit of a shock ... but the main thing is that nobody is hurt!
18 September 2017 - 6:10
Tia says:
One becomes curious about the reason and how it went with the houseboat that is halfway down in the water. Luckily you commented to someone that it was just an office, I almost choked on my morning coffee beforehand. Thought it was you at first and after 'running' with you a few laps among the photos, I could conclude puh not you. One can easily understand that you had a slightly too exciting morning!
18 September 2017 - 7:09
Helena says:
Yes, exactly. It's not a houseboat, but an office like on a pier. Not fun though...
18 September 2017 - 21:49
Anki says:
But wow! What an awakening ... understand that you were a little scared. Hope it all gets fixed quickly so you can go the usual way both away and home.
18 September 2017 - 8:14
Helena says:
Yes indeed, a little scared! Today (Monday) they have fixed a temporary bridge so we do not have to hoist up and down the emergency bridge ...
18 September 2017 - 21:50
Hanna says:
But what a way to wake up! Feels so much fun.
18 September 2017 - 8:36
Helena says:
Not quite what you wanted ... but sometimes unexpected things happen ...
18 September 2017 - 21:51
Johan Persson says:
What a spectacle to wake up to. I can imagine that you don't think such things can happen when you are anchored on land and not out at sea?:)
18 September 2017 - 14:11
Helena says:
No, you don't think so ... !
19 September 2017 - 7:03
Steel city anna says:
Oh, no, paddling to work is perhaps not something you want. Hope it works out quickly!
18 September 2017 - 18:22
Helena says:
They have built a temporary jetty for us now. Lifting what has sunk and rebuilding it will probably take some time.
19 September 2017 - 7:03
Dessan says:
But how awful. Good thing you didn't have to go to work then. I can imagine that you stood there and felt excluded from the country all together. Hugs
18 September 2017 - 21:48
Helena says:
It was early Saturday morning, so not too many people were going .... luckily 😉.
19 September 2017 - 7:04
Anna in Dubai says:
Absolutely crazy! First when I loaded I thought that the boat had come loose and was on its way out of the harbour... so stupid question but is it possible? How is your home still sitting? It's nice that they were quick with a release and bridge so long.
19 September 2017 - 14:01
Helena says:
Our houseboat is moored with many tethers, so it seems a bit unlikely that they would all come loose at the same time ... 😉 And then we're stuck with drains, water inlets and power lines too ... so it's probably difficult to come loose ...
19 September 2017 - 21:05
Lena - good for the soul says:
But shit! What a shock to dizzily try to understand what happened!
Hug Lena
28 September 2017 - 19:23