Tsunami strikes pacific coast

[Bill]

The Tusnami set in motion by the earthquake in Japan hit the Santa Cruz CA harbor with devastating results. Much of the action has appeared on the TV news. More importantly, we have four or more Pearson Ariel/Commander yachts in the harbor. At the time of this posting, two are know to be OK, one has sustained some damage and the status of one is unknown.

Ed Ekers, long time owner and ACYA member has Pathfinder (A-77) slipped in the inner harbor beyond the highway bridge. He indicates that much of the damage is concentrated in this area. Ed reports that his Ariel and the one next to it are OK. Ed will have more to report tomorrow after he has a chance to survey the situation in the morning.

[Rico]

I hope all is well with Pathfinder, ED

I saw the footage on TV - they had 4-5 strong surges in the harbor causing very strong flows of in & out of the harbor. Saw a couple of motorboats being swept by the current... The harbormaster reported about a dozen boats sunk (at that time).

Only a gentle surge and small (but impressive) wave at the east end of the SF Bay. (See video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdMDCLwblkY)
I heard the surge was more significant in Richardson bay (by Sausalito)

[Ed Ekers]

Last night I got a call from Bill concerned about the Ariel fleet in the Santa Cruz Harbor. I was able to get to the harbor this morning and check on the Ariels. All four look to be in good shape above the water line. It will take some time before we can any diver go under and look for damage. I suspect we may find some given the amount of debris that is washing in and out of the docks. There is also some fuels that have been leaked from the 20 boats that have gone to the bottom. Coast Guard won't let anyone in the water until an assessment is completed in terms of haz mat status.

The bad news is my wife took the job of Port Director in August 2010 and is now responsible for the rebuilding of her little harbor. This was planed to be the job she takes to prepare her for early retirement. but now it looks like one of the most significant assignments she will ever have as a Civil Engineer.

I am going to try to attach a link the has a number of Youtube shots. If the link doesn't work just search Santa Cruz Harbor 2011 if you are interested. Please keep good thoughts for her it is going to be a trying time......ed

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=santa+cruz+harbor+2011&aq=f

[Scott Galloway]

Actually my Ariel "Augustine" sustained some damage in the tsunami surges that hit Santa Cruz Harbor. Although the damage is slight, the repair will be pesky. A dockline ran from my aft port cleat through the chock on the transom toe rail, and down to the dock cleat. One of the surges over-stressed this chock. Although the cleats are through-bolted through plates, the stern cocks are right on top of the toe rail and are secured beneath the deck only by fender washers and nuts. One of my chocks was torn off in a manner that pulled the bolts, fenderwashers and all right through the top of the toe rail. It's just a fiberglass job, but I am having difficulty finding a matching chock.

Does anyone know of a supplier for these chocks, or does anyone have a chock of this type for sale.

[ebb]

Scott,
Your description of the kind of damage that little rigid wave caused is amazing.
It certainly would seem that the fender washer backing would have been adequate.*
Our "taff rail" molding where we have the chocks does have a 'flat' surface underneath.
Flat is debatable.
But a larger backing could be put in there to spread an upward yank over more surface area.
Of course the arguement could be that in a similar event our Augustine's would suffer an even larger hole!! Fiberglass has its limitations.
I also quibble with myself on whether a hard backing like fiberglass (Pearson used glass laminate in A338 for backing), s.s. or aluminum is better than using a backing with some 'give' to it like we might get using plywood. [Feel that way about lifeline stanchions too. And I'm almost convinced wood is a preferred backing for all thru-deck fixtures.]

It has to be the right kind of plywood. But it's not accessable for routine inspection. Ply might break down.
Imco, not very rapidly in a salt water environment. But the hidden nuts would have to be checked for tightness every season, no matter what.

Your description of what happened convinces me that backing for any fitting thru the taffrail cove inside on LittleGull will be made with at least two layers of epoxy coated meranti bedded in Dolfinite or the more sticky butyl tape.
Prepping the area inside the lazarette is nearly impossible and can't be more than a lick and a promise. I will opt for the stickier material that assumes to fill non-flat surfaces and last forever. And will allow rebedding if needed. Also, make it that muich easier to repair/rebuild with fiberglass.
In theory anyway, if the chock experiences a heavy load and loosens up but doesn't pull out or pull the boat apart, tightening up on the nuts might be all that's needed.


Do you think rubber snubbers
advertised for securing boats to floats would have given the tie up enough slack to keep damage from happening?
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _________________________
*Fender washers come in various widths. I just got from McMasterCarr a couple 1/2" (hole) washers that are 3" diameter!

[Scott Galloway]

Dear Ebb,

I suppose that you could turn your Ariel upside down and then bed a backing plate for the taff rail chock in something sticky, :) but I think based on the thickness of the glass (or rather lack of thickness of the uncored deck) in the lazarette area and given the nature of the cold bonded hull-to-deck seam (without mechanical fasteners), it might be better to lose a chock than you would be to lose a big chunk of your transom if excessive force is applied to the dock line. Then again they didn't intend to build these things to ride out a tsunami.

I did not help matters in the way that I rigged my dock lines, which is the only reasonable way to do so in my slip without adding more cleats to the dock (no can do) or to my deck (no wanna do). The dockline ran from the most aft-ward port cleat further aftward through the taff rail chock, and then forward to the only cleat available on the dock. That meant that the line from the deck cleat through the chock to the dock made a near 180 degree turn (probably 150 degrees). That would have increased the load on the chock over the load of a lesser angle. A second line runs forward from the port cleat that is just aft of the jib sheet winch through a pad eye that functions more-or-less as a fairlead and down to the same dock cleat. The dock cleat and both of my cleats were not damaged. Only the chock was damaged and actually down in the mud somewhere beneath the Santa Cruz Harbor I expect that the chock itself is undamaged and remains complete and reusable, but finding it is the issue. Hence I need a new chock. ANYONE KNOW WHERE I CAN GET ONE?

The only place I would worry about the attachment for the chocks is in a blow if I had a stern anchor out, but in that case the line would run fairly straight between the cleat and the anchor so the chock would under a lesser load than it would be if the chock was used as a large-angle turning point for the line.

And speaking of riding out the tsuname, I was at the harbor that day and had just assisted in securing a friends boat on W dock. As were were beginning to walk back up the dock, we looked up to see the surge that tore up G Dock was bearing down on us. See: U-Tube URL:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MDnlcbRMaQ

So we started to run, but we had to run parallel to the face of the swell and then toward it to get off the dock. At that point we could see the boats on G dock flying about. The surge was cresting toward a breaking wave, and it was moving faster than we were running and had less distance to cover, so I jumped up on the deck of a proximate sailboat and held onto the mast, and rode it out. I actually remained completely dry, but my friend wasn't quite so lucky. He's fine, but a little soggy. Best policy in a tsumani is stay off the docks. Some of those who attempted to save boats that day were severely injured. You do not want to be in the water between two boats when two boats collide or between a boat and the dock when they are banging together.

[Bill]

Scott, are you looking for an original chock? If so, your only source is IYRS, a West Jordan, Utah company that acquired the Rostand yacht hardware molds. I believe the outfit's name is Historical Arts and Castings, Inc. There should be some postings about it on the forum.

Check the ACYA manual appendix, beginning at page 78, for the chock part number and then give IYRS a call.

Phone: 801-280-2400
eden@historicalarts.com

[Scott Galloway]

Dear Bill,

Thanks for the reference. I did write via e-mail to Historical Arts and Castings, Inc. using the contact info on their website information at: http://www.historicalarts.com/products/show/681. Unfortunately I did not receive an answer. Now that you have assured me that Historical Arts and Castings, Inc. is the correct vendor, I will give them a call.

And in answer to your question, yes, I am interested in an original casting (used but in good condition would be fine) or something new that closely resembles the original casting. I would like to keep the appearance of my boat stock as much as it is possible to do so, and in any case, I have not seen an alternative design that looked like it would work on the taff rail. In the meantime toast a few to the inventor of white duct tape.

[Scott Galloway]

And one more tsunami surge video for you. This is from another camera and it captured what I believe to be the tusnami surge that I described above. If not, then it was its twin brother. See:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=C0Afa4pjWg4

The first few frames are taken of the surge hitting G dock. Then you see the breaking wave running up the main channel, and the next series of frames show the impact on the three fingers of W dock where my boat is moored. My boat is actually in the video, but you can only see the mast and mainsail cover as the surge hits the last finger of W dock. The very last few frames show boats on X dock as the surge hits them. You can get an idea of how much stress might have been placed on a cleat or chock by the force of that wave. One boat I saw that day had been torn off of V dock. The boat still had the dock cleats attached to its mooring lines.

[Ariel 109]

Scott, I have an extra Ariel rear chock. PM your information to me and I'll mail it to you.



Ben

[Ariel 109]

Oh, that chock. I don't know if it's the correct size. This one is 4.375" between screw centers and about 5.25" overall.

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u72/Parlordoor/photo.jpg