Wreck of the Fedra

[Sailor of Fortune]

Its not a trawler but some may find it interesting. I'm the captain of the ocean going salvage tug, " Atlantic Salvor". It is 7200 Hp, 151' and 22 foot draft loaded.
We are currently doing a wreck (ship) removal job in Gibraltar. The Fedra dragged anchor and went hard aground and broke up last year. The company i work for is Don Jon marine in Hillside N.J
We were awarded the stern section removal last May. I towed the crane barge "Columbia" and "Witte 1404" from N.Y to Gibraltar . Our orders were to keep the Columbia in 10 foot seas or less. As you know this is not an easy task. We left on May 22 with 242,000 gallons fuel,15000 gallons fresh water, 2400 gallons of lube oil.
We arrived in Gibraltar on June 8 with 161,000 fuel, 7000 water and 2100 lube.
Our draft went from 22' to around 18' if I remember correctly. Most of the trip was made at 8.5-9 Kts. running the main engines at 850 RPM's
We wiggled around several lows in the atlantic, and never saw above 8' seas. We did have to slow and "jog" for about 8 hours to let a low sort itself out.
Once we arrived , the new challenge has been to place* barges up under cliffs in an exposed location to get to work. The starboard side of the wreck had 23 feet of water.
My first time bringing the barge alongside the wreck was "eventful". As we approached , the barge is moving up and down in a long slow swell. The stern line parted(8 inch polydac doubled). we got another stern line up and landed the barge
to the remains. Then we run 2 10 ton anchors off of the outside corners* of the barge. The barge crew tightens up on the wires so the barge sits off of the ship slightly. We then bring in the other barge when needed to place scrap steel on.
Because of the exposed local, we have to frequently bring the barges into the harbor at night.
The tug crew schedule has been 7 weeks off and 7 weeks on- for this job only(because of the company paid travel). Needless to say my nerves are frayed after 7 weeks of this fun. As I write this , it is 0640 Gibraltar time. 0040 on the east coast. I get off on Oct 2 and fly to St Augustine Fl fo 7 weeks off. The job should be finished (WX permitting) by around 2 week in Oct. The other crew will tow back to NY. Then we will be back to our usual schedule of 4 weeks on/off.
You can see pictures at donjonmarine.com.*** Sorry if I rambled
Sailor of Fortune
Aboard Atlantic Salvor anchored off of Europa Pt

 

[Codger2]

Terrific post!* We need more of this.

 

[Steve]

Very interesting!
Steve W

 

[Nomad Willy]

Hi Jack,

Heady stuff there Captian. It reminds me more than a bit of the book "Grey Seas Under" by Farley Mowatt. I wonder if your'e doing the hard part or is the tow home the hard part? Lots of variables eh. Due to fuel burn your ballast/disp/WL varies a great deal. How does this affect the tugs handling and seaworthyness? So I assume you'll be looking for the mother of all trawler hulls in october. Keep us posted.

Does this old motor sailor interest you?

Eric Henning


-- Edited by nomadwilly on Tuesday 15th of September 2009 05:45:27 PM

 

[Sailor of Fortune]

good morning* Eric
Im not even in the same league as da boys of the Foundation Franklin! The Atlantic Salvors fuel burn is more related to Speed (RPMS) ,just like our trawlers. It is powered by Alco diesels. If we run easy, 850 rpms or less we will burn 4000- 4200 per day towing or light. The max we can run is 950, which our fuel burn increases Significantly.
Two yares ago, this boat towed the Aircraft carrier JOHN F KENNEDY fro norfolk Virginia to Philly.* They left in WX that they shouldn,t have and needed all 950 rpms to keep the tow in control.
The amount of fuel aboard does affect the handling of the tug. Presently we have aboard around 118,000 gallons aboard. As a normal run around NY we try to carry around 160-170,000.* I have elected not to fuel since we have been here to keep the draft light (16'). We act as the fuel station for the crane barge and transfer fuel weekly to them. As for the seaworthiness, she can take a lot more than I can! Our determining factor is usually what can the tow take, not what can the boat take.

I like the motor sailor- but it would be to much money/maint/bother/draft. I likeyour boat better. The 40' Navy personnel boat fits my needs perfectly. If I can find the right deal on a Willard version, all the better! My needs are Coastal cruising criteria.
Shallow draft 3', space for me and mama only, reasonable fuel burn and dependability. Short term cruising plan would be florida, Bahamas Chesapeake bay Etc. Eventually great loop. I want to be ready when Cuba opens up to yachts .
At this point in my life (50 years old), I don't need or want an "impress the neighbors boat" .
The trans Atlantic part of this job is the cake walk. Its more about weather avoidance than any thing else. Obviously you can get caught in wx, but we go around it when possible.
Jack

 

[Chris Foster]

Waaaay cool, Jack.

I don't know if it's possible with security, company regulations, etc, but some pictures would be very cool if you have the time.

Hope our geeky little corner of the world here where we get into regular heated discussions about whether running our engines at 35% power is going to result in certain doom will give you a good chuckle and maybe help take the stress level down a quarter percent or so.

Again, thanks for sharing your adventures with us.

 

[Sailor of Fortune]

Chris
you can see pics at company website at www.donjonmarine.com When I get back to Florida around Oct 3, I'll post some recent pics'. The engine should be picked, hopefully in the next few days. Since it weighs 480 tons, the salvage crew has had to break it up-no small feat! We have taken out about 100-150 tons already (engine). The crane has a limit of 400 tons but that is optimistic od a dead lift off the stern of the barge. They tried lifting whats left and broke the wire slings. (rated at 150 ton). Ill get some shots to post.
My job is tugs but my passion is small boats! I am very content with a skiff/outboard.

Jack

 

[Forkliftt]

Jack," Atlantic Salvor" has the specs of a real blue water vessel. I like the 2,500 # Danforth hooked to 1170 feet of 1 1/4" chain. I bet that gets the job done!! Welcome aboard.
Steve

 

[Sailor of Fortune]

Hi John
This ground tackle is dependable. Usually we deploy 2.5 shots during the day (our lunch hook)
and 3 shots at night on this job. We are anchoring in 40' day/60' night. Yestarday it blew 30with gusts of 37kts. We dragged (3 shots). Heave/move re-anchor 4 shots down-good to go.
When it blows westerly here the barges can stay on station working. Wind but no swell. When the wind is easterly it builds a swell that slams the barges together and sets the equipment towards the wreck/cliff-NO GOOD. shots = 90'
Cool site -glad to be here.

Jack

 

[skipperdude]

Jack,
There is a Willard on ebay. 50' built for the Navy in the 60's Converted At sometime $33,000.00
Pretty cool hull.* Add says 50'Custom built Trawler. I always liked the Willards This ones a project boat of sorts. Looks like it is well underway. Just a bunch of cosmetics.

SD.

-- Edited by skipperdude on Thursday 17th of September 2009 09:44:35 AM

 

[Sailor of Fortune]

If that is the same boat as on yactworld ( in Charleston) , it is nice but it looks like I would have
to change some things. I also don't want a twin screw vsl. I love the various 50 conversions that I have seen. Fast Freds looks cool. The nice thing about them is you can get exactly what you want.
Jack

 

[skipperdude]

I think it is the same one. Blue And white. I think it would take a lot of work to make it nice.
The bones look good.
I just like the willards canoe stern. Never been aboard one they just look like they would handle the seas well. I guess they must if the Navy liked them.
SD