Floating Containers in the Ocean

[Ocean Girl]

At the risk of it being called an urban legend, I know this person and this boat personally. So I am in fact reciting first hand - well ok, second hand knowledge cause I didn't see the boat fall off the trailer, but did see the dent. My friend Kenneth built a boat (ken, if your out there say Hi!!) Anyways, Ken built a sweet 25 ft hard chinned steel hull sailboat named Sea Mark. While trucking it to the water Sea Mark fell off the trailer at 55 MPH. When she finally stopped the only thing wrong was a dent and a scratched up paint job. She is a real tough gal and I'd take on a container with her anytime! well, hopefully that will not happen, but you get my drift. BTW - Ken, his wife Liz, and their son andrew, lived on the 25 footer for several years.
Go steel! says the girl with a fiberglass boat.

I think striking a container is very likely nowadays. I had a near miss out in the Gulf of Mexico a few years ago. The large container in the classic "pointy side up" position passed off my stbd about 50 yards. I took a pic and will try to find it. I have two friends that were sunk by containers within three months of each other. We believe the containers fell off the same ship (but different containers) around Belize, then was carried by currents into the Gulf. One of the boats that sank was a older model Hunter, she sank in only three or four minutes . The other boat was a newer Catalina 40 -42, she took about 8 hours to go down. It was a slower leak but behind a water tank so he just couldn't get to it from the inside. I think the key for fiberglass boats in dealing with containers is to have a good plan if holed. My boat, with its pesky liner, makes that task harder because of the limited access to the hull from the inside. I will have a emergency kit especially designed for going over the side to repair a hole. Lets hope I'll never have to use it.
Lots of debris out there, be careful.
Erika

[Agility]

I took an alternative approach to steel. I put Kevlar in the hull of our epoxy resin and tri-axial glass laminate. Anybody have an opinion on how that would do if I hit a container? Because of it's design the boat shouldn't sink unless on fire but what do you think would happen to the hull?

[Minggat]

Originally Posted by Ocean Girl

I think the key for fiberglass boats in dealing with containers is to have a good plan if holed.

I carry a triangular collision mat made by Pelicans Loft. Of course I hope it's bigger than the hole that I plan to never get.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

"I was told that a large percentage of the male drowning at sea are found with their fly open...
That's why you rarely hear of drowning fatalities among kilted sailors. :-)

Thanks. I've often wondered why that was.

[MarkJ]

Bacxk from a few days having fun


Containers at sea?

Don't worry about them. There is a slight chance of hitting a tree/log etc but containers? Nope. Couldnt calculate the tiny fraction of a chance.

Mark

[jackmeister]

I found some references to boats that supposedly hit containers:

Orange project trimaran:

NAUTICALweb Press - The Orange Project Trimaran Has Hit A Container

PRB:

News : PRB has hit a container - Vendée Globe

Mangwana:

demskiadventure

La Bamba:

Cape to Rio 2000 race report by Woods Designs

Great Fun:

http://www.latitude38.com/LectronicL...r26/Apr26.html

Passage West:

http://www.latitude38.com/letters/200107.htm

Kingfisher and "Gartmore investment management":

THE BOATING REPORT; Avoiding Submerged Containers a Test for Sailors
- The New York Times

Heather Maria and an Unknown Yacht:

http://oceannavigator.com/ME2/dirmod...ABBC6D9BFDA5C0

A Richard Branson sponsored powerboat (can't find any other references):

Network Norwich and Norfolk : Fight for life in Atlantic hurricane

[sneuman]

Interesting. I wonder how much it would cost to install an AIS that would be triggered to "squawk" like an auto-activated EPIRB? I don't know if it's economical to recover any of these containers, but for some high-value cargo, maybe it would be.

Anyway, it would at least reduce their hazard to navigation.

[jackmeister]

How about a bomb that sinks the container when it hits the water?

[Sailndive345]

Originally Posted by BlueRhapCity

I took an alternative approach to steel. I put Kevlar in the hull of our epoxy resin and tri-axial glass laminate. Anybody have an opinion on how that would do if I hit a container? Because of it's design the boat shouldn't sink unless on fire but what do you think would happen to the hull?

Only one way to find out........

[Dune]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

"I was told that a large percentage of the male drowning at sea are found with their fly open.
That's why you rarely hear of drowning fatalities among kilted sailors. :-)

That's why I always sail naked.

I saw a container floating with the doors up. I opened it and before I could get the motorcycle and sneakers out it sunk

Disclaimer...the above never really happened

[jackmeister]

That 3rd link in the list of boats that hit containers is garbage, didn't look too carefully.

Here are some more:

Arwen:

Arwen's Sinking

Account of a beneteau that supposedly hit a container and did not sink:

New 2009 Beneteau Sailboats Boats - iboats.com

A couple whale hits:

Boat sinks after being hit by whale in Baja Haha - The WoodenBoat Forum

Artemis Transat Breaking News - Foncia Hits Whale! | YachtPals.com

[Bash]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Containers at sea?

Don't worry about them. There is a slight chance of hitting a tree/log etc but containers? Nope. Couldnt calculate the tiny fraction of a chance.

While I've never seen a container at sea, I did have the privilege of ramming a deadhead once. That boat was 10 tons and it absolutely stopped in the water. Crazy how your rig pulses when you do the quick stop.

Checked the bilges. Nothing. Went to the nearest anchorage, broke out the scuba and dove the hull. Nothing.

...but the next boat we purchased came with a kevlar-reinforced bow. Yes. And kevlar running all the way down the keel stringer. All the way. Regardless, I never want to hit another deadhead.

[hpeer]

Another steel boat owner here. We are looking at another bigger boat and that will be steel or aluminum as well.

Never hit anything, well I did run up on a rock once last summer. No damage, couldn't find the scrapes. The original owner did put a pretty good dent in the keel near the bottom. I did get caught in a fishing net bouy line a couple of years back. Now talk about luck.

But I have a few thoughts.

For me ice is a much bigger issue than containers. Glacier ice can be very old and fresh and hard as all get out. They can be crystal clear and nearly impossible to see.

"Bergy bits" (yeah, that is a honest injun real technical name) like "growlers" are smaller bits of ice. As bergs melt they have chunks break off that float low in the water, nearly impossible to see by eye in the dark, and not even visible on radar. Bergs show up alright though. Lot of whales about also.

So I like steel. It can be holed but not as easily as glass. Not indestructible, but less fragile.

A while back I was looking at a glass/wood compsite boat and asked here and other places for advice on reinforcing the hull, perhaps with kevlar. The concensus of opinion was that kevlar had a lot of longitudinal stregth but very little puncture resistance. (So why use them in bullet proof vests? The only thing I can of is that the tight weave causes the bullet to "pull" the strands and dissipate the force. I have heard that the vests are not much protection against knives. True?) So the kevlar would not be very much help.

Someone way back was skeptical of the aluminum boat going under a larger boat and surviving.

Take a look at this series of photos. You have to pull down a little to see it.

The Wetass Chronicles

[Ocean Girl]

Originally Posted by BlueRhapCity

I took an alternative approach to steel. I put Kevlar in the hull of our epoxy resin and tri-axial glass laminate. Anybody have an opinion on how that would do if I hit a container? Because of it's design the boat shouldn't sink unless on fire but what do you think would happen to the hull?

I built a 12 ft row boat out of the tri-axial. She was t-boned on a bulkhead by a big bully named powerboat guy. The boat folded in half at midship. The glass bounced back almost all the way with some glass stress cracks along the fold. Her beautiful paint job was ruined but she still kept the water outside the boat. I think the kevlar along the leading edge is a great idea. Are your bulk heads water tight? Is that why you say she shouldn't sink?
Erika

[Agility]

Originally Posted by Ocean Girl

I built a 12 ft row boat out of the tri-axial. She was t-boned on a bulkhead by a big bully named powerboat guy. The boat folded in half at midship. The glass bounced back almost all the way with some glass stress cracks along the fold. Her beautiful paint job was ruined but she still kept the water outside the boat. I think the kevlar along the leading edge is a great idea. Are your bulk heads water tight? Is that why you say she shouldn't sink?
Erika

Yes the bulk heads are water tights but the core is foam - “Core-Cell” SAN foam and Divinycell PVC foam. Even full of water it floats but I'm sure not a lot of fun.