Don't see that happen every day

Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
In December at the YC on Lake DeGray where we kept BlueJ for a winter, an Oday 322 sank in its slip. The owner was 'hard to reach' so it sat there hanging on its lines for a week or two.

48363385_2684083328269297_4738241425987076096_o.jpg

48277536_2684084458269184_2979516540921053184_o.jpg


Owner never showed. The marina finally secured it to a barge, cut the lines and dragged it to the shore. As they got close it seemed the wreck was sitting funny for a sailboat.

49551501_2731129223564707_7352099784359936000_o.jpg



Guess that's why. The keel had fallen clean off and is now sitting under the boats old slip.

51582926_2792076190803343_2565244100290805760_n.jpg

51556350_2792076370803325_2154314437002002432_n.jpg


They cut it up and sold anything valuable to pay for the recovery.
 
Last edited:
Jan 11, 2014
11,321
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
That's a way to ruin a day. No insurance? What caused the keel to fall off while sitting in a slip?
 
Jul 12, 2011
1,165
Leopard 40 Jupiter, Florida
Do you think a better bilge pump would have helped with clearing the water from that foot-diameter hole? Sorry for his loss.

The weakness of the hull in the O'day 322 keel area was a discussion in this thread on SBO a couple years ago started by @Tally Ho , who ended up buying one as his profile shows: https://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?threads/keel-issues-on-oday-322.163404/ Also, thanks to @AndreNJ11 for an authoritative analysis of the keel.

Another story of a near disaster was told by @The Tanqueray in: https://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?threads/keel-retention-322-part-2-the-good-news.167051/
 
  • Like
Likes: Gunni
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Do you think a better bilge pump would have helped with clearing the water from that foot-diameter hole? Sorry for his loss.

The weakness of the hull in the O'day 322 keel area was a discussion in this thread on SBO a couple years ago started by @Tally Ho , who ended up buying one as his profile shows: https://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?threads/keel-issues-on-oday-322.163404/ Also, thanks to @AndreNJ11 for an authoritative analysis of the keel.

Another story of a near disaster was told by @The Tanqueray in: https://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?threads/keel-retention-322-part-2-the-good-news.167051/
IIRC @Maine Sail was first to report the underbuilt sump area on the series.
 
  • Like
Likes: kloudie1

capta

.
Jun 4, 2009
4,766
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
Do you think a better bilge pump would have helped with clearing the water from that foot-diameter hole?
flooding flow rate.PNG

This only goes to 10 inches, but at a certain point, none of us can carry enough pumping capacity.
 
  • Like
Likes: Parsons
Nov 1, 2017
635
Catalina 25 Sea Star Base Galveston, TX
The keel had fallen clean off and is now sitting under the boats old slip.
Ya know, that happened to one of A&M's boats some years ago, during a race...goes to show the importance of keel maintenance! Can't imagine the gut-wrenching feeling the guy had when he got there...
 

capta

.
Jun 4, 2009
4,766
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
Ya know, that happened to one of A&M's boats some years ago, during a race...goes to show the importance of keel maintenance! Can't imagine the gut-wrenching feeling the guy had when he got there...
How would maintenance have altered this? I may be mistaken but it looks as though the keel bolts tore right through the hull.
 
  • Like
Likes: Tom J
Jul 12, 2011
1,165
Leopard 40 Jupiter, Florida
Cool table, @capta , and I was being sarcastic about being able to pump out from such a huge hole. I think that you're reading your table backwards, though. The vertical numbers are hole diameter in inches, and the column headers are feet below the waterline. So my guess of a foot-across hole about 3 feet below the water (keel / hull joint) would produce a mind-blowing 5,000 gallons a minute, or about 20 tons of water. The only thing holding it back was the pressure from the sealed saloon. She probably was on the bottom within a couple minutes.
 
  • Like
Likes: capta
Jul 7, 2004
8,402
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
I sometimes wonder if my keel bolt washers are big enough. He must have grounded on something and started the process.
 
May 17, 2004
5,028
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
Wow. Very lucky that it came off sitting empty at the dock instead of out sailing with a boat full of crew.
 
  • Like
Likes: Parsons
Nov 1, 2017
635
Catalina 25 Sea Star Base Galveston, TX
How would maintenance have altered this?
That's a good question, honestly had to think about it for a minute, haha. I remember just how much our late Skipper Crowl stressed the importance of keel-hull joint inspection. "Every time your boat is hauled out for maintenance of any sort, it is absolutely necessary to have a surveyor or professional check the soundness of your hull and keel joint." This includes the fiberglass where the keel bolts are fastened to the hull in the bilge.
 
Apr 5, 2009
2,774
Catalina '88 C30 tr/bs Oak Harbor, WA
I suspect that the boat sank due to leaks around the keel which overwhelmed the bilge pumps. The major damage and loss of the keel was likely caused by the contact with the bottom and wave action.
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Ya know, that happened to one of A&M's boats some years ago, during a race...goes to show the importance of keel maintenance! Can't imagine the gut-wrenching feeling the guy had when he got there...
The Cynthia Woods.

Funny you say Keel Maintenance.. after the accident the USCG issued a report blaming the university for lack of said maintenance after a string of soft groundings with the boat. Stung, the U commissioned a fancy report that said the maintenance did not factor, but lack of buildup in the keel of the lightweight, one-off racer’s sump did. I read both reports at the time, and I have to say I agree more with the A&Ms report. In any case, it sure left a clean hole in the bottom.

EEAFC914-917F-49E3-BF67-3685BC157CBF.jpeg


EDIT NOTE - To be prefectly clear, this picture was of the race boat ‘Cynthia Wood’ which lost her keel and sank in the gulf with the loss of one life, and not the O’Day.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Likes: Simon Sexton
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
I suspect that the boat sank due to leaks around the keel which overwhelmed the bilge pumps. The major damage and loss of the keel was likely caused by the contact with the bottom and wave action.
The boat never hit bottom, and sat suspended inside the breakwall. I do agree that the keel probably did not fall straight off, but broke off after it sank and sat suspended at that crazy angle.
 
Nov 1, 2017
635
Catalina 25 Sea Star Base Galveston, TX
The Cynthia Woods.

Funny you say Keel Maintenance.. after the accident the USCG issued a report blaming the university for lack of said maintenance after a string of soft groundings with the boat. Stung, the U commissioned a fancy report that said the maintenance did not factor, but lack of buildup in the keel of the lightweight, one-off racer’s sump did. I read both reports at the time, and I have to say I agree more with the A&Ms report. In any case, it sure left a clean hole in the bottom.

View attachment 161252
Yeah, the captain of the boat was actually a legendary keelboat racer on the Texas coast, Captain Stone, whose son actually came to work alongside us at Sea Star Base Galveston in 2016. He was a great sailor as well, but unfortunately found himself more at home in the mountains. Anyway, I digress; the mud in the bay is extremely unforgiving, especially to deep-keeled boats. One day the mud will have been completely dredged and out of the way, and the next it'll be piled high by four feet or so. It's just so sad that it costed the Stone his life.
 

capta

.
Jun 4, 2009
4,766
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
The Cynthia Woods.

Funny you say Keel Maintenance.. after the accident the USCG issued a report blaming the university for lack of said maintenance after a string of soft groundings with the boat. Stung, the U commissioned a fancy report that said the maintenance did not factor, but lack of buildup in the keel of the lightweight, one-off racer’s sump did. I read both reports at the time, and I have to say I agree more with the A&Ms report. In any case, it sure left a clean hole in the bottom.

View attachment 161252
Why in the world did the keel bolts not extend through the frames? Is there a reason for this or is it just poor boat building?
 
Mar 1, 2012
2,182
1961 Rhodes Meridian 25 Texas coast
some years ago a Catalina 30 lost it's keel sailing offshore Matagorda Island. Apparently it just fell off !!! Boat washed ashore on the beach and had to be cut up, parts salvaged and hull burned- no way to get it off- no roads. I have the mast head, and the ports from that boat. I used two of them in rebuilding my Lindsey 21,

Sorry-wrong picture. This one instead

IMGP0494.JPG
 
  • Like
Likes: Simon Sexton
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Why in the world did the keel bolts not extend through the frames? Is there a reason for this or is it just poor boat building?
I would not have set foot on the f**ker if I had seen that detail. Let alone go offshore at night.

The commissioned report found at least 7 serious design and construction flaws, deviating from accepted practice and build minimums. If you wanna read the whole sorry story, here it is. It’s actually an informative read.

http://assets.system.tamus.edu/file...woods/Cynthia-Woods-Report-SIAD-OGC-FINAL.pdf
 
  • Like
Likes: BigEasy