Problem near Port Townsend?

Came across this elsewhere online. This is all I've been able to find out about it.

Thoughts and prayers to the owners of this nice looking trawler, currently dealing with sinking just off Point Hudson in Port Townsend

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marinetraffic and fleetmon don't show AIS for anything other than an 'EJFR SAR' vessel in the area. Which I'm assuming means East Jefferson Fire and Rescue.

Wow that sucks. My guess is he was sinking and tried to beach her?

Heartbreaking - what a beautiful boat.


https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/couple-dog-rescued-from-sinking-boat-in-port-townsend-bay/


PORT TOWNSEND — Three people and their dog were rescued from their boat sinking in Port Townsend Bay on Thursday. No one was hurt.

As of 2 p.m., the boat continued to sink just off the east side of Point Hudson, with the U.S. Coast Guard taking over the scene at about 1:15 p.m.

The Port Townsend Police Department, East Jefferson Fire and Rescue, and the Coast Guard answered a call for help at call at about 12:35 p.m. Thursday.

The call came from the three passengers on board, who were out in the Port Townsend Bay as their 49-foot wood hull boat began taking on water following a loss of power.

Initially, EJFR was going to take the boat to the haul-out at Point Hudson, but it was determined that it was too big for the haul out to manage, and rescuers decided it would be brought close to shore. At this time, it is unknown what caused the ship to lose power and take on water.

Anyone else thinking that the order of events was likely taking on water and then losing power, vs the other way around?

Unless they were relying on bilge pumps and lost DC "power"? But your idea sounds more likely. It's not hard to imagine some confusion on board (and then there is the chain of communication to the article).

The boat looks neat as a pin.

Frosty said:

Unless they were relying on bilge pumps and lost DC "power"? But your idea sounds more likely. It's not hard to imagine some confusion on board (and then there is the chain of communication to the article).

The boat looks neat as a pin.

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Yeah, photos can often make a boat look better, that boat looks great. I suppose it could have just come from some refitting work at the PT boat yard....

dhays said:

Anyone else thinking that the order of events was likely taking on water and then losing power, vs the other way around?

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Yes .....but exact timing of which is worse is not easy to determine by the average boater.


some boaters drive around with hulls full of water and don't notice it....sometimes the engine is pumping the boat full of water....overheats and seizes....then the boat continues to fill with the clueless boater standing by.


ya never know till a bit of investigation.

First question through my mind is what first alerted them to the flooding? Having swum in the bilge of a flooding 60-foot Chris Craft (NOT mine) looking for (and thankfully finding and stopping the source of water), I am maybe a bit more aware than most of the sense of panic and doom which must be suppressed to save the boat in such a situation. My boats always have bilge alarms at the helm loud enough to be heard in the sleeping quarters.

rgano said:

First question through my mind is what first alerted them to the flooding? Having swum in the bilge of a flooding 60-foot Chris Craft (NOT mine) looking for (and thankfully finding and stopping the source of water), I am maybe a bit more aware than most of the sense of panic and doom which must be suppressed to save the boat in such a situation. My boats always have bilge alarms at the helm loud enough to be heard in the sleeping quarters.

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We are offshore fairly often so finding and securing a leak is one of the things I think about. I have the usual assortment of stuff to deal with it including plugs. Rescue Tape saved our A$& on a previous boat when we were 30 miles out, but that was a different story and we were never in danger of sinking. Curious to hear how you located the source of flooding, and what you did to secure it if you don’t mind sharing.

One of my Employees who is also a firefighter was a responded to the incident, said the dewatering pump they put aboard could not keep up with the water ingress so the decision was to beach it, most of our bay is 80' or so deep so its easier to deal with on the beach. Looks like a well kept Alaskan 49



Carl on Delfin was a near the scene he may chime in with details..


HOLLYWOOD

Sprung plank?

Fletcher500 said:

Curious to hear how you located the source of flooding, and what you did to secure it if you don’t mind sharing.

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The whole story of that delivery 31 years ago could flesh out a small book, but suffice it to say, after the desertion of the owner and his two relatives after a rough night rounding Point Conception, I was left alone aboard in Morro Bay with the final destination of San Francisco. With seas moderating a day later, I set off and ended up calling the Coast Guard as the big Detroits began to show signs of clogging filters - too rough to attempt replacing them (no switchable filters here). The USCG suggested a cove 20-30 miles south of Monterey, and in a couple hours I was safely anchored and able to go below where I discovered the water up to the top of the engine stringers with four wonky Par diaphragm bilge pumps (the one with the belt-driven pump) all lined up on a mounting board spinning away pumping nothing. Every one of them had a mechanical problem ranging from stripped set screws on the gears to broken belts lying alongside the pump. Float switches in the various remote compartments serviced had activated them, and maybe they had pumped for a bit early on. Being at anchor with the engines secured made for a quiet and calm engine room, but the leak was not there. I ending up in the forward bilge on my knees up to my neck in water approaching the deck over my head when I saw an up-welling on the surface of the water. My hand found the half-inch diameter aluminum pipe supplying the water maker coming up from the keel (aluminum hull) gushing water. The water maker was mounted to a board which oddly was not secured, and the rough seas which had stirred the gunk up in the fuel tanks causing the clogging of filters in turn causing me to turn into the cover had shaken the water maker around until it broke the supply pipe which by the way had no seacock valve. A rag and a screw driver stopped the leak, but I still had no operable bilge pump; so I reached up over my head and yanked the hose loose from the forward shower pan drain, stuck it into the water and turned on the shower drain pump from inside the shower stall. It took a few hours, but I had a dry bilge before bedtime. This epic included the 13-foot Boston Whaler dink breaking free on the upper deck and swinging around at the end of its crane in 14-foot seas; the swim platform coming loose under my feet as I rescued the dink; a fire breaking out on the stove while underway one night; and the hydraulic steering gong mushy causing me to ending sliding under the Golden Gate sort of sideways. Deliveries can be so much fun. The boat was left safely moored to a pier in San Fran with the dink in place on top in its cradle and the swim step lashed along side it ready for a the repair gang to reattach it and sort out the steering and correct the water maker issues.

dhays said:

Yeah, photos can often make a boat look better, that boat looks great. I suppose it could have just come from some refitting work at the PT boat yard....

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Probably on test runs? The mast and the boat deck do not look fully commissioned yet

rgano said:

...yanked the hose loose from the forward shower pan drain, stuck it into the water and turned on the shower drain pump from inside the shower stall. It took a few hours, but I had a dry bilge before bedtime.

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Any pump is a good pump if it's working.

Quite a story, rgano. Thanks for typing it up for us.

AZ2Loop said:

Quite a story, rgano. Thanks for typing it up for us.

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Yes it was. Well done Rgano.

Northern Spy said:

Sprung plank?

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It's a fiberglass boat. If you click and enlarge the image, you'll see the plank grooves are cosmetic. They are in the fiberglass/gelcoat and they all terminate several inches before reaching the bow. There is no vertical seem along the bow to indicate it's a wooden boat.

Shrew said:

It's a fiberglass boat. If you click and enlarge the image, you'll see the plank grooves are cosmetic. They are in the fiberglass/gelcoat and they all terminate several inches before reaching the bow. There is no vertical seem along the bow to indicate it's a wooden boat.

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Just going off what the news article says:

"The call came from the three passengers on board, who were out in the Port Townsend Bay as their 49-foot wood hull boat began taking on water following a loss of power."

Noted elsewhere:

"Fresh launch after being on the hard for awhile. Filled 600gal of fuel shortly after launch, raising the water line to less swollen planks, bilge pump broke, down she went."

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wkearney99 said:

Any pump is a good pump if it's working.

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Ever since, I refuse to go anywhere in a vessel without bilge alarm(s) at the conn.

rgano said:

This epic included the 13-foot Boston Whaler dink breaking free on the upper deck and swinging around at the end of its crane in 14-foot seas; the swim platform coming loose under my feet as I rescued the dink; a fire breaking out on the stove while underway one night; and the hydraulic steering gong mushy causing me to ending sliding under the Golden Gate sort of sideways. Deliveries can be so much fun.

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Dang, Rich, sounds like just another fun day on the water!

That story shows how important it is to keep your wits about you when the feathers hit the fan. Nice recovery from a bad situation!

If this indeed was a wooden boat fresh launch related incident the sprung plank concept may well enter into the causation. Simple swelling inflow should not sink a well found wooden vessel.

A long time ago before I Was even 20 I worked in a NY boat yard where boats were hauled for the winter. Not too many FRP boats were around then. In the spring during launch a major effort ensued especially to insure bilge pumps were operable and capable for the inevitable water inflow during the swelling period.

As the years went on and I started owning wooden boats those lessons learned came into play more than once.

GFC said:

Dang, Rich, sounds like just another fun day on the water!

That story shows how important it is to keep your wits about you when the feathers hit the fan. Nice recovery from a bad situation!

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Being more witless as the years slide by, I have tried to avoid the need for them in such madness as all that was that day by employing common sense and good engineering practices and the best boat-keeping practices I can muster up, much of it gleaned here. Navy training taught me to be thinking about the worst case scenarios and to never give up the idea that the ship can be saved, which if you are not careful in a non-combat role, can play against your own best interests.

If he had a fast flow bilge pump on his engine(s) and as long as the engines ran, he would still be on the surface rather than on the shore.
https://www.fastflowpump.com/bilge-pump

stubones99 said:

If he had a fast flow bilge pump on his engine(s) and as long as the engines ran, he would still be on the surface rather than on the shore.
https://www.fastflowpump.com/bilge-pump

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I'd really like to see an affinity curve for that pump.

sunchaser said:

Simple swelling inflow should not sink a well found wooden vessel.

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If the pump broke after it was on the hard for a while? Oh yes it could.

Grew up with/on wooden boats. After launch you went over to a slip and tied it up with pumps and extension cords at the ready and you watched for at least 24 hours.

Our yard used to have a coffee can on a long pole. You fill the can up with sawdust, put it in the water upside down under the leaky planks and then turn the can up so the sawdust helps fill the seams.

If, in fact, that is a wooden boat it is very well taken care of. Almost any boat which is submerged is a total loss. Somebody is hurting right now.

Most wooden boats, Chris Craft for example were double planked. Sure they leaked when they were launched but is was nothing a battery bilge pump couldn't handle, they didn't even have to run all that much, a few times an hour. Single planked hulls, Pacemaker for example, were different. They needed an electric sump pump or a high flow boat pump or a combination of the two. They would leak and pump for about 24 to 36 hours and then the pumps would stop. From that point on, leakage was very minor.

A Pacemaker which was on the hard all winter would show daylight through the planks. Pacemaker warned against caulking, battening or any type of chinking. They were designed to swell and leak. Caulking would cause broken boards and ribs.

We used to tease a friend with a Pacemaker, thanking him for filtering the bay water through his boat.

pete

I received some pictures and information on what transpired. Suffice to say the very nice wood vessel began taking on water following a launch. Yes, the skipper decided to beach it. Since it was close to shore a tow truck was brought in. The tow truck affixed a cable to the anchor chain and started pulling. The stem was disengaged from the rest of the hull and water poured in.

rgano said:

Being more witless as the years slide by, I have tried to avoid the need for them in such madness as all that was that day by employing common sense and good engineering practices and the best boat-keeping practices I can muster up, much of it gleaned here. Navy training taught me to be thinking about the worst case scenarios and to never give up the idea that the ship can be saved, which if you are not careful in a non-combat role, can play against your own best interests.

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I’ve been diving since I was 16 in the late’60’s before anyone had heard of PADI (or proper BC’s!). We used to say that a sufficiently advanced diver will use his advanced skills to stay out of situations requiring advanced skills! Sounds like you have that base covered rgano. Great story, thank you.

Tak