Boating "disasters"

[Brian]

I have just watched a TV program about the top 10 disasters at sea.
Now, whilst disagreeing with their No.1 which was open car-deck doors on ferries, I wonder what we thought?
Obviously there will be differences between diesel and petrol ribs, but.......

fire?
hitting a large semi-submerged object? and losing tubes or hull integrity?
weather?
getting lost?
capsize?
being swallowed by a whale?

What do you think?

[IanH]

Surely the biggest disaster is the one that results in the biggest loss of life, irrespective of how it occurred?

[Poly]

Originally Posted by Brian

getting lost?

being swallowed by a whale?

Do you mean getting lost and ending up in Wales?

More seriously the "big cock ups" on ribs would be:

- fire [never heard of one on a rib that actually resulted in serious injury though]
- capsize (weather, user error, big seas following engine failure)
- collision (other boat, rocks, submerged object - the sudden stop at speed is likely to result in injury)
- structural failure
- man (or everybody) overboard; perhaps the most common reason for spectacular disaster (other the skipper error) is console/seats detaching from hull.
- mincing someone in the water

[m chappelow]

Originally Posted by Poly

Do you mean getting lost and ending up in Wales?

It Happens !
Going back a few years a couple of lads in Ireland decide to check out the pubs on the Isle of Man ,
They set of in the general direction in an inflatable with outboard only to miss it in the fog , they were rescued by a welsh lifeboat

[Boats&Outboards]

Originally Posted by Poly

- mincing someone in the water

A recent pic on our FB page, prop damage, sorry if your a bit Squeamish

Peter @ Boatsandoutboards4sale ~ www.BoatsandOutboards4Sale.co.uk ~ 07930 421007

[m chappelow]

Originally Posted by Boats&Outboards

A recent pic on our FB page, prop damage, sorry if your a bit Squeamish

Peter @ Boatsandoutboards4sale ~ www.BoatsandOutboards4Sale.co.uk ~ 07930 421007

someone I know commented about the pic (looking at the widening gaps from left to right looks like the helm was quick on the throttle to slow down )!!

[Nos4r2]

Some days you're lucky to be a fat git I guess. It'd have killed someone skinny...

[Ian M]

OK, after that horrible pic (what, he is NOT dead!!) back to what I think was the intent of the OP.
Probably my worst 'moment' was years ago when helming one of the dive club SIBs, with I think four other divers on board. Just returning from our outing, and entering Langstone harbour where there can be tricky tides, I was suddenly faced with a wall of water. The sea had just opened up in front of us and we slammed into that wall of water. Divers and kit went everywhere, some into the water and some into the upturned bows of the boat, the stringers having come loose allowing boat to 'bend' with the bows now pointing skywards. I had a soft landing on one of my fellow divers with no serious injury. Infact we got off very lightly, with just some very minor scrapes.
No moral to the story, just be careful out there!!!
Then there was the three lads off the eastern side of the IoW, but that is another story, and probably their worst boating disaster.........

[Bigmuz7]

gruesome

[Poly]

Originally Posted by Nos4r2

Some days you're lucky to be a fat git I guess. It'd have killed someone skinny...

or missed a skinny guy completely?

[Bigmuz7]

You surprise me poly ... As our stats and bean counter guru I thought you would have worked out the pitch,leg ratio and rpm by now

[Poly]

Originally Posted by Bigmuz7

You surprise me poly ... As our stats and bean counter guru I thought you would have worked out the pitch,leg ratio and rpm by now

I don't think we have enough information to do that!

If you assume the casualty was stationary at the time and the boat was moving, then I guess you can estimate the pitch - but you'd need to know if it was a 3/4 blade prop or I think you get a 25-33% error. You then need to consider whether a solid object hit by a moving prop gets thrust and therefore is no longer stationary... ...I did wonder if this is the effect that MC described as the skipper slowing the throttle - which changes the period of the injuries...

[Bigmuz7]

Originally Posted by Poly

I don't think we have enough information to do that!

If you assume the casualty was stationary at the time and the boat was moving, then I guess you can estimate the pitch - but you'd need to know if it was a 3/4 blade prop or I think you get a 25-33% error. You then need to consider whether a solid object hit by a moving prop gets thrust and therefore is no longer stationary... ...I did wonder if this is the effect that MC described as the skipper slowing the throttle - which changes the period of the injuries...

Class .... I knew you wouldnt let that one pass without some possible analysis .. excellent !

I just hope the gentleman made a daycent recovery ... bet it put his lumbago into miniscule focus

[spartacus]

Originally Posted by Poly

I don't think we have enough information to do that!

If you assume the casualty was stationary at the time and the boat was moving, then I guess you can estimate the pitch - but you'd need to know if it was a 3/4 blade prop or I think you get a 25-33% error. You then need to consider whether a solid object hit by a moving prop gets thrust and therefore is no longer stationary... ...I did wonder if this is the effect that MC described as the skipper slowing the throttle - which changes the period of the injuries...

If you ever change your avatar Polwart... then make sure it this one!

[Crusher]

Originally Posted by Boats&Outboards

A recent pic on our FB page, prop damage, sorry if your a bit Squeamish

Peter @ Boatsandoutboards4sale ~ www.BoatsandOutboards4Sale.co.uk ~ 07930 421007

OMG !!! Is that genuine??? Do we have any details? Who what where when? WOW for all the wrong reasons..

[Boats&Outboards]

Genuine yes, no further details known.

Peter @ Boatsandoutboards4sale ~ www.BoatsandOutboards4Sale.co.uk ~ 07930 421007

[Bern Hanreck]

Kirsty MacColl "In These Shoes?" - YouTube

The Pogues & Kirsty McColl Fairytale Of New York - YouTube

[kubcat]

A couple of years ago we were competing in an offshore powerboat race in a hardboat. The race was into Newcastle (Australia) Harbour with a tight 180 degree turn and then back out into the ocean. We decided that if we could be fast around this turn we could gain some time.

The solution we decided on was to fibreglass in some aluminium angles under the hull, one each side so the boat would corner as if on rails. And it did. It worked brilliantly. Too brilliantly.

On one turn we were powering through the turn very fast when suddenly we slid out and were impersonating a helicopter rotor heading towards the wharf that held most of the spectators. The boat settled, we didn't hit anything solid and we regained our composure continuing the race.

Once out in deep water at a great rate of knots my feet felt wet and as Alex was steering I crawled under the forward deck to investigate if the ballast tank was leaking.

The good news is that the ballast tank wasn't leaking. The not so good news was that there was a hole in the boat where the speed rail was previously attached to about 5com wide and 30cm long. A quick trim adjustment kept the boat out of the water enough to not only get us home but finish the race with a third place.

I will look for a photo of the boat airborne during the race with the hole visible. Hopefully I can get the old computer going.

This was the same race that had to be restarted because a race boat unexpectedly turned hard right onto another race boat, going straight over its transom and severing the engine front the boat. Only the gear and throttle cables held it on. As the electric fuel pump was still on, a fire erupted and the boat burnt to the waterline.

This was our last offshore boat race.

[Bigmuz7]

Originally Posted by spartacus

If you ever change your avatar Polwart... then make sure it this one!

No no ... Well he's already had this one

[Bigmuz7]

But I submit this one might be more accurate