As we have discussed many times here,one always needs to look at the interior of a boat upside down to see how it will look in a knock down. Two weeks ago a Shannon 38 ran on a reef near Key West and sank causing serious damage to the reef and totaling the boat. The skipper wrote a narrative and posted it in one of the local papers. Seems he was coming back from Cuba in the Gulf stream on a stormy night and got hit by a wave that tore the dodger off and put a lot of water down the open companionway. The boat was knocked on here side. The batteries were insufficiently tied down and broke loose knocking a hole in the hull. The batteries were loose and crunched into a cranny from which the crew could not remove them. With power gone, the boat was done for even though they had engine power. They had a single VHF which went with the batteries. They had no charts, underwater, and the wind drove them onto the reef. They were rescued by setting off their EPIRP, less than 10miles from KW. Lots of dumb stuff there that we can all learn from. This is a good reason that batteries, all batteries, need to be securely tied down. Ask yourself, whould the tie downs hold if inverted.
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LaDonna Bubak - CatalinaOwners.com
Good lesson for the rest
It's too bad it happened but thank goodness nobody died. Now the poor guy has to deal with fines for messing up coral! Hope he had good (and up to date) insurance. LaDonna
It's too bad it happened but thank goodness nobody died. Now the poor guy has to deal with fines for messing up coral! Hope he had good (and up to date) insurance. LaDonna
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Ray Bowles
Actually, stupidity, ego, and the I'm bullet proof
mentality leads to most hobby mishaps. Many just look at something and think, "No prob, I can do that!" How many of us have said that "I can't jump on your motorcycle and haul fanny down the road as I have no training on bikes?" I dare say that I know of no male person I've ever met in my life that has ever said that. Boats are basically the same. Many of the people on this site have gone to sailing school, seminars, etc. The reason they visit this site is because they care about their hobby, they care about improving and they care about how good they are. Most boaters just don't give a damn. They have the boat, their friends are around and they show off. The basic human behavior! Then something "non basic" happens and we read about them on Monday morning. Ray S/V Speedy
mentality leads to most hobby mishaps. Many just look at something and think, "No prob, I can do that!" How many of us have said that "I can't jump on your motorcycle and haul fanny down the road as I have no training on bikes?" I dare say that I know of no male person I've ever met in my life that has ever said that. Boats are basically the same. Many of the people on this site have gone to sailing school, seminars, etc. The reason they visit this site is because they care about their hobby, they care about improving and they care about how good they are. Most boaters just don't give a damn. They have the boat, their friends are around and they show off. The basic human behavior! Then something "non basic" happens and we read about them on Monday morning. Ray S/V Speedy
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Tom
Geez, a Shannon 38 is considered a decent offshore
yacht. They even have a website devoted to The Real Issues for Offshore and Extended Sailing (see weblink below). I wonder what year and make that boat was?...Was the battery hold downs not designed in or not maintained. I am happy to know that mine are bolted in with 2x4's.
yacht. They even have a website devoted to The Real Issues for Offshore and Extended Sailing (see weblink below). I wonder what year and make that boat was?...Was the battery hold downs not designed in or not maintained. I am happy to know that mine are bolted in with 2x4's.
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Derek Rowell
Hard to believe
that a tumbling/sliding battery would punch a hole in the side of a boat like a Shannon.
that a tumbling/sliding battery would punch a hole in the side of a boat like a Shannon.
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Kevin
Not surprised
I'm not surprised that a battery could cause serious damage to the hull, interior or occupants. What does surprise me is the number of smaller boats I've seen with the battery resting, unmounted and unsecured. It's a good lesson relevant to any heavy gear. K
I'm not surprised that a battery could cause serious damage to the hull, interior or occupants. What does surprise me is the number of smaller boats I've seen with the battery resting, unmounted and unsecured. It's a good lesson relevant to any heavy gear. K
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bill walton
The batteries were just the catalyst
I think. They started a chain of events. Possibly the water coming in could have been handled by the bilge pump but it was inoperative. Water came in through the companionway, which should have been closed, during the knockdown, nobatteries meant no communications, blah - blah-blah. The writer (skipper) did say that they couldn't manually pump fast enough to keep up with the inflow. He did not mention how they were attached, just that the attachment failed. like others here have said, it's a good lesson to examine and learn from.
I think. They started a chain of events. Possibly the water coming in could have been handled by the bilge pump but it was inoperative. Water came in through the companionway, which should have been closed, during the knockdown, nobatteries meant no communications, blah - blah-blah. The writer (skipper) did say that they couldn't manually pump fast enough to keep up with the inflow. He did not mention how they were attached, just that the attachment failed. like others here have said, it's a good lesson to examine and learn from.
Disbelief... but not for the same reason.
I just can't believe anyone in the industry is SO bad that a loose 100-lb battery could go through a fibreglass hull, even from half the beam away. I'd rather believe the batteries put a portlight out, since some purchased portlight assemblies can be real trash. Many so-called yachts are terrifically shoddy as soon as they get above the gunwale. Builders just don't like to think about this kind of possibility. At Cherubini Boat we were beleagured with claims through the industry that the Shannon 38 was a 'little Cherubini 44'. I went aboard a 38 at the Stamford show 'in cognito' to investigate it and discovered untreated wood in several compartments. When I asked about it the reps were in the middle of an on-board sales pitch and just said, 'Well, it's just a show boat.' To which I replied, 'All the more reason!' I observed the twin sinks did not drain separately but the elbow was too high and one would flood the other and both had to drain together. There were plenty of other 'little' quirks like that, the likes of which we'd already thought out ourselves. Like the loose batteries-- ours were practically bolted in place. You could take a 44 upside and shake it and the batteries would not fall out. Yet I have no news of a C-44 ever rolling over, even onto her side. I don't want to put Shannon down-- they've always seemed a like pretty nice people making a pretty nice boat. But stuff like this worries me. It's too easy to overlook things that MIGHT happen when we should really be planning for WHEN they do. ('Murphy' was a sailor.) JC 2
I just can't believe anyone in the industry is SO bad that a loose 100-lb battery could go through a fibreglass hull, even from half the beam away. I'd rather believe the batteries put a portlight out, since some purchased portlight assemblies can be real trash. Many so-called yachts are terrifically shoddy as soon as they get above the gunwale. Builders just don't like to think about this kind of possibility. At Cherubini Boat we were beleagured with claims through the industry that the Shannon 38 was a 'little Cherubini 44'. I went aboard a 38 at the Stamford show 'in cognito' to investigate it and discovered untreated wood in several compartments. When I asked about it the reps were in the middle of an on-board sales pitch and just said, 'Well, it's just a show boat.' To which I replied, 'All the more reason!' I observed the twin sinks did not drain separately but the elbow was too high and one would flood the other and both had to drain together. There were plenty of other 'little' quirks like that, the likes of which we'd already thought out ourselves. Like the loose batteries-- ours were practically bolted in place. You could take a 44 upside and shake it and the batteries would not fall out. Yet I have no news of a C-44 ever rolling over, even onto her side. I don't want to put Shannon down-- they've always seemed a like pretty nice people making a pretty nice boat. But stuff like this worries me. It's too easy to overlook things that MIGHT happen when we should really be planning for WHEN they do. ('Murphy' was a sailor.) JC 2
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Rick Webb
This is One of the Things Looked at during a VSC
If the boat had a Coast Guard Auxiliary or Power Squadron Vessel Safety Check it should have been noted and the boat would not have passed. These are free checks, only take about 30 minutes and the information you get can be invaluable. Click on the link below to get information on flotillas near you.
If the boat had a Coast Guard Auxiliary or Power Squadron Vessel Safety Check it should have been noted and the boat would not have passed. These are free checks, only take about 30 minutes and the information you get can be invaluable. Click on the link below to get information on flotillas near you.
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Steve O.
If it was a Hunter...
...everybody would say "See! I told you they had thin huls!" but since it was a Shannon everybody seems surprised. Of course, if they were wet cell batteries they would probably flood and short out anyway--a good argument for gels?
...everybody would say "See! I told you they had thin huls!" but since it was a Shannon everybody seems surprised. Of course, if they were wet cell batteries they would probably flood and short out anyway--a good argument for gels?
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