Shoring up

So in my Canadian Navy Officer basic training, shoring up - covering holes in the bulkhead as water gushed in - was part and parcel of our education. So I got to thinking what if for whatever reason my boat was holed, what would I use to shore it up.

Then I thought maybe some here have already given that some thought and have supplies for this possible eventuality. So what do you have on your boat for damage control?

rsn48 said:

So in my Canadian Navy Officer basic training, shoring up - covering holes in the bulkhead as water gushed in - was part and parcel of our education. So I got to thinking what if for whatever reason my boat was holed, what would I use to shore it up.

Then I thought maybe some here have already given that some thought and have supplies for this possible eventuality. So what do you have on your boat for damage control?

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A life raft. If the pumps can't hold her I am not trying to patch her up.

Along the AICW it's not an issue, in most places, if I can't get her to a sling in time, after she sinks we will sit on the FB having a sody pop until Sea Tow arrives to secure the diesel and oil.

Off shore watch the water levels and if the pumps ain't doing it and I can't get to a beach to run her up on - then we are off on the raft with the EPIRBs.

She is insured and I am not going below into cramped spaces to plug holes.

Stay Afloat works well on small holes or even plugging an open seacock. Check the video on their web site:
Home

For big holes, a piece of reinforced canvas or a strong tarp will stop much of the flow. In the old days a fothering sail was stretched over the hole. Ashes or sawdust was forced under water to help plug the canvas.

Lepke said:

Stay Afloat works well on small holes or even plugging an open seacock. Check the video on their web site:
Home

For big holes, a piece of reinforced canvas or a strong tarp will stop much of the flow. In the old days a fothering sail was stretched over the hole. Ashes or sawdust was forced under water to help plug the canvas.

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You have those on board?

I've got a variety of gear for this, including the standard tapered plugs up to 3", various pieces of 1/4' plywood, 2x4's, foam balls, heavy tarp, sails, long screws. Can also use pillows, life jackets, raincoats etc.

Also, the highest risk areas of my hull are protected. The front of the bow is a closed chamber to above the water line. Same with the sides (integral water tanks). The full length keel and rolling chocks also provide good hull protection.

I don't feel the need for a life raft.

We carry a collision blanket on Sandpiper. It's a 10' X 12' HD plastic tarp with long lines tied to the corners. Just in case we're too far from shore.

Also have a 110 VAC emergency trash pump and hose.

I carry a bag of tapered plugs of various sizes (stored next to the hammer). And a couple of those big foam plugs. Beyond that, I don't usually have anything ready to go (but could improvise something from stuff on board), but I also don't run in areas where holing the hull is a big risk without a major navigation screwup.

Pump-wise, my current in-progress bilge pump redesign includes having enough real-world pump capacity to keep up with a failure of any single thru hull (including shaft logs) to provide time to do something about the issue.

I carry a toilet wax ring seal in the engine room. It’s amazing what that sticky wax can seal even when water is rushing in. It looks exactly like Lepke’s stay afloat.

menzies said:

A life raft. If the pumps can't hold her I am not trying to patch her up.

Along the AICW it's not an issue, in most places, if I can't get her to a sling in time, after she sinks we will sit on the FB having a sody pop until Sea Tow arrives to secure the diesel and oil.

Off shore watch the water levels and if the pumps ain't doing it and I can't get to a beach to run her up on - then we are off on the raft with the EPIRBs.

She is insured and I am not going below into cramped spaces to plug holes.

Click to expand...

REALLY??! You wouldn't try and save her (if it was safe to do so)? Insurance is all well and good but that's MY BABY. If I can SAFELY do something then I will.

menzies said:

You have those on board?

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One of the reasons I have a big boat is so I can carry stuff I might need. I have a fothering sail I made about 50 years ago that's been carried on all of my personal boats. I also carry a tub of Stay Afloat, wood plugs, emergency tiller, and so on. Along with engine spares.

South of Heaven said:

REALLY??! You wouldn't try and save her (if it was safe to do so)? Insurance is all well and good but that's MY BABY. If I can SAFELY do something then I will.

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I agree. Most trawlers have enough reserve buoyancy to stay afloat if pumps can keep up. If enough battery capacity located above the rising water can run long enough to get the boat ashore.

Anything stuffed into the hole to slow the flow of water coming in helps.

We carry a 13' tender when we boat in the summer and that could take us a long distance if we are forced to abandon ship. Highly unlikely since we've never been holed or aground in 35 years of trawlering.. We have driven over deadheads and logs but fortunately both trawlers owned was/is a single with a protected prop and the strikes nothing but a big Oh! Sh$# scare.

The rest of the year, travelifts are in close proximity to our cruising area in Puget Sound.

I know pretty much zero about the East Coast boating scene, geography, tidal currents, etc. But over here on the West Coast from roughly Anacortes Washington into deep Alaskan Panhandle, logs for whatever reason broken loose from log booms is a real issue. Trees, which are easier to see than dead heads, are also an issue especially after some nasty storms. One time I was headed to Refuge Cove in Desolation and ran into so many tree floating around the area, I took the cowardly way out and headed over to Squirrel's Cove to avoid any undesired intimate contact.

I've hit two deadheads on sailboats but they were going so slow, I just heard the log clunking along the hull. But all of us with express cruisers with decent speed fear hitting a deadhead.

This is from Safe Boating: "A deadhead is a log or heavy timber floating nearly vertical, with little of its bulk showing above the surface. Deadheads can present an extreme hazard to vessels and in tidal areas, deadheads can cause significant damage to marinas and the vessels moored within."

Logs in the water is an issue here in BC; the following is an article of Beachcombers in a dispute with the province over pay of harvesting said logs:

"Beachcombers fight B.C.'s control over log salvaging
ROBERT MATAS
VANCOUVER
PUBLISHED MARCH 24, 2000
UPDATED MARCH 27, 2018
PUBLISHED MARCH 24, 2000
This article was published more than 10 years ago. Some information in it may no longer be current.

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A group of British Columbia's beachcombers who want more money for the logs they collect along the West Coast has launched a lawsuit challenging the province's authority to regulate their business.

The Western Association of Salvors and Handloggers, represented by the Sierra Legal Defence Fund, claims in a document filed yesterday in B.C. Supreme Court that the federal government has exclusive authority to deal with the log-salvage operators.

The association maintains that beachcombers would be better off financially if the federal government, not the province, had jurisdiction over log salvage.

Although the B.C. government has not officially responded, a spokesman said the province is confident its jurisdiction will be upheld.

The provincial government became involved in the issue several years ago in an attempt to curtail repeated court actions between beachcombers and forest companies that accuse beachcombers of stealing their property.

Stuart Messenger, a manager in the B.C. Ministry of Forests, said finders of lost property do not own whatever they find. But if the owner of the logs cannot be identified, the finders can claim them.

He defended the province's constitutional right to regulate log salvagers, but acknowledged that the government is open to suggestions for a system of compensation that might work better.

"So far, we have not been able to find one," he said.

At the heart of the dispute is the value of cedar, hemlock and other logs that regularly wash up along the shore.

The province licensed a consortium of forest companies, Gulf Log Salvage Co-operative Association, to pay for logs that cannot be traced to their proper owners and to resell the wood."

South of Heaven said:

REALLY??! You wouldn't try and save her (if it was safe to do so)? Insurance is all well and good but that's MY BABY. If I can SAFELY do something then I will.

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Through hull hose, yep, close it. Punctured hull that the four bilge pumps can't keep up with, unless it is a very safe and easy solution, nope. If I feel not doing something would endanger us then I would try, but that is unlikely given other preparations.

Sonas isn't my baby (my wife says my mistress!), and there are other boats just like her.

I know everyone is different, but I won't be down there patching.

I'd like to hear from others who have had to patch due to more water coming in than the pumps could handle.

I felt pretty comfortable with my setup: 4 pumps with a total nominal capacity of 8500 GPH on a 40' boat.

However, when changing a depth transducer I realized a failure of even that single small fitting would overwhelm all my pumping capacity and sink the boat.

The math is pretty straightforward. Even assuming all 4 pumps work correctly my effective pump rate would probably be 4000-5000 GPH. The transducer fitting, a 2" hole located 2' below the waterline will admit about 6700 GPH.

Absent quickly acquiring more pumping capacity or stemming the flow, the boat is going to the bottom.

The math is pretty straightforward. Even assuming all 4 pumps work correctly my effective pump rate would probably be 4000-5000 GPH. The transducer fitting, a 2" hole located 2' below the waterline will admit about 6700 GPH.

Absent quickly acquiring more pumping capacity or stemming the flow, the boat is going to the bottom.

But the pumps will buy you time while Sea Tow or the like respond with their pumps.

I have:
Two Rule 3700 GPH bilge pumps
One Rule 2000 GPH bilge pump
One Jabsco 574 GPH diaphragm bilge pump

And for backup a 2000 GPH 115VAC Johnson utility trash pump

Total capacity is 11,400 GPH but realistically around 5,000 to 7,000 GPH

And the engine raw water pump as a last resort.

Interesting that folks are commenting on what pump volume they have rather than shoring tools and processes!

I have found flow rates from various pumps to be a bit of BS. The rating is accurate as long as the fluid doesn't have to go up hill, then the rating is bunk.

A lot of pumps publish output numbers at different head pressure, so it's possible to figure out what it'll really flow. For smaller centrifugal pumps, it's fairly safe to figure 40 - 50% of nameplate output. For larger centrifugal pumps, figure 50 - 60%.

Just thought I would highlight the original question.

rsn48 said:

So in my Canadian Navy Officer basic training, shoring up - covering holes in the bulkhead as water gushed in - was part and parcel of our education. So I got to thinking what if for whatever reason my boat was holed, what would I use to shore it up.

Then I thought maybe some here have already given that some thought and have supplies for this possible eventuality. So what do you have on your boat for damage control?

Click to expand...

A good friend of mine was coming around Rose Spit in the Charlottees. He was hit by a large wave, those one in a hundred or so that show up in storms. His bilge alarm sounded. He lift his hatch and found water pouring in. Did a May Day.

Though in Canada, the US coast guard was close by and their helicopter dropped a pump onto his deck within minutes. An example of the great work the US CG does.

He was in the wheel house starting the pump. A large self dumping log barge pulled up on his windward side to break the seas hoping to give him better working conditions. While trying to pump out the water, unknown to him, he drifted under the logs overhanging the deck of the log barge.

Suddenly his radar tower was driven through the top of his wheelhouse striking the floor beside him. It would have likely killed him if he had been over a foot or so. He panicked, grabbed his wallet and abandoned ship climbing his rigging them up onto the logs of the barge. Something that I though would be impossible but he was a strong guy full of Adrenalin.

Two week later warm and safe at home he was contacted by the Canadian Coast Guard. They wanted to know what he wanted done with his derelict boat as it was still drifting around Hecate Strait posing a navigation hazard. It re-enforces the adage of staging with your vessel until you must leave? Though I don't blame him for his escape I might have done the same?

I don't know how accurate this is but I read years ago that salvagers use old kapoc life jackets (outlawed around 1990) to stuff into large holes as they are a plant material that swells when wet, plugging the large holes. I carry one with many of the other items mentioned above. These old life jackets are still found in old boats, boathouse and cottages all over but no one uses them any more.

Also, for emergencies at the dock we have a powerful but small 120v sump pump with extension cord tucked away for quick deployment. Bought on sale to assist 12v pumps as sinking at the dock is a common occurrence. Can be used with generator on open water as well.

These are two items not mentioned previously.

Rod

The plans for Seabiscuit include repairing the few new holes in the watertight bulkheads that POs decided were needed and the removal of non-necessary through-hulls (one done last time the boat was out). I have a Jabso "water puppy", 12V, on a heavy electrical cable that can be lowered into any of the four compartments, and each compartment has a second emergency 2,000 gph Rule bilge pump, plumbed into the existing bilge lines (with a non return valve below the 'Y') which are operated from a separate four-switch panel at the helm position.

If there's water entry, the small bilge pumps with separate alarms show me which compartment is taking on water. I will manually operate the emergency second pump, and I can open that hatch and deploy the additional water puppy.

All commercial vessels have to have emergency dewatering systems here and any vessel I own will have this too.

Lepke said:

Stay Afloat works well on small holes or even plugging an open seacock. Check the video on their web site:
Home

Click to expand...

Or you could go to the plumbing store and buy a couple wax toilet bowl seals.

On a typical cruising trawler there are so many things to plug holes.


Sure they will not seal tight but all you are trying to do is reduce the inflow to less than your pumping capacity.


The trick is to think outside the box and think quick. If you can recall from memory real quick where all your pillow and cushions are and where locker covers, loose floorboards, other medium sized flat but strong objects are....you have a pretty good inventory of shoring and damage control materials.

I watched that Stay afloat video, that is amazing. What is that stuff? Was it created just for this or is it something that industry has used for a while and was adapted for this use? Looks like a putty, well, really, peanut butter that sticks and is not affected by water. I think I will pick some up as it seemed to work for split hoses as well.

Drawing on someone else's knowledge, I installed a T in my stbd engine raw-water intake hose and ran a hose - with an in-line shut-off valve - from the T down into my bilge. that way, if the boat is holed, I can shut off the normal intake, open the in-line valve and use the engine to help pump out the bilge. Fortunately, I've never had to use it, but a test seemed to work pretty well. I also zip-tied a piece of screen over the open end of the bilge hose.

Adopo said:

I watched that Stay afloat video, that is amazing. What is that stuff? Was it created just for this or is it something that industry has used for a while and was adapted for this use? Looks like a putty, well, really, peanut butter that sticks and is not affected by water. I think I will pick some up as it seemed to work for split hoses as well.

Click to expand...

I bet it is toilet seal ring material.

rsn48 said:

So what do you have on your boat for damage control?

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Tapered plugs in all sizes used on my boat.
Hammers and axes for pounding the plugs into holes.
cushions galore, sunbrella covers, along with about a mile of ropes, for fothering.
plywood shelves in the bilges. Can be used to cover blown out windows.
oversized fire extinguishers galore. 3 x 10 BC required. Mine are 4 x 40BC and 1 x 60 BC. and 1 x 10 BC in the dinghy.
3 x Rule 2000 pumps

Years ago, drifting logs were much more a reality than today. My logger BiL explained it this way: Stumpage was charged on wood delivered to the mill, so the forest giants wouldn't spend extra on delivery. They lost a few logs - no biggie. Then the Gov changed to charging stumpage at the log sort, so every lost log still cost stumpage.
Davis rafts and self dumping barges are the direct result of that simple change. For us, the total safety on the water improved dramatically. For the Beachcombers, most went out of business.

For those contemplating using their engines as a potential pumping resource(s)...be keen to have a great strainer on that secondary intake and realize that many smaller trawler engines really don't have much pumping capacity with the risk of overtemping an engine.