Among the pile of power and sail boats at the New Orleans Municipal Yacht Harbor Marina was our '74 Islander 30. I'll try to post a pic of it at its present resting place. We used a Rule bilge pump for over and hour and detected no change in water level which remained at level of outside water; so our hull has a good hole in it. Would appreciate suggestions as to a next step. Would it be time to junk it? Should we take down mast with roller jib and main before trying to get a crane to pick up the boat? How do we find directions for taking down mast and how much does it weigh? If picture doesn't come up, boat is presently wedged between seawall and another boat and another concrete walkway with no access to water it can float in other than by lifting over walkway. Boat is tilted with bow about 1 inch under water and cabin full of cruddy water. We can tolerate jokes about the boat because home is high, dry, and undamaged.
Hurricane recovery
- Thread starter tweezy29
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Your insurance company is the one to ask
Every situation is unique. Whether the hole totals the boat depends on where it is, how big it is, cost to repair. How to move it and what needs to be done first--even how best to lift it without causing more damage--also depends on a whole bunch of factors that can only be determined by a surveyor on the scene. About all YOU should do meanwhile is try to remove everything about that you carry off....and--if possible and SAFE--try to jury rig a way to plug the hole so the bilge pumps can empty out the water.
Every situation is unique. Whether the hole totals the boat depends on where it is, how big it is, cost to repair. How to move it and what needs to be done first--even how best to lift it without causing more damage--also depends on a whole bunch of factors that can only be determined by a surveyor on the scene. About all YOU should do meanwhile is try to remove everything about that you carry off....and--if possible and SAFE--try to jury rig a way to plug the hole so the bilge pumps can empty out the water.
sad photo
My heart feels much sadness to see all those boats in such a pile. It took me YEARS to save and hunt for my small older Cat 22 and I can't even begin to imagine the tears for all those broken boats. Hope you had some insurance. sorry.. My thoughts would be to strip everything I could out of the wrecked boat and then find a way to pull it out. Perhaps it won't have a large hole, but just a bad crack that could be repaired. Good luck.
My heart feels much sadness to see all those boats in such a pile. It took me YEARS to save and hunt for my small older Cat 22 and I can't even begin to imagine the tears for all those broken boats. Hope you had some insurance. sorry.. My thoughts would be to strip everything I could out of the wrecked boat and then find a way to pull it out. Perhaps it won't have a large hole, but just a bad crack that could be repaired. Good luck.
she's right
After hurricane Charley wiped out our community last year I learned a valuable lesson about boat insurance. Before the salvor/insurance person arrives at your boat strip everything you can from the boat if you are certain she will be a total claim. If I had it to do again I'd even pull the wenches, halyarda, stainless cleats and anchors off. As far as they are concerned, it was all lost to the storm. My boat, along with hundreds of others, ended up in an empty lot of Hwy 17 waiting to be auctioned for parts. Most people involved in a significant natural disaster, Charley, Katrina, earthquake, tornado, ice storm or what ever will loose a significant amount of money just on uninsured items, deductables, upgrades to house and/or boat and crap you never even though of.
After hurricane Charley wiped out our community last year I learned a valuable lesson about boat insurance. Before the salvor/insurance person arrives at your boat strip everything you can from the boat if you are certain she will be a total claim. If I had it to do again I'd even pull the wenches, halyarda, stainless cleats and anchors off. As far as they are concerned, it was all lost to the storm. My boat, along with hundreds of others, ended up in an empty lot of Hwy 17 waiting to be auctioned for parts. Most people involved in a significant natural disaster, Charley, Katrina, earthquake, tornado, ice storm or what ever will loose a significant amount of money just on uninsured items, deductables, upgrades to house and/or boat and crap you never even though of.
re-floating
You might want to find a pump with a substantially higher GPH rating than your average bilge pump. Even a minor crack or hole can allow enough flow to defeat a bilge pump. Don't know what kind of resources you can find in N.O. currently. Several years back I had a boat sink on me due to frozen scuppers. My cousin brought over a big gasoline powered pump that I guestimate was throwing about 5 gallons per SECOND. He borrowed it from his brother-in-law the waterman who used it on his boat. We had to lift pretty hard to get the gunnels up high enough so water wouldn't flow back in, but we only had to hold her for a few seconds before she started floating on her own. Good Luck.
You might want to find a pump with a substantially higher GPH rating than your average bilge pump. Even a minor crack or hole can allow enough flow to defeat a bilge pump. Don't know what kind of resources you can find in N.O. currently. Several years back I had a boat sink on me due to frozen scuppers. My cousin brought over a big gasoline powered pump that I guestimate was throwing about 5 gallons per SECOND. He borrowed it from his brother-in-law the waterman who used it on his boat. We had to lift pretty hard to get the gunnels up high enough so water wouldn't flow back in, but we only had to hold her for a few seconds before she started floating on her own. Good Luck.
You can do it...
One method(probably the most common) is: Attach some flotation devices to the hull...barrels, airbags etc. Keep adjusting these with their attaching lines until the hull comes up enough to expose the gunnels. Plug all the gunnels drains etc. Attach a LARGE capacity pump (these can be rented reasonably from almost all equipment rental outfits. Unless the hull has a huge hole in it, when pumped it should start to rise. Adjust the floatation units. Check fro more holes and plug them off. Pump until the boat floats free. This can all take a few hours, so be patient. The key is to locate those holes and plug them as soon as you find them. Although some people assume ALL people are rich, or have financed new boats and ALL are fully insured etc etc. For the rest of us, salvage can be our only method of recovering our boat and possibly fixing it up again. g'Luk
One method(probably the most common) is: Attach some flotation devices to the hull...barrels, airbags etc. Keep adjusting these with their attaching lines until the hull comes up enough to expose the gunnels. Plug all the gunnels drains etc. Attach a LARGE capacity pump (these can be rented reasonably from almost all equipment rental outfits. Unless the hull has a huge hole in it, when pumped it should start to rise. Adjust the floatation units. Check fro more holes and plug them off. Pump until the boat floats free. This can all take a few hours, so be patient. The key is to locate those holes and plug them as soon as you find them. Although some people assume ALL people are rich, or have financed new boats and ALL are fully insured etc etc. For the rest of us, salvage can be our only method of recovering our boat and possibly fixing it up again. g'Luk
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