Visit our Popular Forums

cards26 · 04-04-2016, 10:08

Sad story to report today, especially when we may not know exactly what happened to these very experienced sailors. It's off the coast of San Andres, a part of Colombia.

I don't see the keel, do lifting keels on an aluminum boat fall off easily?

https://twitter.com/armadacolombia/s...850373/photo/1

cards26 · 04-04-2016, 10:12

I don't mean to say 'easily', I would think it's metal to metal, and very strongly attached, so even with a strong hit on a rock, the keel wouldn't just come off.

avb3 · 04-04-2016, 10:25

From where do you get the indication that the boat is aluminum, and that it had a lifting keel. The link to the coast guard does not provide that information.

**Dockhead** · 04-04-2016, 10:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by avb3

From where do you get the indication that the boat is aluminum, and that it had a lifting keel. The link to the coast guard does not provide that information.

Apparently a steel Van de Stadt, a "Samoa" design. NOT a lifting keel.

Very, very experienced sailors, on a very serious boat.

Here is their website:

www.Talagoa.nl

cards26 · 04-04-2016, 10:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by avb3

From where do you get the indication that the boat is aluminum, and that it had a lifting keel. The link to the coast guard does not provide that information.

People are writing in 'comments' to this story about the boat on Panama sites. This couple appears to be well known to some members of the cruising crowd in this part of the world, and they say it's aluminum.....but I guess it could be steel too. I dunno.

Like Lizzy says, not much known about what happened yet. Very sad story though. I hate reading news like this.

Very often, Colombian agencies just suddenly drop a story leaving a lot to our imaginations. I see it all the time, with investigations left up in the air.

Lizzy Belle · 04-04-2016, 10:25

This happened a few days ago; nobody knows what happened yet.

They found the bodies of the sailors, Waldy (75) and Ria Finke (69), last Tuesday. They washed ashore on San Andrés. The boat, sy Talagoa, was found 2 days later (April 1st).

They were on their way home after cruising for 15 years ...

**boatman61** · 04-04-2016, 10:44

Sad news indeed..

another link..
Talagoa - Type of ship: Sailing vessel - Callsign: PI4785 - vesseltracker.com

Polux · 04-04-2016, 11:08

It looks an aluminum boat:

A Van de Stadt design?
Yes they were made in steel too so it is possible to be a steel one.
More about the couple here:
http://www.ad.nl/ad/nl/1038/Rotterda...-raadsel.dhtml

Here is the boat web site:
http://talagoa.nl/
Edit. it looks to be steel on this photo:

ausnp84 · 04-04-2016, 11:45

Holy sheet! That's terrible.

Interesting to read over on SA about bolted on keels vs badly penetrated welds - you've gotta think tho, the boat's done many miles and they're a highly experienced couple - what the hell happened?

n

Polux · 04-04-2016, 12:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by ausnp84

Holy sheet! That's terrible.

Interesting to read over on SA about bolted on keels vs badly penetrated welds - you've gotta think tho, the boat's done many miles and they're a highly experienced couple - what the hell happened?

n

We don't know if the keel loss was the cause of the accident. The keel may have been lost with the boat banging on rocks however it is very strange that if that was the case the ruder to be in one piece and the hull apparently not showing any marks.

It is even more strange because this is not a boat built by an amateur but professionally built in Groningen that is know by their high quality aluminum an steel yacht shipyards.

barnakiel · 04-04-2016, 13:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polux

(...)

It is even more strange because this is not a boat built by an amateur but professionally built in Groningen that is know by their high quality aluminum an steel yacht shipyards.

Never forget Breehorn case in that UK boat capsize and life loss. Tea from London is not guranteed ...

BTW How do you know which boatyard she is from, from their website?

b.

BigNickMontana · 05-04-2016, 09:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polux

We don't know if the keel loss was the cause of the accident. The keel may have been lost with the boat banging on rocks however it is very strange that if that was the case the ruder to be in one piece and the hull apparently not showing any marks.

It is even more strange because this is not a boat built by an amateur but professionally built in Groningen that is know by their high quality aluminum an steel yacht shipyards.

Looking at this picture being a welder, it looks to me like the welds failed.

Steel welds are very strong in one direction, once a weld starts to crack it will continue to crack, often times a cracked weld can be separated with nothing more than a hammer.

If this keel separated at the welds then it tells me that most likely who ever welded it welded it too cold, did not get enough penetration and then to make to look good ground the weld down.

That is a certain recipe for failure.

The keel appears to have been welded to the bottom after the boat was constructed. This means it was not tied into the frames, rather just hanging on the bottom with a weld around the outside. This is an inferior construction method, often times used when the builder does not have the ceiling height in their boat shed to build the boat with the keel on.

The worst part is if this is the case they didn't have to hit anything, simply being heeled over the strain on the keel is pretty intense and it is pulling in such a way that once a crack formed it would just continue all the way around.

They would hear a couple of pop's and the next thing they know the boat would be on its side or even upside down as the keel would instantly fall off with a violent unloading.

It would be a very hard event to survive and give no warning. I highly suspect this was the case.