Larry W4CSC wrote:
Very well written. Glad you're all safe.


Thank you very much.

A friend and I moved another friend's Endeavour 35 from where he left it on
the dock at Daytona Beach, up the ditch to Mayport, then at sea to
Charleston. After a great night of excellent winds, the sun rose and we
left the autopilot steering to get some breakfast. As we set chatting of
our great luck, a HUGE, empty, wooden cable reel that was easily larger
than the boat floated by several boatlengths away.

I still shudder at the thought of ramming that damned cable reel in the
total darkness of the preceding night. The Raymarine 2KW radar never made
a blip. The reel was totally radar transparent, even 10 boatlengths away
with the low pole-mounted antenna.


And stuff like that can be really hard to spot, what with waves & a jib
in the way etc etc.

One reason why I'd be interested in a boat with positive flotation and
perhaps a Kevlar hull!

Got any idea the lat/long of those pipes sticking up? Are they on the
chart?


Not on the chart, and I have no idea what it could have been. The best
answer I can give as to location is that it's approx 15 nm SE of the tip
of Frying Pan Shoals (Cape Fear). You're the only person (so far) to be
interested in that question. It was by far the scariest moment of the
trip for me!

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Doug,

Ever heard of anyone durably and successfully covering a fiberglass hull
with Kevlar ?

What kind of positive flotation would you consider ?

Cordially,

Courtney



DSK wrote:

Larry W4CSC wrote:

Very well written. Glad you're all safe.


Thank you very much.

A friend and I moved another friend's Endeavour 35 from where he left
it on the dock at Daytona Beach, up the ditch to Mayport, then at sea
to Charleston. After a great night of excellent winds, the sun rose
and we left the autopilot steering to get some breakfast. As we set
chatting of our great luck, a HUGE, empty, wooden cable reel that was
easily larger than the boat floated by several boatlengths away.

I still shudder at the thought of ramming that damned cable reel in
the total darkness of the preceding night. The Raymarine 2KW radar
never made a blip. The reel was totally radar transparent, even 10
boatlengths away with the low pole-mounted antenna.


And stuff like that can be really hard to spot, what with waves & a jib
in the way etc etc.

One reason why I'd be interested in a boat with positive flotation and
perhaps a Kevlar hull!

Got any idea the lat/long of those pipes sticking up? Are they on the
chart?


Not on the chart, and I have no idea what it could have been. The best
answer I can give as to location is that it's approx 15 nm SE of the tip
of Frying Pan Shoals (Cape Fear). You're the only person (so far) to be
interested in that question. It was by far the scariest moment of the
trip for me!

Fresh Breezes- Doug King



--
s/v Mutiny
Rhodes Bounty II
lying Oriental, NC
WDB5619

Courtney Thomas wrote:
Doug,

Ever heard of anyone durably and successfully covering a fiberglass hull
with Kevlar ?


Yes, I know of about a half dozen over the past ten years. None of those
have been tested in a severe collision though. All but one look great,
although you have to budget for a paint finish rather than gelcoat.

There are also several semi-custom or low-volume production boats, like
C&C or Jeanneau, with Kevlar hulls from the factory. I suspect that
they'd fare much better against most types of impact damage than
conventional fiberglass. There are also many production boats with
positive flotation, notably Sadler & Etap.


What kind of positive flotation would you consider ?

Don't know for sure, but there's a wide variety of foam types to choose
from. If you're going to put a Kevlar skin over a hull, you could fair
it out with an inch or two or microballoons under the Kevlar and gain a
heck of a lot of positive flotation right there.

The flotation would have to be an absolutely closed cell type foam of
proven longevity, it would have to be distributed through the hull so as
to produce proper trim & stability when flooded, it would have to be
secured in place, and the volume is of course a big trade off... IMHO
you'd be giving up mostly small corners of nearly unusable space anyway,
but you'd definitely sacrifice some stowage.

A tricky thing to accomplish, but certainly not impossible. And for
somebody considering a lot of passage making type sailing, a big big plus.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

DSK wrote in
:

One reason why I'd be interested in a boat with positive flotation and
perhaps a Kevlar hull!

I like Geoffrey's Amel much better than the Endeavour. The Amel Sharki has
two watertight compartments forward...the chainlocker rear bulkhead is the
first and drains overboard, then the V-berth, head and forward locker are
forward of the main cabin bulkhead whos rubber-sealed hatch can be locked
closed with a bar and all the drains into the bilge have valves on them to
prevent flooding through the drains. The other watertight bulkhead is the
rear bulkhead in the aft cabin, which is about 2' forward of the stern
lockers, which also drain overboard. It's not great, but it's all VERY
strong and reassuring that you can seal up a good part of the boat that
will remain afloat longer than unprotected ones.



Got any idea the lat/long of those pipes sticking up? Are they on the
chart?


Not on the chart, and I have no idea what it could have been. The best
answer I can give as to location is that it's approx 15 nm SE of the tip
of Frying Pan Shoals (Cape Fear). You're the only person (so far) to be
interested in that question. It was by far the scariest moment of the
trip for me!



Thanks. I'll make a note on our charts. I'm headed down in the morning
and we may just take a cruise to sea with whoever's interested overnight
and come back Sunday before the rain gets here.

Someone should probably find them and put up a big float with a radar
reflector on them. I sure would try to do that if I sailed the area often,
especially if Cape Fear was my home port. Those orange ball markers aren't
that expensive.

Did anyone report the hazard to the authorities?

One reason why I'd be interested in a boat with positive flotation and
perhaps a Kevlar hull!


Larry W4CSC wrote:
I like Geoffrey's Amel much better than the Endeavour. The Amel Sharki has
two watertight compartments forward...the chainlocker rear bulkhead is the
first and drains overboard, then the V-berth, head and forward locker are
forward of the main cabin bulkhead whos rubber-sealed hatch can be locked
closed with a bar and all the drains into the bilge have valves on them to
prevent flooding through the drains. The other watertight bulkhead is the
rear bulkhead in the aft cabin, which is about 2' forward of the stern
lockers, which also drain overboard. It's not great, but it's all VERY
strong and reassuring that you can seal up a good part of the boat that
will remain afloat longer than unprotected ones.


Bulkheading is a good idea and it gives up less stowage than positive
flotation. It's helped save a number of boats colliding with stuff in
the Southern Ocean. But it's not quite as foolproof... easier & cheaper
to install but it presupposes perfect maintenance on the drains, valves,
hatches, etc etc.


Got any idea the lat/long of those pipes sticking up? Are they on the
chart?

Did anyone report the hazard to the authorities?


To the port captain at Morehead, the USCG acknowledged also. We probably
should have made a bigger deal out of it and filed a written report.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 08:02:07 -0500, DSK wrote:

----------- snip -------------

One reason why I'd be interested in a boat with positive flotation and
perhaps a Kevlar hull!


Great story, Doug. Fine adventure, well described.

FYI, the newer Hunters (like my little 36) do have a Kevlar layer from
stem to keel. (Typical Hunter penny-pinching. Why pay for a full layer
when most people sail the boat forward g.)

Al
s/v Persephone
Newburyport, MA

On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 08:02:07 -0500, DSK wrote:

You're the only person (so far) to be
interested in that question. It was by far the scariest moment of the
trip for me!

Not the only one. I share your concerns, even though my '70s C&C has a
pretty thick solid laminate by today's standards. I was wondering if
anyone hit the MOB button on the GPS...it's a good way to get the fix
immediately, but the crew or rather the navigator has to know to do
it.

I don't mind wind and waves, but I''m anal enough about low, heavy
crap in the water that I've called in twelve foot logs and floating
picnic tables off Toronto from a Zodiac to the Coast Guard at dawn
with a GPS fix...and heard it in the next radio Notice to Mariners G

What I was doing in a Zodiac at dawn off Toronto is another story.

R.