Bad accident, what to look out for?

Hello, I have posted this in a different forum, but I would like as much feedback as possible. I just want to know what I should be thinking of replacing, inspecting, etc. There are some small holes in the hull where part of the mast was bouncing off of it due to the waves and such. I know I'll have to fix those. I've never done fiberglass repair though...

If you would like to see the whole story, please view the link below where I wrote it out:

http://www.catsailor.com/forums/showfla ... PHPSESSID=

A few months ago I was in a pretty bad accident on my newly acquired H18. Sustained winds of 70 mph and gusts up to 107 bent my mast in half, de-masted, cart wheeled it across the water for 50-100 yards (this is a guess as I was knocked unconscious by the mast -I think- and the crew member who was tossed from the boat watched it "cartwheel away".) I still have no clue how I ended up back on the boat.

Anyway, with this amount of wind and damage that it caused, what should I be looking for in terms of unseen damage? Shrouds (they were new when it happened), cross bars, what? I just want to make sure it's sound the next time I get on the water. If I do get back on the water. I'm still kinda freaked out about the whole thing.

Thanks in advance,
B

B,
I read your other post and was thourougly entertained, but i still do not understand how the wind went from being "enough to fly a hull in" to seventy gusting to 107, i was also supprised to hear that there is enough water in nebraska to sail in, much less get hurricane force gusts on. when i realized i wasnt going to be able to drop the sails or capsize i woulda started cutting shrouds. what kind of activities were you partaking in before you left the beach that you would get involved in a situation like that to start with and then wind up back on a boat that evidentally cartweeled away from you while you were unconcious anyway? as far as replacing/ inspecting things i would check the gudgeons because i'm sure there was a rediculous amount of stress on them in that kind of wind. you may also check on where the chainplates go through the hull, that fiberglass may well have some stress cracks in it. if those holes in your hulls are less than about 3/4 of an inch i would probably just put marine tex in there, it is a putty that comes in a box that is really easy to use and tough, much more convienent than going to all the trouble to actually glass the holes, but if they are more than an inch or so that is what you are going to have to do.

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The pessimist complains about the wind, the optimist expects it to change, the realist adjusts the sails.

Hi bbeardb, I received a storm damaged H16 recently, and after repairing it I hope to learn to sail next year! Maybe Lake Mac. with Fleet 61 next year, glad to know about the microburst potential out there.

My H16 was hit at Boulder Res. and sent off of mast-up dryland storage, cartwheeling over other boats and into the water. Somehow it did not damage any other boats, but cleared their masts, and ended up with a broken mast and hull damage. You can only imagine how far in the air it had to have been. This occurred at night, and noone was there to see it, and luckily not hurt. The owner was called the next day, and was distressed to find the H16 damaged, glad to see it had not damaged others, and then parked it since '97!

I was glad to read the thread, and it gave me some other things to check such as alignment, that are maybe not so obvious.

Scottshillsailor, there are definitely winds up here in Co and Ne, that are hurricane winds. Tornadic wind are in excess of 200, and they have what are call clear air tornadoes, that come down with no advance warning of even a cloud in the skies. Takes out large airplanes every once in awhile!

In Colorado, with the mountains, the lakes can be hit with chinook winds, which is a downslope wind. A few years back, a Catalina on Dillon lake got hit so hard, the boat literally blew apart before it sank with the loss of all crew in a matter of seconds. So I can totally believe bbeardb's account that he went out in normally sailable conditions, to have them change quickly to disastorous. In fact, it seems that I read about this wind storm in the local paper, because of all the campers that were destroyed.

The wind in Boulder has been recorded in excess of 150, I think with out checking, and I have experienced 130 in Boulder that blew houses down. These are straight winds, not rotating! There are some small lakes along the front range where you can rip when windsurfing. TnT

_________________
Life is about each moment of breath,
Living, about each breathless moment!

Tinkerntom, aka TnT

and now a friendlier, "RkyMtnHootOwl"


2 WW kayaks,
'73 Folbot Super,
pre '60 AEII
77 Hobie Cat 16

Thanks Tinkerntom for giving some independent psychotic weather faqs. It can and does happen. I was completely sober when I went out. There were some clouds on the horizon, but like I said, around here you usually need a "storm" in order to sail. The conditions when I went out were nothing out of the ordinary. Little did I know how crazy it was to become.

As for how I stayed with the boat, and even got on top of it, is rather unbelievable and a mystery I'll admit. I can only vaguely "remember" frantically trying to get back on the boat in the middle of hell, and then nothing else until I woke up. My mind must have said "ok, enough of this" as soon as I was "safe." Although, I could have made that up trying to connect the dots. All I can say is that I am one lucky person (even with my concussion, back pain for a month and a nice new scar on my arm from a shroud), and very grateful that my crew wouldn't give up and made it back to the boat safe. His poor legs were really cramped up!

As for the boat, should I replace the shrouds even though they were new? And as for where the shrouds anchor to the hulls, how can I tell if that contact point has been compromised? There is some micro cracking in the gel coat there, but most old boats have that and I don't recall if it was there before the accident. I've yet to check on the alignment issue.

The holes are small, and I've used Marine Tek before. I just wasn't sure if it was kosher to use it on a puncture. I also think it may be prone to cracking. Any other advice on repairing the holes would be awesome. They are not in a structural area. I just want to make sure they seal up and look pretty good. Pip Muir at Thin Air Boat Repair in Loveland said she could do it for around $200. So I might just have her do it.

On replacing the shrouds. If you question thier reliability, replace them. They are relatively cheap. I would also replace the anchors. Never hurts to to be on the safe side (OK so it may hurt the wallet...).

On the puncture repair. Depending on the location of the hole, you could install a hatch in the deck (they are very convenient for lots of other stuff) near the hole. Then you could install a fiberglass backing from inside the hull and build up the remainder from the outside. You would be amazed at how quickly you will pick up the skills. If you have the time it might be worth tackling this repair yourself. If you would rather spend the money $200 sounds like a decent price.

I don't remember what you said happened to the mast, but I would check it over very carefully. This is one component of the boat you don't want to take chances with. Make sure it is not dented or punctured. These could cause a failure when it is under load.

Good luck and I hope you get back on the water.

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

somebody was nice enough to direct my attention to a picture of a wrecked 20 from the same storm I was in.

Really a shame...

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http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewt ... own+stains

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The fact that this windy world is largely covered in water obviously means that man was meant to sail.