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Bachelor Party Ends With One Barge Underwater, Another Crashed, and a Third on the Run

It’s all fun and games until boats start sinking. A group of very rowdy men preparing for a wild weekend and an even wilder bachelor party caused serious damage (and serious trouble) on a canal in Worcestershire, in West Midlands, England.
Three-barge bachelor party ends predictably bad, with one narrowboat underwater, stuck at a lock 8 photos
Photo: River Canal Rescue
Three-barge bachelor party ends predictably bad, with one narrowboat underwater, stuck at a lockThree-barge bachelor party ends predictably bad, with one narrowboat underwater, stuck at a lockThree-barge bachelor party ends predictably bad, with one narrowboat underwater, stuck at a lockThree-barge bachelor party ends predictably bad, with one narrowboat underwater, stuck at a lockThree-barge bachelor party ends predictably bad, with one narrowboat underwater, stuck at a lockThree-barge bachelor party ends predictably bad, with one narrowboat underwater, stuck at a lockThree-barge bachelor party ends predictably bad, with one narrowboat underwater, stuck at a lock
The party started on May 20, when the seemingly large group of men boarded three rental barges for a weekend out on the canals. The narrowboats were all from ABC Boat Hire, The Daily Mail reports, after confirming it with the West Midlands Police and the rental company itself. Two of them were damaged, while a third was used as a temporary getaway vehicle.

Trouble started later that same day, when one of the three boats crashed into another on the canal, as per the media outlet. On Friday night, one of the 30-foot (9.1-meter) long barges became stuck at a lock on the Droitwich Canal, while another was abandoned not far off on the canal after experiencing unspecified issues. Everybody on board these two narrowboats boarded the third, and the party kept going. You can’t let a small thing like a stuck boat or two get in the way!

The narrowboat that became stuck at the lock was still there on Saturday, with people from River Canal Rescue working hard to refloat it. The blockage it caused prompted a rise in water levels on the canal, which, in turn, led to flooding on nearby roads. In fact, it was this that alerted the authorities because drivers called in to report the strange occurrence on a day when there had been no rain.

Everything was back to normal later on Saturday when River Canal Rescue was able to remove the stuck, sunken barge from the lock. A spokesperson for Canal and Rivers Trust says an investigation is underway, but, for the time being, they’re choosing to focus on the fact that no one was injured. “We are relieved that there have been no injuries or anything worse,” says the rep.

Meanwhile, residents and fellow sailors are outraged that rental companies are letting “idiots” operate the narrowboats on the canals when some of them – as was the case here – are a danger to themselves and to others. No one would let a bachelor party crew fly an aircraft or drive an RV while partying, so rentals shouldn’t be available to them either, they say.

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About the author: Elena Gorgan
Elena Gorgan profile photo

Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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