Going down

[Tim Welsh]

Deep Water, Take a Shot

Well if the Ole Cabo Wabo decides she wants to go down, I guess I'll have to dig out one of those orange thingys in my stern lazarette then make sure the old bilge pump is turned on, grab the bottle of Cabo Wabo and scream ramming speed ahead and hope I can ground her on the bank, average minimum depth around my marina is about 40 to 50 foot so I hope I can get to the bank in time. As for getting slinged out, the best I can hope for is a couple of 4x4's and rednecks screaming let her rip to keep her from sinking, remember this is hot springs, boyhood home of former President Clinton. I think I'll save most of the trouble trying to save her for myself and just call boat u.s. and have another shot......Tim Welsh H34 AKA Cabo Wabo. P.S. If you have read boat U.S.'s monthly publication it will define the difference between a salvage and a tow and you will find any boat that sinks or is in peril of doing damage is a salvage project and you need to call your insurance company anyway. Hope this never happens to me or any other fellow sailors like you'all out there. P.s.s. now that I'm on the subject we have run a friend of mines H33 aground by the launching ramp one fourth of july. He had a stern side dock line decide to wrap around the prop during a derafting after the fireworks, we used rags to slow the leak down around the packing and towed her with a powerboat to land about a mile away, made it and secured the leak once we were aground. If the powerboat hadn't of been right there they probably wouldn't have made it.

 

[steve hunter]

Look to a power greater than myself

PRAY!

 

[K9 Piper]

Gods Love

I'd do what Tom Monroe of Carlyle Lake said he would do. I like his first thing about singlehandling and the PFD.I would finish up with his number six (the brew and the agent.In a time like that we must never loose focus, we must remember that {God loves us and wanted us to be happy ...so BEER is the proof).Be on safe wind!K9 Piper

 

[hnitro]

SINKING

Based on experience, I would ensure that I had my inflatable PFD on, would go below and look for the cause. If possible plug leak from inside or pass tarp or sail under the boat over the leak site. Then turn on bilge pump, if not already running. If equipped I would call TowBoatUS, forget the Coast Guard. Finally I would anchor while sorting things out. Deliberate grounding might or might not be possible. I found a pier to lean on, and patched the hole at low tide in Puget Sound.

 

[DocB]

huh?

If there's water above your cabin sole (I assume that's what 'water in the cabin' means) that soon after impact & it's visibly 'rising,' you'll be swimming before you can do anything else.If you need to waste time donning a life jacket 1/4 mile from your marina, you don't belong on the water alone.1 -- find & plug the leak (your lifejacket might make a good plug).2 -- pump.3 -- if bilge pumps can't keep up, remove motor intake hose, submerge it in bilge water, & run motor.4 -- call for assistance while making for port.

 

[vince11983]

one word! INSURANCE

I usually have paid substantially less than surveyed value!always insure for top dollar! Jump in dingy lite a flare!call Allstate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! seriously1 Vince

 

[Drakkar 002]

Inform First

Based on singlehanded scenario presented:The very first thing I would do is inform the Coast Gaurd or Harbor athority of my POSITION then have them stand by while I assess the condition. The radio is a wonderful thing. However, if the damage and resultant water causes the electrical system and radio to fail, there is little to do but send up a flare and swim (and kick yourself for not calling first) if indeed you are going down. If other boaters (having heard the broadcast on the RADIO) are in the area, they would be the first on scene to assist if required. You can always radio back and inform the autorities that you have it under control. If they don't hear back from you they will: #1 know you were out sailing today, #2 know to go LOOKING for you. #3 know WHERE to search for you.In my case, if I were to call the harbor police in Oceanside, CA., they have my slip renter information on file with emergency contacts. If they were to find me in poor and unresponsive condition, they would be able to call my family to find out about any special medical conditions or medication needs before getting to the dock. Information that may save lives after a rescue.Freinds, don't confuse valuable information with sissy panicking. There is a lot of macho attitude thrown about in this discussion, but in the event of catostophic failure, it's not very productive.I beleive a calm head and a clear plan will allow the best results from a bad situation.

 

[newly anonymous]

true story

A couple of months ago, during a yacht club cruisout, a buddy about a mile ahead of me called on the VHF and said that his bilges were filled to the floorboards and that his pumps were not keeping up with the flow. He was concerned because he had two small children aboard and wanted us to come alongside in case he was unable to stop the boat from sinking. I asked him whether the water was hot or cold. He stuck his hand into it and replied, "Hot!" Then I asked him whether it tasted salty. "No, it's fresh!" I told him to turn off the water pressure circuit breaker. He did, and his bilges suddenly stopped filling. The overpressure relief valve on his water heater had malfunctioned. The moral of the story is that the FIRST thing you do is determine what type of water is coming aboard. Hot or cold, salty or fresh. (If it's hot and salty, btw, you've got a leak in your engine's raw water cooling system, a fairly common cause of water filling up the bilge. Turn of the engine and you'll stop sinking.)

 

[J P Haney]

Deep waters and hypothermia

I sail in Lake Superior close to White fish point. If my vessel sprung a leak 1/4 mile from shore the water would probably be around 46 degrees F in which case I'd be hypothermic within minutes of hitting the water. A definate maday would be in order ~ unfortunately by the time the USCG arrived I'd be in poor condition if not dead. Flares may help although I doubt if they'd be seen as there are few homes around our area. My best bet would be to don a PFD and keep high out of the water as long as possible whilst heading for shore at a speed safe enough not to tear my vessel apart. I would attempt to look at plugging the hole with PFD or what ever else I had on board depending on the flow of the leak. I'd attempt to get as close to shore as possible. At least I would have fresh water and swallowing it would much better than that salty stuff should I have to swim at all. To the best of my understanding the Mac26X has some floatation installed so it would only go down leaving the top of the cabin above water. In which case look for me on top of that.

 

[RDO]

Harsh Teacher - true story

In the interest of saving others from my mistakes, I am swallowing my pride and relating this true tale. I had just cleared the breakwater at Channel Islands harbor in my Cal 25, with the wind dead aft and the breakwater to starboard, when a song I like came on the radio. I tied off the tiller and jumped below to turn it up, but I hit the scan button by mistake and lost the station entirely. Hunting for the station took no more than 20 seconds, but 15 seconds into it I conducted my first hull test against the breakwater. Seems the boat had rounded-up smartly, to starboard of course, and smacked the rocks more or less dead-on. Cost: $1,200 in glass repairs. What was the song, you ask? I honestly do not remember, but - I swear to God - it was Rock music. I checked for water (none) and was able to push off, whereupon the boat rounded up again and hit a second time. I could not push off enough to point the bow away, so I started the engine and lamely backed away like a wounded dog. Moral: Turn off the damn radio before you enter the harbor and pay attention.

 

[Garry @ S/V TASHTEGO]

1/4 mile

Lets see, at 4 knots I make 4 miles in an hour or a quarter mile in less than four minutes. If I point directly toward shore I'll hit the beach in under four minutes. Here in the Chesapeake, with my draft, I'll be aground in about a minute so I won't lose the boat completely. I think the first thing I'd do is start the motor and head for shore.

 

[Critter]

Make a phone call

Head for deep water and call the insurance company! Tell 'em the boat sank. Make sure they have current address for the mailing of the check.

 

[NautiDuck]

RDO - Was it Britney Spears

singing "Oops I Did It Again?" ;-) Randy

 

[Fred Ficarra]

And RDO, no pun intended, about the rock music?

 

[phantom18088]

panick

panick

 

[phantom18088]

taking on outside ballast

this was not a great subject to get serious responses for. too much leeway, way too much room to relate wannabe tales.

 

[Mark15145]

Slings and arrows...

We carry a variety of corks (and more than enough life vests) on Mirage. Emery Cove has a channel through the mud flats so we could easily ground the boat. Mirage has both automatic, and manual bilge pumps. I have thought of using the dodger cover to blanket the outside of the hull around a possible leak. Single handing, I would already be wearing my inflateable PFD. That close to the marina, I would probably leave the radio alone and try to save the boat. Would not have thought about re-routing the salt water intake hose (Thanks DocB). May this whole thread be hypothetical!!!

 

[Scooter]

Inflatable raft?

I've just started sailing and found this question somewhat intimidating.I've selected a small lake to practice sailing; hopefully, with a life jacket on, I can eventually reach the shore; after all, the kids swim along the shore all day long.But now you have me searching for an inflatable raft!!! The heck with saving the boat; I'll just sit in the raft and do a lot of "Somebody help me!!!"s. Scooter

 

[Dale4407]

FIND the leak/hole

Its all about self sufficiency...'...helps him who helps himself'... Yes, find the leak and chock, block, and pack with what ever you have at hand...and wrap a sail if necessary over a TOO large a hole in order to buy more time.

 

[Stephen Fierro]

Situation vs. Real Life

I see all of these perfect descriptions about what you are supposed to do in an event like this. I like to think that it would go like that but if life was so perfect I probably wouldn't have been in this mess. I would agree with Bill, the first thing I would probably do is curse up a storm. (Yes, I'm just that sophisticated.) Then I would probably go below to find the damage. I should put on the PFD, but I don't think it would really dawn on me that my boat is sinking. Then I would be concerned with salvaging all the portable electronics into a water tight bag to salvage what I can. I usually keep this stuff together in one just in case. Heading towards shore would be kind of pointless in my situation. I sail on the Delaware and there is usually just shipping piers, and it's sixty feet down below me. I could actually see this situation happening because we have whole trees that like to float down, just below the brown waters surface. It would sure piss off a lot of people if it hit the bottom upright. A 25' mast below the surface probably isn't good for shipping traffic. I wonder what would be done if my boat did sink in the middle of a shipping lane. If anyone knows, let me know. Also I was told to use a pan-pan call unless you are absolutely sure you are sinking because of the possible fines for a mayday call. If anyone has any input on this, I would love to here it.Stephen FierroCaptain of Calamity