Lost Our Boat Due To A Bad Mooring Swivel...

[sailor_ed]

A couple of comments. First the loss of someone's boat and home is a sad thing no matter the circumstances and you have my deepest sympathy. It looks to have been a handsome vessel too.

Just last week a friend found his boat adrift after the same sort of swivel failure. The nut was simply gone and the threads were in good condition. His swivel had been inspected just a few weeks earlier. My takeaway is that welded nut swivels are not to be trusted. Maybe a Crosby but I don't have experience with them.

I have "rescued" a few boats that have gone adrift. I have reset their anchor in each case and and I was usually just thanked and presented with a bottle of wine. (Sadly I don't drink so my wife reaps all the rewards!) There was one time when I had to wake an owner and he did a bit of yelling until he began to understand the situation. Never gave me any thanks either. [emoji848] But I'm not sorry I alerted him.

My own boat dragged once when we weren't aboard. A gentleman tried to re-anchor us but finally just tied us up to his dock and later had us to dinner! A donation to a sailing program was made in return. They are now good friends.

I generally leave our boat with the key in the ignition in case someone finds it necessary but we usually do not leave our boat for more than a few hours or in insecure areas.

[hzcruiser]

I'm very sorry for your loss, guys!


I'm sure you've spent a lot of time thinking how that could've been prevented or at least had a different outcome.

There have been a few good suggestions already. However, if you're not on board and the wind picks up at night causing a hardware failure the only way I can think of notifying the neighbours (assuming there are any) would be an audible and visible alarm and strobe light connected to an anchor watch, set with enough slack to avoid false alarms.
WDYT?

[Maka]

Tragic !

[RaymondR]

I have a friend who provided mooring services in a river port whose moorings were of the conventional type with a number of metal components submerged at all times. The metals all corroded and in addition to having to pay for a diver to survey the moorings regularly however because the water was dirty this was generally a matter of feel rather than sight and consequently the inspection outcome not very reliable.

A flood destroyed most of the moorings so we grasped the opportunity to redesign them and rather than install eyes in the blocks onto which the riser lines would be shackled we cast poly tubes into the concrete blocks. Rather than chain a large synthetic rope was passed through the tube then through the swivel and the ends spliced making it an endless rope. The endless rope was made long enough to allow the swivel to be visually inspected at low tide.

I proposed that the endless rope be made long enough to allow the swivels to be pulled up close to the bow fitting of the boat using the mooring thereby keeping them out of the water and consequently less liable to corrosion and that the swivels be moved around the endless ropes so that the wear points were regularly relocated however this proved a design leap too far and the swivels spend most of their lives submerged and the moorings are still inspected by feel by a diver.

The point of this posting is that the reliability problem with moorings can be designed out of the system and not only a more reliable mooring designed but one cheaper to implement and maintain.

[hzcruiser]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

A flood destroyed most of the moorings so we grasped the opportunity to redesign them and rather than install eyes in the blocks onto which the riser lines would be shackled we cast poly tubes into the concrete blocks. Rather than chain a large synthetic rope was passed through the tube then through the swivel and the ends spliced making it an endless rope. The endless rope was made long enough to allow the swivel to be visually inspected at low tide.

That sounds interesting, do you have some photos? Not quite sure how it works: Surely the rope is not going through the concrete block and the tube and comes out at the side, being an endless line?

[mikedefieslife]

Originally Posted by Bambooboat

I'm sorry for your loss as well. It is the stuff we are all scared off. Many of us are here on this forum to learn about how to do things right and stay out of trouble. In this case it seems such a random, bad luck situation, but it does point out the weak links in the system to watch out for.

Your attitude to the loss and your young daughter's wisdom is admirable!

I do not wish to take the thread off topic but do have a question. I'f I were sitting in my boat at an anchorage and see an unattended boat drifting by, I would not want to just sit there and watch the drama unfold. So if I were to jump in my dinghy and board the boat and try to help, what situation would I be facing? What could a person do with no keys? No access to the power circuits? Limited time? Radio for more help? Try and drop the anchor? Tie up to the dinghy and tow? What if the efforts are unsuccessful and I end up on the beach with the boat? Might the owner feel inclined to sue my pants?

Maybe we have an opportunity here to mentally prepare for a similar situation here.

Often owners leave the engine keys in the ignition and leave their name telephone number in the cockpit.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by mikedefieslife

Often owners leave the engine keys in the ignition and leave their name telephone number in the cockpit.

Some friends of ours have their mobile phone number displayed at each of the boarding gates in the lifelines... just where a good Samaritan is likely to see it when coming to board to accomplish their good deed.

Seems a good idea with no down side.

Jim

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by Bambooboat

...If I were sitting in my boat at an anchorage and see an unattended boat drifting by, I would not want to just sit there and watch the drama unfold. So if I were to jump in my dinghy and board the boat and try to help, what situation would I be facing?

It depends on the situation. Assuming a quiet anchorage, and not a storm, you could probably use the dinghy as a tugboat, put the drifting boat on your hip (your stern well aft of their stern) and maneuver it to safety. Or toss a line around a forward cleat and tow it.

In a heavy squall once, I considered leaving my own mooring to assist a drifting boat, but the owner got control in time and I didn't have to make that decision. I was ready to slip my own mooring and toss him a tow line before he hit the rocks. Not much else I could have done.

As for boarding the boat and trying to motor it to safety, that would be farther down the list. Too many unknowns about where everything is and the start procedure. Some folks leave the fuel, or some breakers, off. Probably if the keys were there I'd give it a shot.

That said, I did board a drifting boat once to help steer, while the boat I was on towed it. I didn't have to start the engine, but was ready to give it a try if necessary.

[Tia Bu]

A lesson I draw is that highly experienced, prudent boaters sometimes lose boats for reasons that were unanticipated or beyond their control. (I think this story fits this conclusion.)


This is a reality that we all need to keep in our minds.

[unbusted67]

Originally Posted by NahanniV

Yes the boat would sometimes rotate around the non rotating block.
Twisting the bridals and the chain.
But maybe that's not really a problem ?

It's a lot bigger problem to lose your boat. lol. I've never had an issue with a mooring getting twisted up with a boat on it. It is waaaay more common for pennants and buoys to get hung down without a boat on a mooring and I don't find swivels make any difference in that case because it is is usually from wind vs current and pennant over riding the mooring ball.

[nortonscove]

We had a similar experience early July when the pin in the shackle of our mooring rusted and allowed the pin to back out. Fortunately due to the tendency of a pin not wanting to back out when under strain this didn't happen during the previous night when the wind reached 130 kilometres per hour. The pin actually slipped out when the wind was negligible and the boat came to rest on a flat rock in our cove. The hull never touched and the rudder seemed to have avoided contact as well. Next tide I motored off and to the nearest dock.

Your situation did not play out in the same manner it would seem. Hope you find another dance partner in the near future and are able to get back out there.

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by hzcruiser

That sounds interesting, do you have some photos? Not quite sure how it works: Surely the rope is not going through the concrete block and the tube and comes out at the side, being an endless line?

The 3" diameter tube was moulded into the concrete block when it was poured and both ends of the tube were tied together and both protrude from the top of the block together in the middle of the top. The rope was then threaded through the tube and also one eye of the swivel and the ends spliced together. So the now endless rope can be pulled through the tube for inspection if required which also shifts any wear points.

The rope used was about 1 1/2" diameter. The first set of blocks were installed in 2011 and there have been no failures to date although a number of the swivels have had to be replaced because of wear and corrosion.

[Sojourner]

I don't trust anything that isn't in my control (yes I'm a control freak, so say my loved ones) but sometimes it isn't an option to anchor, and I have to take a mooring. I've been musing about having some extra anchor chain available (or unshackling my main anchor for longer stays and using that), diving the mooring and attaching my own gear to it in addition to using the one that came with it. When the risk of failure is a destroyed boat (and home, complete with 3 kittens) it might be worth the peace of mind... ?

[hzcruiser]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

The 3" diameter tube was moulded into the concrete block when it was poured and both ends of the tube were tied together and both protrude from the top of the block together in the middle of the top. The rope was then threaded through the tube and also one eye of the swivel and the ends spliced together. So the now endless rope can be pulled through the tube for inspection if required which also shifts any wear points.

The rope used was about 1 1/2" diameter. The first set of blocks were installed in 2011 and there have been no failures to date although a number of the swivels have had to be replaced because of wear and corrosion.

Oh, I see, the tube was U-shaped then. That makes sense, thanks.

[Captain Parry]

A second anchor ?