Beached Boat - ways to remove her without machinery?

O

Odella1234

Member
Joined
25 May 2010
Messages
26
Visit site
She's on the beach and not moving, on a 7.3m high tide she was upright and rocking on her keel.

Can't get heavy machinery down there to lift and I'm not allowed to dig a trench due to it being a bird sanctuary.

Someone suggested a lot of fenders tied to the keel but how much lift will this give, it's a 38ft wooden ex fishing boat so not exactly light!

Any help/suggestions greatly received

Thanks in advance
 
Maybe borrow inflatable tenders from as many people as you can, and strap them underneath with some old rope. When you float off, cut the ropes and the tenders will float to the top.
 
First take off as much weight as you can from inside. Then use an inflatable or two tied to the keel either side to help give lift, or rent a more professional lifting bag.
With these to help try a powerful vessal afloat to try and pull her off the bank. Maybe use your own engine as well.
 
SOrry should add, use your anchor placed in deeper water as well and pull on it at the same time as the others
 
Any sailing clubs nearby with some big inflatable racing markers? Tie them underneath at low tide, as per Nick was suggesting. Maybe RNLI have some ideas? A 38ft fishing boat must be damn heavy, though.
A real life WNS...
 
Last edited:
Is the boat yours? Or is there some other reason you're responsible for moving it?

Unless it's your fault that it's there, I'd be inclined to tell the twitchers that they have a choice of a small trench which will be filled in again by the waves in a month's time, or a disintegrating fishing boat cluttering up their beach indefinitely. Puffins are the only birds I know that live underground, and they don't do it on tidal beaches!

Pete
 
I'll wait for the "stupid boy" response but how about at lowest tide you dig in your anchor well off to the side and attach the other end to the highest point of you vessel. As the tide rises might it not tilt the boat suffuciently that the keel will come free and float off???
 
other sources of lifting bags are sub-aqua and diving clubs. They might be interested for the practice ?

Also a fire hose directed at teh mud/sand to liquify if and provide some more lift.
 
It's not just the twitchers its also 'Natural England', a government body who will fine you for digging a trench as it's a SSSI site!

Nobody at fault, it's on a beach in an estuary after being laid up for the winter, she goes in on an average spring tide and sits as high up the beach as she can so only afloat on a few tides a month.

A port quarter chain snapped while there was a gale of wind and she's so far up the beach now we're having a lot of difficulty, it's not a rush job as she's safe enough. A 7.3 m tide was the highest of the year down there and didn't quite get her afloat so I'm looking at my options as plant machinery etc isn't possible and towing it off not so much, the channel behind is too narrow really with too many rocks if she suddenly breaks free we'll end up with another boat damaged.
 
SgtColon said:
I'll wait for the "stupid boy" response but how about at lowest tide you dig in your anchor well off to the side and attach the other end to the highest point of you vessel. As the tide rises might it not tilt the boat suffuciently that the keel will come free and float off???
Click to expand...

In addition to the above, get any water/diesel containers you have onboard, add seawater to top up if need be. Tie them to the main halyard and place on the beach well off to the side near the anchor. I'm thinking:


Then get someone with a powerful boat to pull you off the beach when the tide is at its highest and you're heeled well over due to anchor and offset weight from main halyard.

Good luck.
 
Last edited:
Odella1234 said:
the channel behind is too narrow really with too many rocks if she suddenly breaks free we'll end up with another boat damaged.
Click to expand...

If it's off a narrow channel, is there a bank you can get at on the other side of the channel? How far away? As well as the flotation suggestions made above, could you winch the boat off from here on a high tide? (A tirfor or something similar perhaps)

(I'll get in the line for 'stupid boy' responses...)

Cheers
Jimmy
 
Well you are not getting my dinghy to tie under some old mobo but that is the way to go.

Not dinghies but 55 gallon oil drums steel or plastic and some straps or ropes

Once you get it afloat you can either move it into deeper water and get a diver to cut the strops or just down the beach a bit and remove them at the next low tide..
 
Winch is exactly what I first thought of.

The channel for a boat is narrow but it's a wide space and there's nothing solid on the bank to attaché the other end.

When we tried getting a few of us simply pulling the ropes we just dragged anchors instead...

Think it's going to be rented lift bags, anyone had experience using these?

oil drums isn't a bad idea!
 
In order to attach the lifting bags/drums etc you will have to pass the retaining ropes/straps under the vessel and this will entail digging a small trench.

Also with air bags you are going to need a good air supply to fill the bags.

Yes I have experience of using lifting bags and I assure you that you will need commercial bags such as used commercial recovery companys.

Diving clubs lifting bags will be far to small
 
Last edited:
Could you use an airbag jack to physically lift the boat a bit and get some tubes underneath it, and then roll it down the beach a bit? Lots and lots of caveats to this, I know, but just a thought; we use scaffold tubes to move skips around, although this is admittedly on relatively smooth surfaces. If you're on shingle this won't work at all.

Cheers
Jimmy
 
How rough is your hull? Do you have any winches? Unlike the strop a rope will turn.. If you attach the rope (an old sheet/halyard would do) to the strop... Throw the rope over the bow and work it back.. When it is where you want it pull the strop under.. It is a pig of a job but can work if the hull isn't a forest of crustaceans..

Make sure the rope is long enough to reach easily under the hull at it's widest point on the beam to ensure you can work it back on forth.. It will take 2 - 4 people.. working it with maybe 2 x dingies either side to help work it at a lower angle.. Do it at the highest point in the tide..

Ensure your strops are twice the length of the full circumference of the beamiest section of your boat again..

Once the strops are pulled through.. Leave the tenders/dingies to dry out next to the boat..

Your oil drums/tenders/lifting bags/commercial do not have to go under the hull, you have to increase your buoyancy only level with the hull otherwise the instability of your makeshift raft could be disastrous..

Wrap each barrell twice round wide and tie them together to ensure they do not move.. As long as you tie them low down working from the 2 x tenders either side you will increase the buoyancy of your boat.. Tie each end of the strop to the superstructure, not to itself or it will probably just turn... If you can measure a length of rope for the distance you want the strops apart and you can get 4 people to work the ropes/strops, it is a good idea to tie the 2 strops or more together so they stay under the boat... (rope tying the 2 strops together should run along your keel'ish... HTH..

This is why salvage ain't easy.. Alternatively.. A good tug at high water will do it.. Dunno their rates but after all the palaver above.. Might be worth it if you think she can take it...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top