Boat trouble (Full Version)

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Mark2 -> Boat trouble (May 28 2021 0:48:21)

I really like boating-I used to own a 16ft starcraft and took my kids water skiing, tubing, fishing. Fun, but expensive. Everything on a boat costs serious money. The saying is that the two happiest days in a boat owner's life are the day he buys it and the day he sells it. They also say a boat is a hole that you throw all your money in.

I've thought about getting another boat but never have pulled the trigger. Last fall I took a boat trip with my son in law and his friend -here is what happened:

So.......a couple of weeks ago my son in law's dad buys a nice used fishing boat. He was sick so my son in law asked me if I wanted to join the maiden voyage. We launch the boat at Half Moon Bay and go to the gas station, and while filling up, a kayak with two people runs into the boat. Paddles right into it. We are like WTF? Bad juju.

Gassed up we head out into heavy fog. Can't see sh!t. But no matter the boat has electronics. We cruise around for about four hours, drop a few lines but really just enjoying the boat, talking about all the great times that are going to be had on this awesome boat.

Son in law decides to head back, and a few minutes later says we are taking on water. Tells his buddy to hit the bilge pump, but it doesn't work. We start bailing. Turn the boat to the beach, maybe a mile away. Now the cabin is flooding. We get just outside the surf, and hope to use the trolling motor to beach it, but the motor, now flooded, dies. Six foot wave hits the back of the boat, but we hold on. Rocked. Second one, not as big, we hold on. Third wave hits and we have to jump. Boat flips, and we are in the drink. I'm in a rip current, but close to shore. Trying to let the waves push me in, but the rip says no. I surf a fair amount so I'm comfortable in the ocean, but it's a whole lot different with no board, no wetsuit, and in your clothes. A random boogie boarder, the only guy in the water, asks if I need help, and I say come on over. I grabbed the edge of his board, and I'm on the sand. Folks come over and offer us water and towels.

The boat is upside down on the beach. Heard it flipped three times. Surreal. Over the next half hour, random stuff from the boat washes up. A shoe, a few beers, a bag of chips. Then we hear the bilge pump start.......and it runs and runs, mocking us.

Coast guard shows cause people on the beach called. If my son in law hadn't seen it when he did, it could have been a whole lot worse. If I'd had to jump in a few miles offshore in the fog, I'd probably not be here. No way the boat sank because of the faulty bilge pump. There was a bit of swell but no water coming in over the side all day. An inspector couldn't determine the cause. I never felt in peril, but the next day realized I was. One minute the three of us were having a great time, a few minutes later we were standing on the beach. It happened fast.




ernandez R -> RE: Boat trouble (May 28 2021 8:04:06)

Mark,

Glad you are ok. Boats are like that, so much more to go wrong then a surf board, I say this as a surfer and sailer and aircraft pilot.

Funny, only time I've come close to drawing was swimming out about eighty feet in a little pond to get a model airplane. It was July first but the water up here in alaska was still vary cold, so cold I became hypothermic in only minutes, as I'm sinking I'm like WTF, I've wiped out in double overhead and bigger, I'm super cool and smart in the water, but this was different and I could feel panic just on the edge, I dug deep for some calm and extra strength, and slowly made my way to shore. It was when I tried to lift myself out of the water and a two foot bank when I realized the cold water had sucked all my strength, I couldn't just hop on out, I had to roll myself out of the water onto the bank, I'm like ****, I could and have swam for hours. Not this time. I recall thinking at one point, **** this, no one is going to find me dead in this pond with a model glider floating next to me. The first time I just sank as I was swimming the water was so clear I could see the world above it while wondering what was going on. I sank out two more times before I realized something wasn't right, the cold had sucked more the the heat from my body, it also took rational thought.

My first solo flight was in a floatplane. I had read a few books and the statistics were stark: 70% better chance of living through an upset if wearing a PDF in the plane. We need to wear the kind that self inflate but not auto as the bouncy causes one to become trapped.

I recall getting trapped by an outside set south side of the Huntington Beach pier as a young teen. It was like that, the tide would drop and the swell would be triggered by a shelf outside. I was on a boogie board. The first wave ripped my leash apart, the second wave tore away my one Makapoo swimfin. Couple times I got banged against the hard sand bottom, I would come up just in time to get sucked into the next one, after the third it became fun, I just went with it, dived deep as I could, lost count but was saving my energy and once the long set ended was able to swim in with a lot of lateral movement as there was a wide rip zone. I made it to the beach and laid down and fell asleep completely exhausted. Had forgot about my buddy, he wakes me up, my board under his arm, he never found his. He thought I was out there in the water dead.

Lost an engine in an airplane then lost the emergency landing on a road power line lottery, walked away but was holding on so tight I tore some muscle in my back that took a couple years to heal up.

Lost a running race with a moose last April, over a year into into it, twenty one pieces of titanium in my left foot, lucky to be alive, was underneath him dodging hooves as he was trying to kill me like some badass from a The Matrix!

Some people live and others let life go by. Some pray and others are lucky. I worship statistical probability, and I make my own luck by making the best decisions; It's all another day in life's great adventure; it's living the dream.

HR





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Richard Jernigan -> RE: Boat trouble (May 28 2021 8:17:11)

Out on the water, things can go south in a hurry. Congratulations on surviving relatively unscathed. Too bad about the boat.

While I lived in the Marshall Islands I had a 34-foot cruiser/racer, by Tom Wylie, the Bay Area designer. Years before it had won its class in the Trans Pac. After the finish the owner sold it to the University of Hawai'i sailing team. After they used it for several years I bought it from them.

It held the Honolulu-to-Kwajalein record, 2100 nautical miles in 13 1/2 days. I rigged twin headsails winged out to port and starboard, put it before the wind, and surfed down the trade winds all the way--a couple of days faster than some much bigger boats.

One of my best pals owned a fast 46-foot sloop. Hull speed is proportional to boat length, sail area can go up as the square of length, but weight, rigging loads, and the price of every single piece of gear go up as the cube of length. He paid 5 times as much for his boat as I did, both in Honolulu.

He and I were part of a group of 6 boats that headed out one evening for Namu, the next atoll to the south. The idea was to leave Kwaj at sundown, sail all night, and arrive at the only navigable pass into the Namu lagoon after sunrise.

You don't try to go through the Namu pass without being able to see the bottom in 30 feet of crystal clear water. There are a few twists and turns in a vertical sided channel. A depth sounder is no help. By the time it registers shallow water, you already have a hole in your boat.

All went according to plan until a serious squall line moved much faster than predicted and caught us between the two atolls. A branch of the North Equatorial Current sometimes threads between the two atolls. The gale force wind opposing the current kicked up a nasty steep sea. It was hard to see how big the waves were with a searchlight, but I can say that they looked big. The wind blew hard for 3 1/2 hours. The wind gauge registered 65 knots more than once.

I hove to and rode it out. With the boat's canoe hull, fin keel and spade rudder, the helm demanded constant attention to keep from falling off on one tack or the other as the boat backed down. I was grateful that out of a crew of three, two were experienced ocean voyagers, who took turns at the tiller. Waves broke over us constantly, but not deeply enough to drown us. Our safety harnesses with lanyards attached to D-rings in the cockpit kept us from being swept overboard.

The rain was cold and stung like bird shot. Fortunately the surface temperature there runs in the high 70s-low 80s F., but we eventually got cold anyhow.

The inflatable lifeboat in its fiberglass case stayed lashed to the cabin top. We checked on it as often as we could, fearing it might have to be be put to use. The hatches held and we pulled through with no serious damage, but we lost the inflatable dinghy and its little outboard.

We weren't the first through the pass at Namu. The sun was getting up, which was beginning to make the lagoon dangerous. The U.S. chart dates from a 1928 British Admiralty survey. The pass is drawn beautifully, but there is not a single sounding inside the lagoon. The water is crystal clear. You can see details on the bottom in fifty feet. But most of the lagoon is around a hundred feet, and when the sun is high and the wind is calm, the reflections from clouds may conceal vertical sided coral heads with tops in two or three feet that can take the bottom right out of your boat.

We posted a lookout on the bow. He immediately signaled to slow down. We only maneuvered a couple of times to avoid coral heads, but we were all afraid of falling asleep after the night's exertions. We made it to the lee of the village on the windward side of the atoll and anchored in 50 feet. Two of the bigger boats were already there. One had damaged rigging, two broken shrouds. They had spare parts and were making repairs. My pal in the 46-footer had the bottom two panels blown out of his mainsail, and minor rigging damage. A 52-footer showed up. It had ports in the topsides just below the gunwales as well as in the cabin. Three ports were stove in by breaking waves. They were still pumping.

We fixed bacon, eggs, toast and pots of black coffee, but went right to sleep as soon as we finished eating, and slept for two or three hours.

I and a friend with a beamy, slow, deep-keel ocean-going 32-footer were joking that there should have been a "large craft warning." Then we heard from the Cal 20 who hadn't shown up yet. He had decided to try to get into the lagoon via a pass shown on the chart at the north end of the atoll. On VHF radio he told us he was high and dry on the reef as the tide went out, but seemed not to have serious hull damage. We ragged on him for not checking in sooner, but he said his radio didn't work until he haywired a new antenna connection to his backstay.

The next weekend I joined the crew aboard a friend's 50-foot power boat, to go down to Namu and tow the 20-footer off the reef at high tide.

That was easier than it might have been. We watched the sailboat for a while, until the owner reported it wasn't taking on water. We moved to the lee of the atoll, anchored on the reef oceanside and did a dive on the wall. The dolphins came to check us out. That never happened at Kwaj. There, when you hit the water the dolphins disappeared instantly.

We escorted the Cal 20 home. It sailed all the way--not very fast. We hit Gea pass into the Kwaj lagoon at 9 AM, just right. The pass is wide and deep enough for big ships.

At the yacht club--it's just a shack with with a partly roofed deck, air conditioning and a bar-- I had a glass of single malt whisky and a nap before bicycling over to the atoll terminal to board the plane and head 50 miles back home to Roi-Namur at the north end of Kwajalein atoll.

All's well that ends well.

I loved that little boat, but it was a lot of work. The tropical ocean is always at work to destroy your boat via heat, humidity, corrosion, electrolysis, you name it. And the Army felt like they had to annoy everyone with regulations, inspections and general harassment of people with boathouses and boats moored at the marina.

The Army is very efficient at training 18-year olds to kill people, as long as the victims wear uniforms and act right. It's not so good at dealing with a highly skilled and mature civilian technical work force living on an Army post.

They adhere to the principle enunciated by Lord Melbourne: "Whenever I hear some one say, 'Something must be done,' I know they are preparing to do something very foolish."

RNJ




Schieper -> RE: Boat trouble (May 28 2021 15:58:55)

Great stories guys. I used to own a 31ft sailing boat here at the Dutch coast. We sailed regatta’s for some years till the fun had rubbed of. It quickly became a money game with who could afford the newest and fastest sails. Plus an increasing number of boat owners started to confuse the Sunday club regatta with the Volvo ocean race.

So me and a friend, registered for a 100 miles short handed race. Weather was great and soon after start it was clear the highest achieved we would realise, would be to finish before the party was over. The sailing was excellent and in the midst of the North Sea channel, when the evening came, a dolphin followed us for some time. We made dinner, changed course and sails and life was looking magnificent on a for the rest empty north-sea. Off course we never checked weather so for the coming hours we just spend changing sails and reefing the main as the wind continued to increase. Suddenly we found ourselves was in the middle of the night. We were soaking wet. The wind howled through the rig and on each wave top, our faces where sprayed with salt-water foam which teared our eyes.

My mate decided to steer the boat while I went down for a sleep. The next moment I found myself out of my bunk and on the cabin floor, water gushing in through the door. I rushed out and my mate was standing knee-deep in the water. We were sideways hit by a wave so that the mast had hit the water. The boat straightened itself up, all lines and sails entangled and rolling over the waves. We though our final hour had come. We straightened the ship out, adopted our course for a better line on the waves and both made a hail marry. I went below deck to prepare the “wall-mart” dingy we bough as emergency raft just to be safe. As I was pumping up our intended life saver that we bought for € 10,- including the convenient hand pump, we realised that that thing would not last more than 60 seconds out there and that we just had to get the boat back to shore asap.

So for hours we continued to plough through the waves, near shore the wind angle and speed and wave height died and we where able to reach the harbour safely and exhausted. The party being long over.

This learned us a few valuable lessons.

- A € 10 dingy is no substitute for a life raft
- It turned out to be a good force 7 wind. It felt like a 10-11 while being out there. So if I ever end up in a real gale, I will just sit in the cabin, drink my rum and hope for the best 😊
- The weakest link on the boat, is its crew.




Morante -> RE: Boat trouble (May 28 2021 16:34:45)

I have spent a lot of my life fishing from a rowboat in Lough Corrib in the West of Ireland. 43 km long, with a superfice of 176 km sq, lots of islands and lots of sharp limestone shallows, which rise and fall, depending on the water level. Limestone can be shaped by the current into a copy of a Stanley cutter, able to open the hull of any boat.

When I started, I was the only one to use a lifejacket. Now they are the law. Locals know the water, but over the years we have lost quite a few visitors who did not realise the danger. More recently, the mobile phone has saved lives.

But if you really want to have fun, try fishing Lough Mask without a guide. I will wait for you in the bar, to see if you arrive. It is my favouite lake and only 15km long, but much more dangerous than Corrib. (And the trout taste better!)




Mark2 -> RE: Boat trouble (May 28 2021 21:39:34)

HA! I knew you guys would be holding some boat stories and you surpassed my expectations! Flying a small plane in Alaska! That's living! A buddy of mine has a place on a lake there that you have to fly in. He said the plane ride can be crazy.

I've only been in a single engine plane once-super fun but I think it was a one time thing. I was 21 and in a band in Coos Bay, OR. The bandleader said he was a pilot and we should rent a plane. The two of us flew all over Coos Bay and I enjoyed the flight until he told me how excited he was to be flying since it had a been a few years since his last flight. He said that one ended with him getting hit by a cross wind when landing and he took out three planes.....said they determined it wasn't his fault and he kept his license.

I think anyone who spent much time surfing has a few interesting tales. I've been close up to whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions, and a few sharks. Been utterly thrashed and washed up on the beach exhausted. Nose broken at least twice. Just last week the leash broke and I had to swim in. Not too big a deal but not fun. On a different day it could have been serious. The culture is unique. It's the ultimate meritocracy.

I love sailing too but seeing small boats in heavy seas.....yeah maybe not. I have nothing but respect for blue water sailors. Takes balls. The south pacific has always fascinated me, but the closest I've gotten is Hawaii-maybe one day.

I used to do a fair amount of fishing. Salmon in the ocean, Steelhead and trout in rivers in Northern California, and crabbing. Dug clams, and went on rock fishing trips. I think when I can't surf anymore I'll start again.




JasonM -> RE: Boat trouble (May 29 2021 20:17:34)

Wow Mark! What an experience! Glad your ok. Great sea stories.

Not sure of the configuration of the boat, but “through hulls” are a common culprit for taking on water. Things like shaft, rudder packing glands, or valves for sea water cooling

Lot of respect for blue water sailors too - And bush pilots. I have a 100 ton captains license and used it for about 15 years. Most of my time has been on inland waters or along the coast. No major incidents thankfully, but some scary moments for sure. I’m borderline color blind, and last time I went to renew my license with the coast guard I failed the vision test. Got lucky the first two times I guess.




Richard Jernigan -> RE: Boat trouble (May 30 2021 3:52:15)

Respect is due for 15 years with a 100-ton license and no major incidents.

The reaction of an inexperienced person to a couple of weeks of blue water sailing is unpredictable.

My friend with the Crealock 46-footer told me of the reaction of one of his close friends.

My friend bought his boat in Honolulu. It belonged to a well off banker. It was berthed at Ala Moana, and according to my friend it was used mainly for one night stands and occasional day sailing. The banker paid a local boat bum in his early 30s to live on the boat. The live-aboard caretaker maintained the boat and couch surfed with friends when the banker needed the boat for a tryst.

My friend spent a couple of weeks going over the boat and readying it for sea. There's a very good West Marine and other established maritime supply sources in Honolulu. He found the boat bum's skills useful, and after a few trials judged he could trust him. My friend hired him to sail to Kwajalein and bought his plane ticket back to Hono. He recruited a couple of Kwaj sailors with ocean experience, and a good friend from back in Georgia who had done a lot of lake sailing with him.

As soon as they were out of sight of land the Georgia friend said he wanted to go back to Honolulu. My friend said they weren't going back, and assured the Georgian he would get used to it.

During the first week the Georgian was slow to take on his duties, and once outright refused to cook and wash dishes when it was his turn on the posted watch list.

They were overtaken by a storm. They had reefed down to the second reef and changed to the number 3 jib before the storm got serious. Then came the 60 knot winds, a split seam on the main, the jib destroyed, and a broken upper shroud. They had to change course to keep from losing the upper mast.

The boat was rigged with rod, not wire rope. Rod is more expensive, lighter weight, and more aerodynamic than wire rope, but it is treacherous in the tropics. Stainless steel is stainless because the chromium component forms a surface layer of chromium dioxide that is impermeable to water, oxygen in the air, and so forth. But an invisible surface crack in a rod can expose the interior to anaerobic chloride corrosion in tropical temperatures. It's seldom really hot in Honolulu, but it's warm enough. It's hot all the damned time at Kwajalein 9 degrees north of the Equator.

My friend showed me a piece of the broken shroud. It was a shell of Nitronic-50 steel filled with white powder. He had hired a licensed surveyor to check the rig, but he missed the crack. The first thing my friend did after he got to Kwaj was to replace all the rod with the best grade of wire rope. Nothing lasts forever at Kwaj, but wire rope degrades gracefully. It breaks one or two strands at a time, and gives evidence via whiskers that stick out, or at least can be felt as a rough spot when you carefully run your hand over the rope.

The prudent ocean voyager carries a fairly comprehensive supply of spare parts and tools. For rigging this consists of a suitable length of wire rope that can be cut to length, and a supply of fittings that can be installed without heavy duty crimping machines.

The boat bum was an agile climber, and after the storm had cleared he replaced the upper shroud pronto. My friend and the boat bum sewed up the split seam in the main. It wasn't beautiful, but it made it all the way to Kwaj. They had an older main as a spare, but decided to keep it in reserve once the repaired newer one proved serviceable.

During and after the storm the Georgian took to his berth. Nothing could persuade him to leave it for the rest of the trip, despite his having sworn to my friend before departure that he would obey orders.

Mau Piailug was the Carolingian traditional navigator who taught the Hawai'ians how to build an ocean going catamaran and sail to Tahiti following the star paths and swell patterns. The skills of their ancestors had been forgotten after the haoles came and stole their islands.

On a dive trip to Yap the Yapese boat captain told me he had built a boat with Mau and sailed with him to Ulithi Atoll and back. When the captain learned I had a little sailing experience he took me to meet Mau, who was married to a Yapese woman, and spent time with her and their children between voyages.

Kava was pounded, brewed and served to the guests, who included some friends and relatives. Dinner was prepared and served by Mau's wife and sisters-in-law, at my expense. The dive boat captain kicked off the conversation with an account of the Ulithi trip, then asked me a few questions. After a suitable interval and gestures of respect from the guests, Mau began to talk a little about learning the star paths and other means of navigation. Then with some polite encouragement he began to speak of voyaging experiences. His English was a bit unconventional, but fluent and eloquent.

Mau said that on the first voyage to Tahiti he had trouble with "some of the Hawai'ian boys." At first they didn't understand that on an ocean voyage the navigator was like your father and mother. You must do as he asks, promptly and without discussion. But they eventually came around.

RNJ




JasonM -> RE: Boat trouble (Jun. 2 2021 15:49:49)

Some good stories. It’s terrible feeling being at the mercy of the sea and putting all your faith in the boat and equipment to stay together..

The whole marine corrosion/electrolysis subject is pretty interesting. I never knew about rod rigging, atleast I don’t recall. But it’s amazing seeing even the 316? Grade stainless and aluminum corroding. I think I remember you linking to an article about marine coating study done by the Navy, basically coming to the conclusion that no amount of anything can completely stop water from making its way through to the subsurface




Escribano -> RE: Boat trouble (Jun. 2 2021 21:38:00)

Chasing my drunken friend downstream on the Potomac (me in a car with a container of fuel) but the hull was already ripped wide open.

What with that and the stray logs in the Chesapeake, it wasn't great. We jointly owned a very fast 25' 400hp V8 inboard Chris-Craft.

Eating soft shell crab off the back of the boat at 14th Street bridge DC with a few beers on a humid, sunny day was a joy.

Happy days, but sadly he died in 2018. RIP Ed Dross.




JasonM -> RE: Boat trouble (Jun. 3 2021 16:08:18)

quote:

What with that and the stray logs in the Chesapeak


What!? Did you live around the DC area at one point? I think I do remember you saying you lived in the US for a while...




Escribano -> RE: Boat trouble (Jun. 3 2021 19:59:54)

quote:

What!? Did you live around the DC area at one point? I think I do remember you saying you lived in the US for a while...


Yeah, a couple of years in Great Falls, VA and I had some lovely blue crab in Baltimore [8|] I also worked in Redmond for Microsoft and in Cupertino for Apple.




Richard Jernigan -> RE: Boat trouble (Jun. 5 2021 6:56:52)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Escribano
Yeah, a couple of years in Great Falls, VA and I had some lovely blue crab in Baltimore [8|] I also worked in Redmond for Microsoft and in Cupertino for Apple.


I lived half the time in Palo Alto and half the time in Austin during 1987-88. One company I consulted for in Mountain View asked me to help set up a group specializing in radar signature modeling, detection, object identification and strategic missile offense/defense engagement modeling.

My advice about new hires included three young men who had worked first for Lockheed Missiles and Space in Sunnyvale, then for Apple. I heard about Apple at second hand.

The three young men were enthusiastic about Apple, and stayed in touch with friends there. They referred to Lockheed as "the elephants' graveyard."

When I interviewed one of them he told me he had been fired from Lockheed for proving his boss was wrong. "Now this sounds promising," I thought. I asked for the details, and ended up giving him a strong recommendation. He taught me some useful applied mathematics: how to avoid the numerical instability of the usual implementation of the Kalman Filter, widely used in tracking, guidance and elsewhere, by re-formulating some important operations.

RNJ




JasonM -> RE: Boat trouble (Jun. 6 2021 20:28:25)

quote:

I had some lovely blue crab in Baltimore

[:D]

hope you got some Apple and Microsoft stock options as an employee!




Escribano -> RE: Boat trouble (Jun. 6 2021 22:02:31)

quote:

hope you got some Apple and Microsoft stock options as an employee!


So, why do you think I now live in a lovely old house in Italy? [8|]




Escribano -> RE: Boat trouble (Jun. 6 2021 22:06:04)

I think I am going to buy a gozzo boat in Italy, like this one. The second photo was taken by a friend, last year and is typical of where I want to anchor for a while. In my dreams.





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JasonM -> RE: Boat trouble (Jun. 8 2021 16:15:12)

quote:

I think I am going to buy a gozzo boat


Now that’s my kind of Boat! Low maintenance. Like the color scheme too. I just got done helping a friend yesterday fix his twin V8s overheating issues, crawling around in the bilge with no where to move. Then we paddled out to a swimming hole to cool off. that’s why my boat is a paddle board.




Escribano -> RE: Boat trouble (Jun. 8 2021 16:31:55)

quote:

Now that’s my kind of Boat! Low maintenance. Like the color scheme too. I just got done helping a friend yesterday fix his twin V8s overheating issues, crawling around in the bilge with no where to move. Then we paddled out to a swimming hole to cool off. that’s why my boat is a paddle board.


Yeah, but the berths are expensive here around $2000 for the season, then it has to be stored on shore at $65 a month plus $300 for a trolley. And I still have to buy it, plus a motor and insurance, which would be total $3000+

I figure that I can rent one 12 times in a season for the cost of a berth. That's 3 days in a month for 4 months. Enough for me.

Really have to buy an Italian registered car first, so maybe next year.




Ricardo -> RE: Boat trouble (Jun. 8 2021 17:04:54)

All I kept thinking reading your story

1. I hope he did not bring a guitar.
2. Did you put your cellphone in a ziplock bag?
[:D]




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