On Tue, 14 Jun 2011 12:49:49 -0700 (PDT), Frogwatch
wrote:

On Jun 14, 3:38*pm, wrote:
On Tue, 14 Jun 2011 15:07:16 -0400, iBoat wrote:
In article 4789ce48-54a7-4d7a-8dc5-
,
says...

On Jun 14, 2:30 pm, I_am_Tosk wrote:
In article ,
says...

In article ,
says...

On Tue, 14 Jun 2011 10:08:51 -0700 (PDT), Frogwatch
wrote:

On Jun 14, 1:05 pm, wrote:
On Tue, 14 Jun 2011 09:04:40 -0700 (PDT), Frogwatch

wrote:
Thinking about my wayward dinghy caused me to remember another
wandering object on one of my recent Bahamas trips.
I had finished cooking on the magma grill (spoiled crew demanded warm
mac and cheese) and tried removing the 3/4 full propane canister.
Once removed, it was leaking propane, uh oh. No way this thing is
staying aboard. I cannot leave it on the grill cuz it is choppy and
the grill has to be stowed. After considering various options, I
decided littering was the safest one so I simply threw it overboard
and settled down to do some reading. A bit later, "Thunk, Thunk,
WTF?", I go outside and look down and there's the canister bumping on
the hull so I fished it out with the crab net.
This time, I really heave it far away and go to bed. Yeah, you
guessed right, middle of the night, "Thunk, Thunk", tide had carried
it right back to me.
Realizing I'm gonna have to get serious about this, I pull out the
tide tables and turn on a light eliciting lots of complaints from
sleeping crew but I find the tide will be running out in an hour. So,
I wait up till then and finally get rid of the canister but never did
get back to sleep waiting for the "Thunk, Thunk" again.

Why didn't you just slowly open it up down wind, let it empty, then
tie it up outside overnight?

No wind.

Seems like there would be something. None at all? All night? How about
tying a weight to it and the boat, then opening the valve... it would
sink down current of your boat, bubble along, then you could pull it
back in. I thought boaters were all about creative thinking?

Yeah, take all night to come up with a scheme to get rid of a little
propane gas...... brilliant.

Progressive "thinkers".. How much weight do you suppose it would take to
sink a half full tank? snerk...

--
Team Rowdy Mouse, Banned from the Mall for life!

People on the west coast have no idea how glassy still the Gulf of
Mexico can get. *When holding a leaking canister aboard a boat, time
is critical lest the heavy propane get in your bilge. *Even holding it
over the side leaking could be dangerous. *In this case, safety takes
precedence over not littering.

Let alone the fact that it's heavier than air and will fill a boat cabin
in a heartbeat.

Wow... you guys call yourselves sailors? How about closing up the
boat. Isn't that what you're supposed to do when you gas up? Sheesh...
and I don't know diddly about boats.

Good Gawd, don't be so anal y'all. I take the grill off the stern
rail because if there is any chop it could fall overboard. It was a
very still night but chop can happen in a few minutes.
Getting the canister below surface would not stop it from leaking near
my boat and propane could get aboard. Safety requires you get rid of
it ASAP. Sinking it even "just below the surface" would require
several pounds of weight and unless I want to sacrifice some wrenches,
I cannot think of anything that would sink it and as I just pointed
out, sinking it does not stop it from leaking. BTW, physics says
enough to sink it "just below the surface" is the same as "all the way
to the bottom" at least in shallow water.
Hazard to navigation? WHAT? In a few hours, it will be empty and you
think a small propane canister is a hazard to nav? Be serious.

Sinking it just below the surface doesn't mean it would sink
completely. Ever hear of neutral buoyancy? How is the propane going to
get aboard your boat if it's sitting there bubbling? Do you have holes
in your boat at the water level? If so, you have bigger problems.

I guess you don't have a spare anchor? You could hold it below the
surface on the down current side, and that would take care of all your
fears of propane migrating into the holes in your boat. LOL

I would think I would not want to crash into anything metal. I'm
betting you would be financially responsible for any damage, assuming
they could figure out who dumped it. Also, there would be a fine for
tossing something over? I bet there is.