Cyclone Winston beached yacht

[Exit door]

Hi my yacht has been beached in Savusavu, unfortunately there is no communication in this town yet to ascertain the extent of boat damage! If I am lucky and keel is in order and no major holes could anybody tell me the best way to get her back in the water bearing in mind there will be no cranes at this stage

Where she is lying she sits about 60-100 ft from deep water ( maybe)

I'm thinking that possibly clearing a path and dragging her towed into deep water on her hull side

She's a fin keel skeg

Any materials used to try and protect hull and bottom! Any techniques to achieve this? Any ideas?

I will be there on Wednesday!

Any ideas greatly appreciated

Kris

[Neptune's Gear]

Sorry, way too vague. Boat size, weight construction, nature of the ground etc needed before any useful suggestions can be made.


However, thoughts for now...
A decent size cruiser will require a bulldozer/machine, or a LOT of men and ropes (perhaps 10 per 1000 KG? ) In times past, greased "ways" were used to slide vessels over the ground - perhaps this method could be tried... right down to the low water line, or a bit further, then wait for the tide. To drag her across sand/coral won't be feasible without some sort of "road". Rocks would be worse...
You'd have to make up harnesses to all the strong points - the load will be large...
The locals will have other priorities now, but will be more enthusiastic the more you pay them - and you will pay them, right?

[roverhi]

If you can get a trailer to her there will probably be way less damage if you can haul her back to the water that way. The truckers with flat beds are really ingenious at getting boats onto trailers though you may have to fabricate a cradle to do it.

Dragging the boat coral will probably tear the hell out of the boat plus you'll need a hell of a lot of horsepower to drag the boat. Possibly a well anchored barge with a big winch would work.

[Reefmagnet]

Crane and truck would be your best bet since it's sitting beside the road. The boat may already be holed if the foreshore is rocky.

[lonesoldier0408]

Water tight, is the first priority. Next lots of tackle. Moveable decking platform, to improve terrain between vessel and water. Cradle support for vessel, logs or fence posts to roll cradle and vessel to the water. Fast, no. But we do have the pyramids.
Move vessel from platform to platform, relocate first platform, move vessel, repeat until the splash.


Still surrounded by anchors.

[deblen]

Originally Posted by lonesoldier0408

Water tight, is the first priority. Next lots of tackle. Moveable decking platform, to improve terrain between vessel and water. Cradle support for vessel, logs or fence posts to roll cradle and vessel to the water. Fast, no. But we do have the pyramids.
Move vessel from platform to platform, relocate first platform, move vessel, repeat until the splash.


Still surrounded by anchors.

Good suggestion!
This is a summary of how it was done locally yrs ago before cranes & travelifts.

Stand boat up on keel blocks.
Brace with whatever is available-from lumber post with pads to proper jack stands.
Build a strong wood cradle similar to pic. Lots of diagonal bracing & cross pieces.Build cradle on blocking above ground.
Bevel the ends of four 12" logs. Place under cradle & parallel to hull. Place 2 more logs across the ends of the four & thru bolt them such that the keel is trapped & 4 logs cannot spread or come together.
Drill 2" holes horizontally thru the bevelled ends of center two logs at least 3 ft back from end of logs.
Make any necessary hull repairs.
Thread 1/2" wire rope cable thru horizontal log holes as a towing bridle.
Tow boat back to water.


Lot of manual labour-but it will work.

Cheers/ Len

[Don C L]

OK I have never done it, but given that there will be a minimum lifting available, there may be quite a few telephone poles lying around that you could borrow to lay out a rolling bed if you have a clear shot at the beach. Pulling the boat with a tractor onto a bed of (clean! no bolts hanging out) poles and then moving poles from the rear to the front as you go slowly may get you down on the beach at low tide, but admittedly, that is not the end of it. I can imagine lots of potential problems, protecting the skeg being one... but I am just winging it here until someone smarter chimes in!

[donradcliffe]

The locals are used to using palm tree trunks as rollers.

[JPA Cate]

Exit door,

So sorry to hear of your misfortune.

The good news is that there should be plenty of down palm trees. If the boat is not holed, you may be able to slowly move her. Her surviving the adventure will depend on how strongly constructed she is, and how she is moved. Is she a boat who could stand on her keel, or does she always hang in the straps when hauled out by a travel lift, and not moved to a temporary cradle? One hundred feet is a long way to have to move her, but wonderful things can be done with enough manpower.

You will want to think about gifts for those who help you, as well as paying them.

See if you can find a book about using blocks and tackles and rollers for moving large heavy, awkwardly shaped objects. You may be able to help someone else, then, even if your own boat is not salvable. Nice soft beach is one thing, but coral reef structure is essentially stone, and difficult to get the boat over. Full moon and its spring tide is one day away.

Good luck with it.
Ann

[Exit door]

Thanks Neptune Gear, she's 10 ton 40.7ft, fibreglass, , pebble sand. I was thinking of throwing the locals a couple of sandwiches and a few Hail Mary's.

[Exit door]

Thanks so much for all your replies and well wishes. I guess until I get to Savusavu this Wednesday there's not much I can do but hope! I'm starting to lean towards a crane and trailer! There's a distinct possibility that the few they have will be tied up with more important work though. I shall keep you posted and post the progress of her resurrection and seek your sound advice when needed.

[Exit door]

Thanks Ann haha hey why does everybody think I'm not going to pay the locals of course I will besides I have been in Fiji long enough to know you won't get far without paying hard cash! For the love of sweet baby Jesus I'm not a native exploiting tight ass?

[Hobie_ind]

Originally Posted by Exit door

Thanks so much for all your replies and well wishes. I guess until I get to Savusavu this Wednesday there's not much I can do but hope! I'm starting to lean towards a crane and trailer! There's a distinct possibility that the few they have will be tied up with more important work though. I shall keep you posted and post the progress of her resurrection and seek your sound advice when needed.

Do you know Curly there? He's a wealth of information on what resources are available. He's also got the trailer up the river that they use for hauling yachts there. Jolene at Waitui Marina (and her husband Sami) are also very helpful, although I'm sure they'll be busy rebuilding their lives also.

[Exit door]

More pictures

[steamgoat]

Interesting project, I would try digging at the base of the keel so the boat settles in a little deeper ,then tip it over away from the land,then ,,as its sand/pebbles it may be easier to drag off. Some large inner tubes may come in handy. Good luck.