Worst Case Scenario: Hitting A Sunken Container - What To Do!??

[Travelnik]

NOMN,

The best thing to do is pre-plan and have your boat ready. Separate every storage compartment from the others, and make them all water-tight.
Hopefully, they all have top access, and the tops are above the waterline. That makes the job easier.

Once you do that, and have enough stuff in the storage areas, there will be very little space for the water to fill.

Keep a supply of scrap wood, or other patching materials, and some emergency patching epoxy.

If the hole is on the side, you can try to heel the boat by using all the weight of your ground tackle on the opposite side, and connecting it to a halyard. Raise the halyard, and the weight of the anchors and chain may have enough leverage to heel the boat enough to get the hole above water so that you can stop the flow, pump out, and patch.

This whole thing is easier on our small boats, and with some good pre-planning, you should be able to make the watertight compartments and prepare your boat pretty easily.

[builder dan]

in a well built steel boat unless you hit something sharp the chances of holing her would be minimal.If the dent bothers you fill it with bog.If a hole occurs it wont be very big and should be easily plugged.safest boats on the ocean tin ones.

[markpierce]

Originally Posted by NOMN

I just watched this scary video here.

Apparantly, the guy's boat sank.

He hit a sunken shipping container.

That is MY WORST fear singlehanding, especially at night when making a 20 day ocean passage in the middle of the blue pacific

Get/have a stronger boat.

[Capt Rottnest]

If your boats not steel, put in a collision bulkhead.
Also a good smaller boat is tougher to crack, since they sail slower and tend to roll with the sea instead of fight it (like a big boat does).

I tend to notice its the bigger boat that go missing too, but maybe thats because there's more of those that cross oceans, not sure.

[conachair]

Originally Posted by NOMN

I
My question is: What would YOU do if this happened immediately, is there ANY WAY to repair it so the boat won't go down?!!

I might wake up and probably would feel very glad that the hull is steel

When researching a boat to buy I heard of 4 Atlantic whale collisions in a season, 2 sank, 1 limped into bermuda and a sistership of the one i bought left an irate surprised mammal but not a scratch on the hull. 3am alone 1000 miles offshore you aren't so bothered about a bit extra maintenance now and again

[Bluewaters2812]

All is not necessarily lost. Maybe have a look at this video from Yachting Monthly:

Yachting Monthly's Crash Test Boat is holed Part 1 - YouTube

Its has 2 parts.

[Dulcesuenos]

Most monos are so slow that if they hit something theres really not much damage,,, ;0)

[Bluewaters2812]

Originally Posted by Dulcesuenos

Most monos are so slow that if they hit something theres really not much damage,,, ;0)

Really! I'm sure that's tongue in cheek? Try 12 or more tons moving at 6-8 knots. Rocks tend not to give way as well (not sure how I figured that out though ).

Oh yes, and try telling that to a good friend of mine who hit rocks in Hawaii on a slow approach at dusk (with an older, slower yacht). Sadly he lost his boat very quickly.

[Daydreambeliver]

Hey just a quick question. While a collision bulkhead may significantly help when holed on the bow, what are the odds/ has anyone heard of containers sliding under the hull and ripping off a fin keel? I can imagine the weight and blunt force of hitting a container could rip keel bolts out of a hull.

[LakeSuperior]

Originally Posted by stevensuf

Im sitting in the azores just now, 5 boats are missing with no news at all so far this year, crossing from the carib/bermuda, i would say rapid sinkings occur far more often than many think. keep a plb in someones pocket at all times, lifejackets in a known position, liferaft somewhere fairly easy to launch but not easy to lose.

If there are no survivors the stories never get told, no books are written, no reminders of the drama at sea, and generally not much notice by the sailing community. They are voyages into obscurity. It would be informative to know what the real risk of crossing oceans is.

On our two crossing of the Atlantic we had an old sail we cut up, sewed, added grommets and rigged with lines so we could slide it over a hole in the forward hull.

Halfway between the Canaries and Antigua we scraped alone a whale that seemed to be 50% longer than our 44 foot Mason (engineer and physicist estimating length) That event happened so quickly that no one could do anything but observe including the helmsman as we helmed both crossings 24 hours/day. Everyone's first thought was that this guy is so big I hope we didn't piss him off.

[cheoah]

Originally Posted by cruise

In 1979 my boat was owned by a Dr David Lewis and was sailed to Antarctica for a scientific expedition, on the way home she hit an iceberg and was holed the hole was about the size of a soccer ball, while most of the crew were throwing things overboard to try and keep her afloat one crew member grabbed a pillowcase and some cement and was able to patch up the hole and limp home it was quite an interesting story as only one crew actually brought a pillowcase with them.

David Lewis of Ice Bird? Talk about balls..... So your boat was/is Solo?

They don't make doctors like that anymore! Except for Newt....and Astrid, and the rest of you Docs That guy was pretty rugged, and singlehanded to Antarctica.

NOMN, there is a lot of risk in taking a small boat offshore into the PAcific. Beyond luck, good planning and preparation will help, but it is a lot to undertake as a new voyager. Buy and EIPRB for the ship, that is attached in the cockpit and will automatically power up if it is submerged. Also make sure you have a PLB and strobe attached to your lifejacket, and consider a Gumby suit and life raft for the cold water. Have your ditch bag ready, practice putting on the suit, and read some of the survival books. I have zero experience with forward scanning sonar, but perhaps that, along with these other items will buy you some peace of mind for events that likely will not transpire.

Many boats have been lost, yes, but that's a little out of context. Many more reach their destination. Sure 'nuff though, I'd seriously consider more local cruising to develop your skills. There is so much that can't be learned on a forum or in a book, but require hundreds of hours of experience in a range of conditions. I think if you rush to hastily into your adventure you are inviting failure, and not from a container.

[scoobert]

nurf football. cram it in the hole. let the 4000GPH pump that every blue water boat should have X 2 take care of the rest.

[Capt Rottnest]

Originally Posted by haiqu

Containers have a dissolvable plug that ensures they sink within a month, as a safety precaution against such occurrences. The likelihood of this happening is therefore astronomically low.

But the scary ones are loaded with electronics, packed in all that styrofoam. An empty 40' container weighs 4,000kg with 67cu.m volume. So only needs less than 10% of that volume in styrofoam to float it.

I wonder how many years they can float for..

[scoobert]

Originally Posted by Capt Rottnest

But the scary ones are loaded with electronics, packed in all that styrofoam. An empty 40' container weighs 4,000kg with 67cu.m volume. So only needs less than 10% of that volume in styrofoam to float it.

I wonder how many years they can float for..

i think saltwater eats polystyrene.

and do not forget the weight of the contents.

[Rakuflames]

I'm going to ask again -- what's the state of flotsam in the Pacific from the tsunamai in Japan?