Hurrican grounding - Advice?

[Dwain]

Well hurricane harvey got us in Corpus Christi Bay and we are seeking advice on how to get the boat off the shore. It's in about 2-3 feet of water with a dry bilge. This boat was a salvage from hurricane Ike in 2008, have no insurance, but we had it fixed up pretty nice and hoping to sail again. Funds are limited to probably less than 10k for the salvage. Please offer any advice you can think of. Questions I can think of now include the following. Thanks for any wisdom!!!
1) Can we tip it over with a water bag using main halyard, wash out around, behind, and under the wing keel to float it with a water jet/pump, and drag it out?
2) Will the one upper stay hold the boat over at a 45 degree angle or more while weighting the 1/2 dia main halyard.
3) How much weight, how big a water/lift bag is needed.
4) What kind and size of water pump for jetting/washing out around and under the boat?
5) What else or other plan??

Thanks!! (i attempted to include 2 pics)
Dwain
Ingleside Cove in Corpus Christi Bay

—
Dwain
Catalina 36 with wing keel
Ingleside, TX

[Shrew]

My deepest sympathies. The marine salvage guys probably have a long waiting list. I would see what the cost would be from one of them to begin with.

[estarzinger]

your pic make it look 'not too bad' - hopefully that is true.

standard technique is take big danforth (or fortress) out sideways, heel boat over a bit, and winch on the danforth; and repeat until you get in deep water. You can put 2:1 purchase on anchor, but I'v never needed to - depends I guess on your winches, but usually the genoa primaries are strong enough.

your wing keel makes this a little more tricky than typical, but you just need to keep enough heel on to not drag/load the wing too much. Hopefully bottom is a bit soft and not too rocky.

yes, your shrouds will be (or should be) strong enough to heel boat from masthead.

As to how to heel boat - I'v seen it done with a power boat just pulling sideways on halyard - need someone a bit gentle on controls, and seen it done with second anchor, second winch. Never seen it done with water bag but it could be - how much would depend on your righting moment, which I dont know - do you? Probably need quite a bit.

Just take your time, go slow and careful and don't force anything, and I think you will get this.

[cptcptcpt]

2-3' of water? what is the draft? when conditions are safe get an anchor as far off shore as possible, get a few barrels rigged tight under the waterline on both sides, under the cockpit area will be easier, use your port winch to pull a barrel from the starboard side with a line running under the boat, then the other side

rigging the lines underwater can be dangerous, if a barrel comes shooting up it can kill you, barnacle cuts in the contaminated water will fester very quickly, have a buddy around just in case

if you can get the forward corner of the keel (least amount of wing) to be deepest, then you can slowly pull on your anchor, might help to alternate pulling from the stern and bow, check the bilges

dont start the engine until you know all the lines and barrels are out of the way

[SecondBase]

Call Indiantown marina. *+1 (772) 597-2455‬. Ask for the bridge sailboat tilting guy. I'm sure he'd give you some advice. If he does post his number here for helping out so he gets some more cruiser business.

Next low tide for you looks like about this time tomorrow. You're going walk the zone around your boat back to deep water. Start with crocs for shoes. Checking for anything that is not mud. Mark any rocks hazards stakes bamboo whatever.

Extra high tides may help you get off. Calc for your exact location - below is somewhat close to you.

*

IIRC Captain Fatty slid a fiberglass boat off a reef on "road" of plywood sheets. Not sure if that technique applies for you.

You aren't going to get BoatUS like you normally would (never say never). I would vote against a kedge and bring in a lot more power.

Take everything off the boat you can to lighten it and empty your water tanks.

Get a friends drone to survey your area say a mile either way. Make a map of other boats that also need a tow. If you get say 5 boats each wanting to get towed off, in the same area, that'll be more attractive for a commercial boat, tug, whatever you can find.

The closest boats that could tow you may be Hatteras or other large sport fisher already in your marina. Always good to be on good terms with your neighbors. Look around your marina for large horsepower.

Once you have all those details laid out post the sketch and map here on CF. Then link that to social media sites and you'll probably turn up more volunteer help than you need but get organized first so it is crystal clear on who what how as far as your needs.

When you do your tow have one person in charge. Have everyone on a walkie talkie app - don't know which one - just heard about them yesterday.

I'm out in the gulfstream. Will write more later.

Good luck !

[Sailmonkey]

If it were mine, I'd take 2 of the blue plastic 55 gallon drums tie them into some barrel hitches and hang them from the main/Jib/spin halyard (either of them) then go to harbor freight and buy gasoline powered trash pump. Use this pump to fill the barrels and to jet the keel. You'll likely not need much power to move the boat once it's heeled over.

[SecondBase]

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

If it were mine, I'd take 2 of the blue plastic 55 gallon drums tie them into some barrel hitches and hang them from the main/Jib/spin halyard (either of them) then go to harbor freight and buy gasoline powered trash pump. Use this pump to fill the barrels and to jet the keel. You'll likely not need much power to move the boat once it's heeled over.

Definitely agree on try to achieve floatation where is. Use as little force as necessary. Only if tilt and float doesn't work then onto the tow off options.

You might even combine cptcptcpt and Sailmonkey's suggestions. A couple filled water barrels on the port deck and several floating barrels at the starboard boot stripe winched under for further lift and heel.

[jimbunyard]

Tide and canting suggestions above are good.

How far do you have to move it?

How much do you have to lift or cant it?

What is the bottom?

Depending on the answers to the above questions, 4 - 55 gallon drums will give you about 1600 lbs lift (1834 lbs calculated). They could be flooded, tied securely alongside with lines running underneath, and then blown out simultaneously with a small air compressor...


If you don't have to lift it too far, you might even be able to drive it out under its own power though you might need an alternative cooling water supply...

Be very careful getting help from people with lots of horsepower. Many of them see power as the solution to all problems; you can wind up with more damage than that caused by the storm.

[Pauls]

If stores in the area are still closed you can set an anchor and attach a halyard to it to heel the boat over. With the boat heeled far enough to get the keel out of the bottom then kedging out should be a fairly easy affair if you can get 3' of water at high tide.

[puffcard]

Get a crane barge, after you try lifting. Each barrel only cost $50, in Va we can buy pickel barrels for $25. I would try air lift bags you can get two 6 ton bags for $600 and much easier to strap to boat (see link). Put one on each side and tie together one strap forward of the keel and one behind. Then sell them to some other boaters. Need to lighten boat, do some good soundings and get lucky. You can drag some boats over a soft bottom. Your wing keel doesn't drag well, like a plow. Trying to lean it over isn't going to work.

http://www.rentaltoolsonline.com/ren...YaAsyREALw_wcB

[hugosalt]

Catalina 36... lead keel is good, winged keel draws how much? 4 ft. +- ...rudder close to same depth as keel? Will be a moon tide 1st week in Sept. Is boat safe/stable enough
to wait until then?
My personal experience with hurricane Gloria in Long Island sound...
30 ft boat, 9,000 lbs., 4.5 ft. draft. Boat wound up on beach (all sand) parallel to beach, at low tide, dug a giant hole around keel and dug a bigger hole around rudder. Next high tide, in no more than 2 ft of water with one 1/2 or 5/8" line leading from my bow cleat, had marinas mooring work boat (was smallish with a big outboard) flip me over and pull boat out to safe water. (Was quite the ride) Don't know how would work with your wing.
Still sailing boat today, only damage was a scratched waterline decal.
Boat down the beach was dismasted when it was decided to lever from the masthead
to flip, eventually they did exactly the same as I did with a much bigger work boat
as that boat was a 44 fter, 42,000 lbs. with a full keel and they did not dig out keel.
Much luck to you.

[cptcptcpt]

there may be a lot of rope and chain and anchors on the bottom from the other boats that will be catching your wings, a grapple may be easy to use or a boat hook to find them before they foul everything up

[Suijin]

Honestly hire a shrimp boat to pull you out. Assuming with a wing keel that your draft is probably 4-5'. If the bottom is mud/sand, a good strong tow will have you out in 30 minutes.

I've seen boats that were totally beached, up in the woods that were dragged down into the water and floated.

Your main halyard should withstand heeling the boat to 45 degrees and a dinghy filled with water should get you to that angle. Combine that with someone dragging you off and you should be good.

I think trying to float her higher is a waste of time and honestly probably more dangerous and likely to cause more damage than just dragging her back out.

[Gadagirl]

Ummm....all of this cantering, weight hanging on the mast haylard ideas? I've witnessed a a wing keeled boat dismasted doing just that. Better consult the professionals.

And by pros I don't mean regular tow companies. It was such, that suggested such, and brought down their rig trying to un-stuck her from Potomac mud grounding.

[jimbunyard]

Originally Posted by Suijin

Honestly hire a shrimp boat to pull you out. Assuming with a wing keel that your draft is probably 4-5'. If the bottom is mud/sand, a good strong tow will have you out in 30 minutes.

I've seen boats that were totally beached, up in the woods that were dragged down into the water and floated.

Your main halyard should withstand heeling the boat to 45 degrees and a dinghy filled with water should get you to that angle. Combine that with someone dragging you off and you should be good.

I think trying to float her higher is a waste of time and honestly probably more dangerous and likely to cause more damage than just dragging her back out.

This is exactly what I meant when I suggested "be very careful of people with lots of horsepower."

Someone looking for a quick return on little or no effort.



I'm curious, how do you hold the boat at 45 degrees with a 'halyard and a dinghy full of water' while the shrimp boat is towing it out an unspecified distance? Extra long halyard? Do you feed it out yourself whilst remaining on the deck, canted at 45? Or somehow attach a winch of some sort to the sunken dinghy and feed it from there?

What about turning the boat around? Attaching the tow rope where exactly? Or do you suggest pulling her out stern first? Rudders are cheap, and fiberglass repair, especially around rudder shaft bearings and tubes, is easy and fun, so no worries there...

As for danger, tying 6 lines around four water-filled barrels, hooking up a pre-rigged rubber hose manifold and waiting a while certainly sounds way more dangerous than having a 1000-2000hp shrimp boat pulling on a towrope attached (likely somewhat sketchily) to a boat, canted over on its side by a rope holding the masthead, fixed to a sunken dinghy, with its keel and maybe its rudder stuck in the bottom of the bay...



To be fair though, after looking more carefully at the picture, there may not be enough water to float her unless it is tried at a high high tide. If that is the case, and you're in a hurry (to avoid further damage maybe?) and it turns out that some kind of larger force tow is necessary, anything you can do to keep that force as low as possible lessens the possibility for further damage...