Use of oil in heavy weather - have you ever tried it?

[fisherman]

I think it was in 'Two Years Before the Mast' by R H Dana that they pushed oily rags down the heads.



("How long ave 'ee bin on this ship lad?"
"Two years before the mast sir"
"Don't 'ee be silly lad, the mast's always bin here....")

 

[Fr J Hackett]

I don't know where you would buy fish oil in bulk these days.

I am very fond of tinned sardines and usually have a lot of tins on board but I can't see myself, seasick, standing over the Lavac pouring them into it before pumping them overboard.

If you managed to eat them first it might make the job easier.

 

[Poignard]

If you managed to eat them first it might make the job easier.

Maceration

 

[capnsensible]

I remember reading books where the boat lay ahull and the exhausted crew lashed themselves into their bunks. (That always seemed a sound tactic when most hulls survive while left alone after crews have been airlifted off, thinking Sydney Hobart races.) In that situation the boat would just drift downwind and there wasn't much else for the crew to do so chucking some oil in first no great effort. That said I think the storm lasted days in that account.

 

[LittleSister]

Among the discussions about the different types of oil, a number of people seem to have missed the account and analysis in the paper Poignard linked to in post #7 which suggested mineral oil was ineffective but fish oil was effective, and the scientific reason for this.

The quantities and distances required also seem to me to rule it out as anything that would be useful for a yacht.

 

[Bilgediver]

You mean dumping oil over the side to reduce waves? There's this thing called MARPOL now

That was in the days of sail and probably whale oil.

 

[Halo]

Doesn’t the phrase “pouring oil on troubled waters “ come from the bible?

As stated earlier the amazing effect of heavy rain in flattening the sea leads me to suspect it may work.

I have a plastic bottle of engine oil for top up and if in desperate circumstances I will tie it on a short line, stab it with a screwdriver whilst holding it over the side and drop it in.

 

[Poignard]

Doesn’t the phrase “pouring oil on troubled waters “ come from the bible?

As stated earlier the amazing effect of heavy rain in flattening the sea leads me to suspect it may work.

I have a plastic bottle of engine oil for top up and if in desperate circumstances I will tie it on a short line, stab it with a screwdriver whilst holding it over the side and drop it in.

You might need more than that.

In his "Heavy Weather Sailing" Adlard Coles mentions a yachtsman who carried twenty five 4-gallon tins!

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Doesn’t the phrase “pouring oil on troubled waters “ come from the bible?

No, it doesn't. I just checked! But ever since this thread started I have been remembering an account of someone trying it with success - but I can't recall where I read it! Traditionally the oil was whale oil; of course, that's not available these days!

I believe that the idea is that the change in surface tension makes waves less likely to break and makes the peaks of waves less pointy.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Theoretically you don't need a lot as it only needs to be one molecule thick and will spread out to that or at least that's what was said in my surface chemistry lectures or the prof may have been lying.

 

[WoodyP]

I can imagine the effects of fish oil on an already queasy stomach.

 

[newtothis]

Traditionally the oil was whale oil; of course, that's not available these days!

I think there is scope here to merge this thread with the orca thread.

 

[DFL1010]

Maybe it is worth considering then if experiencing breakers forming. Just carry a gallon of fairy liquid for the clean up. I always have a squeezy bottle with some diluted fairy liquid when refueling. When the inevitable drop of diesel goes on the water, a little squeeze of fairy and it chases through the oil just as quickly as a the oil spread.

Incidentally, using Fairy liquid or similar is discouraged for fuel spills.

 

[BobnLesley]

...In his "Heavy Weather Sailing" Adlard Coles mentions a yachtsman...

Presumably one who'd not read 'Heavy Weather sailing'? I can't concieve how anyone could read that book and still garner the courage to set off to cross an ocean, or even the English Channel in a small boat.

 

[capnsensible]

Presumably one who'd not read 'Heavy Weather sailing'? I can't concieve how anyone could read that book and still garner the courage to set off to cross an ocean, or even the English Channel in a small boat.

It's sooo last century....

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Incidentally, using Fairy liquid or similar is discouraged for fuel spills.

Is that because it can only emulsify the oil if there is significant wave action, so it doesn't work on still water? I think detergent is used on oil slicks at sea. I ought to know - one of the aircraft I flew with in Svalbard in the 1980s was run by an oil dispersal company, but I don't remember ever asking! In any case, the pilots of that outfit were pretty wild, and on one occasion I chanced to look out of the window and realised we were a long way off course - and we were on the fumes in the tank before we landed! On another we went over a col into the next valley in cloud; the cloud base was below the hill tops. Got away with it, but there but for the grace of God went I!

 

[Adios]

I have a plastic bottle of engine oil for top up and if in desperate circumstances I will tie it on a short line, stab it with a screwdriver whilst holding it over the side and drop it in.

It said in the linked document up thread that engine oil wont work, it has to be fish or veg oil

 

[Adios]

Incidentally, using Fairy liquid or similar is discouraged for fuel spills.

seems to work a treat, a little squirt of it very much diluted in water breaks up the diesel on the surface instantly. I'm sure anything in concentration will be a harmful pollutant but I thought it would be better than oil. Every time we wash the dishes the detergent is going into the rivers and sea so if its a problem someone should tell us.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

seems to work a treat, a little squirt of it very much diluted in water breaks up the diesel on the surface instantly. I'm sure anything in concentration will be a harmful pollutant but I thought it would be better than oil. Every time we wash the dishes the detergent is going into the rivers and sea so if its a problem someone should tell us.

Detergents ( surfactants ) can be harmful to both marine and freshwater aquatic life especially in rivers etc where their concentrations are likely to be higher. However it's question particularly in the sea of which is going to do the greater harm, the oil spill or the detergent which is quickly diluted and more modern ones likely to degrade.