Emergency: need traditional Boatlift(?), my 50ft-er sinks without shore-pumps...
I managed to being towed to a marina for Hauling-Out (..and almost sunk on that 7 miles!) just to been told that they don't and can't haul her out with their 30-ton-Sling-Travel-lift, after the first few meters out! So back in the water again, pumping and patching since then, nothing helps since now.
Reasons why it did not work:
- the slings only carry 30 tons (..the water in the structure made the boat heavier than I thought!)
- the slings apply too much pressure to the old hull (16ft beam), it could collapse
Now I check pumps every tide (twice a day), and search a boatyard with the "old-style" facility, the "rail-System" with the 4 posts to hold the boat upright. (..a subaqua-lift (for real ships) is too expensive for me, starts at over 1000)
Does anybody know the exact eglish term for such a facility? Or if anybody is familiar with UK's southcoast near Portsmouth, any hint would help! It seems all those trolley-systems has been scrapped over the years...nobody here knows anything (apart the fact that they don't like old boats)
There are some modern alternatives, which could work:
- found an american company,"sea-lift com", which is a hydraulic trolley.
Any other ideas? I appreciate ANY hints or tips, it's very urgent. The boat should go on the dry for a longer period for complete sheating.
I managed to being towed to a marina for Hauling-Out (..and almost sunk on that 7 miles!) just to been told that they don't and can't haul her out with their 30-ton-Sling-Travel-lift, after the first few meters out! So back in the water again, pumping and patching since then, nothing helps since now.
Reasons why it did not work:
- the slings only carry 30 tons (..the water in the structure made the boat heavier than I thought!)
- the slings apply too much pressure to the old hull (16ft beam), it could collapse
Now I check pumps every tide (twice a day), and search a boatyard with the "old-style" facility, the "rail-System" with the 4 posts to hold the boat upright. (..a subaqua-lift (for real ships) is too expensive for me, starts at over 1000)
Does anybody know the exact eglish term for such a facility? Or if anybody is familiar with UK's southcoast near Portsmouth, any hint would help! It seems all those trolley-systems has been scrapped over the years...nobody here knows anything (apart the fact that they don't like old boats)
There are some modern alternatives, which could work:
- found an american company,"sea-lift com", which is a hydraulic trolley.
Any other ideas? I appreciate ANY hints or tips, it's very urgent. The boat should go on the dry for a longer period for complete sheating.
Thanks very much!
Endeavour Quay in Portsmouth should be able to lift you, they've got a 60 ton boat out on the hard at the moment. Failing that there's a very big travel hoist at Saxon Wharf in Southampton capable of lifting over 100 tons.
What would be wrong with continuing the pumping, sealing and drying as best you can, then applying shoring internal, external or a combination of both aka large spreaders to absorb the pressure / stress. This assuming you can get her down to < 30.
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A common background of shared experiences under adverse conditions.
It's hardly convenient but the Excelsior yard at Oulton Broad, Lowestoft has two such slips - precisely for dealing gently with elderly hulls. The big one would take your MFV easily whilst the smaller, longer one is used by most of the Broads wherries. OF
how bad is the leak, and where is it leaking is it a seam or a rotten plank? I'm not totally unfamiliar with that sinking feeling on an old fishing boat (see blog!), depending on what is leaking it might be repairable from the inside, had to go down that onerous little path a while back myself
is there a keel shoe fitted? not matter how big the slings and spreaders are, if she's really waterlogged theres a good chance of her hogging when lifted, these things weren't really designed for hoists
really needs to go on a slipway bogey. is there nowhere you can dry out against a wall?
if there's any commercial fishing boats in the vicinity, ask them, they might have the best answer as I guess traveling long distance is a non starter. I was even contemplating treking her back up to scotland to get a few bits done that I need doing
but more than anything I'd try avoid any capacity travel hoist if you can, you ould do some seriously terminal damage
...and really appreciating all of your great ideas and hints!
The reason for not checking earlier was moisture (..what else?) in the power-supply of the Computer. And my own state, which is a bit desolate due to less sleep.
At sunday I checked by car the gosport side, to get some phone numbers and real impressions from facilities found on googleMaps (a good one, but a pity not usable one, was the ex-navy-people boat-yard) Monday some more leak-searching, and regain more sleep, cause fortunately the hightides are almost at daytime now.
It's great that so many of you guys care, I would have thought to get so much response! Thank you!
There where a lot destinations you mentioned how could deal with that weight; it seems Cows has a LOT of facilities left (looking on googleMaps) and of course SHampton.
But as one of you said, travelling with her ,at any distance, is a bit spooky, seeing the waterlevel rising and hearing my BilgePump not stopping; I wouldn't do it again exept with a borrowed petrol-motor-pump - and of course owing in that state is a risk also for the one who towes.
So I still have to googleMap the Portsmouth-side and drive round; maybe today or tomorrow.
Today (in a few minutes) I (try to) patch/seal another leak I found yesterday, stirring up the dirt in the water-pond in the front (empty at low tide due to the bow-up-position on the concrete ramp), so I saw clear-water uprising next to a rib, a little success (knowing where) - now the plan is to close or at least narrow the gaps with concrete,PU-glue etc that a smaller ammount of water comes in.
__________ monkey_trousers asked:
"how bad is the leak, and where is it leaking is it a seam or a rotten plank? "
- it seems there are more than one; three weeks ago I managed to get a sprung plank back in (on the formely scrubbing-berth) but then the front leak still was present (see above)
- seams AND rotten ribs (not so bad the planks for her age of 63)
"might be repairable from the inside"
- might be, but not properly - it will be patching until she comes out.
"these things weren't really designed for hoists - really needs to go on a slipway bogey. "
...I agree fully ;O)
"is there nowhere you can dry out against a wall?"
- no, not that high possible.
________
Apart from searching an old style trolley-system, there are 2 ideas came into my mind:
- craning-companies... still dangerous (hull pressure) and high price
- Lorry-Yacht-Transports...they might use a slipway-loading-system, where the boat goes (swims) right onto the lorry-trolley? And then out and up...have to research.
So now I get into my dirt-gear again, and go patching. Maybe this time it makes a difference at the next high tide...
Thanks again for your advice, guys. Every hint could be the solution.
if you can get at the seams from the inside you can make a reasonable repair, to stop the leak or at least slow it down a great deal. did this myself recently.
you need some caulking cotton, white lead putty and linseed oil..
grab a lump of white lead, add a little linseed oil and mix it in, it will be a very wet sticky mess!
get a few metres of cotton and pull it through the lead/oil mix, squeezing it to get as much of the lead/oil into the cotton.
you need to get this intoth e leaking seam from the inside, poke it in gently with a large screwdriver to get it started, then gently firm it up with a caulking iron, or a bolster chisel with the edge ground of if you haven't got a caulking iron
you want the cotton to finish up below the edges of the seam a few millimetres, then fill the seam with straight white lead putty
its a messy job but it should stem the flow quite a bit.
you can also stick a patch of thin bendy ply wood over as well before the putty starts to harden to slow it even more if its a really really bad leak
had to go own this path a couple of months back when we had a burst seam, its sealed ours up totally till we can get her hauled out to repair properly from the outside
This sounds a desperate position to be in. But I'd have thought you need to consider carefully what is going to happen to the boat once out. You can bet that anything you think is rotten now will turn out to be 10 times worse once dried out and pulled apart.
It's not just a matter of finding a suitable yard now- it's finding one that will be happy to let you stay there indefinitely after you start work, at an affordable price.
Monkey_trousers:
thanks for the good how-to-chaulk-guide, I definitely note it for the future.
The water in the front travels up behind the concrete in the inside, where there is already a gap between the planks and the old concrete. So t's not visible where it's coming from originally. Can travel a long way up from somwhere below. The filling yesterday was not successful against the water pressure, need to apply another layer today at lowtide.
cliffordpope:
Yes - once dried out, it won't float again like before; the structure would be broken. But I decided the time and hull/rib-state has come to not proceed with "traditional" ways of repairs, so the hull will be sheated completely, "another hull" around the old one, a life for the boat...WHEN I manage to work out the other points you mention...
You're absolutely right with the yards have to be happy with that kind of "visitor", it will work out for around 200 monthly, apart from hauling out. And many yards are not happy with old, big, wooden, not-so-shiny boats - a few are even scared by MFVs cause they were left alone with them.
To all reading this thread: Sorry for the yellowPress-like Title-line, wrote that when I was in panic, I would have better written:
"45 tons searching Hauling-out /slipping-out facility in/near Portsmouth" a pity I can't change it any more.
Another thought, Cracknore Hard at Hythe, I think you can see a slipway on Google maps, plus, further along at Hythe Town there is a place that SEEDA have got open as a boat repair facility, I think its the site that the American Palmer Johnson aluminium floating palaces are to be built. There was a press release about it being open but I cant find it now, look on Google maps and take a drive.
Wow, that slipway in Cracknore Hard, Hythe is BIG !! Is that the place the Seeda-folks want to convert? ...then it's gone soon - or did you mean the other place? (Woolston)
Woolston near the Itchen-Bridge I know already from visiting, theres a guy selling good priced colour-overstocks and anodes. The rest of the yard is a quite spoky place, very dirty and unsave like it seemed. The slipway on the left is not in use any more, the slipway on the right belongs to the other yard, who has no big trolley and no space to store a boat that big.
But I call the Cracknore Hard-people, lets see. It seems there will be no way without a "sea-journey" for us. (means outside Portsmouth-Harbour)
The SEEDA place is further along, thats the link I gave.
You might also try the Foulkes Brothers at the Chandlery Barge, Blundell Lane, Burseldon. I think they'll say no on the basis of the yard having enough old junk already! There is one similar size MFV there being rebuilt already.
It sounds like your boat has seen better days, if you are thinking she needs sheathing because she is so far gone that it cant be done properly, you need to have a long hard logical think about what to do. Sheathing a big boat like an MFV in GRP is out of the question as it will cost you shed loads to put enough on to do any good. Ferro sheathing is an option but you have to get it out somewhere where it can be done & how much will a yard charge for lifting & storage on the south coast? In either case it will keep on rotting inside its overcoat & the sheer weight of the thing will mean it is structurally weak.
I have seen several similar boats come to grief, one a 50 ft MFV broke its back & sank when it was being manoevred into a mud berth & got stuck.
Another similar boat sank in front of a tidal barrier & started to break up, the owner in a desparate attempt to refloat it put a 24 man liferaft inside & pulled the rip cord, it worked for about 30 seconds before the liferaft pushed the sides out. The PLA broke it up & the owner got a huge bill.
If a boat can't stand a stropped lift its either due for a complete rebuild, or dismantling.
Sheathing in ferro or GRP is a waste of time, effort and materials. If you do do this bear in mind it will have no resale value, and will be fit only for a house boat. There are seaworthy MFV's around for a fraction of the cost of a big rebuild, so unless the boat is historically significant, the most beautiful boat you have ever seen, or has some other reason for existing then save yourself tens of thousands of pounds and sell the gear and break the bugger up!
Unless you can make it strong enough to go to sea in a gale then you are, to be frank, wasting your time.
Sorry to be brutal, but I have seen this situation many times before:-(
If a boat can't stand a stropped lift its either due for a complete rebuild, or dismantling.
Sheathing in ferro or GRP is a waste of time, effort and materials. If you do do this bear in mind it will have no resale value, and will be fit only for a house boat. There are seaworthy MFV's around for a fraction of the cost of a big rebuild, so unless the boat is historically significant, the most beautiful boat you have ever seen, or has some other reason for existing then save yourself tens of thousands of pounds and sell the gear and break the bugger up!
Unless you can make it strong enough to go to sea in a gale then you are, to be frank, wasting your time.
Sorry to be brutal, but I have seen this situation many times before:-(
The state of the boat is NOT like in the cases you mentioned - slipping instead of lifting would be just a much less stress to an old hull-structure...what would you do if standing before a decision "slipping or lifting": just try it, or first search other ways of getting it out? In the old days, when these boats were designed, they where never made for beeing lifted.
But I understood what you wanted to say. To the costs - I don't think itmust necessarily be very high: I got quotes for this boat lifting out/in 470 Pound, storage/monthly 170. That is cheaper than in the water. And sheating (yes, ferro-cement-sheating, not epoxy) is also a cost efective way of having an older hull done up.
Reselling-value? well, it would be one at least, compared to a leking hull. And if not seagoing anymore, houseboats are quite searched in england or elsewhere these days, especially on a reasonable price and if its pretty and with lots of space.
I know, that a LOT boats like this are scrapped, burned or beached to rot, but hey guys, aren't we in a classic-boat-forum? I know of boats that worse you described, and it's a horror to see this. Again, I understand what you said about "wrecks" , but mine is far from something "breaking off" or disintegrating, we are just talking about a big boat with hard-to-access leaks between the tides and the idea of getting it out to sheat it.
PS: ...and I would really like to know if it's possible to change the title-line of a thread :O) ...the "emergency" is really too "yellow-page-like" ...or should I start a new one with all the prices, quotes and responses of the boatyards, would be a useful thread for future informations?
The state of the boat is NOT like in the cases you mentioned - slipping instead of lifting would be just a much less stress to an old hull-structure...what would you do if standing before a decision "slipping or lifting": just try it, or first search other ways of getting it out? In the old days, when these boats were designed, they where never made for beeing lifted.
But I understood what you wanted to say. To the costs - I don't think itmust necessarily be very high: I got quotes for this boat lifting out/in 470 Pound, storage/monthly 170. That is cheaper than in the water. And sheating (yes, ferro-cement-sheating, not epoxy) is also a cost efective way of having an older hull done up.
Reselling-value? well, it would be one at least, compared to a leking hull. And if not seagoing anymore, houseboats are quite searched in england or elsewhere these days, especially on a reasonable price and if its pretty and with lots of space.
I know, that a LOT boats like this are scrapped, burned or beached to rot, but hey guys, aren't we in a classic-boat-forum? I know of boats that worse you described, and it's a horror to see this. Again, I understand what you said about "wrecks" , but mine is far from something "breaking off" or disintegrating, we are just talking about a big boat with hard-to-access leaks between the tides and the idea of getting it out to sheat it.
PS: ...and I would really like to know if it's possible to change the title-line of a thread :O) ...the "emergency" is really too "yellow-page-like" ...or should I start a new one with all the prices, quotes and responses of the boatyards, would be a useful thread for future informations?
these boats were made to be lifted off a wave , you have no idea how strong a boat needs to be to go to sea
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these boats were made to be lifted off a wave , you have no idea how strong a boat needs to be to go to sea
Agree. You only have to watch BBC Trawlermen. Some of the footage of 50 footers crashing through massive seas makes you wince.
When a boat is lifted by strops in a hoist it is no worse than travelling in smooth water at hull speed, when the hull is supported by a bow and quarter wave, and not a lot in between.
The only places you may get problems is where the strops load the planking at the turn of the bilge. This may highlight any defects, giving you time to rectify them before getting caught out in a gale or overfalls........
The slipway you are after is a 'Railway slip'. However, once hauled out, you are on it and no-one else can use it. Therefore time spent on such slips is usually restricted and expensive, so I suggest you have materials and a large wodge of cash ready before you start.
When I used to run such a slip in Chichester Harbour (no longer there), we had a few large boats which would droop over the ends of the cradle, or worse, hogged boats that would straighten up when on the cradle!!
You can fix almost any leak between tides with a tingle of lead, copper or acrylic canvas, some mastic and a handfull of tacks.You may just need a bit af caulking and stopping.In your shoes I would dry out alongside a quay and have a look. Many years ago I helped change a length of plank alongside a quay and between tides on a Pilot cutter called Dolphin-yes the one in Classic Boat!
And no, I would not want to do it again!
__________________ The boat in front is a Lugger
Last edited by Seanick; 03-11-09 at 00:16.
Reason: Poor spelling,punctuation, failing memory and rose tinted specs!
[QUOTE=Seanick;2297504
When a boat is lifted by strops in a hoist it is no worse than travelling in smooth water at hull speed, when the hull is supported by a bow and quarter wave, and not a lot in between.
[/QUOTE]
I'm sorry , but I cannot agree with that. Very rough figures:
Boat in slings has its mass supported by about 60 sq ft of webbing (two slings, say 18" wide, each with a contact area of 20 ft)
Boat in water has an underwater surface area of 50 x 6 ft each side, so say 600 sq ft.
So loading in slings is 30tons/60sqft = 0.5 tons/sqft
and afloat is 30tons/600sqft = 0.05tons/sqft.
A bit simplistic but given the description of the vessel's condition, I can understand why the yard abandoned the attempt to lift her out.
FWIW sheathing in ferro will add about 9600 lbs weight to the vessel (re-inforced concrete at 150lbs/cuft, and he will need about 1000sqft coverage at 2" depth). What that will do to the waterline and the metacentric height is looking a bit sad.
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If the yard refused to lift her out halfway through trying you can bet there was a very good reason. Call it experience, knowledge or whatever. They thought it would go pear shaped.
Time to take of the rose tinted specs.
Many years ago I helped change a length of plank alongside a quay and between tides on a Pilot cutter called Dolphin-yes the one in Classic Boat!
And no, I would not want to do it again!
Was that when Ken Briggs owned her? Or earlier with George Naish?
I'm sorry , but I cannot agree with that. Very rough figures:
Boat in slings has its mass supported by about 60 sq ft of webbing (two slings, say 18" wide, each with a contact area of 20 ft)
Boat in water has an underwater surface area of 50 x 6 ft each side, so say 600 sq ft.
So loading in slings is 30tons/60sqft = 0.5 tons/sqft
and afloat is 30tons/600sqft = 0.05tons/sqft.
A bit simplistic but given the description of the vessel's condition, I can understand why the yard abandoned the attempt to lift her out.
FWIW sheathing in ferro will add about 9600 lbs weight to the vessel (re-inforced concrete at 150lbs/cuft, and he will need about 1000sqft coverage at 2" depth). What that will do to the waterline and the metacentric height is looking a bit sad.
I agree that my comparison with a boat supported by a bow/stern wave is a bit simplistic, but to be honest, so is your calculation! Most of the weight on the strops is under the keel, and, depending on hull shape, beam etc the strops are being deflected out to the sides and have nothing like the loading on the keel. I have no idea how you really calculate that loading or if there is actually any point. What we do know is that a wooden boat in good nick shows no signs of stress/distortion/damage when lifted, and the ones that do are a bit ropey!
I would guestimate that a half ton per sq/ft is possibly comparable to a large boat, say 20/30 tonner dropping off a wave into a trough while say, beam reaching in a strong breeze??
The reality is, unless its a houseboat, most want a strong vessel. We went aground at the end of last year on The Shrape, just off Cowes. No problem, politley told the lifeboat that came to rescue us that we were absolutley fine and waited for the tide. The point of this tale is that although we went aground in fine weather, when the wash from the deep sea tug hit us and lifted the boat about 3 feet,dropped us on the sand about 3 times, the boat was strong and did not leak a bit. No need for heavy weather to test the boat, and no need to worry either (well I did at the time!) You could try and calculate 18 tons dropping 3 feet onto high density sand at a speed of xxmph, with a keel width of 6" what would be the loading per sq/ft? Tricky and may I say almost impossible to do acurately!
If we had been in a delicate hull that had been sheathed or just kept for calm conditions we would have been in bits.
Remember how quickly the Maria Asumpta broke up when she touched the rocks?
I was brought up on the Moray Firth with boats of this tyoe and fished on them. The stresses that we subjected those hulls to don't bear thinking about! That was when they were fitted with 114/152 Gardners--a lot were re-engined with 300+hp for trawling,even more stressful.
The problem was the fastenings were quite often not up to the job ,and in my view any boat of that age that hasn't been renailed is a non-starter---I have a grp boat for a reason.
A seine-netter of that era had a design life of about 25yrs,so I'd be wary of throwing money at it.
Don't get me wrong,wooden boats are beautiful. I just think that wmfv needs to be VERY careful.
Agree. You only have to watch BBC Trawlermen. Some of the footage of 50 footers crashing through massive seas makes you wince.
When a boat is lifted by strops in a hoist it is no worse than travelling in smooth water at hull speed, when the hull is supported by a bow and quarter wave, and not a lot in between.
The only places you may get problems is where the strops load the planking at the turn of the bilge. This may highlight any defects, giving you time to rectify them before getting caught out in a gale or overfalls........
The slipway you are after is a 'Railway slip'. However, once hauled out, you are on it and no-one else can use it. Therefore time spent on such slips is usually restricted and expensive, so I suggest you have materials and a large wodge of cash ready before you start.
When I used to run such a slip in Chichester Harbour (no longer there), we had a few large boats which would droop over the ends of the cradle, or worse, hogged boats that would straighten up when on the cradle!!
You can fix almost any leak between tides with a tingle of lead, copper or acrylic canvas, some mastic and a handfull of tacks.You may just need a bit af caulking and stopping.In your shoes I would dry out alongside a quay and have a look. Many years ago I helped change a length of plank alongside a quay and between tides on a Pilot cutter called Dolphin-yes the one in Classic Boat!
And no, I would not want to do it again!
i worked on dolphins deck in gloucester, that boat is weak
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I agree that my comparison with a boat supported by a bow/stern wave is a bit simplistic, but to be honest, so is your calculation! Most of the weight on the strops is under the keel, and, depending on hull shape, beam etc the strops are being deflected out to the sides and have nothing like the loading on the keel. I have no idea how you really calculate that loading or if there is actually any point. What we do know is that a wooden boat in good nick shows no signs of stress/distortion/damage when lifted, and the ones that do are a bit ropey!
I would guestimate that a half ton per sq/ft is possibly comparable to a large boat, say 20/30 tonner dropping off a wave into a trough while say, beam reaching in a strong breeze??
The reality is, unless its a houseboat, most want a strong vessel. We went aground at the end of last year on The Shrape, just off Cowes. No problem, politley told the lifeboat that came to rescue us that we were absolutley fine and waited for the tide. The point of this tale is that although we went aground in fine weather, when the wash from the deep sea tug hit us and lifted the boat about 3 feet,dropped us on the sand about 3 times, the boat was strong and did not leak a bit. No need for heavy weather to test the boat, and no need to worry either (well I did at the time!) You could try and calculate 18 tons dropping 3 feet onto high density sand at a speed of xxmph, with a keel width of 6" what would be the loading per sq/ft? Tricky and may I say almost impossible to do acurately!
If we had been in a delicate hull that had been sheathed or just kept for calm conditions we would have been in bits.
Remember how quickly the Maria Asumpta broke up when she touched the rocks?
yeah, in the dingle botyard they put a steel kelson in an old trawler, at one stage they were jacking her up & accidently picked the whole boat up on one jack, she didnt bend, thats more like the strength thats needed to go to sea, tho its uncommon
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i worked on dolphins deck in gloucester, that boat is weak
She needs a new deck and her bulwarks need redoing but her hull is sound. When she was being repaired in Brittany after she hit a rock off Douarnenez the yard made sure there weren't any major problems left lurking. For a 100 year old hull she's in surprisingly good nick. Especially considering the sort of life she's had.
yes thats the impression i had of the deck, i couldnt believe it when i heard she was going north, but she made it
I'm not sure when the deck was put down. She had a new one after she caught fire on the Hamble in the 60's but I don't know if she's had a new one since. Anyway, whoever did it had neither the money or the skills to do it properly and the wood used wasn't ideal for the job. Having said that though, it keeps most of the water out and you can walk over it.
Considering the life that boats had, pilot cutter, gutted by fire, sunk in france, and now cruising and shunting ice in Spitzbergen she is in remarkable condition. I wouldn't be worried sailing in her.
this is becoming very frustrating to try and help. Can we have some photos of the vessel in question please ? She is obviously known to several people.
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I'm not sure when the deck was put down. She had a new one after she caught fire on the Hamble in the 60's but I don't know if she's had a new one since. Anyway, whoever did it had neither the money or the skills to do it properly and the wood used wasn't ideal for the job. Having said that though, it keeps most of the water out and you can walk over it.
Considering the life that boats had, pilot cutter, gutted by fire, sunk in france, and now cruising and shunting ice in Spitzbergen she is in remarkable condition. I wouldn't be worried sailing in her.
Deck went down in as part of a big refit in '87. I have some pics somewhere.......also pics of half her transom out, up on the slip....somewhere! If anyone is reall keen I will root them out...scan them...up load them....and link them.
Deck went down in as part of a big refit in '87. I have some pics somewhere.......also pics of half her transom out, up on the slip....somewhere! If anyone is reall keen I will root them out...scan them...up load them....and link them.
I know the transom was rebuilt by Peter Naish. He did it about three times as he was learning at the time and every time he finished he thought he could do better.
He rebuilt the cockpit too which is why it's now square rather than the original pilot cutter elliptical style.
Sure this is somewhere in this thread, but for emergency leak stopping I've seen expanding foam used to great effect, into any suspect gaps from outside or to seal round a plywood patch.
It does sound like she's ready for a fond farewell though. Plenty of better decommissioned fishing boats out there, and cheap.
HI.IF you are taking on water through the seam's.use saw dust to slow it or stop the leaks.nail an old paint tin to a 10ft poll/beam.fill the paint tin with saw dust.when you get the tin just above water turn tin over on the pole and shove under boat.when under the boat turn tin back over and the saw dust will float up into the seams and swell up and seal the seams.do this all over the hull. good luck!
you can also buy small bag's of cement ready mixed (obviously you already have the water) that you just add water too.
if you get to the leak and it is'nt running too fast.
sprinkle the dry cement onto the leak and just keep adding abit at a time until it stop's
if i remenber right the cement was a fast setting type around 1hour.
i have seen this done and it doses work.
Have you given any thought to just lying her on her side? Certainly the Irish 50-footers were designed to take the sand for the annual antifouling. Check out the photo of Naomh Fionnan on http://www.sol.co.uk/i/iangwhittaker...nn/asiad16.htm. I have photos of Ros Donn being anti-fouled lying on her side at Killybegs, looks a bit scary but I'm told this was the only way when these boats were dotted around remote locations round Ireland. Make sure the fuel tanks are reasonably empty, any balance pipes between fuel tanks is closed and the filler caps are blanked off.
Emergency: need traditional Boatlift(?), my 50ft-er sinks without shore-pumps...
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