Liveaboard Dream - Not a Good Start .......

[Bilgediver]

You are in the best possible area for classic boat repairs. A friend who is into this seriously suggests you contact.

1....http://uk.chantierduguip.com/contact,69.html

All details on the web page and try and get hold of Yann who speaks good english. He can no doubt give good advice.

2. Further down the coast at Douarnenez there is a wooden boat school like the one in Lowestoft and they might be able to help
or give assistance.

http://www.lesateliersdelenfer.fr/

3. There is a french naval architect in the area called Francois Vivier who could be a worth while contact.

http://www.vivierboats.com/

4...For price evaluation you could contact Collars in the UK for the price of a mast. They may have the Vertue
drawings and so come up quickly with a figure.

http://www.collars.co.uk/info/1/masts_and_spars/14/mast_quotation



Best of luck with your project management.

 

[Kukri]

You are in the best possible area for classic boat repairs. A friend who is into this seriously suggests you contact.

1....http://uk.chantierduguip.com/contact,69.html

All details on the web page and try and get hold of Yann who speaks good english. He can no doubt give good advice.

2. Further down the coast at Douarnenez there is a wooden boat school like the one in Lowestoft and they might be able to help
or give assistance.

http://www.lesateliersdelenfer.fr/

3. There is a french naval architect in the area called Francois Vivier who could be a worth while contact.

http://www.vivierboats.com/


Best of luck with your project management.

I second that - definitely stay in France, for at least threeout the reasons:

1. Crossing the mouth of the Channel under power with no rig will be a horrible experience, in terms of violent motion, worry about the engine holding up, no height for VHF antenna and radar scanner if fitted.

2. There are superb facilities where you are. I don't know the people on Bilgediver's list but I do recognise all the names and they are very well spoken of.

3. Getting the repairs done in France is part of the adventure - returning to England means starting all over again - psychologically very different.

 

[WYLMAW]

Many thanks for this, I have indeed asked Yann for a quote for wooden masts (coutesy of another forumite) so it is good to know they are well respected. I am currently getting a Suffolk Swat Team made up of the people who managed the boat for me here to come up with a collective quote to share a van and trailer and arrive, work and go home. I am dreading having a disparate team of French sub-contractors who I can't communicate with and have August shut down and conflicting prorities trying to pull this all together. But, if needs must the forumites have provided a few names of people who I could ask for a bit of help or language coaching.

 

[WYLMAW]

Cant face returning to UK now I know the new engine was also damaged in the accident. I am now in a much more positive place in my head and feel sure the French yards can help - and I needed a kick up the backside to learn another language so I will make the best of it. I have to supply a number of quotes so I have asked a UK team to come up with something, but let's see what happens. I appreciate your support.
I am now going to try and put some photos up here........

 

[WYLMAW]

My Boat - Before

This is the Boat leaving the UK

 

[WYLMAW]

My Boat - After

Arriving in France....

 

[Mrnotming]

Good luck with the new masts and repairs!
I'm glad you are getting lots of help on here, there is a wealth of experience to be tapped into when trouble strikes!

 

[maby]

Cant face returning to UK now I know the new engine was also damaged in the accident. I am now in a much more positive place in my head and feel sure the French yards can help - and I needed a kick up the backside to learn another language so I will make the best of it. I have to supply a number of quotes so I have asked a UK team to come up with something, but let's see what happens. I appreciate your support.
I am now going to try and put some photos up here........

What happened to the engine? How could that have been damaged without something puncturing the deck - which was not obvious from the pictures?

 

[WYLMAW]

the ropes and rigging shot over the side and wrapped themselves around the prop, which stopped the engine dead and disabled the boat, they put the lad over the side to try and cut it free but no luck. They then drifted towards some particularly horrid rocks so they put the brand new anchor and chain over. It bounced around from 70m depth until 30metres when it snagged and held them just off the rocks. They were still dragging two masts and all the rigging with them and trying to get that onboard and cut free. The lifeboat came and refused to take a tow until they had cut free the anchor and chain. The anchor goes over the bowsprit with was unsupported as the mast to which it is tied had gone so the drag from anchor broke the bow sprit. But apart from that everything was fine. Oh, and the self steering was on and because of the horrid sudden halt that may be damaged. The engine runs ok when it is cold but when it gets warm it makes a noise, they have looked at the oil and tell me the gearbox is damaged and possibly the prop shaft. Engine is just 88 hours old. But, look on the bright side - the oven still works!

 

[clyst]

Depending how violently the masts hit the deck hidden damage to the boats structure may be lurking so my advice would be to employ a serious knowlegeable wooden boat surveyor .
Whatever you do do not be tempted to fit an Air Breeze wind genny . Reliability is atrocious!! I know from experience !!

 

[Norman_E]

What a dreadful start to a life aboard. You have my sympathy, and hopes that you can get all the repairs done well in France.

Just one thought. The photos of the boat leaving the UK show a triatic stay. Was that responsible for the falling mainmast pulling down the mizzen?
Might it be possible for the riggers to rig the new masts with the mizzen independently supported? It appears from the photos that the mainmast has a split backstay and that the triatic stay and the one at the level of the mizzen spreaders were only there to support the mizzen.

 

[WYLMAW]

She has a fibre glass hull, a Cheoy Lee Clipper 42, so we dont have the added angst of the wooden hull. We love her to bits. \pantaneus have appointed a French surveyor who seems to have real sympathy with classic boats and is very helpful. HWMBO says the masts came down very quickly, he leant a hand on the mizzen, it moves, he looked round and they both had gone. They crashed down, one into 3 bits and one into 2. Thanks for the advice on the Genny thing. Wont get that one.

 

[WYLMAW]

Our first thought was the triatic stay, the surveyor lept on the spaghetti of rigging and grapsed the tryatic triumphantly, but found it was attatched both ends and in one pice and in excellent conditon. He found the main mast had de-laminated inside, it broke with a loud crack just below the spreaders. Nothing we, or the rig surveyors we used before we left, could ever have seen.

I am going to ask our potential riggers to look at making the masts independantly supported. You are right about the split backstay and Makes sence to a simple woman. As a management consultant my job is just to keep asking 'why?' I have learnt more about rigging in the last week than I ever thought I might need to know, but at least I can now challenge thingking. Thanks for your input.

 

[Norman_E]

The problem with triatic stays is not that they fail, but that if one mast goes down the stay does not fail, and pulls the other mast down.

P.S. I think your yacht is beautiful, and the wooden spars certainly looked good, but I would not discount the idea of replacing them with aluminium. If you don't like the colour, I have seen plenty that are enamelled white and look pretty good.

 

[WYLMAW]

Thanks for thhe kind words, I have sent an email to the riggers to ask about making the masts independant. Thanks, I will let you knowl

 

[lenseman]

. . . . . I have sent an email to the riggers to ask about making the masts independant. . . . . . .

I also have a ketch and when I had it re-rigged in 2010 I was told that if the triatic stay was to be replaced then I would run a great risk that if ever the main mast failed it would almost certainly bring down the mizzen.

You will nee to look at the tensions in the jib boom (bowsprit) and specifically the bobstay between the cutwater and the gammoning and noting the compression loading on the dolphin striker (Martingale).

If the bobstay is still extant, then you must inspect the current tension. There might be a possibility that the bobstay was over tensioned causing excess loads to be transferred up the jib stay, across the triatic and down the backstays on the mizzen with catastrophic results to the mainmast?



.

 

[ribrage]

David

And again in english ?

 

[WYLMAW]

Blimey!

 

[TiggerToo]

Blimey!

and you had worries about learning French?

I suspect there are lots of us lurking here following your adventures.... fingers crossed from this London-based-slave....and all the best wishes to all of you

 

[maby]

the ropes and rigging shot over the side and wrapped themselves around the prop, which stopped the engine dead and disabled the boat, they put the lad over the side to try and cut it free but no luck. They then drifted towards some particularly horrid rocks so they put the brand new anchor and chain over. It bounced around from 70m depth until 30metres when it snagged and held them just off the rocks. They were still dragging two masts and all the rigging with them and trying to get that onboard and cut free. The lifeboat came and refused to take a tow until they had cut free the anchor and chain. The anchor goes over the bowsprit with was unsupported as the mast to which it is tied had gone so the drag from anchor broke the bow sprit. But apart from that everything was fine. Oh, and the self steering was on and because of the horrid sudden halt that may be damaged. The engine runs ok when it is cold but when it gets warm it makes a noise, they have looked at the oil and tell me the gearbox is damaged and possibly the prop shaft. Engine is just 88 hours old. But, look on the bright side - the oven still works!

Ouch! You have my sincere sympathy - though that will be of very limited value! Hope you get it fixed soon (and that the price is manageable)! As the recent saga of the sunk trawler reported here shows, boats are amazingly resilient - often more so than boat owners!