Sean Fergalized his jeep

[septicsac]

Phone rang at about 3.30 on Mon afternoon, as I was getting out of the bed after a 12 hour night shift. Magnet, on the other end,asking if I had heard about Sean. He proceeded to inform me that Seans jeep had a rather misfortunate slip,pardon the pun,on Clogherhead slip. It turns out that as Sean was winching up the boat, on to the trailer, everything made its way past him into the drink . On my arrival the form was good and suspect the initial shock had passed. Sean explained that everything just slid past him, as the boat went up on the trailer,the likely cause being the growth of green algae on the slip. At this stage the tide was still going out with just the two aerials of the jeep visible,with the trailer vaguely visible behind the jeep. At this stage the boat was partially pulled up to safety on the slip and as we looked on help arrived in the form of Gally,Magnet and Fishpie.
We decided the first action was to get the boat back in before we lost too much water. With a good deal of effort we managed to relaunch Sean and at least get the boat out of the way. The tide continued to drop and the plight of the jeep became more apparent

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With Sean and the boat out of the way we decided the next option was to try and disconnect the trailer from the jeep. Unfortunately the only diver in sight had slipped off so it was Fishpie who stepped up to the mark

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After surveying the plight Fishpie, aka Brian, went into action

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The water was indeed very cold,a balmy 10 celcius,as Fishpie tried to disconnect the trailer. This proved fruitless as the trailer was at an angle to the jeep and wouldnt come off ,despite Brians best efforts. At this stage Gally and Magnet went off to seek a tractor,JCB or Track machine, ie anything they could get their hands on. We were now getting concerned as we were rapidly losing light too. We were also concerned about getting the trailer off before trying to pull the jeep out,as we didnt want it damaged.
At this stage more bodies arrived and various suggestions were given,it was the busiest I have seen the slip all year. Local man Aidan Sharkey arrived in a Jeanneau 34 prestige and offered to dive in to survey the situation. After he tied the boat up he appeared , took one look at the situation and the dive suit was handed to Sean . No bother to Sean, he donned the suit and made his way into the drink

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After a few minutes Sean had the trailer straightened behind the jeep and went under to try and unlock the trailer and unhitch her. On attempt number two the trailer graciously parted company from the plighted jeep. With many hands,ropes and a lot of effort the trailer was eventually pulled back up on the slip and removed safely out of the way.
After the trailer was out the real debate began as to how the jeep would be removed. Umpteen suggestions were offered,some sensible and some ridiculous. One attempt was made to winch the jeep from some near rocks onto the rocky shore but this was aborted half way though the long process.

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The tractor that arrived also left ,after he saw the state of the slip methinks.The slime/algae can be seen in this pic

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Problems were aplenty,winching was difficult as ropes stretched too far,chains were too heavy and kept getting snagged and on top of all this light was failing fast. Aidan offered to return round 10.30 pm, when there would be more water in the dock , and to tow the jeep behind the Jeanneau and into the dock, for retrieval the following day. We were dubious about the success of this but with little other options we were willing to give it a go.Sean used this chance to remove some items from the jeep

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With the tide now full out,a rope was tied to the jeep and bouyed for the nights operations.

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The crowd beagn to disperse with Magnet leaving the scene to go home to feed his pussy's,cats that is Myself,Sean,Gally and Brian made our way to the local chinese where a fine feast was had. We left there about 9pm,the staff are still in shock and made our way back to the scene of the crime. We hitched the trailer to Gally's jeep and took Seans boat out, using the slip in the dock.Fishpie made his way home after a good days work,well done that man With all ready to go we proceeded to wait for Aidans arrival,with our discussion mainly about whether his plan would work.
At 10.20pm Aidan arrived as promised. We made our way on to the boat and cast off. We proceeded to the slip but the bouy was nowhere to be seen Eventually it was located about 4 ft below the surface, but with the boat hook it was eventually brought to the surface. Aidan tied a rope across the two back cleats and then secured the rope attatched to the jeep to this rope. He gunned the 500 horses of the Jeanneau and the rope began to tighten . At this stage myself,Gally and Sean all bolted in various directions,afraid that if a rope gave God knows where they would fly to But they all held firm and slowly the Jeanneau began to move off with the jeep in tow. Clogher is a very congested port with bouys and markers all close by so it took us a while to near the dock entrance. At this stage another fine crowd had gathered then disaster struck.....as we approached the dock entrance the jeep anchored itself on a ledge. This ledge was from a previous harbour dredging and there was just no way the jeep would go up it Plan B was quickly devised by Aidan as he turned the Jeanneau,with jeep in tow, and made his way to Port beach He decided to tow the boat some 2 mile to the nearest beach,drop it in close,as it was now near high water,so it could be retrieved at low water I was put on pot watch up front,thank God the water was like a mirror and we slowly plodded our way. Some time later we arrived at our destination,bouyed the jeep and left her for colection at low tide.
All in all an eventful afternoon for us all,more so for Sean. The jeep is most definetly a write-off so Sean should be covered by his insurance Have to say I was impressed very much by his attitude,whats done is done and after the initial shock the whole day was seen as a challenge and adventure by us all.Not many people will be able to tell their Grandkids in years to come that they towed a jeep 2 mile across the sea bed in the dark of night It also never fails to impress me the help that arrives when someone is in strife, a big well done to all involved especially to the BAI headers but a special thanks must go to Aidan who not only used his own time to help us out but point blankly refused to take a penny for his efforts,and we dread to think what fuel the Jeanneau must have burned towing the jeep, a big well done to that man
As I finish writing this I am geting prepared to go help retrieve the stricken jeep so a few more photos and a small vid will be edited in later on. If nothing else at least Sean got to practice his swimming

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Well just back from retrieving Seans jeep and all went well. She was well up on the beach,a lot further up than Aidan though I would say Go to hand it to Gallys wee Merc,little beast,she pulled it out no probs A couple more pics to wrap up the wee adventure

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[Yappo]

Cheese is priced Septic that was some adventure for everybody.
As you say when someone is in trouble it's amazing the lengths other people will go to help out.
You should all take a bow.
Sean's attitude is the only one to have life is too short for doing your head in about what's already done.
Nice one Sean.
Hope everything works out with the jeep.

Yappo

[trevt]

Feckin hell lads. That has to be report of the year

Gutted for ye Sean, I hope you get the jeep sorted. Just goes to show how dangerous slips can be even with a good jeep never mind a standard car. At least everyone is still in one piece.

[aquabell]

What a great bunch of guys you have in your area, well done to all. Cannot help thinking that "there but for the grace of god go I" We used a lenght of rope between the car and trailer following a similar but not as spectacular incident.

[Janie Tyler 2]

Fookin hell Sean that's bad luck mate but if you cant laugh about it what else can you do.

Good to see all the BAI crew and others all turning out to help

[SeanP]

Hells bells what a carry on must be horrendous when that happens, good on yer sean for putting on a good show though that youtube is a blinder
I have had the rope on the van a good few times over the years but its very easy done where you say 'think I'll be o'rite on there' I did it a few weeks ago, just had the back wheels on the green, ok until the boat is on the way up the trailer and then the tow truck wheels go light and slowly moving to the drink at that point I flicked the winch in reverse and let her go back in, next winch I held the brakes on to hold the front wheels that were on the clean part of the slip and up she went, all to avoid 'the rope' I've knocked up a couple of wedges now for the front wheels for launching on my own for those will I won't I moments

[septicsac]

While the report was written in a light-hearted manner,as I think thats they way Sean would have wanted it written,there was a serious side to the whole episode. Several years ago the whole harbour of Clogherhead underwent a major refurbishment,all of 30+ million,with promises of the slip being addresses being made left,right and centre. Despite several counsellors being pursued nothing was ever done Sorry not quite nothing,as they did put a good surface down round the slip and parking area, that had attracted a bad element from all the near by localities for a while , but this seems to have ceased On top of that the slip is poorly maintained for most of the year,with a green slimy algae present quite often. Hopefully some of the photos taken on the day can be used to help build a case for further work to be carried out

[moebyrne]

Just as well you have good friends to rely on. I hope the damage is,nt too bad.
You must have felt sick.

[AtomicKipper]

The main question that this incident raises is: What type of sea monster did you think you'd catch using the Mitsubishi L200 as bait ?

At least you've got some footage to send to You've been Framed to get £250 back

Seriously though... what a feckin nightmare. Must've been awful watching the whole lot roll into the drink.

Well done to all those that helped out, and that water must've been bloody freezing... Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

[Neil]

Caramba! that's a story and a half. I must say, I would never have thought of towing the jeep along the sea bed by boat!!! A big hand to Aiden to come up with that idea. Who dived into the sunken Jeep to get the handbrake off? Did the jeep lift on the troll, without a diving lip? Trolling a jeep, now I've heard everything..........

[Mohawk]

Is there a charge to use that slip? Wonder is it worth his while check out is there insurance cover on the slip he may have a legitimate claim!!

Jim

[septicsac]

Is there a charge to use that slip?

No the slip is free Jim.......but in poor nick even considering that. Its usually treated during the summer when it is used a lot but at this time of the year it is ignored by local council

Who dived into the sunken Jeep to get the handbrake off? Did the jeep lift on the troll, without a diving lip?

Sean let the hand-brake of at low water. We think the jeep stayed on the sea-bed all the way,as we were travelling slow enough but the back cab was missing when she was recovered.

[fergal]

i know how you feel mate, its a real pain in the arse but it could allways have been worse if someone was stuck in the car. make sure you claim for all the rods and reels you lost with the car too . i forgot to do this when my car sank but i should have

[Mariek]

How long was the tow rope from the Jeep to the boat?

[septicsac]

How long was the tow rope from the Jeep to the boat?

Knew you would have the tech question Ryan..........I would say as a guesstimate it was between 50-60ft but no shorter than 50. Average depth from Clogher to the beach was about 20ft,deepest 22ft.