help needed to refloat my boat

[TheBiscuits]

4 minutes ago, deckhand said:

Could I ask what may seem a daft question? You asked was it "just rain water". Serious question, how would rain water cause something like this? 

Two ways - quick and slow.

 

The quick way usually happens on rivers - the boat is tied to fixed rings and the water level rises rapidly higher than the mooring lines let the boat float, and it fills with water.  We get reports of this happening quite often when we have a very rapid rise in river levels.

 

The slow way can happen on canals too - lots of rain, a flat battery and/or a broken bilge pump.  Many cruiser stern boats don't have enough drainage for the deckboards so either they can't cope or the drain gets blocked with leaves, and the engine bay slowly fills with rainwater.  Eventually the engine breather holes get submerged and then the boat very rapidly sinks.  This is quite common too, but usually only on boats that are left unchecked for months or years.

[Graham Davis]

3 hours ago, Rickent said:

Got a feeling the op has no insurance, could be totally wrong but just have a feeling.

And in that case is it licensed?

[zenataomm]

2 hours ago, deckhand said:

Could I ask what may seem a daft question? You asked was it "just rain water". Serious question, how would rain water cause something like this? 

Easily.

Cruiser stern with no cover. Rain ends up in engine compartment (which is stanked off from rest of boat's bilges due to oil etc.)

Back end starts to drop until exhaust pipe or engine cooling/intake vents or drain ports dip under, then it takes nowt but a moment.

 

[Arthur Marshall]

1 hour ago, zenataomm said:

Easily.

Cruiser stern with no cover. Rain ends up in engine compartment (which is stanked off from rest of boat's bilges due to oil etc.)

Back end starts to drop until exhaust pipe or engine cooling/intake vents or drain ports dip under, then it takes nowt but a moment.

 

Mine was even easier - sank in three weeks. It was built with the big front deck well below the waterline, so no drain holes. Rain water drained through a pipe the length of the boat under the floor into the engine bilge, which sat under a big cruiser stern. I got flu, it rained for 3 weeks in December, and it sank on Christmas Day. I put a raised front deck in a month later and welded up the hole. 

[dragon'squest]

On 30/10/2019 at 07:05, Rob-M said:

You could try speaking to River Canal Rescue if it is sunk as they may be able to offer assistance.

 

[dragon'squest]

boat now re floated thanks to solar Pete's help an putty found out two holes been drilled into her at the water line thankfully no diesel leeched out and no oil was in the engine as i was in process of replacing the engine so watch out all other boater by there as some one is damaging boats for fun

have told canal and river trust

 

Edited November 2, 2019 by dragon'squest

[peterboat]

35 minutes ago, dragon'squest said:

boat now re floated thanks to solar Pete's help an putty found out two holes been drilled into her at the water line thankfully no diesel leeched out and no oil was in the engine as i was in process of replacing the engine so watch out all other boater by there as some one is damaging boats for fun

have told canal and river trust

 

There are some very nasty people out there sorry they targeted your boat, dont know what they thinking about hope it all gets sorted out, report it to the police as well

[Rickent]

3 hours ago, dragon'squest said:

boat now re floated thanks to solar Pete's help an putty found out two holes been drilled into her at the water line thankfully no diesel leeched out and no oil was in the engine as i was in process of replacing the engine so watch out all other boater by there as some one is damaging boats for fun

have told canal and river trust

 

Wow, nasty pieces of work, hope they get what's coming to them.

[The Dreamer]

18 hours ago, dragon'squest said:

some one is damaging boats for fun

That is some serious damage “for fun”.  Having drilled 4 holes, for some new bolts, in my 4mm plate swan hatch today, I can safely say that it took a fair amount of time, and enough noise to wake the whole marina.  Also working at the waterline, drilling though 6mm plate on the hull, presumably leaning from the bank, or a dinghy, would have made it harder still.

 

 

18 hours ago, dragon'squest said:

have told canal and river trust

And the police?

[peterboat]

25 minutes ago, The Dreamer said:

That is some serious damage “for fun”.  Having drilled 4 holes, for some new bolts, in my 4mm plate swan hatch today, I can safely say that it took a fair amount of time, and enough noise to wake the whole marina.  Also working at the waterline, drilling though 6mm plate on the hull, presumably leaning from the bank, or a dinghy, would have made it harder still.

 

 

And the police?

Cobalt drill from screwfix goes through steel like butter 

[dave moore]

Swan hatch.? Duck doors? Coot flaps? Side doors surely....

[bizzard]

Years ago a mate of mine bought a sunken boat, for £20, an ex naval pinnace about 45' long and was sunk in the Bow backwaers at Bow east London. Its coach roof was a couple of inches below the surface. I was invited to watch the performance of raising it as my mate was a total nutcase and wouldn't have miss his performance of the operation for the whole world. It all began with sending his Mrs down in her bathing costume to inspect the vessel, after which she arose, sufaced and spluttered a declaration that she was frightened to open her eyes because the water was all muddy. My mate was a Firestone tyre store manager and had brought along hundreds of old inner tubes as well as an petrol air compressor to pump them up for floatation, plus two small water pumps from hire shops.

    Again his Mrs who sat shivering in my Land Rover to keep warm was called on again for the 2nd operation, and that was to dive in and stuff blown up inner tubes through the broken windows in and attempt to raise it. Now thats a big struggle forcing inflated innertubes under water and into windows and poor old, ''we'll call her Dunkella'' in case they're reading ths. Now Dunkella was a big powerful lass, she even once carried my mate home in her arms like a baby from the pub when he got legless, this is true, I witnessed it.  It really warmed poor old Dunkella up stuffing those inner tubes in even with her eyes shut. And then after about a dozen were stuffed in suddenenly CRASH, CRACK RUMBLE, Tinkle the whole coach roof broke away and along with all the innertubes floated off down the river. Dunkella was ordered to swim, chase and retrieve it all, but she refused, despite her size and strength declared that she had swallowed some water and had mud in her eyes which was itchy and retired back into my L/Rover to rest and recooperate.  The boat hadn;t budged an inch, still reposeing on the bottom. In the end my old series 2A Land Rover did the job. We managed to draped two large weighted  rope strops under and around bow and stern and bring them together above the surface and then connected them with another bit of rope  to my large rope double pulley wheel reduction tackle.  The tackle I tied to the front bumper of my L/Rover with a thick longish stick stuck vertically at an angle under the rope to give a better upward lift. And then , hold onto yer hats, in low transfer, revere gear the old L/Rover took the strain, the ropes stretched thinner and thinner with the strain and looked aggressive so I and Dunkella who was still sitting next to me getting dry both ducked down below the windscreen in case the rope snapped and came whipping back. But it didn't and slowly but surely up popped the Naval Pinnace minus coach roof. I held its gunnels above water with my brakes hard on while my mate jumped in it with the pump suction hose and started the pump and gradually the vessel rose up.  Dunkella was ordered to jump in and do this but she refused saying she didn't want to get wet anymore and and gave my mate, her hubby a thick ear which must have hurt him cos she's mighty powerful. Anyway the boat was finally emptied of water. An internal inspection revealed a Perkins 4/107 engine and several small holes drilled through the double diagonal wooden hull which we blocked up by shoving matchsticks into them, we wish we hadn't as we used them all up and had no light to light our cigarettes.  I don't think the holes were bored by tormented Toredo worm.

  However my mate sold it on to another mate who got it to Bill Blakes yard in Barking creek, Last I heard was that he never ever found those holes and matchsticks again.

                 After the raising operation we all retired to the Globe pub in the Mile End road to recover. Dunkella strait away down half a pint of brandy demanded off her husband at great expense, or else!!  We then all drove off home, all nice and happy.    THE END.

  

Edited November 2, 2019 by bizzard

[Tam & Di]

21 hours ago, dragon'squest said:

boat now re floated thanks to solar Pete's help an putty found out two holes been drilled into her at the water line

 

That sounds like someone who is seriously out to sink your boat - it's not a thing that someone just wandering idly along the canal could do. Have you just bought the boat? do you know anyone who might have a grievance? It's certainly worth contacting the police or you might have something equally unpleasant happening again.

 

Tam

[dor]

There was a case a few years ago where a boater had been identified as a thieving b’tard by other boaters who on having had enough, sunk his boat.

 Unfortunately he had sold it to an unsuspecting person a day or two before.

[Arthur Marshall]

I would be interested in where the holes were. Could they have been where anodes had been attached, plugged and the plugging material rusted or rotted away? 

When my tub got rebottommed, the sandblasting blew a huge hole in the side that had been fixed with car repair fibreglass. Well below the waterline and had been there at least 30 years. 

Drilling 2 holes on the waterline would need a powerful battery drill & you'd think someone would notice. It's presumably an old boat if the engine needs replacing - there may be other explanations apart from deliberate sinking. 

[Dave_P]

On 02/11/2019 at 00:44, dragon'squest said:

boat now re floated thanks to solar Pete's help an putty found out two holes been drilled into her at the water line thankfully no diesel leeched out and no oil was in the engine as i was in process of replacing the engine so watch out all other boater by there as some one is damaging boats for fun

have told canal and river trust

 

When you say Solar Pete, do you mean Pete on the boat Solar Kingfisher?

On 30/10/2019 at 19:14, TheBiscuits said:

Two ways - quick and slow.

 

The quick way usually happens on rivers - the boat is tied to fixed rings and the water level rises rapidly higher than the mooring lines let the boat float, and it fills with water.  We get reports of this happening quite often when we have a very rapid rise in river levels.

 

The slow way can happen on canals too - lots of rain, a flat battery and/or a broken bilge pump.  Many cruiser stern boats don't have enough drainage for the deckboards so either they can't cope or the drain gets blocked with leaves, and the engine bay slowly fills with rainwater.  Eventually the engine breather holes get submerged and then the boat very rapidly sinks.  This is quite common too, but usually only on boats that are left unchecked for months or years.

Other fairly easy ways to sink a boat: 

 

Weedhatch not screwed back on properly just before entering a very long tunnel.  On emerging from the other end, the exhaust outlet is almost underwater.  I did this!

 

Forgetting to tighten drippy stern gland after mooring and then leaving the boat for a few days.  I worry about this.

[bizzard]

Easiest way to sink a boat. Length of water hose. Drop one end in the canal, Suck the other end to syphon up water, drop it in the boat, walk away.

[ditchcrawler]

3 hours ago, Dave_P said:

When you say Solar Pete, do you mean Pete on the boat Solar Kingfisher?

 

 

We could have got all the details from him last night

2 hours ago, bizzard said:

Easiest way to sink a boat. Length of water hose. Drop one end in the canal, Suck the other end to syphon up water, drop it in the boat, walk away.

I have known to to happen automatically with a temporary bilge pump and long hose. Pump in  the hold and hose over the side into the cut. pump the boat, pump stops, water syphons  back, pump starts, repeat until the battery is flat and sink. 

[Graham Davis]

I've got two questions to the OP.

 

Since this seems to be criminal damage have you informed the Police?

Why didn't you get your insurance company to do the recovery?

[restlessnomad]

14 hours ago, bizzard said:

Years ago a mate of mine bought a sunken boat, for £20, an ex naval pinnace about 45' long and was sunk in the Bow backwaers at Bow east London. Its coach roof was a couple of inches below the surface. I was invited to watch the performance of raising it as my mate was a total nutcase and wouldn't have miss his performance of the operation for the whole world. It all began with sending his Mrs down in her bathing costume to inspect the vessel, after which she arose, sufaced and spluttered a declaration that she was frightened to open her eyes because the water was all muddy. My mate was a Firestone tyre store manager and had brought along hundreds of old inner tubes as well as an petrol air compressor to pump them up for floatation, plus two small water pumps from hire shops.

    Again his Mrs who sat shivering in my Land Rover to keep warm was called on again for the 2nd operation, and that was to dive in and stuff blown up inner tubes through the broken windows in and attempt to raise it. Now thats a big struggle forcing inflated innertubes under water and into windows and poor old, ''we'll call her Dunkella'' in case they're reading ths. Now Dunkella was a big powerful lass, she even once carried my mate home in her arms like a baby from the pub when he got legless, this is true, I witnessed it.  It really warmed poor old Dunkella up stuffing those inner tubes in even with her eyes shut. And then after about a dozen were stuffed in suddenenly CRASH, CRACK RUMBLE, Tinkle the whole coach roof broke away and along with all the innertubes floated off down the river. Dunkella was ordered to swim, chase and retrieve it all, but she refused, despite her size and strength declared that she had swallowed some water and had mud in her eyes which was itchy and retired back into my L/Rover to rest and recooperate.  The boat hadn;t budged an inch, still reposeing on the bottom. In the end my old series 2A Land Rover did the job. We managed to draped two large weighted  rope strops under and around bow and stern and bring them together above the surface and then connected them with another bit of rope  to my large rope double pulley wheel reduction tackle.  The tackle I tied to the front bumper of my L/Rover with a thick longish stick stuck vertically at an angle under the rope to give a better upward lift. And then , hold onto yer hats, in low transfer, revere gear the old L/Rover took the strain, the ropes stretched thinner and thinner with the strain and looked aggressive so I and Dunkella who was still sitting next to me getting dry both ducked down below the windscreen in case the rope snapped and came whipping back. But it didn't and slowly but surely up popped the Naval Pinnace minus coach roof. I held its gunnels above water with my brakes hard on while my mate jumped in it with the pump suction hose and started the pump and gradually the vessel rose up.  Dunkella was ordered to jump in and do this but she refused saying she didn't want to get wet anymore and and gave my mate, her hubby a thick ear which must have hurt him cos she's mighty powerful. Anyway the boat was finally emptied of water. An internal inspection revealed a Perkins 4/107 engine and several small holes drilled through the double diagonal wooden hull which we blocked up by shoving matchsticks into them, we wish we hadn't as we used them all up and had no light to light our cigarettes.  I don't think the holes were bored by tormented Toredo worm.

  However my mate sold it on to another mate who got it to Bill Blakes yard in Barking creek, Last I heard was that he never ever found those holes and matchsticks again.

                 After the raising operation we all retired to the Globe pub in the Mile End road to recover. Dunkella strait away down half a pint of brandy demanded off her husband at great expense, or else!!  We then all drove off home, all nice and happy.    THE END.

  

ha ha, you have a way with words, best post I read on this forum.

[Steve42]

On 30/10/2019 at 09:34, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Where is it? 

 

A boat sank here similarly last year. RCR turned up and pumped it out and floated it in about 4 hours. The owner with some help from some friends and adjacent boaters dried out all the soft furnishings on the fence by the canal and cruised off on their way after about three days. Wasn't quite the disaster it could have been. 

 

 

 

 

Do you know what sank it? A boat sinking is thankfully quite a  rare event, two in the same spot? one known to be malicious..... Don't think I will more anywhere round there.

[Alan de Enfield]

23 minutes ago, Steve42 said:

Do you know what sank it? A boat sinking is thankfully quite a  rare event, two in the same spot? one known thought to be malicious.....

Slight amendment as I'm not sure that it is actually KNOWN to be malicious at this stage.

 

I know there are some 'baddies' about but to use a battery powered drill, under the water line to drill not one but two holes is a bit of a stretch.

If it is malicious why have the Police not been informed, or the insurers notified and let them arrange to re-float it.

 

[Graham Davis]

Similar questions to what I asked earlier, Alan. 

[Alan de Enfield]

54 minutes ago, Graham Davis said:

Similar questions to what I asked earlier, Alan. 

I know, I just thought that repetition might just elicit some answers.

Edited November 3, 2019 by Alan de Enfield

[Athy]

2 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

I know, I just thought that repetition might just illicit some answers.

We may get some legitimate ones too if we're lucky.

2 hours ago, restlessnomad said:

ha ha, you have a way with words, best post I read on this forum.

Our Man Bizz has been doing this for years. I'm never quite sure about how much his tales are embroidered, but they always make very entertaining reading.