Missing Yacht...update

[ajc]

Some of you, with distant memory recall, may remember my yacht "Hilary Joyce" which went missing in November, was found sitting on the bottom by Hants Marine Police in December. Well at last she was raised by those very nice divers at Seatech on Tuesday and towed around to Port Solent. I wont go into all the detail but it took till Friday before she was finally craned ashore, around 1600 hrs.

Now the interesting thing is, 1st report from the divers whilst towing her was " she has lost all her guard wires & stanchions". 2nd interesting point, when pumped out she floated with no trace of any leaks. She went down in Portsmouth harbour in 4 to 8 metres of water ( depending on state of tide ) into very soft mud. Again divers report she was gently listing to Stbd with keel well into silt. Pushpit is completely missing, Pulpit was caught up in airvent hole on coachroof. Both airvents were blown out and missing + front hatch blown open.

Any one experienced or heard of anything like this before. Apart from the guardwires she is unmarked!

Only solution I can come up with is that something quite powerful, tangled with guardwires and dragged her down??

Any comments, possible causes?

 

[powerskipper]

Any pics, this sounds like a good mystery

 

[ajc]

Yes, have pic's but do not know how to get them onto YBW sites?

 

[Tisme]

Good to hear that she's out of the water and at last you can start deciding what to do...but it must be soul destroying.

Maybe the lines and stanchions caught on something such as fishing gear and were dragged off whilst she lay on the bottom?

Did she fill with water due to syphoning. The air vents and hatch maybe blew as she went down? Doesn't explain how she got to that location though...unless somebody was nicking her and did a runner when he realised she was going down.

Let us know how you get on.

 

[thalassa]

A few years ago, we had two similar cases in our harbour, which is tidal too. Both were on the fixed pontoon, so boats are moored alongside, floating on two vertical ss wires. In both cases, one of the mooring lines had broken. At low water, the bows did float under the pontoon. As the tide went up (at night), the pulpit broke off, taking some of the guard rails too. Then the boat, caught under the pontoon, and holed were the pulpit had been, filled with water and sank.
In the other case, it was the aft part of a motorboat which was caught under the pontoon.

 

[colvic]

Many years ago were we caught by a yacht dragging its anchor in a real howler, at night. I found it quite frightening as we were pulled further and further over as the larger yacht kept dragging and our anchor though not holding 100% due to the extra force was doing a better job than his. In the end we had to smash off one set of rails to ensure our safety.

Very frightening and the forces applied to us were enormous.

Phil

 

[ajc]

Hi, Thats interesting that although a larger yacht but certainly not some vessel under power was capable of that. My boat was found on the bottom by its mooring but the riding chain ( rope ) was no longer attached. The mooring is alongside a mud bank, not too close as I have about 4m at low. I think, as someone suggested, that maybe a keel caught the wires and ripped them off, I think if that were the case there would be signs that it had caught the woodwork somewhere. I also think that under those circumstances it would have only caught the tip of the keel and would not have suficient contact to rip the whole lot off. It's all a bit of a mystery. I am also told that the riding chain/ rope which had the usual plastic tube over it to reduce chafe, the tube had been pulled right over the spliced eye. Again some serious power needed to do that and being pulled the wrong way?? I am quite mystified by the whole business.

 

[theforeman]

the blown out vents and hatch would tend to suggest that the ship was submerged while still full of air .. or was pumped full of water /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[powerskipper]

Have you done any work on bilge pumps recently, it there any way they could have sucked in water rather than pumped it out.

 

[graham]

Are you sure that a strong wind in perhaps an unusual direction pushing your boat into shallower water ,coupled with a spring tide could not have allowed her to ground at low water?

I used to have a mooring in a tidal river where boats would sometimes mysteriously sink on their moorings due to grounding and leaning so far over that the tide didnt pick them up until water flooded into the cockpit then down below.Or through toilet/sink drains not designed for big angles of heel.

If she had been hit by another vessel you would expect the hull would have some damage as well as the rails etc.

Its a great shame whatever the cause.

 

[Calluna]

I've sent you a PM...

Heather

 

[BlueSkyNick]

I have followed all your posts on this, and felt very sorry not only for the loss of your boat, but also the frustration of not knowing what had happened.

So its good to read that you now at least have her out of the water. I hope you can get her back to your high standard and as soon as possible.

 

[DavidGrieves]

Hi

First of all can I say how sorry I am to here your news, you must be feeling realy P'd off, especially after all your work...

graham might be right

" Are you sure that a strong wind in perhaps an unusual direction pushing your boat into shallower water ,coupled with a spring tide could not have allowed her to ground at low water?"

I had a boat take on a lot of water, she didn't go down but was very low in the water. She touched bottom on a low tide, and took on water, 2 possible routes for the water to get in:

1. The cockpit drains had both been led to a single seacock on the port side.

2. An electric bilge pump had been fitted with no non-return valve and not enough height to form a loop above the skin fitting.

When she took the ground (long keel, mud bottom) she went over to port, the drain on the port side of the cockpit was now under the water line and filling up the cockpit. Bilge pump skin fitting would also be under water.

Do your cockpit drains cross over? Is there any chance she could have taken the ground?

 

[ShipsWoofy]

Follow the link in my signature >>>>

 

[tyce]

dogwatch your site is absolutely excellent, i am going to have a go tonight.
thanks

 

[Aardee]

Sorry to hear about this. I saw your boat in Port Solent yesterday, and she is certainly an elegant craft. Best wishes in getting her afloat & back to her former glory.

Graham

 

[Sans Bateau]

Do think that perhaps some commercial ship with some loose gear hanging ( anchor?) caught your boat during the hours of darkness? If that is likely, does anyone ever stay on board their boats in that area overnight?

 

[VicS]

[ QUOTE ]
dogwatch your site is absolutely excellent, i am going to have a go tonight.


[/ QUOTE ] Its dead simple. Easier than Dogatch's guide might lead you to believe.
It is nice though to follow the guidance on reducing pictuers to a sensible size so that we don't have to scroll half way round the room and down to the basement to view them.

 

[Trevor_swfyc]

Like others very sorry to hear about your loved boat. I have only just seen the posting, had to think for a while. With regard to the front hatch blowing open, is it possible when the boat sank the stern went first. This would have caused an air lock in the foreward peak the weight of the boat causing considerable pressure to build up within the boat. Finally the hatch gave way and down she went.
I would imagine the guardrails have suffered by passing vessels/craft.

That's my best guess for what its worth, but concentrate on what you can change, by getting the boat back to its former glory.

All the best.
Trevor