Interesting Sailing Story
- Thread starter Larry Long
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came through for me
I wonder how many ships are sunk in that area. Wouldbe fun to get Bollard to take a camera down there to see.
I wonder how many ships are sunk in that area. Wouldbe fun to get Bollard to take a camera down there to see.
collision mat
There isn't enough detail in the story, but if they had some sort of idea where the leak was, and enough time, a collision mat - a canvas tarp with lanyards tied to grommets around the edges- slapped over the hole might have helped them to save the boat. Difficult at 04:30 to see much, especially at this time of year, Glad they were rescued so quickly.
There isn't enough detail in the story, but if they had some sort of idea where the leak was, and enough time, a collision mat - a canvas tarp with lanyards tied to grommets around the edges- slapped over the hole might have helped them to save the boat. Difficult at 04:30 to see much, especially at this time of year, Glad they were rescued so quickly.
I agree
How many of us went to sleep last night thinking of the many ways to stop the leak. My first thought was to find the leak. Then or before, if there was time, shut the water intake valve for the motor, disconnect the line, then dump the line in the water and start the motor. Then I thought maybe I should replace the intake line with a longer one so it would reach the bottom of the bilge, or close to it. If I coil the line up, would it make a difference in how much water it will suck up? Then I went through every spot on my hull, mentally, from the point of view of the inside of the hull. Could I find the hole, and do something about it from inside or out. Seat chusions with straps at two ends. They float. So tie a line to each end strap. Add some weights to drop the line below the hull and try to position the line over the hole. Or you could use what the previous person mentioned using the sun shade. But now I REALLY have a good reason to add more grommets to it. And I carry two wax rings for a home toilet. It stick to anything, wet or dry, and I think I could smash it on to the hull and somehow it would stay (fat chance of that, the water pressure would likely blow it through the hull.) Whay else is there? ANYTHING. You use what ever you have. from a blanket to a hat to the cover from the stove. And that led me to think - why don't I compartmentalize the hull? Shouldn't the bow area be isolated from the rest of the hull? The most likely place to get a hole would be in the bow area, and maybe a few feet back. Exactly where my interior wall is for the front cabin. Only below the floor, it is wide open. Now I am gong to look at it and see how hard it would be to seal that area up (I have no water of fuel tank at present so it should be easy-er.) Then all I have to do is put in a cleanout hole with a cover and I have a wall. What else do you do/ Check your position and mark it on a chart every half hour. Then in case of a holing, you have the coordinates. And did anyone ever give the CG their coordiantes on VHF? My experiences (100% of the time) show that you leave off the seconds. It appears to be too many numbers for the person on the other end of the radio to grasp. Well anyway I thought about it, and think about it and swtories like this are the reason why. Lastly, i was on lake Erie last year when a boat was sinking in the direction we were headed. It took us a while to find them as they were close to shore (they didn't say that on the may-day), had only an orange flag out (about the size of a postage stamp...or so it seemed from a mile away ). Their position was identifyable but a female was giving directions. Not that they aren;t smart, but...they were at the base of the tallest, most well know apartment building in Cleveland. Duh...why not say "We area at the base of the Winton Place?" Instead she said they were about 4 miles West of Cleveland (it was more like 8) and that was it! West of Cleveland where? 10 miles out? 20 miles out? WHat a crew. And yes they were saved, the CG showed up with a pump and they got to the marina and were lifted out. It was a hole in the intake hose. I know, they couldn't find THAT? It was a 28" cabin cruiser and they couldn't get to the intake valve, but they could see it.
How many of us went to sleep last night thinking of the many ways to stop the leak. My first thought was to find the leak. Then or before, if there was time, shut the water intake valve for the motor, disconnect the line, then dump the line in the water and start the motor. Then I thought maybe I should replace the intake line with a longer one so it would reach the bottom of the bilge, or close to it. If I coil the line up, would it make a difference in how much water it will suck up? Then I went through every spot on my hull, mentally, from the point of view of the inside of the hull. Could I find the hole, and do something about it from inside or out. Seat chusions with straps at two ends. They float. So tie a line to each end strap. Add some weights to drop the line below the hull and try to position the line over the hole. Or you could use what the previous person mentioned using the sun shade. But now I REALLY have a good reason to add more grommets to it. And I carry two wax rings for a home toilet. It stick to anything, wet or dry, and I think I could smash it on to the hull and somehow it would stay (fat chance of that, the water pressure would likely blow it through the hull.) Whay else is there? ANYTHING. You use what ever you have. from a blanket to a hat to the cover from the stove. And that led me to think - why don't I compartmentalize the hull? Shouldn't the bow area be isolated from the rest of the hull? The most likely place to get a hole would be in the bow area, and maybe a few feet back. Exactly where my interior wall is for the front cabin. Only below the floor, it is wide open. Now I am gong to look at it and see how hard it would be to seal that area up (I have no water of fuel tank at present so it should be easy-er.) Then all I have to do is put in a cleanout hole with a cover and I have a wall. What else do you do/ Check your position and mark it on a chart every half hour. Then in case of a holing, you have the coordinates. And did anyone ever give the CG their coordiantes on VHF? My experiences (100% of the time) show that you leave off the seconds. It appears to be too many numbers for the person on the other end of the radio to grasp. Well anyway I thought about it, and think about it and swtories like this are the reason why. Lastly, i was on lake Erie last year when a boat was sinking in the direction we were headed. It took us a while to find them as they were close to shore (they didn't say that on the may-day), had only an orange flag out (about the size of a postage stamp...or so it seemed from a mile away ). Their position was identifyable but a female was giving directions. Not that they aren;t smart, but...they were at the base of the tallest, most well know apartment building in Cleveland. Duh...why not say "We area at the base of the Winton Place?" Instead she said they were about 4 miles West of Cleveland (it was more like 8) and that was it! West of Cleveland where? 10 miles out? 20 miles out? WHat a crew. And yes they were saved, the CG showed up with a pump and they got to the marina and were lifted out. It was a hole in the intake hose. I know, they couldn't find THAT? It was a 28" cabin cruiser and they couldn't get to the intake valve, but they could see it.
tom, my first thought is know the boat.
It sounds like these people had someone refit it for them. Got in the boat and left. I find it important to go through and know the whole boat even when we charter a bare boat. If you don't know the boat, you waste valuable time locating access no less a problem. r.w.landau
It sounds like these people had someone refit it for them. Got in the boat and left. I find it important to go through and know the whole boat even when we charter a bare boat. If you don't know the boat, you waste valuable time locating access no less a problem. r.w.landau
sink proofing your boat
sounds crazy but I read somewhere a guy thinks you can make any boat sink proof and spend less money doing it then most spend on all the safety gear needed after abandoning ship. The theory is that you build air tight compartments all throughout the boat so even if you do get a hole in your hull, there will still be enough air in the hull to keep it floating. I'm not so sure you can build air tight compartments that will stick to the hull once all the pressure of holding up the boat and all that water gets put on them. As for patching a hole (not a crack) underwater from the outside, I think a cabinat door with a eyehook screwed into the center of it and a cushion with rope looped through the eyehook could close the hole. Take a cabinate door and screw in an eyehook. Then take a line and run it though the eyehook and tie the ends together so you have a 12 inch loop attached to the door. Now take a cushion and put a hole in the middle of it and run the rope through the middle of it. Now dive down and push the loop through the hole in the hull and have somebody ready to grab it. Now break off your docking pole and run that through the loop and twist until you've pulled the makeshift patch tightly against the hull and the twisting pole is tight against the hull. You mostlikely will need to adjust the rope loop before you start twisting. That should slow down the leak enough so that the bilge pump can catch up. What I don't like about this is that it takes two people and I'm a single handler so it will not work for me. I haven't found anything yet for a single handler to do to stop a hole in the hull leak.
sounds crazy but I read somewhere a guy thinks you can make any boat sink proof and spend less money doing it then most spend on all the safety gear needed after abandoning ship. The theory is that you build air tight compartments all throughout the boat so even if you do get a hole in your hull, there will still be enough air in the hull to keep it floating. I'm not so sure you can build air tight compartments that will stick to the hull once all the pressure of holding up the boat and all that water gets put on them. As for patching a hole (not a crack) underwater from the outside, I think a cabinat door with a eyehook screwed into the center of it and a cushion with rope looped through the eyehook could close the hole. Take a cabinate door and screw in an eyehook. Then take a line and run it though the eyehook and tie the ends together so you have a 12 inch loop attached to the door. Now take a cushion and put a hole in the middle of it and run the rope through the middle of it. Now dive down and push the loop through the hole in the hull and have somebody ready to grab it. Now break off your docking pole and run that through the loop and twist until you've pulled the makeshift patch tightly against the hull and the twisting pole is tight against the hull. You mostlikely will need to adjust the rope loop before you start twisting. That should slow down the leak enough so that the bilge pump can catch up. What I don't like about this is that it takes two people and I'm a single handler so it will not work for me. I haven't found anything yet for a single handler to do to stop a hole in the hull leak.
I once heard about a rubber mat that folded
like an umbrella that you could shove through a hole and then open it up to spread the rubber mat to seal the hole. Anyone know what im talking about?
like an umbrella that you could shove through a hole and then open it up to spread the rubber mat to seal the hole. Anyone know what im talking about?
Plugging Holes
I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned this. Go to Home Depot or Lowes. Get yourself a set of plumbers test balloons. You know, the black blow up things they use to put in a pipe and blow up to pressure test it. They come in all sizes, from 1/2" up to, I think 4" or maybe bigger. These things are flexible enough to stop up a pretty ragged shaped hole. And they are pretty thick walled and tough. Just stick them in, and pump them up. A small hand pump works just fine. Of course you have to first find the hole. But you don't have to go under the boat to use them. I have had a bunch of these on my boat for a couple of years. The idea is good, fortunately I can't give any actual usage report so far.
I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned this. Go to Home Depot or Lowes. Get yourself a set of plumbers test balloons. You know, the black blow up things they use to put in a pipe and blow up to pressure test it. They come in all sizes, from 1/2" up to, I think 4" or maybe bigger. These things are flexible enough to stop up a pretty ragged shaped hole. And they are pretty thick walled and tough. Just stick them in, and pump them up. A small hand pump works just fine. Of course you have to first find the hole. But you don't have to go under the boat to use them. I have had a bunch of these on my boat for a couple of years. The idea is good, fortunately I can't give any actual usage report so far.
re: Plugging Holes
I will see if I can get some of those...can't hurt to try....just not sure I would be able to get it through and hold it in place while I pump it up and the water is rushing in. Maybe if I put a long screw driver in the middle of it. Thanks for the idea.
I will see if I can get some of those...can't hurt to try....just not sure I would be able to get it through and hold it in place while I pump it up and the water is rushing in. Maybe if I put a long screw driver in the middle of it. Thanks for the idea.
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