Worst Case Scenario: Hitting A Sunken Container - What To Do!??

[hellosailor]

When the video opens you can clearly see white water breaking over something that is dead ahead of the sailboat. This is why leaving the boat with no deck watch, even for a few minutes, is a damn fool idea.

If there's water gushing into the boat, you hit whatever Big Red Button you have and start the engine on the way to check the damage, and make your decisions based on how fast the outside is coming in.

All you can really say is "it depends".

[stevensuf]

Im sitting in the azores just now, 5 boats are missing with no news at all so far this year, crossing from the carib/bermuda, i would say rapid sinkings occur far more often than many think. keep a plb in someones pocket at all times, lifejackets in a known position, liferaft somewhere fairly easy to launch but not easy to lose.

[haiqu]

Containers have a dissolvable plug that ensures they sink within a month, as a safety precaution against such occurrences. The likelihood of this happening is therefore astronomically low.

[nimblemotors]

>> question is: What would YOU do if this happened immediately

Have a multihull that has water tight compartments filled with airtight canisters
and won't sink if smashed. I'm really surprised the number of boats that are total loss failures when they encounter what I would view as smallest of mishaps.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by neilpride

In the night? all depend how serious is the crack or gap in the hull, and how accesible is the bow area in question, many boats are fited with liners inside making inspection very dificult, if weather is fine , flashlight in hand , snorkel mask and that kind of collision bag to put in the gap or crack, or a sleeping bag lol, or whatever you have onboard suitable to plug a serious crack ,,, last resort the liferaft.....

I have a foam plug that I bought at a boat show. It's shaped like a cone, but flexible enough that you can force it into irregular shapes. I think I paid $10 for it. As I say that, it dawns on me that the cabin is full of cushions made of foam. There's a lot of foam on this boat that could temporarily plug irregular cracks. Hmmm...

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

The risk of hitting a sunken container is one which those of us who are out cruising just accept. Especially at night, but even in the day, the chance of seeing a container's slightly air filled uppermost corner is vanishingly small. The OP is the only one who can assess whether the risk level is acceptable for him. My personal take on the issue is two-fold, firstly, I'm gonna die sometime, and second, collision with a container is something so rare and so unpreventable by me, what's to worry about--it's out of my control. Hundreds of containers are lost overboard every year, and none of them have self-sinking provisions, though at one time, that issue was discussed. I have no knowledge whether any are recovered...but there's also a LOT of water out there!

Ann

I'm not on the West coast and am wondering now, what is the state of the flotsam coming from the Japanese earthquake?

[ggray]

The FIRST thing you do after a collision, and very quickly, is lift the floorboards to see if/where a breach might be. Once there is a lot of water down there, you will likely NOT find where it is coming in. If you can't find it, you can't stem it.

[cruise]

In 1979 my boat was owned by a Dr David Lewis and was sailed to Antarctica for a scientific expedition, on the way home she hit an iceberg and was holed the hole was about the size of a soccer ball, while most of the crew were throwing things overboard to try and keep her afloat one crew member grabbed a pillowcase and some cement and was able to patch up the hole and limp home it was quite an interesting story as only one crew actually brought a pillowcase with them.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by cruise

In 1979 my boat was owned by a Dr David Lewis and was sailed to Antarctica for a scientific expedition, on the way home she hit an iceberg and was holed the hole was about the size of a soccer ball, while most of the crew were throwing things overboard to try and keep her afloat one crew member grabbed a pillowcase and some cement and was able to patch up the hole and limp home it was quite an interesting story as only one crew actually brought a pillowcase with them.

I'm not too surprised by the pillow case -- but what were they doing with cement on the boat?

[Strait Shooter]

Originally Posted by cruise

only one crew actually brought a pillowcase with them.

And yet they had a bag of cement.....now THAT'S planning.

[bazzer]

Originally Posted by Rakuflames

I have a foam plug that I bought at a boat show. It's shaped like a cone, but flexible enough that you can force it into irregular shapes. I think I paid $10 for it. As I say that, it dawns on me that the cabin is full of cushions made of foam. There's a lot of foam on this boat that could temporarily plug irregular cracks. Hmmm...

Nerf balls are the ticket, cheap too

[cruise]

Originally Posted by Strait Shooter

And yet they had a bag of cement.....now THAT'S planning.

I have a couple of photos I will try to dig them up, but yes there was 11 crew members 1 female she was the only one with a pillowcase

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Strait Shooter

And yet they had a bag of cement.....now THAT'S planning.

Concrete shrinks as it sets ...

[bobconnie]

Yall can just stay home and be safe !!! Good for us ! we hate to many folks in the ancorages anyway !!! Just be sure you never leave your easy chair ! cus ya know most accidents happen in the home !!

[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by bazzer

Nerf balls are the ticket, cheap too

I heard a story where a racing boat lost her rudder and shaft, and water was rushing in the hole. A crewmember took off his inflatable PFD and jammed it in the hole, then pulled the ripcord. It plugged the leak pretty well.

As for containers sinking, it depends. Even with the dissolving plugs, if the contents have enough buoyancy the container will still float.

I've sailed many thousands of miles at night on the high seas, usually going fast. The odds are reasonably OK. Sailing in coastal waters, or here in the Puget Sound area, I'm going to go very slowly at night, or not sail at all, especially in the winter or spring. There are way too many floating logs in these waters. It's tough enough to avoid them during the day!