Help Salvaging a boat

fergal.b

Hi guy's/ girls not sure if any of you can help but I'm looking for any advice on raising a 15 foot boat weighing about 500kg and possibly laying 11 meters down in Lough Ree You can get the full story here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055963665&page=33 I have very limited funds "none" but I do have some divers and boats willing to help.

I looked at lift bags not cheep :eek: so I was thinking of using skip bags and if needed large bin liners to seal them if they are not airtight, I'm a bit worried about floating the boat up as this is where accidents can happen with the boat turning or slipping and I don't want to put anyone in danger with me being a novice at salvage.

Another idea I had was to build a frame across two boats with a winch in the middle winch the boat up and drive to shallow water or just pump it out if not holed, I feel this would safer for the diver as they would just have to bring down a cable and clip it onto an eye on the engine block that is in the middle of the boat. This is the boat






And this is an rough Idea of what I'm talking about. Anyway I'm open to any ideas or suggestions good or bad that might help. Thanks

Meanaspie

Let me start by saying I've no experience in salvage. But I've done a bit of recovery of smaller items using lift bags.

When I read your first idea about skip bags covered in plastic my reaction was ARE YOU CRAZY?!?! Like you said extremely dangerous for all involved.

I'm not an engineer wither so I've no idea how feasible idea two is.

What I will say is it maybe possible to possible rent some lift bags rather than buying thus reducing your cost.

fergal.b

Thanks for your reply, the skip bags can hold a ton weight by the straps and are more or less waterproof the bin liners or cement bags would go inside the skip bag just to give a 100% seal if needed, I don't think there would be much differance to a float bag.
I looked into renting them but couldn't find anywhere.




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Meanaspie

I understand what you're saying but that's not the purpose they're designed for. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong underwater. It maybe a bit of a trek for you but I'm pretty sure oceandivers have lift bags they maybe willing to rent

ubs69

How about some truck tyre tubes ! Inside the boat , or tied to it , should lift it high enough to tow it near the shore

fergal.b

ubs69 wrote: »

How about some truck tyre tubes ! Inside the boat , or tied to it , should lift it high enough to tow it near the shore

I thought about that but looking at the pressure involved they would expand x4 and could burst when they come up to the surface so they would need some sort of air release valve built into them. An upside-down bag would release it's own pressure out the bottom as it comes up.


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locum-motion

I used to read Sailing & Boating forum regularly, so I'd come across FergalB and his lovely boat before.

So sorry she sank, Fergal.

Did you locate her yet?

fergal.b

Thanks iocum-motion, we have found 10 boats in the area so it is like looking for a certain needle in a haystack that has lots of needles




Last week this one was picked up on sonar and it looks promising as you can see the shadow of the bow meaning it hasn't been there long enough to sink into the silt also there seems to be a light area in the middle that could be the engine block, the guys from the Athlone sub aqua club who have been a great help are going to go down and take a look on the 21st so hopefully I have more news then.

yankinlk

Best of luck. Im sure the lads from Athlone sub aqua will give you great advice.

Here is a link to how divers did it back in the day. Principle is the same altho the target is much larger...an old guiness barge on loch derg.

https://youtu.be/dYy2Kkipm4o

BbSean

Evening,

I spotted this tread the other morning, really sorry to hear about what happened.

I know little about lift bags, however I do remember hearing once about using lift bags filled with diesel to lift items from the depths.

I am not for one second suggesting this, the potential for problems and costs involved would be ridiculous, however I was thinking that if you could get something that was slightly more buoyant than water maybe it could help.

I was also wondering if it would be possible to displace the water from some of the compartments to make the boat lighter for a lift - possible filling it with some sort of foam, though you would have to find something that would not compress too much rendering it useless. You would also have to be careful not to damage the hull as it would not be designed to cope with pressure from inside the boat.

Finally, I have seen a boat salvaged from Lough Neagh some years ago by a rather unconventional method.

The boat (typical Lough Neagh fishing boat build from fibreglass and powered by a lorry engine) was hit by a second boat on the shoulder of the bow creating a hole from the floor to the rim and about four feet across at the widest point. It sank in quickly as the second boat was stuck ontop of it. Thankfully the fishermen had time to climb from one boat to the other before it sank.

It sank close to the shore.

A diver located the boat and attached a tow rope to a bolt located on the bow.

The other end of the rope was attached to two other boats which pulled under full power.

This caused the boat to raise of the bed and break the surface.

The boats towed it closer to the shore where the tow ropes were passed to a tractor which was able to pull the boat onto the shore.

no one expected the boat to rise of the bed, they were expecting it to be trailed along the bottom.

There are obviously differences between your boat and this one (weight being one thing) but maybe its something to think about.

Best of luck.

fergal.b

Thanks for the reply Bbsean interesting ideas, not sure about the diesel I could end up with a hefty pollution fine :eek:
Maybe the myth busters idea of filling the boat with ping-pong balls would work but there isn't really any compartments to fill only the bow and as you say it's only designed for inward pressure so may not hold up also it would be very hard to get any sort of floatation down the 30 odd feet.
If I go with the bags I would only need to get them close to the surface not heigh enough to let the air escape from the bags or to float the boat but like you say it wouldn't need much if I got her moving as the flat bottom of the boat would act like a wing and help lift her.

fergal.b

Well it turns out it wasn't her Big thanks to the Athlone sub-aqua club for all their help and putting up with the cold, if there are any of you here I thank you.

BbSean

Fergal.b,

Really sorry to hear that it wasn't her.

I am sure your gutted.

What's the next plan?

fergal.b

BbSean wrote: »

What's the next plan?

As Liam Neeson would say "I will look for you I will find you and I will rebuild you":)





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SCOL

Maybe it's a silly question, but you know roughtly were she went down would she drift far from that position ?

fergal.b

SCOL wrote: »

Maybe it's a silly question, but you know roughtly were she went down would she drift far from that position ?

It's possible the bow could have trapped some air an there were 3 automatic lifejackets up the sids of her that would have gone off and I didn't see them come to the surface so she may have slowly glided in any direction and depending on how deep it is it could be quite far.




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yankinlk

fergal.b wrote: »

It's possible the bow could have trapped some air an there were 3 automatic lifejackets up the sids of her that would have gone off and I didn't see them come to the surface so she may have slowly glided in any direction and depending on how deep it is it could be quite far.

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Most of the time, when something goes down, the point of entry is critical for finding it again. Most things dont drift too far, unless they float to the surface.

Side Sonar is of course useful, but totally dependent on the user knowing how to use it. If you have a MOB for when it went down, that would be far more useful, even if the sonar doesnt pick up something in the area. Setup a grid, and put those divers to work! Great training possibilities for divers on a bar search.

john jameson

very sorry fergal.b to read about your boat I was going over some of your old post when I read what happened
I really do hope you find her
All the best