Nordhavn salvage

Anyone hear of the salvage of a Norhavn 40 + at Reedy Island on the Delaware river?

The maritime company I work part time for was working on a 40+ Nordhavn that went aground on Reedy Island in the Delaware River.
Supposedly during the salvage of getting it off the beach/rocks, a large ship went by, waked it enough to refloat it momentarily and the second wake swamped it and sank it.

I haven't discussed it with any higher ups, just one of the salvage boat captains...was wondering if anyone knew the owner or had more info....

Heard them on 13 asking for a slow bell but don't know if that was before or after.
Guess they hit one of the 4 major boat traps in that area.

High Wire said:

Heard them on 13 asking for a slow bell but don't know if that was before or after.
Guess they hit one of the 4 major boat traps in that area.

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I would hope that pilots have a morning brief sheet and the salvors notified the USCG that would pass along to the pilots association.

Being a fly on the wall for this one.

psneeld said:

I would hope that pilots have a morning brief sheet and the salvors notified the USCG that would pass along to the pilots association.

Being a fly on the wall for this one.

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I would guess that they do if it is known. Ships run on a "notice" program. IOW, a certain ship might require "10 minutes notice" in order to provide a slow bell. It takes them that long to slow down. If they are less than 10 minutes away when you tell them, it is too late. This is just what I have gleaned from a close friend who is a Houston Pilot.

It was a 47, and they appear to have hit the Reedy Island Dyke/jetty. I'll pass on more when/if I hear, but for now the owners have asked for some space while they deal with the situation, so I actually know very little.

For anyone planning to cruise through the Delaware River/C&D Canal area, (Chart 12311) here is a recap of the Big 4 in this thread Post #7.
http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s36/delaware-city-branch-canal-16514.html

That is all so well marked and plotted on the charts.

It will be interesting to hear what happened.

Sounds perfectly awful! And it's not at all difficult to find that jetty in awful ways. Easy to say, and true, that it's well charted and well marked. But take a hazy day... or night.

I learned to sail on my father's Flying Dutchman. We sailed out of a now-long-gone marina south of New Castle, DE, in the late '50's, early 60's. While bobbing around, becalmed, on the Delaware side of the jetty, which at half tide is partly visible and partly submerged, but at high tide is nearly completely submerged, we became aware of a power boat on the other side. He went north, then south and then north again. Finally, he saw us and drove over to us, asking, "Where's the jetty?" His face was something to see when we told him that he'd just crossed it.

yep, the 60s and 70 are full of a bit bewildered boater stories...


But a Nordhavn in 2016 .....in the thickest fog, driving rain, honking winds should be able to hug the outside margin of the Delaware River channel with no problem unless there was a problem....not just simple navigation error.

Not to hijack this thread....but I have a related question...if a Nordhavn were to be swamped and sank ...say flooding the salon and everything below with sea water...is that salvageable/fixable to a reliable enough state for continued ocean crossings or to avoid mold production etc?

If the mods determine this question should be moved I will happily oblige a start another thread..

Thanks in advance
Ch

Ch

anything is fixable....just how much?


How much to fix ?????.....not as good, OEM, or make it even better....


Buying it and fixing it so YOU trust it is one thing...selling it to someone else may be a trick.

The owner just posted this to the NordhavnDreamers Yahoo list which is a public forum so I don't mind repeating it here. By all indications it was a simple navigation mistake/oversight, and a sobering and tragic reminder how easy it is to overlook something, and how disastrous the results can be. We all make mistakes, and usually get away with it. But not this time...

====
It was our boat (N4748, Ghost Rider).

The event occurred last week, Monday, 08-Aug @ 1700 local time. Struck a submerged rock jetty just south of Reedy Island. Fought for about 16 hours to save her, but without success….she went down around 0900 the next morning after she was dislodged from the jetty by large wakes (big shipping lane nearby.) The hull survived the initial impact intact, but as the tide receded and she got rocked by large-ship wakes, eventually the strain was too much. Nobody seriously injured. She wasn’t raised until yesterday, was hauled out this morning. We spent all day today slogging through an amazing amount of mud trying to retrieve & clean what we can, will be doing same tomorrow at a minimum.

Eventually will post a full accounting for all to absorb with all the painful details. For now, however, we request some quiet and some space to deal with the aftermath. Thanks in advance for that.



Rick & Michelle Riordan

N4748 / Ghost Rider

Currently Salvaging in Leesburg, NJ

Home

I was thinking of this particular boat.....Plumbing failure sinks $4.5 million yacht in its slip | Soundings Online



Its supposedly done 20k cruising miles from Vancouver to Florida since being repaired.. and is now for sale....wondering if it would EVER really be reliable for a safe ocean crossing as I know little about salt water damage besides rusting or salt crusting (like on a fishtank). Does mold even grow in a saltwater environment?

Ch

@Twisted tree..thats very sad....glad no one was harmed in the accident

Ch

I know of two Nordhavn's that have gone down and subsequently returned to service.

One is AdWorld, a 56 motor sailor which was dropped when unloading from the delivery ship. It was totaled by the insurance company, and an enterprising Austrailian bought it and brought it back to life. The repair work was extensive, but I don't think he paid much of anything for it initially. It is in regular use in Mexico currently.

The other is one of the 75EYFs. After a faulty local repair in Mexico, it sank at the dock. I don't know if it was totaled by insurance, but someone somewhere, somehow brought it back to service and I believe it's cruising the east coast currently.

Very humbling. And a humbling account! It will be interesting to see what happened. Accidents usually are never just one mistake...but a chain of mistakes. Much respect for these owners to post up and even sign their names claiming it! I hope the best for all involved and glad no one was injured.

Baker said:

Very humbling. And a humbling account! It will be interesting to see what happened. Accidents usually are never just one mistake...but a chain of mistakes. Much respect for these owners to post up and even sign their names claiming it! I hope the best for all involved and glad no one was injured.

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+1

And the Nordhavn 40 that sunk up in Alaska,was recovered,rebuilt and is back cruising.

Reveille said:

And the Nordhavn 40 that sunk up in Alaska,was recovered,rebuilt and is back cruising.

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Ah, good point. I forgot about that one. And it even carries my name, so I should have remembered

@twistedtree...the pic I linked was that 75eyf...Melanie Jeanne I think the name was....now called Sockeye Blue and is currently in Florida though looking for its 4th owner since 2009 it seems.... :-(

Ch

Where it sank is heavily marsh silt laden saltwater. I would bet money the smell will never be completely gone.

"..is that salvageable/fixable to a reliable enough state for continued ocean crossings or to avoid mold production etc?"

The real question is was she holed? And how large is the hole?

If modest it would be wise to have the hull surveyed for cracking /delaminiation..

A cracked hull perhaps would be fine to fix ,as a Gin Palace, but NOT for ocean service.

Sunk engines are no problem , if not with electrical injection , where the parts get expensive too fast.

Stench can be removed with an Ozone machine , just like a used car dealer does it.

FF said:

"..is that salvageable/fixable to a reliable enough state for continued ocean crossings or to avoid mold production etc?"

The real question is was she holed? And how large is the hole?

If modest it would be wise to have the hull surveyed for cracking /delaminiation..

A cracked hull perhaps would be fine to fix ,as a Gin Palace, but NOT for ocean service.

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A cracked hull can be repaired properly with no loss of serviceability.

DHeckrotte said:

Sounds perfectly awful! And it's not at all difficult to find that jetty in awful ways. Easy to say, and true, that it's well charted and well marked. But take a hazy day... or night.

I learned to sail on my father's Flying Dutchman. We sailed out of a now-long-gone marina south of New Castle, DE, in the late '50's, early 60's. While bobbing around, becalmed, on the Delaware side of the jetty, which at half tide is partly visible and partly submerged, but at high tide is nearly completely submerged, we became aware of a power boat on the other side. He went north, then south and then north again. Finally, he saw us and drove over to us, asking, "Where's the jetty?" His face was something to see when we told him that he'd just crossed it.

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This ain't the 50s or 60s anymore. And I bet that wasn't a boat running with just a paper chart, a pair of binoculars and a compass.

Which would just reinforces the fact that no matter how many electronic aids you have, $hit can still go bad.

"A cracked hull can be repaired properly with no loss of serviceability."

Perhaps,

I have been reading Pro Boat Builder for over a decade and have yet to see a method/system.

There have been "repairs" of very poorly constructed expensive boats , but not yet a cracked egg repair.

Why not build a hull of Kevlar instead of fiberglass.
Kevlar will not crack open. It might shred somewhat.

Kevlar is harder to wet out and likely costs more.

http://www.dupont.com/products-and-.../fibers/uses-and-applications/composites.html

Capt.Bill11 said:

A cracked hull can be repaired properly with no loss of serviceability.

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...much more worried about systems than hull.

FF said:

"A cracked hull can be repaired properly with no loss of serviceability."

Perhaps,

I have been reading Pro Boat Builder for over a decade and have yet to see a method/system.

There have been "repairs" of very poorly constructed expensive boats , but not yet a cracked egg repair.

Click to expand...

Last year the 109' a good friend on mine runs was cracked do to poor blocking (and construction IMO) and was repaired, re-insured for full service and is out there running around now with no issues.

And when I say "cracked", I mean you could see daylight through the cracks. And they were not small ones either.

In a way it's not unlike the work that is done when they cut the bottom out of a boat to drop out the old and reinstall new tanks.

I seem to recall a Bayliner 4788 for sale up in BC that had two new engines, the entire electrical system redone, completely new carpet, upholstery etc....

The boat had sunk at the dock iirc. The repowered it with two small engines (Yanmars?) that would drive it only at displacement speeds. Not sure if it ever sold or not.

N40

twistedtree said:

I know of two Nordhavn's that have gone down and subsequently returned to service.

One is AdWorld, a 56 motor sailor which was dropped when unloading from the delivery ship. It was totaled by the insurance company, and an enterprising Austrailian bought it and brought it back to life. The repair work was extensive, but I don't think he paid much of anything for it initially. It is in regular use in Mexico currently.

The other is one of the 75EYFs. After a faulty local repair in Mexico, it sank at the dock. I don't know if it was totaled by insurance, but someone somewhere, somehow brought it back to service and I believe it's cruising the east coast currently.

Click to expand...

There I also a N40 in the PNW that was caught on the rough when the tide went out and basically got filled fill with salt water when the tide came back in. I don't recall the details but the boat was refurbished and sold at least one time and was recently for sale again.

John