Photo of Yacht "Fluke" heading to the bottom after thru-hull failure.
Related story
http://www.theroyalgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage
Photo of Yacht "Fluke" heading to the bottom after thru-hull failure.
Related story
http://www.theroyalgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage
I have some questions as to why the crew didn't discover their boat was sinking and why they couldn't stop the water before the boat was lost.
Usually, boats sink at the dock from thru-hull or hose failure.
http://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/sinking/default.asp
My boat has a marine head with a holding tank. The thru-hulls and hoses were replaced about 5 years ago. Still, that damn head causes me some worries. Sometimes I wonder if I've forgotten to close the seacocks after I've left the boat.
There is some advantage to having a porta-pottie.
I'm thinking maybe I could make the lower part of the head area reasonably watertight. Maybe epoxy some partitions on the sides so the water would have nowhere to go. Caulk the edges of the front panel.
I would only need to contain the water in the area below the waterline, which is about halfway up the bowl. Once the water filled that area, it would stop coming in.
Note the waterline
Reading thru that story my 1st impression is," they gave up awfully fast "
My good friend Buzzy Barkley , in the wee hrs. of the morning ,struck a semi-submerged container about 3 days out of the UK headed for ChesBay . He was sailing a Swan 40 something . He quickly went to the opposite tack & stuffed some spare T-shirts in the 8"x8"x8" triangular hole that was about 1 1/2' below the waterline just forward of the mast . Pulled a spare working jib out of the lazarette , hauled it under the boat like a bandage . Then put a mattress against the hole backed up by a locker door ,with the boat hooks and boarding ladder applying pressure . He got the leak slowed down to 5 minutes of pumping every hour kept the bilge clear and sailed on to the US where he hauled out about 48 hrs after arriving .
He says they headed back to the UK for about 2 hours , until he realized the leak was now in check then put her about and headed for home .
That sounds like a fine feat of seamanship.
Of course its easy to second guess the crew of the "Fluke" from here. A failed underwater fitting will admit an enormous amount of water. But, what gets me is the quote "We realised we could not repair it and abandoned ship immediately" Huh?
I guess a boat named "Fluke" was bound to flounder...er... founder
I agree that it is easy to second-guess, but my first thoughts were similar to Mike's. There were three of them. Seems to me that one could've jumped over and plugged the thru-hull from the outside while another plugged it from inside and the third continued to bail.
Maybe it's me, but there are things that just don't make sense in this article. With "open ocean experience" one would think that these guys would've checked everything before they left, had adequate parts on hand and the experience to handle this sort of situation. And one of the guys is swearing off boating after 20 years because of this? Granted it is a traumatic experience, but if that is the way this guy feels, he may not have been prepared for this kind of journey in the first place. And what kind of boating has he been doing for 20 years that he can swear it off just like that?
My dad, who was a tank commander in the Army, has always wondered of paratroopers, "Why jump out of a perfectly good airplane?" I have the same thoughts about putting holes in the hulls of perfectly good boats; I've already dumped the old toilet and purchased a porta-potti.
The port seacock on #66 was replaced at some time in its history. Seems like a nice unit, but the starboard one looks like the original bronze. Both will be going, as I have no inboard and no need for a thru-hull.
Pete, If you cannot get rid of the thru-hulls, boxing in the head sounds like cheap insurance.
The link above is no longer good. Here is the story:
Terror on the high seas
Farewell: A crewman from the Fluke watches the sailboat nose under from the relative safety of a liferaft. Note the upside down US flag - the international sign of distress. The Fluke had taken on some three feet of water through a failed through-hull fitting below the waterline.
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By Tania Theriault
ttheriault@royalgazette.bm
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The shores of Bermuda were a welcome sight for three sailors yesterday morning after experiencing a night of terror at sea Thursday that left one vowing never to set foot on a boat again.
Three American crew from the yacht Fluke out of Rhode Island arrived safely in Bermuda on a Russian tanker some 12 hours after they watched their boat sink like a stone in the mid-Atlantic, from a life raft just metres away.
The trio of sailors had set out from Gloucester Point, Virginia on Sunday afternoon intending to sail to Antigua and while away the winter months Caribbean-style.
But Fluke had to change course after a few days at sea due to mechanical problems, The Royal Gazette was told.
The crew intended to sail to Bermuda and make repairs before continuing south but ran into unrelated but far more serious problems Thursday evening. The yacht began taking on water before sinking fast some 140 miles west of Bermuda.
“We went below at around 6 p.m. to do a positioning,” Captain David Alves said. “We were motor sailing but at around 7 p.m. the power failed. When I checked it out there was water all over the battery.
“I told the crew we had better abandon ship.”
Mr. Alves had two other men on board - Roger Wallace and Thomas Stone. While the three men all had open ocean experience, nothing could have prepared them for the experience of watching their vessel swallowed by the sea.
“It would be impossible to mentally prepare for an experience like that,” the captain said.
Fluke had taken on about four feet of water in her hull when they contacted Bermuda Harbour Radio.
The crew began madly bailing in an attempt to find the leak.
They discovered that the source of the leak was a failed, through-hull fitting below the waterline.
“We realised we could not repair it and abandoned ship immediately,” Mr. Alves said.
The three men piled into a life raft, snapping pictures of the vessel Mr. Alves had owned for five years as it began its descent to the ocean floor.
“When I bought the life raft I said to the guys in the shop ‘I hope I never see this again',” Mr. Alves said. “You buy it but you definitely don't want to use it. I am very glad I had it though.” The shock of finding themselves at the mercy of the North Atlantic left the men terrified and nervous.
“Right now, I would never go on a boat again,” Mr. Alves said before taking a flight back to the United States. “In a few weeks, I might change my mind because you tend to only remember the good things.
“But I have been boating for over 20 years and now, I say never again.” The Fluke crew were lucky not to have been caught in the worst of the storms that have been rampaging about the North Atlantic brings winds and rains to the Island.
Conditions were fairly calm when the boat sank.
“It was not too bad. It was blowing between 15 and 20 knots,” Mr. Alves said. “But we knew there was a low coming and conditions were going to get very serious.”
Mr. Alves was in contact with Bermuda Harbour Radio by satellite phone from the time the leak was discovered.
On the life raft, the crew had the phone and a VHF Radio.
He praised the Harbour Radio officer on duty for calming talking the men through the situation. “We were in contact with Harbour Radio,” he said. “The officer, unfortunately I don't remember his name as it was such a stressful situation, was so helpful.
“He calmly and coolly laid out our options.” The US Coast Guard also dispatched a C-130 rescue aircraft to keep an eye on the crewman in their lifeboat as well.
“The plane came to us and stayed over us,” Mr. Alves said. “Everyone was so helpful.” About three hours later a Russian tanker, Genmar Star, which had left Delaware City sailing for Northern Europe, came to the aid of the stranded men.
“The captain was so nice,” Mr. Alves said. “He brought us to his cabin to drink vodka.
“He said a few vodkas would relax us and allow us to go off to sleep. And he was right. We had a few and they certainly did.”
Other features:
Thursday Dec 5th 07:53 am Bermuda Harbour Radio received a satellite telephone call from the 39 foot U.S. registered sailing vessel Fluke stating that they were 170 miles West of Bermuda taking on water. There was almost 4 feet of water in the cabin below and the crew were preparing to abandon the vessel for their life raft. Weather conditions were calm. After a further investigation they advised that they thought that they had found the problem with a through hull fitting and had the situation under control by manually bailing.
Through the course of the morning however they were unable to bring the water level down sufficiently, and at 11:09AM they requested evacuation from the sinking boat which reportedly had only 1.5 feet of freeboard remaining. Use of the U.S. Coast Guard AMVER system had previously located the tanker Genmar Star within 40 miles of their position, while a U.S. Coast Guard C-130 aircraft on standby also launched from Coast Guard Airstation Elizabeth City with a life raft and pump kit. The Genmar Star, enroute from Delaware City to Europe, was successfully contacted and diverted to the Fluke's position - removing the sailboat crew by 4:30PM.
The Fluke departed Gloucester Point, Virginia and was enroute to the Caribbean, when the mishap occurred. The Genmar Star landed the uninjured crew in Bermuda at 7:00AM Friday morning before resuming her voyage.
This allows for a more accurate timeline, but raises even more questions:
6:00 p.m. All is well (or leak not yet noticed)
7:00 pm Water over the batteries
8:00 a.m. the next day Distress Call issued by Sat-phone
Afterwards, the source of flooding was identified and they began to stem the sinking.
11:00 a.m. Flooding continues, requested evacuation.
???? Abandoned ship
Perhaps they spent too much time hand-bailing themselves into exhaustion rather than identifying and stopping the leak. But, I suspect it may be difficult to tell where the water is entering if the leak is already underwater.
From "The Practical Mariner's Book of Knowledge":
"Abandoning Ship The rule of thumb is never to abandon ship until you have to step up to your liferaft.
Unfortunately, this is much easier said than done. There is often great psychological pressure to escape from the responsibilities, physical labor, decision-making, stress and sense of failure that accompany a sinking situation in heavy weather. Many sailors suffering mental and physical exhaustion after a knock-down or a holing find the thought of drifting off in a rubber liferaft--and thereby abdicating all decision-making and physical labor--immensely appealing. But, all too often, the partially waterlogged yacht is found still floating, months or even years later, while the liferaft and its occupants are never seen again."
I guess that if they had only 1-1/2 feet of freeboard left, then they are stepping up into the liferaft.
An evil thought. Wonder if there was insurance involved ???
Regarding building a compartment to prevent water filling your boat in case of a head problem, take a look at what James Baldwin did to his Triton "Atom." I think he made exactly the modification you're thinking of. Its detailed on both his web page and the National Triton Assoc. pages.
www.yachtatom.com
www.tritonclass.org
Dan
That's the idea!
http://www.sailnet.com/images/conten...B_headshot.jpg
Shucks, I thought I had an original idea for once.
It seems like a fairly easy project on our boats (assuming the Ariel head area is the same).
Just epoxy in two pieces of plywood roughly shaped to block water flowing towards the stern.
I'm gonna feel real guilty if I don't complete this project. I'm not insured against sinking
Last edited by commanderpete; 12-09-2002 at 11:55 AM.
On the "Fluke" sinking, one lesson to be learned is that its important to know immediately that the bilge pump is pumping. When singlehanding, you might not go below for long periods.
Some people suggest putting an alarm on the bilge pump circuit.
I think another option is to run the discharge hose from the bilge pump so that it drains directly into the cockpit. You'll know when it starts pumping. Also makes for a short hose run.
If the boat starts sinking at the dock, I wouldn't put too much faith in a bilge pump to keep her afloat. The battery would probably be drained in a matter of hours. You might get lucky with a small leak.
My commander now has a bilge pump that I installed, I ran the discharge hose to the cockpit, guess it was a good choice. my Commander has a thru the hull knott indicator device that leaks a little water, on Mikes suggestion I'm going to pull the boat out this month and fill all of the thru-hull plumming openings. I don't trust any 37 y/o thru-hull plumming. Being new to sailing and this is my first boat since I was a lad I don't need any added worrys.
You know Bill, I had that very same thought...
Less than 200 miles from Bermuda...far enough to make getting "help" difficult but no so far as to make a rescue impossible.
Still, it seems far-fetched that someone would purposely sink a boat, especially so far from home and help. Then again, people kill for insurance money...
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