Water is coming in!!!!fast

[anubis]

Hi,
Can anyone provide advice (from experience) of stemming under water damage at sea. Having survived a recent flood...and an injured crew member. I need help on what to carry and do in future.
The pressure, rate and water temp [cold] of the flood was staggering.
Thanks

 

[mainshiptom]

I carry wooden bits and old rags, anything you can stuff in to the hole will help ! also powerfull bilge pumps with auto switches can help as long as they have a light on the dash board to show they are running?

 

[bob_tyler]

If you have an old sail or similar to pass under the hull over the damage and secure tightly the pressure of the water should hold it in place and stop the flood until you can dry out.

Good luck.

 

[andy_wilson]

You're lucky, shallow bilges a leak will reveal itself pretty quick, also by the change in sailing performance.

IF you can get at the leak like a split or hole in the hull, a bunk cushion (as a gasket) with a locker lid over it wedged by an oar / boathook / spinnaker pole should stem things while you

A. Pump.

B. Pass something round the outside of the hull to seal it more effectively.

I have a large fender mat of foam covered in PVC and ties all round for such an eventuality, plus storm jib.

It's worth doing a reality check on difficult to access areas like under the galley fittings, behind the heads mouldings etc. and considering just what you can stuff in there, and how you can spread the load when you wedge it. We have bunk cushions of many sizes and shapes, and some scatter cushions. There are easily removable locker lids, and doors (less easy to remove without violence). I also have three sizes of storm boards for each size window, that would cover various gaps with a cushion as a gasket.

The forward lockers already carry sails in bags. A locker lid on top and a serious prop could be rigged very quickly.

If the keel bolts were ripped off a long bunk cushion wedged under the table would be my first attempt to stem it, followed quickly by bungs in all the limber holes in the web surrounding it.

For skin fittings a soft wooden bung (already tied adjacent to fitting) hit hard with a hammer will block most leaks. Don't forget to prop it in place, a big wave will send it out like a champagne cork!

 

[kandoma]

many, many years ago, it was compulsary to carry a sandbag in italian waters.

If you think about it, that is a cheap way to solve such problems. We had such a bag on board for many years and I will probably bring a new bag on board soon.

Peter

 

[aidancoughlan]

A sandbag seems like a brilliant idea - I'm surprised I've never seen it mentioned before. Probably because there's only so much you can charge for a bag of sand. It would surely be one of the most effective ways of stopping an odd-shaped hole though?.
There was an ingenious device at one of the chandlers stands at LIBS - an umbrella-like device (in various sizes) that you push through a hole to the outside, and it then seals it from outside. The guy selling it was quite enthusiastic, so maybe it works.

Anubis - what was your situation - I hope your crew member made a full recovery, and you managed to stop the leak and save the boat.... tell us how!

 

[Viking]

A builder friend told me that he was successful with a plastic bag filled with building insulation foam. I carry the same stuff, but thankfully have never had to try it.

 

[jerryat]

Hi Aiden,

I think you mean the 'Subrella' equipment, which is supposed to be shoved through the hole in your boat then 'erected' like an umbrella on the outside. I had one given to me by a friend before we went off long term cruising, but have always wondered HOW, in a grp boat where the hull would tend to split or splinter, you could get the unit through the hull in the first place.

Even in a wooden/ferro boat, it's seems unlikely that a 'hole' would be formed in the first instance. Has anyone out there actually used one in anger - or in any situation? Would love to know if they work as I still carry it aboard.

Cheers Jerry

 

[William_H]

All of the above ideas are likely solutions to the problem. However I would recommend that you get a wet suit and mask and snorkel and become adept at getting over the side for placing sheets bungs etc in place from outside. To get proficient at snorkelling you can practice by cleaning the hull and keel and checking anodes prop etc. olewill

 

[anubis]

Hi,
Crew member OK.
Frantic efforts to stem the flow by towels and cushions...problem was...it was underneath a fixed rigid water tank. I have now made a fixed water tight bulkhead to atleast contain the water...as fitted to Seb's Contessa 32 Atlantic. Access is a real issue. The problem was getting pressure on from inside the boat. I now have a plumbers mastic which cures underwater, a rubber sheet as gasket and a sink plunger to compress over the damage...all to be tested.
Still thinking about all this.
Many thanks for the advice.

 

[BrendanS]

What caused the damage, and how big the hole? And what injured the crew member. Only ask, because these sorts of first hand reports are immensely useful to readers.

The point about access for example, made me think, because I could only access certain parts of bilge by cutting a hole in floor.