Drowning RIB

Steve_B · 08 November 2009, 12:46

Spent the weekend over in Chichester on a function. On the Saturday the other half and I went for a stroll around Bosham. Saw this in the water ....

Looks like it got so much rain in it, that the transom is below the water and it is only the tubes now keeping it afloat. Why do people invest money and then not look after it??

chewy · 08 November 2009, 12:48

A little low in the water isn't it.

Chris · 08 November 2009, 12:53

His Bilge pump has probably failed or the battery is dead. Being a fiddler my natural instinct would be to go and fix it.

spartacus · 08 November 2009, 14:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris

His Bilge pump has probably failed or the battery is dead. Being a fiddler my natural instinct would be to go and fix it.

My instinct too. The weight on the bow line will be excessive too, given the volume of water that's sloshing about inside.

willk · 08 November 2009, 14:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris

Being a fiddler my natural instinct would be to go and fix it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by spartacus

My instinct too.

Bit of a swim for poor 250kts surely, him in his best party tucker and all?

Poly · 08 November 2009, 15:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by spartacus

The weight on the bow line will be excessive too, given the volume of water that's sloshing about inside.

there is no extra "weight" on the bow line - but i've always assumed that the key factor that determined the force on a mooring line would be the windage, which will actually have been reduced by it sitting so low in the water.

Chris · 08 November 2009, 15:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by willk

Bit of a swim for poor 250kts surely, him in his best party tucker and all?

Come on mate they are searider owners after all... they would probably both be carrying rolls of Gaffa tape, bowie knives in their teeth and smart drysuits on !

willk · 08 November 2009, 15:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polwart

there is no extra "weight" on the bow line - but i've always assumed that the key factor that determined the force on a mooring line would be the windage, which will actually have been reduced by it sitting so low in the water.

Disclaimer: What follows is pure speculation

If the rib is lower in the water, it's displacement must have increased, although the water has some limited egress. Moorings are rated by displacement or gross tonnage? Wave action provides powerful and sudden stress to a mooring line; more mass, more stress??

hmmm - thinking has suddenly given me a thirst for some Electric Lemonade...

willk · 08 November 2009, 15:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris

Come on mate they are searider owners after all... they would probably both be carrying rolls of Gaffa tape, bowie knives in their teeth and smart drysuits on !

oooooh! Are they? Careful, "They'll 'ave you mate!"

Poly · 08 November 2009, 15:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by willk

Disclaimer: What follows is pure speculation

If the rib is lower in the water, it's displacement must have increased, although the water has some limited egress. Moorings are rated by displacement or gross tonnage? Wave action provides powerful and sudden stress to a mooring line; more mass, more stress??

hmmm - thinking has suddenly given me a thirst for some Electric Lemonade...

Equally as speculative... boat with larger mass is harder for the waves to move, therefore those periodic loads are damped/reduced?

Moorings are rated by weight - but I assumed that was just an easy metric... how many sq ft is your boat's windage? There's probably a reasonable correlation that if a boat weighs less than X tonnes it also has less than Y m2 of windage (otherwise it would be too unstable to keep on a mooring). But that is all guesswork - maybe someone well set me straight...

Chris · 08 November 2009, 16:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by willk

oooooh! Are they? Careful, "They'll 'ave you mate!"

I'll wake up to find myself gaffa taped to a console with 3 feet of Homebase drain pipe up my arse.

Takes me back to school days hey gotchiguy?

JSP · 08 November 2009, 17:10

Nos? Got a drainpipe mate?

C2 RIBS · 08 November 2009, 17:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by 250kts

Spent the weekend over in Chichester on a function. On the Saturday the other half and I went for a stroll around Bosham. Saw this in the water ....

Looks like it got so much rain in it, that the transom is below the water and it is only the tubes now keeping it afloat. Why do people invest money and then not look after it??

If its on a mooring, do the harbour authorities not report this sort of incident to the owners as they should have records??

chewy · 08 November 2009, 17:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by C2 RIBS

If its on a mooring, do the harbour authorities not report this sort of incident to the owners as they should have records??

I know in some harbours that what the fees cover, the marina attendants keeping an eye on boats and letting you know if anything is amiss.

tonymac · 08 November 2009, 17:59

Come on ... who is it??? Own up!!!!

Surely you are on here??

PeterM · 08 November 2009, 18:28

All to common in boats on swinging moorings (around here anyway). Spray over the bow in stong wind , then rain makes it get worse & worse - especailly in biggish harbours with a decent fetch for the waves to build.

So he may now have half a ton of boat and then 3-4 tons of water in it ! At least the engine is OK but God help his battery & electrics. Still at least its a RIB so wont sink. Maybe he needs some air in his tubes too ?

Such a waste when there are people out there that would love to be able to be in a position to look after thier own boat.

Hightower · 08 November 2009, 18:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackroady

At least the engine is OK but God help his battery & electrics. Still at least its a RIB so wont sink. Maybe he needs some air in his tubes too ?

Hope he hasn't got an inbuilt fuel tank where the breather or fuel fill is below the water line

Steve_B · 08 November 2009, 18:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by willk

Bit of a swim for poor 250kts surely, him in his best party tucker and all?

Spot on Willk, only had the clothes I was wearing and a Dinner Suit, also promised her in doors I would be on best behaviour!

I also agree with Pete, what a huge waste of kit, looked a sound boat, so why would you let this happen.

Out of interest, the mooring is directly opposite the local sailing club and my impression was that Bosham was a fairly tight knit community. So why have they ignored this boats plight? Maybe they have tried to contact the owner?? But it would only take minutes for a couple of guys to go over and tow it to the slip/quay and empty it out. I would

Steve

chewy · 08 November 2009, 19:12

Maybe they've upset someone and a bung was removed?

Channel Ribs · 08 November 2009, 19:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackroady

All to common in boats on swinging moorings (around here anyway). Spray over the bow in stong wind , then rain makes it get worse & worse - especailly in biggish harbours with a decent fetch for the waves to build.

Yep, pretty common here too. One RIB got swamped so often on a swinging mooring the owner had everything moved up above the waterline - batteries, fuel connections, etc etc.

Our own RIB is in the inner harbour on a running mooring, we had so much rain the night before last I had to be careful getting on board as the water was slopping about something horrid.

(Bilge pump float switch is not currently at 100% efficiency)

The long and the short is that this guy's RIB may not have been left unattended for all that long. Flat batt, dodgy switch etc etc + lots of rain and some big winds.