Hurricane Mathew put my boat on the hard.. What do I do?

[End80]

Again, as for using Dawn or whatever brand of soap and plywood.. Yes it sounds feasible that it could work.. but it would literally take hundreds of dollars just of dish soap alone to go such a long distance, and then be risking perhaps thousands dollars of fine for dumping it on government protected land.

That video example someone had posted a few pages before shows it' possible to drag the boat across land a substantial span of distance..
Like I said, when I get the rollers over there, a few mobile home anchors, cable and come along might do the job.

 

[flynhi4u]

End80,
If the ground is that solid then it should support a bottle jack placed on a 2x2 plywood base. Sliding 4x6's under it and getting enough daylight under it to insert soaped plywood sheets sounds even more doable now that I read how solid the ground is there. Plus if it is that dry and firm it should hold a anchor two with enough firmness to pull the boat once you have it on the plywood.
Still wish I was closer.

Sam

 

[flynhi4u]

End 80
6 bottles would be more than enough if you re used the aft sheet and placed it at the bow as you move forward. Heck forget the soap, just sliding it across dry plywood would be incredibly easier than dirt and mud. At least it would be smooth and slick and displace the weight over a greater area.
The pipe might work if they don't crack and break from the weight or sink. They stand a better chance if you can insert them under the boat from the start.

Sam

 

[mz4wheeler]

A lot of good advise has been presented in this thread. Still, the boat has not moved. This is an example of making a mountain out of a mole hill. The degree of difficulty is in the eye of the beholder. In MY view, moving this boat back to the water should not be that difficult.

1) Move it on an 8 x 8 x 1.5" plywood platform (manufactured in place), using anchors and come a longs
2) Drag it to the water (anchors/come along attached to plywood) as far as possible
3) Finally pull it to deeper water by a similar boat used before.

The OP is lucky that he hasn't been fined (yet), or worse, charged for the professional removal.

 

[topcat0399]

Problems look a lot smaller from 3000 miles away....

 

[Seahorse24]

End80, you might consider trying a sheet of plastic several mils thick instead of plywood. It would easily slip on the ground with any level of moisture present. You would not need any soap at all. If you could find an old swimming pool liner someone had removed, it would be strong enough to do it for sure. Contact a local swimming pool company and see if they will give you an old liner they removed. They have to dispose of them anyway, so it should be free. They are at least 20 mils thick and are very difficult to tear.

If you can get the plastic liner under the hull, secure the bunched end of the liner to the pull line at the same point where you connect it to the boat. Tie to the boat first, then wrap the remaining line around the bunched end of the liner.

I have moved some heavy items on dry ground just using six mil visqueen plastic, dragging them with the bunched end of the plastic. You would probably need much thicker than that to handle the weight of a boat. I have dealt with pool liners and they are tough as heck. If there is any moisture on that ground they will slid even with a lot of weight on them, if you had an inch of water, I bet it would work.

If you can get the pool liner free, not have to buy any soap or plywood, then it might be worth a try. I realized this sounds like a crazy idea, but I am a retired engineer and sometimes you have to think out of the box. So far, nothing else has worked.

 

[MrBill_FLL]

Please don't use soap! besides the pollution, you could be hit with fines, clean up and possibly jail. jeez..

The problem is getting a solid pulling point, that won't pull out.

Then using low stretch cable, chain or rope, and a come a long or even hydraulic rams, but its has to be overkill. if it breaks it will probably hurt someone bad.

Do know anyone with a large boat with all chain rode? can you borrow it? maybe 'rent' a few rode's and anchors?

A popular hurricane anchoring technique uses 3 anchors spread out, and joined together into one long chain to the boat.

its not too late to save it. Good luck!

 

[Allan12210]

What if you invite the local high school football team over for a barbecue? Set up the grill and some coolers full of sodas. Could 25 husky young boys with cleats PUSH it back to the water? Especially if the boat is turned sideways to the direction of the water as Kloudie suggests.

I have had good luck lubricating plywood not with soap but with beeswax. You are not going to pollute anything and it will continue to work under water as it's not soluble. They still sell it in the hardware store in blocks. Or buy a box of candles and rub them on a couple of sheets of plywood.

 

[Ron20324]

Every November there is a tug-of-war (called Slaughter Across the Water) across the Annapolis harbor/Spa Creek. I think it was Samson who made the rope- 1200 feet I believe. Maybe if you asked the mayor in a real nice way....

 

[BlowMeAway]

@End80, has this story come to a close. How about a status update for we curious watchers.

 

[jibes138]

Why don't you dig a trench first to get the boat upright and then wide enough for the keel to slide along keeping it upright as you haul it to deep water. If people could dig out the canals for the ICW back in the early 1800's with no power equipment, a little trench to float your boat should be a snap. After its' free you fill in the trench and everybody should be happy.

 

[Gunni]

If people could dig out the canals for the ICW back in the early 1800's with no power equipment, a little trench to float your boat should be a snap.

That is pretty funny! Those people who dug the ICW were wholly owned property and most assuredly would have rather have been anywhere on earth than chest deep in snake-infested swamp water. ...if they had a choice.

 

[jibes138]

Gunni the point is people were able to dig those massive ditches, so digging a little ditch shouldn't be too hard in comparison to say 20 miles long, 12 feet deep and 100 feet or so wide. This ditch will only be maybe 8 feet wide and 4 feet deep for less than a hundred yards

 

[Kermit]

Gunni the point is people were able to dig those massive ditches, so digging a little ditch shouldn't be too hard in comparison to say 20 miles long, 12 feet deep and 100 feet or so wide. This ditch will only be maybe 8 feet wide and 4 feet deep for less than a hundred yards

Yep. Only 355 cubic yards of muck. Shouldn't be hard.
----
----
Seriously?????

 

[JRacer]

Yep. Only 355 cubic yards of muck. Shouldn't be hard.
----
----
Seriously?????

That's "Boot Suckin Muck"

 

[BlowMeAway]

Yep. Only 355 cubic yards of muck. Shouldn't be hard.
----
----
Seriously?????

355.6 if you round up!

Did you do that in your head? You are one smart fellar.

Just before winter arrived up here, I placed a new mailbox out front to get below the frost line. I dug an 18"x18"x36" deep hole, and cemented that 4x4 post in. Mostly rocky soil. I thought I was gonna have a heart attack, breathing so hard. So how many cubic yards did I shovel, that nearly killed me?

Clearing and refilling 355 cubic yards is absurd, unless you can find relatives of the folks @Gunni has suggested.

Let's hope we get some feedback from @End80.

 

[Loyalist]

I believe the simplest answer is to use 6 sheets of 1/2 ply behind the boat and use an environmentaly friendly soap (organic) on 6mil poly laid on top of the plywood sticking behind the boat. Rent a TURFOR, which is a cable clamping come-along, they go up to 10,000 pounds dead-lift and one man can pull 50,000lbs. very slowly. Get the biggest anchor you can borrow or rent and use the TURFOR to haul the boat up onto the plywood.then pull the boat further down the plywood trail towards the water until the first sheet of plywood is free of the bow. Bring that sheet to the stern and keep hauling. TURFOR's frequently have one-hundred feet of line so if you had to haul it all the way it would take 30 sets of your kedge anchor at one-hundred feet per set-up once it starts moving I figure two hellishly hard days to be where tide water will wet you.
You can do it if you just go ahead and try. Don't get caught up in the armchair yachts.

 

[shemandr]

Back to the pool liner: I once had to remove an above ground pool from my property. It was probably twenty years old. It was so tough I quipped it could have taken a nuclear strike. And I meant it. The liner was hard to cut with a knife. It was hard to cut with scissors. The new one was nothing like the old one. So if you go that way look for an old one.

 

[Kermit]

Just before winter arrived up here, I placed a new mailbox out front to get below the frost line. I dug an 18"x18"x36" deep hole, and cemented that 4x4 post in. Mostly rocky soil. I thought I was gonna have a heart attack, breathing so hard. So how many cubic yards did I shovel, that nearly killed me?

My math says *exactly* .25 yards. So you would multiply 355 x 4 to get the number of times it would kill you before the job is complete. Unless you round up to 355.6. Then it would kill you that many times more.

 

[Ron20324]

[QUOTE="BlowMeAway,...I dug an 18"x18"x36" deep hole,.... So how many cubic yards did I shovel, that nearly killed me?...].[/QUOTE]

Why didn't you just dig out the bottom of the hole, then the top would have come out with it