Save Holed Boat By Draping Sail Underneath?

[jongleur]

I have done a cursory search but cannot find any reference on this site regarding saving a holed boat by draping a sail underneath to stop the leak.

Has anyone done this? Is anyone aware of a boat that was saved this way?

[Nicholson58]

Necessity is a Muther.

I've heard of it. If you keep sail repair materials you probably have enough to make up a big patch anyway. Use glue, putty, nails, screws, whatever.

[gjordan]

That is an old method that was written about a lot in the days of wooden ships and Iron men, but I dont see why it would not work in modern times. I seem to remember that it was recommended to use your smallest sail and let the water pressure pull the sail into the hole. Just another(maybe it will save our ass) trick to keep in the back of your mind._____Grant.

[Ocean Girl]

I believe the Pardeys book Storm Tactics covers it. Many of the older books reference it in fact. I think diving overboard is probably the best way unless you have good access to the damage, which murpheys law usually puts behind a tank or such. There are some cool stuff that has come out like the big foam plug.
Here is some links to this topic
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...air-19928.html

http://www.admiralyacht.com/admiral-...at-sinking.pdf

I was offshore in a slowly sinking yacht, it was the stuffing box..imploding is the best way to describe it, bailing was our only option( every 25 minutes I think, or it would overtake the deep bilge).

Then there was a wooden boat we were buddy boating with, she was taking on a lot of water at the keel box, dove over with lots of copper sheeting and 5200. It didn't really slow it down but it did keep it from getting worse. They had an old school bell as their high water alarm I thought very clever.

Cheers,
Erika

[Ocean Girl]

Forgot to add 5200 cures underwater
:-)

[micah719]

The recent thread about the catamaran escape hatch falling off ...I think it featured fothering, plus a bit of bracing from the inside. The things people do to spice up long passages, I dunno.....

[HopCar]

Horatio Hornblower did it in Midshipman Hornblower. I learned a lot about boats from C.S. Forester.

[jackdale]

Yachting Monthly put some theories to the test:

Yachting Monthly's Crash Test Boat is holed Part 1 - YouTube

Yachting Monthly's Crash Test Boat is holed Part 2 - YouTube

[micah719]

That boat sank. Memo to self.....jettison rice cargo when under cannon fire. Otherwise, may as well not fother. I mean, bother. He heh. Hmm. Oh would you look at the time. Tata!

[HopCar]

micha719, A Fellow Forester Fan!

[gjordan]

Ocean Girl, the link to the Challange!emergency hull repair (by Sea Maid) is the best I have ever read. I am an internet dinosaur , so I was wondering if you could make a sticky? out of it. It should be read by all cruisers. Just my thoughts. ____Grant.

[Ocean Girl]

Not sure how to go about that, maybe mods could look into it

[LakeSuperior]

We made one of these patches from an old sail and had it handy in the locker for an emergency on our round the Atlantic trip. It was about 5 x 5 feet and we put 10 foot of line on each corner to slide it and then tie it in place.

[salt_miko]

When I was in the Coast Guard, we had these flexible patches for largish holes that you can deploy from inside the boat. What you have to do is:

1. Get a piece of stiff material that is big enough to cover the breach. (could be plywood, thin metal sheeting, etc...)
2. Put a piece of canvas on top.
3. Layer a sheet of thin rubber or gasket material over the canvas.
4. Drill a hole in the center of the stack
5. If your stiff material is something like plywood, you're gonna have to saw it in half and hinge that sucker.
6. Take some strong line and thread it through the holes.
7. Put a big washer on the end and then tie a BIG old stopper knot.
8. Fold the whole mess in half, so you've got a sandwich with the stiff material on the outside and all the rubbery goodness nestled within.
9. Keeping a hold of the other end of the line and shove the patch through the hole, all the way outside of the boat.
10. Allow the patch to unfold flat against the hull, rubber side touching the hull.
11. Pull the line tight and tie it off to something secure.

Now you've bought yourself some time. The amount of water coming inside should be pretty manageable, giving you a little breathing room to figure out a more permanent patch, or limp into port, or wait out the storm or whatever. The rubber and canvas mold beautifully against the hull and the stiffer material prevents the patch from collapsing into the boat. For training, we had a burn/sink boat and got to actually construct and use these patches in real-time on a sinking vessel. Worked awesome.

[ElGatoGordo]

We re-floated a swing keel Potter 19 off a TX Oyster reef in 2008 useing fothering (or is it foddering?) The owner gave up and walked away and a bunch of us wouldn't quit and after a lot of other ideas one guy says "hey, I read about..." and by god it WORKED!!!!