Triple Keel on side

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Mctavish

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i have been notified that my 24 foot bilge keel boat is on its side. The harbour master suspects that a leg has broken. It will need salvage. The boat is in Penryn. I’ll be going down there as soon as possible tomorrow. Could anyone kindly outline what the next steps are which I need to take? I have a list but don’t want to miss anything. As its Friday tomorrow, I’m concerned about services being available. I’d very much appreciate any advice. Thanks.
 
It is hard to imagine how a tripple keel yacht could end up[ on it's side without there being a failure of one bilge keel. That failure may involve rupture of the hull itself. In which case if look for high water to right it it may well sink. It needs a close examination of the situation to decide what to do. ol'will PS sympathy for your worries.
 
Mctavish said:
i have been notified that my 24 foot bilge keel boat is on its side. The harbour master suspects that a leg has broken. It will need salvage. The boat is in Penryn. I’ll be going down there as soon as possible tomorrow. Could anyone kindly outline what the next steps are which I need to take? I have a list but don’t want to miss anything. As its Friday tomorrow, I’m concerned about services being available. I’d very much appreciate any advice. Thanks.
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You say Bilge Keeler ... but title says Triple Keel ?

Is this a central keel boat with bilge plates ? Then I can understand falling over if as HM says - one 'leg' .. plate has failed. But a full on triple keeler ??

There are two main factors to consider : (I have righted / salvaged boats)

1. What angle is she laying to and is that angle such that when tide comes in - water fills boat ?
2. If keel / plate has been broken away - what holes / hole into boat is there ?

#1 can be eased by having inflatable dinghys / lilio's .. in fact any inflatable items lashed to the underside on the side of damage .. once in place .. inflate ... so that when tide comes in - the inflatables provide buoyancy to lift her more straight.

#2 can be sorted with strong bin liners and lines ... basically pass the liner round hull where the hole(s) are ... with the lines securing it in place. THEN place #1 buoyancy items under that hull.

The water pressure will press the bin liner sealing the hole(s) as long as not too big of course .... a bilge pump to take care of water in the hull ... inflatables turning boat upright ... once upright and starting to float - get her to a wall or dockside for lift out / or at least moored leaning to - ready for later lift.

easy for me to type - harder for you to do .. I understand. It will be a messy job and maybe first time you do not succeed .. but the principle is what all salvagers do ... bouyancy and sealing ...
 
I’d just add to refueler’s post that if it has a hole of any size, bigger than about 10mm the bin liner may not be strong enough. Fortunately our old sailor predecessors had an answer to this, readily to hand for most of us. Reinforce the plastic with an old sail.
 
My friend’s triple keel Achilles 24 blow over in the yard. The only damage was to the pushpit which hit another boat that had blown over. That was replaced by the insurance company.

The centre keel on an Achilles is deeper than the bilge keels so I imagine that there were blocks under the outside keels and when the boat shifted in the wind it came off the blocks and went over
 
Ships used to carry what were called Collision Mats .... they were heavy canvas mats to do as Chiaras Slave mentioned ... to add weight and structure to the sheet.

The beauty of a mat - is that it self forms to the hull and needs nothing more than securing lines to keep in place while water pressure then presses it home.
 
All the above talk of gholes made by failing keel/plate assume keel has departed cleanly where in practice it is likely still attached just wrenched sideways opening up a hole. Might have to rely on sealing from inside. Cushions, foam, sand bags, props all come to mind.Assumiongb you can access the area with hole from inside. Good luck ol'will
 
Refueler said:
If that is the case ---- suggest plain Cement ... not Concrete.
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Never tried cement on its own but doubt it would work very well in this role.

I'd think the "ideal" addition might be a pozollan like fly ash (or here in Taiwan I'd probably use hydraulic mud from the local mud volcano, which of course isn't much use to the OP) and/or glass microspheres as aggregate, but for a temporary repair less than ideal is ok, and simple sand-cement mortar suggested above would probably be fine.
 
ducked said:
Never tried cement on its own but doubt it would work very well in this role.

I'd think the "ideal" addition might be a pozollan like fly ash (or here in Taiwan I'd probably use hydraulic mud from the local mud volcano, which of course isn't much use to the OP) and/or glass microspheres as aggregate, but for a temporary repair less than ideal is ok, and simple sand-cement mortar suggested above would probably be fine.
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Depends how long it takes to set
Can anyone quote setting times with these options?
 
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