|
|
03-11-2012, 15:07
|
#1
|
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2012
Boat: Still saving up for the next one!
Posts: 72
|
Sink Proofing
Hello everyone,
I have had an idea, maybe it's daft and maybe someone has thought of it before, but here goes.
How about having a large inflatable "sausage" (or several) that in case the boat is sinking you could inflate inside the cabin(s) and provide positive bouyancy until you can get help?
I saw something similar being used to raise a yacht that had sunk so I'm certain it would work.
If anybody ever manufactures these they will have at least one customer because I would like to buy a couple.
.
|
|
|
03-11-2012, 15:27
|
#2
|
Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Lakewood Ranch, FLORIDA
Boat: Alden 50, Sarasota, Florida
Posts: 3,464
|
Re: Sink proofing
1. How long would it take to inflate sufficient buoyancy to float your boat?
2. How large and how well maintained are the pumps to do #1?
3. When you get done, you still have a sunk boat with balloons holding it up so now what?
Good anticipation, seamanship and due diligence trumps trying to save you ass every time.
|
|
|
03-11-2012, 15:33
|
#3
|
S/V rubber ducky
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: heading "south"
Boat: Hunter 410
Posts: 20,362
|
Re: Sink proofing
I think most sinkings occur when no one was even on the the boat
__________________
Don't ask a bunch of unknown forum people if it is OK to do something on YOUR boat. It is your boat, do what you want!
|
|
|
03-11-2012, 15:39
|
#4
|
Marine Service Provider
Join Date: May 2012
Location: New Orleans
Boat: We have a problem... A serious addiction issue.
Posts: 3,974
|
Re: Sink proofing
Freddy,
Most offshore boat already have inflatable tubes to hand out on until help arrives. They are called life rafts.
Frankly what you are suggesting is doable, but I am not sure to what end. You would need hundreds of pounds of rubber tubes that have to be stored somewhere. Plus scuba tank sized tanks to inflate them. Assuming you want to be able to quickly deploy they they have to already be in place, which complicates either the build, where other equipment can be stowed or both. Not to mention how to you place them so as to keep them out of the way of sharp stuff that may pierce the bladders.
And I am not sure what it buys you. Very few boats sink underway. And even if you have these bladders, they would have to be positioned very carefully. Even a slight bow or stern down trim initially could result in the boat floating bow up quite quickly.
__________________
Greg
- If animals weren't meant to be eaten then they wouldn't be made of food.
|
|
|
03-11-2012, 15:47
|
#5
|
Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Toronto
Boat: CS36Merlin, "La Belle Aurore"
Posts: 7,557
|
Re: Sink proofing
Actually a company about twenty years ago had such a system. I looked into it and it would have taken all my storage space in a 36 foot boat. If you're really worried fill your boat with ping pong balls.
__________________
Rick I
Toronto in summer, Bahamas in winter.
|
|
|
03-11-2012, 15:51
|
#6
|
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Eastern Tennessee
Boat: Research vessel for a university, retired now.
Posts: 10,406
|
Re: Sink proofing
I don't know if it would be worth the additional weight on board and the additional expense. Once inflated you have to ask yourself if you would have a place to be so that you are out of the water to avoid hypothermia or have shelter from from the sun. How would you make or collect water? I know the raft controversy is huge, but I think you would be better off in a raft which would provide an environment better suited to survival. Your exposure to the elements would be less.
__________________
David
Life begins where land ends.
|
|
|
03-11-2012, 16:25
|
#7
|
Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Nanny State
Boat: 22' Westerly Nomad
Posts: 594
|
Re: Sink proofing
I had thought that this idea might be viable to keep the boat from sinking until you could repair it. Then you pump the water out, and deflate the bladder.
I decided that making all the interior compartments as watertight as possible would have the same effect of keeping the boat floating while emergency repairs could be made.
__________________
Dean - 22' Westerly Nomad - Travelnik
A 14-foot mini-cruiser is minimalist. A 19ft is comfortable, and anything much larger than a 25 borders on ostentatious.
|
|
|
03-11-2012, 17:15
|
#8
|
Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: U.S., Northeast
Boat: Currently boatless
Posts: 1,643
|
Re: Sink proofing
Like Vasco, I remember a company marketing something like what you describe a while back. I guess it wasn't a resounding commercial success.
Sadler 34 was designed to be unsinkable. As I recall, when it was introduced at the London boat show, the builders opened the seacocks and flooded the interior to demonstrate that it would still float. The flotation was foam, however, not inflatable bags.
__________________
... He knows the chart is not the sea.
-- Philip Booth, Chart 1203
|
|
|
03-11-2012, 19:15
|
#9
|
֍֎֍֎֍֎֍֎֍֎
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 15,136
|
Re: Sink proofing
As Rick and Ziggy said, they've been on the market, and off it.
Could it be done better and in a way that would sell now? Maybe, maybe not, but it isn't news.
|
|
|
03-11-2012, 19:25
|
#10
|
Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Nanny State
Boat: 22' Westerly Nomad
Posts: 594
|
Re: Sink proofing
These are the ones I was thinking about.
boat salvage marine rescue underwater liftbags Subsalve
They would require scuba tanks to fill though. Too much bulk for my small boat.
__________________
Dean - 22' Westerly Nomad - Travelnik
A 14-foot mini-cruiser is minimalist. A 19ft is comfortable, and anything much larger than a 25 borders on ostentatious.
|
|
|
04-11-2012, 04:18
|
#11
|
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2012
Boat: Still saving up for the next one!
Posts: 72
|
Re: Sink proofing
Hey dsmastern,
Thanks so much for the link.
I ran into a tree trunk while sailing at night but fortunately made it to shallow water with both bilge pumps working non-stop, did some emergency repairs the next day and we continued the trip safe and more or less sound.
So sh_t does happen no matter how well prepared or diligent you are and I think I was lucky not to have lost my boat.
|
|
|
04-11-2012, 04:34
|
#12
|
Armchair Bucketeer
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 10,012
|
Re: Sink proofing
Could probably acheive much the same effect with a few large bin bags and a couple of cans of builders foam. probably!
But in either system would likely need a good hull and deck join........
|
|
|
04-11-2012, 04:55
|
#13
|
Marine Service Provider
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Port Credit, Ontario or Bahamas
Boat: Benford 38 Fantail Cruiser
Posts: 7,047
|
Re: Sink proofing
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vasco
Actually a company about twenty years ago had such a system. I looked into it and it would have taken all my storage space in a 36 foot boat. If you're really worried fill your boat with ping pong balls.
|
The fella that held the patent on that was marine investigator with the Canadian Transportation Safety Board. There was an incident where someone was trapped below by the rapidly inflating bag .... the product was quickly withdrawn from the market.
__________________
If you're not laughing, you're not doin' it right.
|
|
|
04-11-2012, 05:02
|
#14
|
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Germany
Boat: secondarily boatless
Posts: 184
|
Re: Sink proofing
Guys,
have you thought of passengers/crew? I would be scared to death to trap someone underneath the airbag because it was inflated prematurely in the chaos surrounding a major leak and flooding.
Oliver
|
|
|
04-11-2012, 05:15
|
#15
|
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Central Florida
Boat: Reinell 26 "Tobi Maru
Posts: 110
|
Re: Sink proofing
I don't think the idea is daft. What i seems to me is "self salvage." Salvors use lift bags along with other techniques. One could calculate how much water "emergency rig" would need to displace to keep the vessel from being awash. The same effect can be achieved by installing foam. A quick rule of thumb is a cubic foot of sea-water weighs 65lbs. So, a 10,000 lbs (dispacement) boat would need about 60 cubic feet of foam or air to keep her afloat at roughly twice the design waterline. This would be very low in the water. Alot more foam or air will be needed to keep the boat near the design waterline. At that point, start up the 3 1/2" gas powered trash pump to de-water the boat. Challenge is, what storage space do you sacrifice for all that buoyancy?
I had planned on installing foam in my boat. Ultimately, opted for storage space, and a life-raft.
__________________
"Can't run from the wind, all you can do is trim your sails and deal with it"
|
|
|
|
|
Thread Tools |
Search this Thread |
|
|
Display Modes |
Rate This Thread |
Linear Mode
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
Advertise Here
Recent Discussions |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Vendor Spotlight |
|
|
|