Cat City - Home of Broken Dreams

[leftbrainstuff]

I assume you have done this before?

[svGenesis]

If that is the leopard 42, I think you need to re-think your cost's

[Mike Banks]

Not with a cat. Mono and tri--that is about it. Without epoxy it would not be worth doing.

I left out another detail that might be important earlier. When towing, if the engines are in a part of the hull that is undamaged, lash the helm amidships and tow her stern first. That means one does not have to tow any part of the engine mass through a repair patch.


My late pater was a master mariner who did salvage work--mostly large ships though, and once an oil rig. The principles are the same regardless of size--if it is a major repair in a remote location, patch and tow to a safe place.

[alansmith]

Heh, Mike Banks... thanks for posting that up. Interesting idea.

[contrail]

Originally Posted by svGenesis

If that is the leopard 42, I think you need to re-think your cost's

I believe the OP said the vessel in question is 45 feet long.

[contrail]

Originally Posted by svGenesis

If that is the leopard 42, I think you need to re-think your cost's

I believe the OP said the vessel in question is 45 feet long. If I had to guess, and if I was correct in my deduction that the BVI is the location, I would think it might be a Lagoon 450, of which there are a considerable number lying around, here. But, that's just a guess. Perhaps the OP will share.....

[contrail]

Originally Posted by svGenesis

If that is the leopard 42, I think you need to re-think your cost's

The OP said the boat was 45 feet long, not 42. If my deduction that the location is the BVI is correct, I would guess that we are talking about a Lagoon 450, of which there are quite a few strewn around in various states of damage.

But, that's just a guess, unless the OP decides to share.....

[Dave_S]

I like the idea, some of the best memories come from an adventure. I'd make a seriously low offer, after all it's probably off to the dump if you don't. I'd bodgy it up with ply and glass as above - probably through bolt it where possible. Nice taper on the leading edge.

Strip the rigging etc. off the top, buy a life raft and motor it somewhere easy to fix it properly.

Best piece of advice is don't take my advice, I get myself in all sorts of trouble sometimes, but those times are usually the ones I remember most.

[nauticalnovice]

Which one of those islands that got absolutely smashed?[/QUOTE]

All the ones with boats, apparently.

[nauticalnovice]

Originally Posted by leftbrainstuff

I assume you have done this before?

I've done *similar* things before.

[nauticalnovice]

Originally Posted by svGenesis

If that is the leopard 42, I think you need to re-think your cost's

It is a leopard... what makes you think it's an impossible task.

I get that the sunsail boats are probably lower spec, but they are just a fiberglass boat at the end of the day.

[nauticalnovice]

Originally Posted by contrail

I believe the OP said the vessel in question is 45 feet long. If I had to guess, and if I was correct in my deduction that the BVI is the location, I would think it might be a Lagoon 450, of which there are a considerable number lying around, here. But, that's just a guess. Perhaps the OP will share.....

I'm not so wet behind the ears to give up my find.

[nauticalnovice]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

I like the idea, some of the best memories come from an adventure. I'd make a seriously low offer, after all it's probably off to the dump if you don't. I'd bodgy it up with ply and glass as above - probably through bolt it where possible. Nice taper on the leading edge.

Strip the rigging etc. off the top, buy a life raft and motor it somewhere easy to fix it properly.

Best piece of advice is don't take my advice, I get myself in all sorts of trouble sometimes, but those times are usually the ones I remember most.

Ah, but the question is "where?".

I don't have a lot of experience motoring cats and I'm not really sure if a 45' boat with mid-time 3-cyl sail-drive "prime movers" are suitable for getting said vessel 500 miles or beyond.

Adventures and foolishness aside, the project is probably dependent on losing my job in the next two or three weeks (my life is very counter intuitive; I've gotten to the point where I don't bother explaining myself anymore)

Thanks for the advice.

[nauticalnovice]

Originally Posted by panglaodave

<stuff moved outside the quote bit>

> Where did you get info on damage?

There's a couple of other clearing houses similar to harborshoppers (which seems to be on the more disorganized end of thing). They're very easy to find if you look around. None of this is a mystery.

> Can you rely that there is no other damage?

No, I can not. I have been armchair inspecting damaged vessels like a MoFo though. Roughly vessels seem to fall into a couple of categories:

1 - flipped upside down (pristine keels, rudder and drives/props and, sometimes, engines)
2 - both hulls smashed open (stern and amidship are typical) and sunk to the galley level (for boats that are galley up)
3 - one hull smashed with the other left floating; these boats have ruined engines/gensets and everything else on the sunk hull upto and including the inter-hull spaces (inside and outside)
4 - for vessels that stayed afloat, there is almost always serious damage at the hull/deck seam from running into other boats and/or docks/ground
5 - almost all rigging and bright work has serious and significant damage; in a very significant way, a demasted boat is actually *better* than a boat that still has its rigging (because that rigging needs to be pulled and inspected)

My biggest worry in all of this is that bridge damage isn't documented; however, typically the kind of hits that would damage the hull interconnection glasswork would take out the hulls themselves.

> Make an offer "Subject to survey" (not revealing any other damage)

The hull doesn't have CTL or any other markings spry painted on it, but that doesn't really mean anything.

> Try and take Gougeon Bros 2 day professional repair workshop

Thanks for that. I might consider it or look for the certification when considering help.

> Location?

Dependent on earnest money and forms signed with the dispatching agent when inspecting.

However, I suspect somewhere between Anguilla and Guadeloupe.

Apparently theft/scavenging is so rampant that most agents are keeping boat locations very closely held.

[nauticalnovice]

Originally Posted by Mike Banks

OK--here goes.
<lots of useful stuff removed for brevity>

I like the way you think. One of the quick patch up scenarios I was considering was using vacuum bagging for the delaminated mid-hull section by drawing slow(er) curing epoxy from one side to the other (involves drilling holes through the delam section) and then closing the fill side to provide a nice tight rejoining of the layers. Similar strategy for the cracked areas and stern hull seams. I'm not completely ignorant of some composite construction and repair techniques. In the absence of regular power to keep a vacuum pump running, my thought was to use an array of large/strong neodymium magnets to keep the pressure between inside and outside (not going to work for the cracked areas at the stern though). Seems like something that could be brought in easily and resold upon departure.

Putting plywood on the inside might be worth considering, but it's going to be useless around the complex sections at the stern. Maybe router a seem mate on some longer/deeper pieces of wood to cover the seams.

There are no cracks at the rudder tubes or stern drive section of the hull; all the stern damage is well away from these high stress areas (only thing I'm really worried about is wave action and buoyancy stresses). I'm fairly confident that the boat could power away with the seams, cracks and deliminated area addressed.

Thank you for your suggestions, observations and shared experience.