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Old 07-01-2013, 05:27   #16
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Re: Sink an abandoned boat?

To cut a very long story short I found an abandoned yacht between Africa and the Cape Verde Islands when I was single handing. It was a Contest 50 and worth a million more than my boat. I could see a dead, bloated body on the foredeck. There was no wind but the yacht was double reefed, not under command, just flopping around in circles.

When I came up close to it I yelled out "hello!" And the body on the foredeck sat up. I nearly sh!t myself!

He was below sleeping off the calm and she was sun baking on deck. They didnt mind the flopping about.

Nice boat.
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Old 07-01-2013, 05:28   #17
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Re: Sink an abandoned boat?

I once came across a boat floating out of sight of land, a wooden dink- I came along side it and it was in such bad shape I just left it there and contuned on
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Old 07-01-2013, 05:30   #18
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Re: Sink an abandoned boat?

How much is the boat insured for and how much is it worth?

I read a story a couple of years ago where due to rough seas a single hander abandoned his and was taken off by a freighter *(there wasn't anything wrong with the boat and he knew it but got worried about "what ifs") The last thing he did as he left the boat was open the engine seawater intake that he had already taken the hose off of before the freighter got to him.

I don't know what I would do and it probably falls into a void of what I really do compared to what I planned could be way different. But my guess is that I wouldn't sink the boat.
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Old 07-01-2013, 06:12   #19
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Re: Sink an abandoned boat?

I know of three vessels found abandoned, boarded by others, and returned to the original owners.
A She 31, north of Bermuda, sailed to Halifax, and returned to owner.
A Shetland Islands 36 ft cutter, boarded by Royal Navy, west of Bermuda, sailed into Hamilton Harbour, and cheerily returned to owner.
A Southern Cross (31?) towed in by commercial fisherman, identified, and eventually returned to US, to owner, IIRC.
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Old 07-01-2013, 10:14   #20
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Re: Sink an abandoned boat?

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I know of three vessels found abandoned, boarded by others, and returned to the original owners.
A She 31, north of Bermuda, sailed to Halifax, and returned to owner.
A Shetland Islands 36 ft cutter, boarded by Royal Navy, west of Bermuda, sailed into Hamilton Harbour, and cheerily returned to owner.
A Southern Cross (31?) towed in by commercial fisherman, identified, and eventually returned to US, to owner, IIRC.
I would be interested, if you know, of why these boats were adrift.
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Old 07-01-2013, 10:27   #21
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Re: Sink an abandoned boat?

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Indeed. A sailboat with no rudder might still be sailed.
Offshore race boats are required to carry an emergency rudder. Some friends on the 2000 Vic-Maui lost their rudder 600 miles from Maui and finished the race with just moments to spare.

Cruisers might consider that option as well. That last boat I brought back from Maui have some gugdeons mounted on the transom and a pintle rudder with a tiller stored on a shelf in the aft cabin.
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Old 07-01-2013, 10:52   #22
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Re: Sink an abandoned boat?

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I would be interested, if you know, of why these boats were adrift.
The She was abandoned due to bad weather conditions.
The cutter had the crew removed due to the lady's pregnancy and the husbands exhaustion and dehydration. They had been driven before a storm from St Thomas to Bermuda, and were 100 miles west of BDA
The conditions at that time were so bad that the Captain of HMS Berwick would not put her on the hook at the seaward end of the Newport-Bermuda finish line.
He went to the rescue of my friends, put a crew aboard who sailed the cutter to the island.
The Southern Cross( i'm pretty sure thats what it was, sloop, bowsprit, canoe stern, outboard rudder) was found by local fisherman 30 miles south of Bermuda, turned in, sold by Bda Customs for duty to finders, who (i understand) located and sold it back to US owners.
One of the 5 or 6 boats abandoned around here 14 months back was seen sailing around 250 mles south of here in August.
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Old 07-01-2013, 11:40   #23
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Re: Sink an abandoned boat?

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I would be interested, if you know, of why these boats were adrift.
I'd be interest to know if there was some sort of finders fee


I haven't been in any kind of severe conditions yet, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't abandon a boat that was still floating and not taking on water.
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Old 07-01-2013, 12:07   #24
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Re: Sink an abandoned boat?

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I'd be interest to know if there was some sort of finders fee


I haven't been in any kind of severe conditions yet, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't abandon a boat that was still floating and not taking on water.
I can see abandoning a floating boat due to a medical condition. But it also seems that a large percentage of "sinking" boats we read about that have people "rescued" from them and the boat abandoned, we later hear of the boat being found floating along.
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Old 07-01-2013, 12:22   #25
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Re: Sink an abandoned boat?

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Originally Posted by jackdale View Post
Offshore race boats are required to carry an emergency rudder. Some friends on the 2000 Vic-Maui lost their rudder 600 miles from Maui and finished the race with just moments to spare.

Cruisers might consider that option as well. That last boat I brought back from Maui have some gugdeons mounted on the transom and a pintle rudder with a tiller stored on a shelf in the aft cabin.
That is an excellent idea!
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Old 07-01-2013, 12:28   #26
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Re: Sink an abandoned boat?

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That is an excellent idea!
The bracket is the piece of galvanized angle iron on the transom.

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Old 07-01-2013, 12:35   #27
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Re: Sink an abandoned boat?

For extra points, design an outboard motor mount that also attaches to the emergency rudder bracket, and bring a PVC tube that slips over the throttle that's long enough to easily reach from the helm.
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Old 07-01-2013, 13:06   #28
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Re: Sink an abandoned boat?

I know of a mid-to-upper 30's Bene that was abandoned in rough weather in the 90's, crew removed by UCSG helo on the way back from Bermuda to NY apparently due to fatigue and fear. The boat was later salvaged off a NJ beach. If they'd only had a beacon to leave on the boat, it could have been picked up offshore at minimal cost with minimal damage.
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Old 07-01-2013, 13:13   #29
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Re: Sink an abandoned boat?

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For extra points, design an outboard motor mount that also attaches to the emergency rudder bracket, and bring a PVC tube that slips over the throttle that's long enough to easily reach from the helm.
A boat I often use for instruction has a outboard mount that will permit the outboard to reach the waterline. I have not tried it out.
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Old 07-01-2013, 13:21   #30
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Re: Sink an abandoned boat?

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For extra points, design an outboard motor mount that also attaches to the emergency rudder bracket, and bring a PVC tube that slips over the throttle that's long enough to easily reach from the helm.
In an emergency you could make one and thru bolt it to the sugar scoop and put on the dink donk.

Same as the spare rudder... Spinnaker pole and cabin door. Or if you are serious about it maybe buy a few U bolts before you leave home, and leave them in the tool box so you can fashion something at sea.

Creativity can overcome large expense
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