Rowing boats 'sunk' to make them watertight

The boats are deliberately submerged to make them watertight

Rowing boats in a tourist hotspot that look like they have sunk are in fact being prepared for the tourist season.

Every year the wooden rowing boats are submerged in Windermere to allow for a traditional process called "swelling".

This makes them watertight after they have dried out in storage over the winter.

"They'll be left submerged for a week before we pump them out to see if the swelling has been fully effective," said Nick Thompson from Windermere Lake Cruises.

The traditional clinker-built boats have been a popular tourist attraction since the Victorian times and many of the lake's current wooden craft date back to the 1930s.

Mr Thompson said work was carried out during the winter to preserve them.

"But that conservation work means they are out of water and in our work sheds where they dry out, the planks shrink and they develop leaks," he said.

Once the boats are watertight and floating, they are fitted with floorboards, foot-rests and seating before being checked to ensure they are ready for the holiday season, which starts on 23 March.