how to raise a sunk boat easy? freshly sunk on the Ashley.

[luvitt]

just curious as to what it was. its got a good bit of mast breaking the surface. it is across from the city marina in the mooring field on the ashley river, here in charleston. I often think about trying to salvage boats. i see a lot of sunk ones. I sank and raised a 28' cabin cruiser i owned once. it was at the dock though, so it was a little easier. if i could just figure out how to get it partially to the surface, i think pumping it out from there would be possible. but since its out in the open, i cant imagine how to raise it redneck style (im a redneck so don't get mad). all i have to work with is a 22' boston whaler and possibly a winch. i could buy a big gas pump. any ideas? can anyone comment on legality or outcomes of salvaging it?

thanks,

b

 

[GLEE]

just curious as to what it was. its got a good bit of mast breaking the surface. it is across from the city marina in the mooring field on the ashley river, here in charleston. I often think about trying to salvage boats. i see a lot of sunk ones. I sank and raised a 28' cabin cruiser i owned once. it was at the dock though, so it was a little easier. if i could just figure out how to get it partially to the surface, i think pumping it out from there would be possible. but since its out in the open, i cant imagine how to raise it redneck style (im a redneck so don't get mad). all i have to work with is a 22' boston whaler and possibly a winch. i could buy a big gas pump. any ideas? can anyone comment on legality or outcomes of salvaging it?

thanks,

b

Should not be a problem if you use lifting bags.
Check with the scuba shop at the double bridges

 

[Calif. Ted]

Re: how to raise a sunk boat easy? freshly sunk on the Ashl

Mythbusters raised a small boat using ping pong balls, airbags seems like a possibility, fire departments use various sizes to lift vehicles, buildings etc quickly.

 

[luvitt]

yeah, bags were the obvious first choice. but i think they are quite expensive. and this involves scuba. i was wondering if there was a non-standard way to do this. like winching it close to the surface and tying it off, then pumping it enough to float. the problem is, there is no where to "tie it off" out in the open. i imagine that weight of the boat isn't the same underwater and winching it up close to the surface could be easy?

b

 

[Rick Webb]

Waterbed Mattreses

If it is not too deep a shopvac will work otherwise a compressor will do the job.

Be ready right away for a patch the water bed mattreses will chaffe and start leaking but for a onetime deal it is a cheap way to go.

 

[CrawJac]

Re: how to raise a sunk boat easy? freshly sunk on the Ashl

I have no clue how you would pull this off, but if you try you've got to post some pictures!

 

[fstbttms]

just curious as to what it was.

Unsinking boats is never easy and typically requires the knowledge and skills of professional salvage divers. It's a good way to get hurt both physically and financially if you don't know what you are doing.

can anyone comment on legality or outcomes of salvaging it?

You don't own the boat and if you managed to raise it, you would probably just be doing the owner a huge favor. I seriously doubt that you would simply get to keep the boat.

There have been similar threads over on SailNet.com with real specific legal answers about salvage rights. Might be worth doing a search over there.

 

[Gunni]

floatin' yer boat!

Oh yeah, I got your redneck solution. We used this method repeatedly to raise boats in our college SCUBA club. Works really well. We bought a literal boatload of inner tubes (the cheap used and leaking variety was fine, we patched them ourselves.)

We would round up a crew (four was normal) and head out to the "divespot", anchor on the "wreck", hoist our dive flag and leave a crew member aboard to deal with lookie-lous. We had filled four or five extra air tanks and dropped them on retrieval lines to the wreck site. We had purchased a special fitting that took the tank valve to a schrader valve fitting - suitable for filling the inner-tubes.

Our divers would distribute the tubes, fore, aft and starboard, port to provide uniform lift, adding tubes and filling as the boat gained buoyancy. Never did this with a ballasted sailboat, but we did raise cabin cruisers with twin diesels, so you should be able to do this. You need to observe all the standard safety cautions for entrapment, rapid ascent, etc. We also never did this as part of a salvage claim, we did it on behalf of owners and insurers, sometimes the police and were paid handsomely. Once at the surface with gunwales clear and any holes patched we dropped the suction end of a trash pump into the boat (from the dive boat) and brought her to waterline, towed her in and collected our pay. The whole thing took a half day. Several dive tours of Florida were funded doing this.

 

[fstbttms]

We also never did this as part of a salvage claim, we did it on behalf of owners and insurers, sometimes the police and were paid handsomely.

Again, to the OP, if you attempt a salvage of a boat you do not own and without permission, consider your laibility if you damage the boat.

 

[tommays]

Re: how to raise a sunk boat easy? freshly sunk on the Ashl

This is true and ongoing story

1. you rent mooring here by the season which is inspected and certified by harbor master

2. Mooring fails in pretty benign conditions

3. Mooring company pulls boat off beach without calling owner

4. Mooring company does not check for leaks and places boat back on mooring

5. Boat sinks within 8 hours

6 Boat owner has NO insurance

Now its a big mess with a bunch of finger pointing

 

[luvitt]

sounds like too much trouble. i guess i could do it in the business name. i have a little side business/shop and i install electronics, tune ups, piddly stuff etc. maybe i could make some $$ out of it. still, it sounds like a lot of trouble!

b

 

[All U Get]

but since its out in the open, i cant imagine how to raise it redneck style (im a redneck so don't get mad). all i have to work with is a 22' boston whaler and possibly a winch. i could buy a big gas pump. any ideas? can anyone comment on legality or outcomes of salvaging it?

thanks,

b

The redneck way would be to anchor a raft next to it with an overstuffed couch and plastic deck chairs on it. Toss some beers in four or five coolers and invite the boys over to listen to the NFL on a radio. Then take the empties on a dive to the cabin and toss them in there. If it floats, good. If not, get more beer. If she floats away nobody will care.
All U Get

 

[Benny17441]

Re: how to raise a sunk boat easy? freshly sunk on the Ashl

Legally that would constitute a Harbor(protected water), low order salvage. You would have to go to court to claim your award. Typicall for these types of salvage the awards would range from 10% to 20% of the value of the property salvaged. This award will not include your legal costs for the claim. A lien can be placed on the vessel for the amount of the granted award. If the boat's owner fails to pay the amount of the award you could sue for title to the vessel. So I guess the decision would be to add up the projected expenses to raise the boat plus the legal fees to get the award and see if they would be covered by 10% of the value of the recovered boat. Depending on the condition of the boat it may not advisable for you to sue for title as you would become liable for any envirnmental fines and disposal fees. Under most conditions your claim would prevail over other liens which could exist on the boat but it again may translate into additionl legal fees. I would not consider salvaging the boat unless at least it would be deemed to appraise for $50,000. If it is worth that much the owner will likely pay to have it raised and if it is not you may not cover your expenses and legal fees. Wether you can get to keep the boat or not would be a gamble. Yes, you could end up doing the owner a favor.

 

[CaptJake]

Re: how to raise a sunk boat easy? freshly sunk on the Ashl

I have worked as a "salvor" (my brother has a salvage contract off the coast of florida) and I've gotta go (partially) with fstbttms on this one. First step would be to get any and all information you can from the wreck (hull number, reg number, etc.) and then see if you can locate and contact the owner. You may be able to get the title no mess at all. You can always go to local law enforcement and have it deemed a hazard to navigation but you run the risk of not getting to salvage the boat as they usually call pros for such jobs. With that being said......................
1) Inshore and offshore salvage are completely different animals.
2)IF the owner grants you title to the vessel you then become responsible for it......environmental issues, damage to other's property, causing a hazard to navigation, etc, etc, etc.
3) AND THIS IS THE BIG ONE................Salvage (with all due respect to any and all reading this), is NOT an amateurs game. Most people don't realize that when lifting a submerged vessel there are literally millions of things to consider that I won't get into here but suffice it to say some of the most dangerous are the most easily overlooked.
(food for thought)A submerged vessel is getting equal pressure on all sides because it is surrounded and supported by water..............as you raise the vessel you create disparity in the amount and location of the static forces being applied...........have one lift bag in the wrong place as you lift and as the vessel begins to clear the water it WILL roll. At that point it can resink itself and you have to start again.
And that is the best of the worst..........Pro Salvors die in this business. IJS

 

[BobM]

more trouble than it's worth

The danger and liability of a fuel spill would stop me.

 

[Ross]

Re: more trouble than it's worth

As far as I am concerned it ain't worth the trouble. You could buy one in the same condition for less money and it would be on dry land.
On the other hand it might be fun to try.

 

[luvitt]

Re: how to raise a sunk boat easy? freshly sunk on the Ashl

yeah, i thought it would be fun to try. but it sounds too dangerous and not worth the trouble! now if i came across a center console or something small, that might be worth it.

oh, it looks like someone beat me to it anyway. i no longer see the wreck.

b

 

[AtlanticAl]

Re: how to raise a sunk boat easy? freshly sunk on the Ashl

the red neck way to raise a wreck, is let the tide do the work for you. I grew up in scotland, and while not a redneck, my family comes from a small island, and they can fix anything with duct tape, and a crescent wrench, so i guess we qualify. You tie your boat, onto the wreck at low tide, you let the tide lift you and the wreck, if the wreck is pulling you down too much before it comes out of the mud, cut it free, and next attemt, just tie onto either the bow or stern. When the tide lifts you and the wreck clears the seabed, you then move it closer to shore, You have to have a decent tidal range, you will be there for ever, if the range is only a couple of feet, when you take it as close to shore as you can get it, on the last high tide, you just watch the tide go out, and see the boat dry out. I know this works, because i know some guys that did it, and they didnt use divers, they just used grappling hooks.