ICW vigilance!

This barge was holed by a floating log, about 40 foot in length, yesterday at MM 118 West of Harvey lock.

If this is what a log can do to a 6 mph steel barge, I shudder to think what it could do to a fiberglass hull, travelling at....well more than 6 mph.

We saw and avoided the log two miles further west and updated the original securite call, which you could hear being further updated as it was spotted travelling down the ICW.

It is so easy to get 'comfortable' when in the ICW. This is one of the reasons why you have to stay vigilant.

Must have been a rotten barge. My barge has a rake on the front and rear which I would think should keep that kind of impact from holing her.

Actually barges get punctured all the time. Our one time on the TN river years ago we got held up for hours at a lock as there was a leaking barge that needed to lock through and the tow was racing to get it to the yard at Hales Bar.

There are a lot of old barges out there in bad condition.

Now, the point is still valid to be vigilant. Keep your eyes on the road.

During the last few months there has been lots river and bayou flooding,so more debris than usual floating or semi submerged, Stay safe!

Holy crap!

I have a trip scheduled this Saturday with my Dad, coming up to Galveston from Rockport, and I do worry about big logs floating around. We have had lots of flooding around here, and the debris does get especially bad around the Colorado river area.

This is one of my new fears. Our last boat went 8 mph. This one goes 20+. Avoiding and/or hitting something has become more of an issue that I now I need to deal with.

Tom.B said:

This is one of my new fears. Our last boat went 8 mph. This one goes 20+. Avoiding and/or hitting something has become more of an issue that I now I need to deal with.

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I'm picking up exactly what you're laying down Tom. We sold Bliss but not before hitting no less than 4 submerged objects in the middle of our local shipping channel. Never damaged anything but the butt pucker factor drove me nuts. Especially since we never could identify let alone avoid whatever debris it was.

Don't these new fancy chart plotters (Simrad forward scan?) have forward view/side view capabilities ? Would they work for such detection ?

Hit a log on the Hudson last summer at 16nmph - $3,000. Two days later hit one in the Erie Canal at 12nmph - $2,000. Life in the fast lane.

roguewave said:

Don't these new fancy chart plotters (Simrad forward scan?) have forward view/side view capabilities ? Would they work for such detection ?

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No, not really. Unless maybe you were going very slowly.

Capt.Bill11 said:

No, not really. Unless maybe you were going very slowly.

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Seems like an opportunity for the Manufactures

Capt.Bill11 said:

No, not really. Unless maybe you were going very slowly.

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Right. Almost impossible to distinguish between surface chop and surface debris.

On the ICW recently I had to cross a river that was in flood stage. I was waiting for a barge to come through the locks in the other direction, and when it finally made it through the tow captain saw me sitting there waiting and radioed over to me. He said there were large trees coming down the river and I should be careful to not let one hit me broadside. ?

I went from nervous to freaking out, and contemplated turning around. I finally went on through, and while there was lots of debris coming down the river we didn't see any big trees. I wonder what a tree would do to my hull if it hit directly broadside? I think the lock master said the river current was flowing like 4-5 knots.

Coat the hull with Dragon shield Polyurea, can withstand IED, explosions, bombs also makes it impervious to gun fire, 2:18 minute mark on video, pretty amazing really. So then a log wont penetrate either. And it is a water impervious barrier, so a steel hull wont rust and FG hull wont get wet from water on the outside making blisters, if blisters form from outside water getting in so money spent on epoxy barrier coats is not needed..

What I imagine, your hull may crack, but not be punctured, so you will not take on water and sink. The rifle bullets did not penetrate the coating on a steel drum.

There are licensed applicators for this product. On boatdesign.net forum, exists one.
I find it quite interesting stuff like this exists now.

Interesting idea. Spray the inside of the hull. It would take hitting a deadhead or a hard grounding.

dhays said:

Interesting idea. Spray the inside of the hull. It would take hitting a deadhead or a hard grounding.

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You could spray the inside, but would be easier to spray the outside, maybe can spray both.
As you can see , this stuff really works, it is also very abrasion resistant, grounding wont do much to it. There are many different spray polyurea videos on youtube. This stuff also can cure fast even in seconds.

sdowney717 said:

You could spray the inside, but would be easier to spray the outside, maybe can spray both.
As you can see , this stuff really works, it is also very abrasion resistant, grounding wont do much to it. There are many different spray polyurea videos on youtube. This stuff also can cure fast even in seconds.

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It likely is not as hard, nor as smooth as gelcoat. Boats need anti-fouling paint, which needs to be removed and reapplied periodically. Not sure this stuff would handle that over years.

The picture of the barge shown was raked. It is a loaded red flagged barge and it looks like the hole was in the rake. No product leaking out. Only one 3" pump going so it probably isn't too bad, a few shingles should do the trick. Looks like the crew is on top of it. The only problem that i see is the crew is using a gasoline powered pump on a red flag barge, not a good idea. I would have used an air diaphram pump.

CPseudonym said:

We sold Bliss but not before hitting no less than 4 submerged objects in the middle of our local shipping channel. .

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Wait, what? You are boat-less?

(sorry not hijacking)

roguewave said:

Seems like an opportunity for the Manufactures

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My guess is it's either technologically impractical or it's just not cost effective on a consumer level.

dhays said:

It likely is not as hard, nor as smooth as gelcoat. Boats need anti-fouling paint, which needs to be removed and reapplied periodically. Not sure this stuff would handle that over years.

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An entire power boat built from paper, cardboard and polyurea.

sdowney717 said:

An entire power boat built from paper, cardboard and polyurea.

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Fun project, not sure you will see the boat being used in 5 years however.