Harder for the Rest of Us

[WhereAway]

The boat pictured here belongs to a man that claims years of experience and yet he allows this to happen and does nothing about it.

Sad really.

[David M]

I'm sure the harbor master is already doing something about it.

Something like this can happen to anyone with any amount of experience although the more amount of preventative maintenance and inspections you put in to a boat, the less likely it is to happen.

[WhereAway]

David,
I do agree with you on all counts, however this is a picture of his other boat.

Scott

[natew]

What I find more interesting is how things get to that point.. I know it happens with some frequence but in a harbor which should have a fair number of people going around this really shouldn't happen.

Scenario 1 (Not really likely): Seacock fails catastrophically and allows maximum flow of water into boat. Hopefully there are some automatic bilge pumps which work in which case they fight a losing battle for some number of hours. Even without bilge pumps I doubt a boat would sink to that level in a matter of minutes. In which case wouldn't someone at some point notice a boat halfway sunk and tell someone about it??

Scenario 2 (More likely): Hose clamp fails or hose fails or packing gland fails and allows a slight leak, maybe a gallon or two a minute.. Unfortunately lack of maintenance results in bilge pumps not working and boat sinks over matter of a couple of days. Again, why would no one in the entire marina notice this and not say anything until well after the boat was completely sunk?

And you can't tell me that even if the owner was notified and did nothing about it that the marina manager wouldn't be well on top of it before the boat sank and ready to bill the owner or take posession of the boat... It is much cheaper to pay for a few high capacity water pumps and probably a small repair (if only temporary) than to pay for pulling up a fully sunk boat after it has been abandoned by the owner.

Maybe i'm expecting too much but I would say that unless the boat somehow sunk in a matter of about 5 minutes (Not likely) that the marina or marina manager is as much to blame as the owner just simply by the fact that no one did anything and watched it sink over what is likely a few days time.

[sailorboy1]

seems like an extreme way to wash the boat

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by natew

What I find more interesting is how things get to that point.. I know it happens with some frequence but in a harbor which should have a fair number of people going around this really shouldn't happen.

Scenario 1 (Not really likely): Seacock fails catastrophically and allows maximum flow of water into boat. Hopefully there are some automatic bilge pumps which work in which case they fight a losing battle for some number of hours. Even without bilge pumps I doubt a boat would sink to that level in a matter of minutes. In which case wouldn't someone at some point notice a boat halfway sunk and tell someone about it??

Scenario 2 (More likely): Hose clamp fails or hose fails or packing gland fails and allows a slight leak, maybe a gallon or two a minute.. Unfortunately lack of maintenance results in bilge pumps not working and boat sinks over matter of a couple of days. Again, why would no one in the entire marina notice this and not say anything until well after the boat was completely sunk?

And you can't tell me that even if the owner was notified and did nothing about it that the marina manager wouldn't be well on top of it before the boat sank and ready to bill the owner or take posession of the boat... It is much cheaper to pay for a few high capacity water pumps and probably a small repair (if only temporary) than to pay for pulling up a fully sunk boat after it has been abandoned by the owner.

Maybe i'm expecting too much but I would say that unless the boat somehow sunk in a matter of about 5 minutes (Not likely) that the marina or marina manager is as much to blame as the owner just simply by the fact that no one did anything and watched it sink over what is likely a few days time.

a. About 14 hours overnight, with a head start during the day.

b. Boats often go slowly, then quickly when the water gets over key drains or exhaust (a few key valves left open).

It's true that marinas "should" take notice of boats that are poorly tied or sitting low. But there are realities of liability, labor, and observation. I'd love to say the marina has culpability, but I can't.

I am surprised that more marina's don't have someone walk the docks at least 1x per week to point out bad lines, bad power hook-ups, and listing boats. Perhaps I don't understand liability, but you would think they would save cost and retain good customers (they'd probably chase off a few poor ones, those that might eventually abandon a boat).

[Stu Jackson]

Our marina staff do just that.

One day there was a commotion on a nearby dock, with eight skippers dancing around. They noticed a long time neighbor's boat starting to sink, and grabbed a whole bunch of lines and tied the boat up with lines underneath. That boat is still sitting there (S2 CC 30 feet), unused and neglected.

What really bugs me is that the marina policy is to check the visuals out on new boats coming into the marina, but they never (or don't have a policy to) check the existing boats who start to rot from neglect once they're there.

A few years ago Latitude 38 suggested a "use it or lose it policy," which IMHO wouldn't fly. Since I use my boat one a week, it doesn't apply to me, but we've all heard the stories...

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by natew

What I find more interesting is how things get to that point.. I know it happens with some frequence but in a harbor which should have a fair number of people going around this really shouldn't happen.

Scenario 1....

Scenario 2 ...

Maybe i'm expecting too much but I would say that unless the boat somehow sunk in a matter of about 5 minutes (Not likely) that the marina or marina manager is as much to blame as the owner just simply by the fact that no one did anything and watched it sink over what is likely a few days time.

Scenario 3. Financially desperate, but not so bright, owner cuts hose and leaves boat to sink.

A boat owner in a charter fleet where I worked did this once (actually she had her apparently even less bright boy friend do it for her). We noticed the boat sitting low on its lines, investigated, and found the obviously cut hose. We closed the sea cock, pumped her out, replaced the hose...then called the owner and explained the ugly realities of insurance fraud to her.

Which scenario aside, I've seen lots of boats sunk in marinas. IIRC, something like 85% of sinkings occur in the slip.

Many marina contracts make it explicitly clear that they are just renting you space and your boat is not their responsiblity. Maybe they don't touch it due to liability concerns?

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by WhereAway

David,
I do agree with you on all counts, however this is a picture of his other boat.

Scott

Yes...I see both boats are lying on their sides. Oh wait...you didn't rotate your pictures.

[markpierce]

It happens. And it doesn't necessarily take long.

[markpierce]

With our high vacancy rate, I doubt there is much incentive to face the problem of neglected boats.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by markpierce

With our high vacancy rate, I doubt there is much incentive to face the problem of neglected boats.

Take out every fourth finger and make room for some cats. I'm sure you'd see higher occupancy then

[markpierce]

Originally Posted by StuM

Take out every fourth finger and make room for some cats. I'm sure you'd see higher occupancy then

No. We have a couple of trimarans, which berth at end ties, except for one that folds.

[klmmicro]

Originally Posted by StuM

Take out every fourth finger and make room for some cats. I'm sure you'd see higher occupancy then

Or just make cats staddle a spar and then the marina can collect on two slips...

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by markpierce

With our high vacancy rate, I doubt there is much incentive to face the problem of neglected boats.

Which marina is that Mark?