Emergency repair equipment

[Guest]

I have been told about wooden wedges, could anyone please list the minimum equipment they think I should keep on board for repairing hull holes, and explain a bit more about the wooden wedges/stoppers. I have both manual and electric bilge pumps, but would prefer to stop the water gushing in.

Cheers,

 

[Blue_Blazes]

Hi Grumpy,

The wedges you refer to are conical softwood bungs. They are used for banging into skinfittings or other roundish holes to stop the water coming in. Any chandlers should be able to sell you a pack containing various sizes. I have heard of a product that is some sort of epoxy 2part putty which you mix by hand and seals up cracks and holes underwater, don't know what it's called though, or if it's any good. I've also heard of a sort of fabric patch with ropes attached which you pull under the hull from the bow end, when its over the gaping hole the water pressure holds it in place.

 

[Guest]

I saw an emergency repair kit for sale, it was in a small plastic box, like a little first aid kit, I looked inside and there was a small piece of fibreglass and a bit of glue, I thought what a load of nonsense for £59 so left it. I was just wandering where I could order a selection of these plugs from. I have sledgehammer but quite Frankly it will be a bit too heavy to swing in the cuddy, I may get a smaller one to knock the blocks in. Any ideas are very welcome, I only have about 5 weeks to get prepared before the boat arrives.

 

[hlb]

I swear by airosol foam. Wonderfull stuff. Even sprayed it underwater.

So Grumpy. You need. Piles of wood. Glue. 6" nails. A good tip is to bend them over on the other side. So the wood does not float off the end. 6 man life raft. Rocket launcher and not forgetting life jackets and life belts. Oh and a hammer for the plugs and nails. Then course, you will need a black and decker work mate and saw, for the wood. You have thought about a spare outboard I suppose, or were you thinking of upgrading to a twin engined boat with diesels??

<font color=blue> Haydn

 

[Guest]

That foam sounds a good idea, I have used that and it can be lethal stuff. I drilled holes in a plasterboard wall about 5' up the wall, pumped in the foam hoping to use it as soundproofing to deaden the sound of an electric power shower on the other side. The foam just fell down to the floor in the cavity, and overnight expanded and created a bloody massive bulge in the walls BE WARNED it expands like nobody's business.

Re the Rockets, I don't have them, only red smokes, red handhelds and white collision flares. Do I really need rockets ?

 

[BarryH]

Nah forget foam and wood plugs, just get them big thick durex things they hand out in the family planning clinic. The just blow it up in the hole!

 

[Guest]

HOW is that going to deaden the noise of the shower? and how many would you recommend I use?

 

[chippie]

One at a time should be ok;-)

 

[byron]

<font color=blue>Jeeze Grumpy what with all you VHFs, repair kits, spare bilge pumps and everything else you'd best get another boat to follow you around carrying all the stuff.

http://www.alexander-advertising.co.uk

 

[pistonbroke]

Grumpy1

Whose fooling who?

 

[coliholic]

Wooden blocks are a bit of a waste of time. Take a MIG welding kit instead that way you can get a good strong weld over any holes in the hull preferably from the outside. Probably best to use underwater electric welding kit though, so you'll need scuba gear as well. Two air tanks plus compressor for refilling them should be enough and of course from a Health and Safety point of view a second set for SWMBO would be a good idea too. Not sure about any damage to the topsides though, maybe a ladder just in case you're working at height. And then of course you'll need a safety harness as well and somewhere to clip on to. Maybe some sort of temporary scaffolding structure built over the cuddy. But make sure it's all built in Stainless Steel otherwise it'll go rusty and look crap. Ah but then for welding SS you need TIG not MIG welding so a couple of bottles of Tungsten gas should do. Perhaps open an account with Air Prducts or BOC to make sure you've got adequate supplies.

Hope you're finding all this advise helpful, we'd hate you to have a problem that you weren't equipped to handle.

 

[longjohnsilver]

Or he could just buy a lifeboat ;-)

 

[byron]

<font color=blue>Wouldn't it be advisable to have a wheelbarrow too or at least a sack truck for moving the bottles around?

http://www.alexander-advertising.co.uk

 

[hlb]

Na! Better play safe and make it a fork lift truck. Diesel though cos you cant buy petrol anywhere near water. To save room, you could use the fork lift instead of Colins scafolding and when not in use, could be parked on the back and would make excelent hydralic davits for the life boat.

<font color=blue> Haydn

 

[coliholic]

Now that sounds an excellent idea H, forklift would save a load of space and as you say would mean he could save weight by not having to have davids fitted for lifting the dinghy on and off. I assume Grumpy you have got a dinghy? If not, get a jet rib, they're by foar the best and dead easy to fall out of.

Only problem with the diesel forklifts is that they can get a bit smelly under continued use. What about a LPG powered one?

Next thing is he'll have to do a proper training course, pehaps check with those helpful folk at the RYA, I'm sure they must run a "Forklift truck driving for Stinkies" course.

 

[hlb]

Oh. I've got a fork lift licence. No boat licences though. Also got a gas fork lift. Bit unreliable though. Gas is forever freezing. About a two ton Lancing Bagnal diesel should be quite adiquate. Also usefull for trips to Tesco's for shopping and lifting engines out for repair. Would make an excelent diving platform if raised to the top. So get an extra long reach one and stick the arial on top.

<font color=blue> Haydn

 

[Guest]

Grumpy, please disregard the errant nonsense that this lot is posting here. Wooden plugs, welding gear, GRP patches, foam etc. What rubbish!

The most likely scenario for holing a GRP sportboat is that of running into uncharted submerged objects - fridges, shipping containers, railway sleepers, tree trunks etc. If you hit one of these at slow speed, then GRP may craze, but you will be very unlikely to be holed. However, hitting a submerged, drifting fridge at 25 knots will simply knock a 3 foot hole in the bottom of the boat.

The RNLI handbook points out the rate of ingress of water for a given sized hole, and from memory, a 2" hole will sink our 30 footer in approximately 6 minutes, so repair kits are irrelevant.

The best suggestions I have are as follows:

1) hire a floating dry dock. This has the advantage that it sits submerged permanently beneath your boat. In the event of sinking, you need only radio the skipper, and have him blow his ballast tanks and the dock rises up to catch you. Because of the obvious fallibility of VHF communications, you may wish to have a hard wired telephone link installed. There are a number of other advantages to this - you do not have to pay crane-out fees, simply have the dock surface under you for sterndrive maintenance/anti-fouling. Because the dock will sit under you, it will run aground before you do, so you have no worries about prop damage. It will also give you somewhere to keep your overspill safety gear.

2) have you thought about a small, radio-controlled boat, instead?

 

[coliholic]

Best advice to Grumpy so far???

<2) have you thought about a small, radio-controlled boat, instead?>

 

[hlb]

Re: Best advice to Grumpy so far???

Sounds a bit complicated. What about clockwork.

<font color=blue> Haydn

 

[paulineb]

but they taste awful - yuk !!

Pxx

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