# Crashed my Sailboat.. Any advice ?



## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

Sailboat broke it's mooring on saturday, crashed on rocks. Any suggestions ? salvage estimate is prob more than boat is worth and wouldn't guarantee boat is fixable , besides the fact i don't have the $$ for it.

pics coming in a second


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)




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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)




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## jrd22 (Nov 14, 2000)

Ouch! It looks like there might be enough water at high tide to float it out with a halyard tow. Is the hull holed? The rudder is gone, was it external, kinda looks like it was.
How much water is in it?
Where are you located?


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

Bummer.... looks like the east coast of Gabriola Is. (bit of a WAG I admit...)

It does look like you might get enough tide to float it off, but you'll probably only get one chance to do it, as the next high could leave it high and dry.

And of course, only if she'll still float.


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## ftldiver (Sep 9, 2002)

yeah, with some really large air bags. secured to each side. 

remove the fuel, and anything you can, drag it back out, and hope it floats. have some tarps ready if its holed, and a large gas pump in case.

if it floats, you may just get lucky... nothing to lose by trying...


whats the displacement?


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## carl762 (Jan 11, 2010)

Hope you get her off the rocks. Best of luck to ya.


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## PaulfromNWOnt (Aug 20, 2010)

FWIW:

Walk an anchor out as far as you possibly can, and run it through some sort of fairlead back to a winch. Get as many friends together as you can muster, and hand them logs to use as levers. Pump out all water, and plug as many leaks as possible. Remove all unnecessary gear to reduce weight. Be ready with outboard if she floats free.

If you hoist a partly full 55gallon drum of water with the main halyard, you might be able to maintain heel to reduce draft.

Good luck.


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## KnottyGurl (Feb 8, 2011)

you could put a line to the main halyard as an added pull to keep her heeled so the keel wont drag to much, an anchor out the full rode and placed to a winch with tension will add to the pull outward, have a towboat off the bow to also ready with the tide and keep her tight as tide comes in keep her heeled and you could almost folat her to a good depth and tow her home.

make sure any holes are plugged or covered with tarps, even the water and ice shield for roof would work here, they have a sticky side and could be cut to make patches, and easily removed once you have it hauled.
a gas pump should be on board IF you have holes that could not be or missed.
I have pulled a few boats off the rocks when I was working as a commercial diver. hope this helps
Bill


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

UPDATE: today was really the only day to get it as next high tide as high as when it beached would be 2 weeks.

I kind of took various bits of advice.. First i set a chain on a lowest rock i could find at low tide, tied rope tight to boat, hoping high tide would pull it back a bit, it didn't..I had 2 guys hang off the mast by ropes over the water to bring the keel sideways, i attached a portable 3000lb winch to mast at high tide , pulled on rope while boat was sideways with 2 guys in water in wetsuits pushing from underneath, we eventually spun the boat on its keel around and around gaining a few inches each time until it got out enough to float. It is now tied up in deep water.

Thanks everyone for the advice, wish i had taken pictures of the rescue, no water got inside , keel was very scraped along lead bottom but didn't crack , no major dings , no holes. 

I thought this boat was a goner for sure.


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

p.s. the rudder slips on and off and in the picture i had already taken it off ( well to be precise , the rudder popped off when it beached but i had the forsight to tie it to boat so it was floating next to the boat. ) as well as my 9.9 kicker and all gas. There was no holes in the boat and she kept fairly dry for being on her side


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## KnottyGurl (Feb 8, 2011)

outstanding, glad to hear its just a cosmetic issue now and small repairs from here, at least you get to put this behind you and look forward to the new season.
Bill


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## PaulfromNWOnt (Aug 20, 2010)

Bravo!


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## jrd22 (Nov 14, 2000)

Excellent news! Good job to you and everyone that helped. I'd guess you're busy buying a few rounds tonight for the crew) Depending on where you were I was thinking about hopping in our crab boat and coming up to help out.


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

yes i def have a few bottles to buy for the hypothermic ones  , keep in mind there is still ice in the puddles in my driveway and 2 or 3 of us got fully in the water with no wetsuits, the other 2 had wetsuits but still very cold 

miracles can happen apparently.


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

Well done!!


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Good to hear.


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## carl762 (Jan 11, 2010)

That's great. Hate to see a man lose his boat.


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## mgmhead (Jan 14, 2007)

Glad for a happy ending, congratulations.


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## djodenda (Mar 4, 2006)

Wonderful news. Congratulations!


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## CalebD (Jan 11, 2008)

I was going to say it is a sweet looking older boat. What make/model/size is it?
Glad you were able to recover her before things got worse.


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## Bene505 (Jul 31, 2008)

Congratulations on getting her afloat again. Well done!!

Regards,
Brad


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

CalebD said:


> I was going to say it is a sweet looking older boat. What make/model/size is it?
> Glad you were able to recover her before things got worse.


i'm not sure the make/model , it is 23 ft sloop believe built in 1979, really nice sleeper inside, sleeps me and my 2 boys perfectly got everything i want , light, speedy and super stable.

Thanks everyone for the congrats.. i just hope she stays at the mooring i have her at now, i was too cold to get back to my mooring and my anchor is at the bottom of the ocean, so i set it on someones summer mooring for the night , i realized as i left, it is tied on a pretty small rock.


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## souljour2000 (Jul 8, 2008)

Great news..that's a gem of a little boat you got there...so glad you got her out of there..now I'd maybe look into purchasing 100 feet plus of some 1/4 inch chain and add a good snubber arrangement like a small 8-12 foot length of some 1 1/4 inch nylon dockline made for a 50-60 foot boat...I been ready to do the same but hadn't figured out what to do for a snubber until just this second..I happen to have had a 30-foot long 1 1/4 inch big boat dockline come into my possession last year and I been wondering what to do with it...I think I know now...or maybe it is not the answer but seems a decent idea...as I have a 24-footer riding at an anchor mooring and though she rode out a nasty 2-day long windstorm earlier this winter...I want to upgrade her ground tackle from what she has... which is 30 feet of 1/4 inch galvanized chain and a 18-pound anchor and the rest plenty of 1/2 inch 3 -strand rode and another 15 pounder with 3/8 nylon rode...

sorry to digress..I am so happy that honey of a boat is intact and okay now...


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## dnf777 (Jun 23, 2007)

Great news. Hope she fixes up easy for ya.

When guitars get dinged up, we just call it "character marks", and tell the story every chance ya get.


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## chrisncate (Jan 29, 2010)

congrats jeez..


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## snowdawg (Mar 15, 2009)

Glad to hear you got her floating again.


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## HDChopper (Oct 17, 2010)

WTG ! Congrats , you have a happy night as you are one of the lucky ppl on earth today .


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## LakeSuperiorGeezer (Oct 8, 2010)

Do you have any pictures of the boat out of the water before the accident, and length and beam? Maybe we can figure out what it is. Was there much of a wind when the boat broke loose that would have pounded it on the rocks? Sounds like a really sturdy boat.


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## HPLou (Feb 25, 2002)

Congatulations! Happy to hear of the great recovery with little damage. Hope any damage is just superficial.


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## seabreeze_97 (Apr 30, 2006)

Gabriola said:


> i'm not sure the make/model , it is 23 ft sloop believe built in 1979, really nice sleeper inside, sleeps me and my 2 boys perfectly got everything i want , light, speedy and super stable.


And apparently tough as well. That has to be reassuring. Three cheers for Lil Tuffy!


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## Frogwatch (Jan 22, 2011)

I just love primitive engineering, Congrats on getting it done. Now you oughta feel like you can accomplish anything.


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## SVPrairieRose (Oct 10, 2009)

Only two types of boaters my friend, those who have gone aground and those who haven't yet.


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## TerralTheSeeker (Feb 23, 2008)

Pheeeeew!!!! Thank goodness you got 'er outta harm's way!


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

LakeSuperiorGeezer said:


> Do you have any pictures of the boat out of the water before the accident, and length and beam? Maybe we can figure out what it is. Was there much of a wind when the boat broke loose that would have pounded it on the rocks? Sounds like a really sturdy boat.


i haven't had it out of the water since i got it a year ago, but i plan on getting it out when it gets a bit warmer to check the hull/keel properly. The shroud on the bottom of the keel was peeled up a bit


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## eherlihy (Jan 2, 2007)

I'll admit that when I saw this thread I was afraid to look... Great news - something that we could all use more of BTW.

I suggest that you make an appropriate offering to the gods that smiled upon you and saved your boat.


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

souljour2000 said:


> Great news..that's a gem of a little boat you got there...so glad you got her out of there..now I'd maybe look into purchasing 100 feet plus of some 1/4 inch chain and add a good snubber arrangement like a small 8-12 foot length of some 1 1/4 inch nylon dockline made for a 50-60 foot boat...I been ready to do the same but hadn't figured out what to do for a snubber until just this second..I happen to have had a 30-foot long 1 1/4 inch big boat dockline come into my possession last year and I been wondering what to do with it...I think I know now...or maybe it is not the answer but seems a decent idea...as I have a 24-footer riding at an anchor mooring and though she rode out a nasty 2-day long windstorm earlier this winter...I want to upgrade her ground tackle from what she has... which is 30 feet of 1/4 inch galvanized chain and a 18-pound anchor and the rest plenty of 1/2 inch 3 -strand rode and another 15 pounder with 3/8 nylon rode...
> 
> sorry to digress..I am so happy that honey of a boat is intact and okay now...


the bottom is mixed where i am at, i had 30 ft chain with 30 ft nylon in the summer and it dragged it out from where it was set in sand onto a rock bottom , then of course just dragged along the bottom till i spotted it and reset it , so i didn't trust it going into winter and had it at a dock for the first stormy months of fall then thought the worst was over and had it on a block mooring.

Problem is i didn't stow away my anchor properly and it slipped overboard during a storm and wrapped itself around the mooring, i think it caught something at low tide and tried to yank the front end under ( the anchor ride was bent down about 5 inches ) and snapped both the anchor line and the mooring line.

Dock fees are quite expensive here , i gambled and lost , but then again i got her back so i can't feel that bad. I think i will pay to have her docked for a couple months before testing an anchor mooring again


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

heres a picture of the boat at anchor , if you look in the background you can see the shore she beached at..


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

Faster said:


> Bummer.... looks like the east coast of Gabriola Is. (bit of a WAG I admit...)
> 
> It does look like you might get enough tide to float it off, but you'll probably only get one chance to do it, as the next high could leave it high and dry.
> 
> And of course, only if she'll still float.


Pilot bay, Gabriola island , also known as "twin beaches" or "gabriola sand provincial park "

And yes i think there was only one chance to get it off without major damage , just the one night caused some major friction burns from the rocks bouncing , but did not compromise the hull , if i had waited another night i think i would not have been so lucky.

It grounded during high tide at pretty much the highest part with surge , so even when trying to get it off at high tide it had to be dragged/pulled/winched 20 ft out before the keel came off the ground.


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## aaronwindward (Aug 8, 2010)

I think you could contrast this incident with the Distant Star, beached in a similar way, and also subject of a thread on Sailnet. Rather than responding immediately and aggressively, he pretty much screwed around for a while until the wreck became valueless. Eventually, the local government paid for someone to cut it up with chainsaws and haul it away. The entire event was disgraceful.

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/general-discussion-sailing-related/51684-well-my-day-really-sucked.html

Based on this and over similar events I've read about, chances of any reasonable salvage fall off substantially after about 48 hours, or a few tidal cycles. Typical failures are the boat being beaten up on the rocks, or filling up with mud, or similar.

So it's really happy to see someone who did the right thing, and had a successful outcome!

By the way, this is probably a great opportunity to invest in a real mooring.


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

You really need to invest in a proper mooring setup if you're going to keep the boat out on one. It always amazes me that people, not just you, will skimp on mooring or ground tackle and put their boats at risk.


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## Joesaila (May 19, 2007)

Nice to see your boat is OK! I have to ask, what is the blue thing floating beside it? Where did you get it?


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## Silvio (Nov 10, 2010)

Congratulations, glad it worked out. 

Some people will go to such extreme measures to justify a round of hot toddies


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

sailingdog said:


> You really need to invest in a proper mooring setup if you're going to keep the boat out on one. It always amazes me that people, not just you, will skimp on mooring or ground tackle and put their boats at risk.


well i def only have my self to blame, but to be fair i was on a proper mooring, i think the problem was my failure to stow my anchor resulting in it falling overboard and wrapping around the mooring, causing enormous strain on the mooring.

I am a single fulltime dad of 2 young boys so i tend to throw any exrta money i have on my sons , not on the boat, i can always get another boat


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

Silvio said:


> Congratulations, glad it worked out.
> 
> Some people will go to such extreme measures to justify a round of hot toddies


LOL :laugher no amount of hot toddies would have warmed my fingers in that water .


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Gabriola said:


> well i def only have my self to blame, but to be fair i was on a proper mooring, i think the problem was my failure to stow my anchor resulting in it falling overboard and wrapping around the mooring, causing enormous strain on the mooring.
> 
> I am a single fulltime dad of 2 young boys so i tend to throw any exrta money i have on my sons , not on the boat, i can always get another boat


Sorry, but your description of the mooring setup--30' of chain and 30' of nylon, doesn't describe anything close to a properly designed mooring that I've heard of. What is the depth at your mooring and what kind of anchor or weight are you using to hold it in place?


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## CapTim (Aug 18, 2009)

Gabriola said:


> ... i tend to throw any exrta money i have on my sons , not on the boat, i can always get another boat


Now _that_ is an idea I can drink to!

Gratz on getting the boat floating.. fate clearly likes you!


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

sailingdog said:


> Sorry, but your description of the mooring setup--30' of chain and 30' of nylon, doesn't describe anything close to a properly designed mooring that I've heard of. What is the depth at your mooring and what kind of anchor or weight are you using to hold it in place?


sorry that may have been confusing , that description is what i used in the summer. The mooring it broke free from was a 5 ton block in 25 ft of water, but my anchor slipped off the deck and wrapped around the mooring, i had checked it a few days earlier and noticed this , but could not free the anchor. I think the anchor caught itself either on the chain on mooring or something else at low tide, as the tide came up there was not enough room from anchor to boat and thus pulled the front end down ( the bow rider was completely bent down) causing some severe tension on the line.


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## jrd22 (Nov 14, 2000)

Gab- good thing you jumped on it and got it off the beach when you did, monster storm hitting our area tomorrow with 9 meter seas and 70+knots off Vancouver Island's west side, 40-60 knots here inside.


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

jrd22 said:


> Gab- good thing you jumped on it and got it off the beach when you did, monster storm hitting our area tomorrow with 9 meter seas and 70+knots off Vancouver Island's west side, 40-60 knots here inside.


And you'll be wanting to find a more secure mooring/dock before then or you'll be doing it all over again!


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Gabriola said:


> sorry that may have been confusing , that description is what i used in the summer. The mooring it broke free from was a 5 ton block in 25 ft of water, but my anchor slipped off the deck and wrapped around the mooring, i had checked it a few days earlier and noticed this , but could not free the anchor. I think the anchor caught itself either on the chain on mooring or something else at low tide, as the tide came up there was not enough room from anchor to boat and thus pulled the front end down ( the bow rider was completely bent down) causing some severe tension on the line.


Five tons of WHAT? There's a significant weight and holding power difference between five tons of concrete, granite, steel or lead due to the various densities and the weight reduction in water due to buoyancy

Concrete density ranges from 1750 kg/m^3 to 2400 kg/m^3. So, your 10,000 lbs. of concrete may range in size from 2.6-1.9 m^3 and have an effective weight of 4268-5811 lbs.

Steel has a rough density of 7900 kg/m^3, and would be .57 m^3 and have an effective weight of 8743 lbs.


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

sailingdog said:


> Five tons of WHAT? There's a significant weight and holding power difference between five tons of concrete, granite, steel or lead due to the various densities and the weight reduction in water due to buoyancy
> 
> Concrete density ranges from 1750 kg/m^3 to 2400 kg/m^3. So, your 10,000 lbs. of concrete may range in size from 2.6-1.9 m^3 and have an effective weight of 4268-5811 lbs.
> 
> Steel has a rough density of 7900 kg/m^3, and would be .57 m^3 and have an effective weight of 8743 lbs.


concrete , theres no way it is lifting it or shifting it, i would think the weakest link is between mooring and boat, but i really don't know.

right now it has chain from block to mooring and i put a 8000 lb test, tow line between mooring and boat. It could get up to 100km winds tonight from the worst direction possible so i will cross my fingers


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

How much does your boat weigh? The line you're using sounds a bit light for a mooring pendant. Don't forget that the most common mode of failure is chafe, and that woven, not hose, chafe protection is the safest, since it allows water to get in to the rope and lubricate and cool it.


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

Faster said:


> And you'll be wanting to find a more secure mooring/dock before then or you'll be doing it all over again!


i took the kicker off and i had to cut the electrical lines to the motor to do it so i have some splicing and dicing to do first to get it to a dock and my tender is too small to take the 9.9 back out and onto the bracket. I thought about going today but i was too scared to try and go against the wind the 20km's to the nearest dock with only sails, pretty cold ,windy and rainy. I will just have to hope the setup i described above holds me.


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

sailingdog said:


> How much does your boat weigh? The line you're using sounds a bit light for a mooring pendant. Don't forget that the most common mode of failure is chafe, and that woven, not hose, chafe protection is the safest, since it allows water to get in to the rope and lubricate and cool it.


not sure of the weight, it's pretty light , 23ft with no motor, pure guestimate but i would say between 2000 and 3000 lbs


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

almost sunk my tender today towing the sailboat to the proper mooring in the rain/sleet , there was a pretty good wind blowing and i had a 2.5hp motor on an 8ft rowboat towing it  Back and forth it swung me for the better part of an hour to go a few hundred feet.


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

IF the breaking strength of your pendant is only 8000 lbs., it is really undersized for your boat, especially if you're closer to the 3000 lbs than the 2000 lbs. Generally, you want ropes to have at least a 4:1 safety margin at a minimum. You're at 2.7:1 or so... not good, and doesn't leave you much margin for chafe or UV damage to the line. 

As for towing your boat, it probably would have been a lot easier and safer if you had used a bridle to tow your boat.


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

Man, oh, man. Relentless.

Gabrio - good luck with her tonight. Sounds like a serious stink you've got coming in.


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## zedboy (Jul 14, 2010)

sailingdog said:


> IF the breaking strength of your pendant is only 8000 lbs., it is really undersized for your boat, especially if you're closer to the 3000 lbs than the 2000 lbs. Generally, you want ropes to have at least a 4:1 safety margin at a minimum. You're at 2.7:1 or so...


Here's a (deep?) question I've been pondering: Does the obvious assumption that a 3000lb boat will put 3000lbs of force on a dockline or anchor or whatever have any basis?

I mean, it's not like you're hanging the boat from the line. Maybe the wind force will be greater, maybe it'll be less. Who even says it'll change linearly in proportion to displacement?


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

zedboy said:


> Here's a (deep?) question I've been pondering: Does the obvious assumption that a 3000lb boat will put 3000lbs of force on a dockline or anchor or whatever have any basis?
> 
> I mean, it's not like you're hanging the boat from the line. Maybe the wind force will be greater, maybe it'll be less. Who even says it'll change linearly in proportion to displacement?


good question

at 8000lb test i believe the max you should be pulling is 2000lb so i am thinking the above ratio is correct at 4:1 which would tell me that there is more strain than just the weight of the object being pulled.


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

sailingdog said:


> IF the breaking strength of your pendant is only 8000 lbs., it is really undersized for your boat, especially if you're closer to the 3000 lbs than the 2000 lbs. Generally, you want ropes to have at least a 4:1 safety margin at a minimum. You're at 2.7:1 or so... not good, and doesn't leave you much margin for chafe or UV damage to the line.
> 
> As for towing your boat, it probably would have been a lot easier and safer if you had used a bridle to tow your boat.


well 2 things to consider #1 the line i managed to get was the biggest one i could buy on the island. #2 i had about a 2 hour window to do this in today. I am already sore from getting it off and my hands are all cut up.

What do you think i should get ? What happens if i chain from the mooring to the boat ?

I used the tow ring on the front of the boat to tie to the mooring , is this strong enough to handle it or should i run it through the anchor runner ?


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Gabriola said:


> well 2 things to consider #1 the line i managed to get was the biggest one i could buy on the island. #2 i had about a 2 hour window to do this in today. I am already sore from getting it off and my hands are all cut up.
> 
> What do you think i should get ? What happens if i chain from the mooring to the boat ?


You should order a proper mooring pendant. I prefer the Yale Polydyne mooring pendants. Using chain is a bad idea, because it has not stretch or give and it would cause massive shock loads on the hardware on the boat, and probably break the boat bits it was attached to.

At a minimum, you should be using a 1/2" pendant (BL 10500) but a 5/8" (BL 18000) one would give you far more chafe protection and greater safety margin, but is probably too heavy if your boat is closer to 2000 lbs, rather than 3000.



> I used the tow ring on the front of the boat to tie to the mooring , is this strong enough to handle it or should i run it through the anchor runner ?


Generally, I would recommend using a proper cleat, rather than the boat's bow eye, unless you know that the bow eye is very well backed and very sturdy. Cleats are designed to take these kinds of loads, the bow eye may or may not be.


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## aquestforfun (Mar 2, 2011)

It kind of looks like an Ericson to me. A pretty sturdy boat. They made a 23 in 1979. 

Hull #s 201 - 470 3100lbs


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## sailguy40 (Feb 6, 2010)

These are the scary kind of threads, but surprise this one has a good ending! Glad you got her back with minimal damage and amazing no water got to the interior.


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

aquestforfun said:


> It kind of looks like an Ericson to me. A pretty sturdy boat. They made a 23 in 1979.
> 
> Hull #s 201 - 470 3100lbs


hey thanks...

found this pic of a 1973 ericson, looks pretty close


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## SVPrairieRose (Oct 10, 2009)

We have a big BIG blow coming tonight, 50 gusting 60 knots tomorrow, hope you got it to a good bit of shelter.


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

SVPrairieRose said:


> We have a big BIG blow coming tonight, 50 gusting 60 knots tomorrow, hope you got it to a good bit of shelter.


nope i am completely exposed, but really have no choice, other than to take it into deep water and ride it out on board hoping my 2.5 kicker that barely reaches the water will do anything. I should really try and setup a webcam feed it would be cool.


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

anyone wanna buy a boat  $1000 tonight or $2000 if it lasts through tomorrow HAH


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## SVPrairieRose (Oct 10, 2009)

where are you anchored? do you have any safe alternatives if you should break free?


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

SVPrairieRose said:


> where are you anchored? do you have any safe alternatives if you should break free?


i am at the strongest mooring in the close vicinity, if it breaks free it will be on the rocks in minutes, i don't plan on staying onboard. I will go out early tomorrow and try and re-tie to my cleats instead of the bow eye as suggested.


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## montenido (May 14, 2008)

Excellent news!!

So happy for you.

Bill


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

if anyone is interested here is a link to google maps , zoomed in exactly where it was beached, if you zoom out in sat view you will notice it is 50 ft from the nearest water at low low tide ( when the sat view was taken ), you will also see other moored sailboats in the bay , mine is about in the middle of the group of sailboats..

Gabriola Island, British Columbia - Google Maps


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## jrd22 (Nov 14, 2000)

Here's the forecast, hopefully you don't get the brunt of wind out of the SE.

Wednesday
Rain ending early in the afternoon then cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. Amount 20 mm(0.8 in). Wind southeast 50 km/h (31 mph) gusting to 80 km/h (50 mph) becoming south 80 km/h (50 mph) gusting to 110 km/h (68 mph) in the morning. High 8C(46F). Wednesday night showers. Wind south 80 km/h (50 mph) gusting to 110 km/h (68 mph) becoming southwest 30 km/h (19 mph) to 50 km/h (31 mph) near midnight. Low 1C(34F).


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## Bilgewater (Jul 17, 2008)

Gabriola said:


> i am at the strongest mooring in the close vicinity, if it breaks free it will be on the rocks in minutes, i don't plan on staying onboard. I will go out early tomorrow and try and re-tie to my cleats instead of the bow eye as suggested.


Early tomorrow is when it will likely be at full force, so it may be difficult to get back to your boat, it won't diminish until later tomorrow. Pacific - South Coast - Forecast - Environment Canada
I'm glad for your boat recovery, must have been quite the ordeal... and it sounds as though you have done all you can. It should work out OK I would hope, nothing more you can do anyway...right. I'm on the ocean working right now and somewhat protected and it's not too bad but I guess we'll see what happens in the next few hours or so. If I'm able to get a connection in the morning I'll post what it's like out here. If they're wrong about this weather warning it won't be the first time.


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

Best of luck, Gab... but I think you're in for a rough 18 hours or so....


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

seayalatermoonglow said:


> Early tomorrow is when it will likely be at full force, so it may be difficult to get back to your boat, it won't diminish until later tomorrow. Pacific - South Coast - Forecast - Environment Canada
> I'm glad for your boat recovery, must have been quite the ordeal... and it sounds as though you have done all you can. It should work out OK I would hope, nothing more you can do anyway...right. I'm on the ocean working right now and somewhat protected and it's not too bad but I guess we'll see what happens in the next few hours or so. If I'm able to get a connection in the morning I'll post what it's like out here. If they're wrong about this weather warning it won't be the first time.


hmmm i thought it wasn't going to pickup till morning and i might get a brief chance but looks like maybe not from that forecast.


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

i mentioned above my boat is in the middle of the group of boats in that picture , i should add that the google maps shot was taken in summer , there are no boats there now, just me. The older locals that came by to watch us freeing her said nobody has ever lasted the winter, the few that tried ended up beached.


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## Bilgewater (Jul 17, 2008)

You know Gab, I just had a look at your location on that sat view you linked to. Now I'm not too familliar with Gabriola and particularly that bay but this is a Southeasterly coming so you may be somewhat OK there.


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

seayalatermoonglow said:


> You know Gab, I just had a look at your location on that sat view you linked to. Now I'm not too familliar with Gabriola and particularly that bay but this is a Southeasterly coming so you may be somewhat OK there.


directly east or west is worse, so i hope it stays se , often it blows up around that point and along the shallow rock floor, depends if its more east or more south


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Good luck Gabriola... I'll ask my weather goddess to watch out for your boat.


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## eherlihy (Jan 2, 2007)

Gabriola said:


> Problem is i didn't stow away my anchor properly and it slipped overboard during a storm and wrapped itself around the mooring, i think it caught something at low tide and tried to yank the front end under ( the anchor ride was bent down about 5 inches ) and snapped both the anchor line and the mooring line.


I would like to point you to one of my favorite MaineSail posts... Pertinent to your situation;http://www.sailnet.com/forums/363940-post.html


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

eherlihy said:


> I would like to point you to one of my favorite MaineSail posts... Pertinent to your situation;http://www.sailnet.com/forums/363940-post.html


Nice, now where is the post with the proper setups 

p.s. why do they have the little floaties on the line ?

How far should the scope be ? I was told to use more than 20ft but that seems a bit extreme


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## jrd22 (Nov 14, 2000)

The wind just hit here within the last 20 minutes, went from around 20 up to 40-50 knots out of the SE. Hope all ends well for you Gab.


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

Yes, here too.... best wishes... keep us posted if you can.


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

The wind isn't howling yet, but theres 3-4ft swells, i tried to get out to the boat at 7am but i couldn't launch my tender in the surf, it actually seems a tiny bit calmer right now so i might give it another shot. i will try and take pics


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

Current Conditions

Entrance Island (a couple of miles from Pilot Bay, if that)
12:00 PM PST 2 March 2011
Wind (knots)	SSW 24	Air temperature (°C)	7
Conditions	N/A	Relative humidity (%)	76
Visibility (km)	N/A	Dew point temperature (°C)	3
Pressure and tendency (kPa)	99.9 ↑	Humidex / Wind Chill	--
Sunrise	6:56 PST	Sunset	17:58 PST


SSW is probably better than SE for you. Gab, but probably won't last long - it's likely to swing round through the afternoon. But still not yet what's been forecast as possible.


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## islandskipper23 (Mar 2, 2011)

A good reason to buy and older boat --- they were built strong back in the day!


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

Entrance Island
02:00 PM PST 2 March 2011

2 March 2011
14:00	S 3 
13:00	SW 11	
12:00	SSW 24	
11:00	S 12 
10:00	SSE 29	
9:00	SE 23 
8:00	SE 29 
7:00	ESE 31	
6:00	SE 29 
5:00	SE 22 
4:00	SE 19 
3:00	SSE 17	
2:00	SSE 16	
1:00	SSE 12	
00:00	SE 15 

Looks like the worst might be over... as long as this isn't the eye!!


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## kpgraci (May 13, 2010)

Just a thought...

I was watching "I shouldn't be alive" the other day and the story was of a sailboat that was making a 600 mile trip. About 100 miles out the keel fell off! Boat sank quickly. The narrator said the keel had been damaged in an earlier incident.

My point is that experienced captain thought his boat was in good enough shape to take on a 600 mile trip in the Gulf, but he was obviously wrong. I don't think keels falling off when otherwise the boat looks fine happens very often but it got me thinking about how bad that would be.

May be worth while to inspect the bottom very carefully.


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

Here's English bay just now.... (1615 PST)

Hope this isn't heading your way, Gabriola..

btw Gab's boat is 20 or so NM across the strait


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

So here it is the next day....

Gabriola? Where are you????

Whazzup?


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## carl762 (Jan 11, 2010)

Yes ?????


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

ok boat is secure , hasn't moved , winds turned out to be not as bad as we thought


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## Gabriola (Feb 28, 2011)

i managed to get out later in the day and secured it properly, our power went out but the boat is fine, my rudder handle was split in 2 it turned out so i will have to do some repairs , and i still have to get my 9.9 back on the sailboat , i had to cut all the wires to get it off tilted sideways on the beach so it's gonna be a bit of a mess getting it back on.


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## Bilgewater (Jul 17, 2008)

Glad to hear, sounds like you have it under control and it worked out not too bad...could have been much worse.


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Good to hear your boat made it okay.


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

Good job Gabby. Sounds like you did the right things. Another boat saved!


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

Great news!


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## carl762 (Jan 11, 2010)

> ok boat is secure , hasn't moved , winds turned out to be not as bad as we thought


That's great news. You handled the situation well.


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