What to do when stuffed

Ezgoing · 20 March 2006, 20:55

Saturday seen myself and Tim take Katandra out in an Easterly gale,

Conditions were very tough and we had a real ball of a time until...as we aproached Dun Laoghaire Harbour mouth we were running down wind and sea , the waves got very steep close to the shallower water and we stuffed the boat very badly....probaly had something to do with excessive speed and the fall from the top of a very high wave. We completely stuffed the boat and having so much power on we drove the boat completely under smashing our windscreen in the process , water over our heads and tim floating up in his seat. we recovered , in my opinion very well, kept the power on , turned the boat into the sea and with both trunks open the boat drained very quickly.

Which brings me to my question(door,horse, bolted and after does come to mind) what is the correct thing to do when you have been stuffed and completely swamped?

Advice welcome.

John Kennett · 20 March 2006, 20:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ezgoing

Which brings me to my question(door,horse, bolted and after does come to mond) what is the correct thing to do when you have been stuffed and completely swamped?

Seems to me like you got it right:

Quote:

kept the power on , turned the boat into the sea and with both trunks open the bat drained very quickly.

Not much to add to that really.

John

roycruse · 20 March 2006, 21:04

Only thing you forgot was to sigh in relief that you were in a RIB

Hightower · 20 March 2006, 21:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ezgoing

Which brings me to my question(door,horse, bolted and after does come to mond) what is the correct thing to do when you have been stuffed and completely swamped?

Advice welcome.

Dry your socks and look for your sunglasses, hey Olly

.

On a more serious note though...Just get rid of the deck water ASAP and check your bilge just in case some's gone down there.

ADS · 20 March 2006, 21:10

Sounds scary, at least you got the water out ASAP.
Theres some excellent powerboat footage including some spectacular stuffs on the Boatmad media site, I spent all day on there once!

http://media.boatmad.com/gallery/v/m...deos/accidents

Alex

codprawn · 20 March 2006, 22:18

Bet you enjoyed it really - AFTERWARDS!!!

What sort of trim were you running at the time? Trimmed out all the way?

How did the engine cope? Seems to me outboards will take incredible abuse and keep running - like the stuff on the Boatmad site.

gaelforce · 20 March 2006, 23:47

oh stuffs.........done a few of them. Cold. Wet. Gasp. Shit! Embarassment. Cold. Women not smiling. "Ha ha. Don't panic. Balls"......yep, keep going into the sea, diagonal if needs be, get someone bailing, don't panic. Resolve to work throttle better and remember if you're wet and cold your concentration will soon go down so don't act the tough guy and head for port.

Richard B · 20 March 2006, 23:57

EZgoing... as already said, sounds like you are now the expert

Handy having Tim on board I suppose - a sort of human periscope!

Quote:

Originally Posted by codprawn

How did the engine cope? Seems to me outboards will take incredible abuse and keep running - like the stuff on the Boatmad site.

Outboards cope incredibly well with immersion. There's an article somewhere on t'internet (I think it used to be on the old RIB International site when they had a section called "the reading room") in which there's a description of a really serious stuff in the Channel Islands region. RIB stays under for a considerable time, and the helm is amazed that the engines (Hondas if I remember correctly) are still running when the RIB does an impersonation of a U-boat surfacing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ADS

Theres some excellent powerboat footage... on the Boatmad media site, I spent all day on there once!

http://media.boatmad.com/gallery/v/m...deos/accidents

Very forward-looking guys over there on Boatmad. They even host a RIB video now!

benc · 21 March 2006, 08:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard B

They even host a RIB video now!

love the music Matt has put to it

Jimbob · 21 March 2006, 09:11

When you say gale do you mean >F8?

Matt · 21 March 2006, 09:16

Not me guvnor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by benc

love the music Matt has put to it

benc · 21 March 2006, 09:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMat

Not me guvnor.

Ahh, it says "owner Matt" on the gallery

Matt · 21 March 2006, 09:25

That just means I uploaded it.

benc · 21 March 2006, 09:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMat

That just means I uploaded it.

Fair enough, just led me to think you might have owned it to

But thinking about it - you're another "fully fledged ribbist" (aka hardboater) like Mr Fuller :P so guess it couldn't be yours

Daniel TD5 · 21 March 2006, 13:11

did better than me i ended up lying on the floor of the rib swiming as i did not
knock the kill cord off and had power back before the rib did the work pumped
its self dry as i got back up

that what happen when a 4.5 meter rib trys to span a 5.5 meter wave trough
thats about two meters deep

benc · 21 March 2006, 13:32

I've stuffed my boat twice, both in the same day... on the way up to little hampton last year, judged a wave wrong when wave hopping, and landed nose down.

My boat has quite a high bow so the stuff wasnt too bad, and we just flew out the other side... we just got very wet, and noone was hurt thankfully - and we all managed to remain seated

Its one of those things that puts a smile on your face knowing you've bought a boat with extemely bouyant sides, and the boat could be full of water , and it still wouldnt go under... unlike a hardboat :|

TimMcC · 21 March 2006, 13:45

Am I right in concluding that you would always leave the trunks down when at sea regardless of sea conditions just in case or would you only put them down after been stuffed ?. What about the air inlet on the plastic fuel tanks , would the outboard suck water into the fuel tank after stuffing and if so would the outboard run long enough to clear the water out the trunks ( I don’t have a water separator on my fuel line ) .
I have never managed to completely stuff my rib but I’m sure my time will come .

Thanks

Tideway · 21 March 2006, 17:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hightower

Dry your socks and look for your sunglasses, hey Olly

.

On a more serious note though...Just get rid of the deck water ASAP and check your bilge just in case some's gone down there.

Good suggestion, but don't be opening any hatches or large openings whilst still in the seaway. Stick the bilges pumps on and run into a sheltered area first. Last thing you want to do is open a hatch, see a nice dry bilge and then cop a big one straight into the bilge!

This is why is is good to have a bilge alarm or indicator light, so that it alerts you to water where it shouldn't be. Although, they need to be set up right for RIB's otherwise they will drive you nuts!

t

roycruse · 21 March 2006, 17:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by TimMcC

Am I right in concluding that you would always leave the trunks down when at sea regardless of sea conditions just in case or would you only put them down after been stuffed ?. What about the air inlet on the plastic fuel tanks , would the outboard suck water into the fuel tank after stuffing and if so would the outboard run long enough to clear the water out the trunks ( I don’t have a water separator on my fuel line ) .
I have never managed to completely stuff my rib but I’m sure my time will come .

Thanks

Depends on your boat - some boats drain trunks are clear of the water even at rest in which case i would leave them down all the time.

Other boats (mine included) have the trunks positioned such that at rest with a load on board they let water back in. If your boat is like this and conditions are clam i see no point in everyone getting wet feet whenever you stop.

When at sea in any kind of chop or swell - I will always have my trunks down

Hugh Jardon · 21 March 2006, 17:44

probably best not to get caught out without your trunks down!