Four boats.

[timgoz]

Who said it had to be thick?

A smart skipper would also likely have some prebent patch material on hand. A small sledge hammer combined with serious need can do wonders. Thick gasketting material would compensate for an imperfect fit.

A readily formable alloy could be used for a temporary repair on steel also.

Tim

[Omeron]

If the guy had all these pre bent steel sheets to mach all the various curves
of his boat, a welding shop, sledge hammers, rivets and what not,he might as well build himself a new boat while he is at it, or make some design changes that he was always dreaming of...
No offense,Just joking really....

[timgoz]

Omeron,

The size boat I can afford (24-28ft.) is not large enough to facillitate carrying a welder/gen-set. The above ideas were put forth with that in mind.

Hey, don't you know that we don't joke around here!

Take care.

Tim

[Frosty]

Hey theres a point.

Couldnt you weld on the plate from the batteries.

300-400amp bank of batteries?

Ive heard of it but Im not sure.

[timgoz]

I would think it would draw them down quick if it is possible. If you were able to run the engine and keep them charging, it would help. If you were high and dry you might be able to run a hose for water intake.

Another thought for flat sections is a sorta "hull skin sandwhich".

A piece of marine ply could be placed inboard & outboard of the hole. These could then be fastened together by way of screws with, once again, a suitable gasketting material employed. This way drilling through the steel hull skin would be avoided.

Tim

[westlawn5554X]

Use a 1200 CCA (cold cranking Ampre ) battery might work... it can let loose a lotta juice and it is dry mind you.

[Frosty]

A profesional diver /welder told me once he managed to stick some zincs on under water with a normal welder. He said you get a shock from it but its not too bad -just grit your teeth.

He also said something about changing the polarity from what you would use normaly . I guess he means posative earth!!

If you could just get it tacked on you could jam in socks and underpants from the inside. Or even some of that cheap caulking stuff you can buy these days.

[westlawn5554X]

I think there is a special weldin rod for sea water... _ Brocco?

[Omeron]

How about a heavy canvas wetted by epoxy and stuck over the hole.
Perhaps additional patches from the inside to thicken it up.
Would that hold?

[lewisboats]

DC+ is the correct setting for stick welding. The stick should be + and the ground -. The electrons flow from - to +.

Steve

[erik818]

Hull material doesn't really matter. Any boat can be repaired in an ugly but functional way so it holds together until there is time to do it properly. It helps if proper tools and material are available, but if necessary anything would have to do.
The boat with someone who is practial, can improvise and has the skill to handle tools will get off the reef first. The skipper who has a satelite telephone and lots of money will have to wait until someone bothers to come and help him.
It's difficult to prepare for a specific disaster. Something unprepared for will happen instead. Of the four boats in the scenarion, I would prefer to sit in the wooden boat in case of disaster. Not because it is wood, but because it is equipped with lots of tools. On the other hand, a steel boat that just happens to have welding equipment on board might have a few other tools as well...
Erik

[Pierre R]

Traditionally steel has always been the easiest to fix in remote locations. I do not have a steel boat but I do have a welder aboard. My voltage regulator is actually a welder. I has holes for leads. You need to run the engine at 1400 rpm to get the required amps to weld. Since my boat does not use raw water for cooling, I could do this even high and dry for a short period of time.

A one foot hole in a steel boat is unlikely to be just torn out. More likely there will be a tear with the pieces bent back. Steel is ductile and a sledge hammer will bend steel plating the thickness that is used on pleasure craft boats.

If holed I could probably repair the damage on a steel boat within a couple of hours. Epoxy and cement take far longer to achieve strength.

If you are partially on a reef and taking on water you can stuff things into the hole of a steel boat then start pounding the steel back in place a squeezing the stuff you put in the hole into a gasket or simple plug. The hole will have been punched from the outside so the steel will be bulged to the inside and can be pounded back from inside the boat. You can stop a big leak in a hurry using this method and it has been done many times in remote areas.


There are many instances of wood boats doing quick spot repairs using plywood, gasket materials and screws. The log books are full of this kind of stuff.

Fiberglass has traditionally not faired as well on doing emergency repairs. Matresses and blankets on the outside has had some success but fiberglass boats don't do well once holed. Delamination/deformation and structural damage are common with a one foot hole. If you have all the necessary materials and are not sinking you can do a fair job in a hurry with underwater epoxy. The loss rate of fiberglass boat on reefs is very high.

The tales of cement boats getting off a reef are few and far between. Ferrocement and portland do not do well in salt water. The loss rate on cement boats is nearly 100%.

Do your homework ahead of time and you will not end up on a reef in the first place.

[chandler]

Obviously the wooden boat! Patch of luan some 5200 and a few screws.
With a 1x 1 hole the steel boat will sink like a chunk of steel, the concrete hull will sink like a bag of cement before anyone even knows ther's a hole.

[Pericles]

I,LL HEV YOU KNOW, I wuz educated at Harrow!! so our conkers were simply top notch, ole bean,

I rather think you meant to write "I wuz edificated in Arrer!!! etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. I can identify a swallowed vowel and dropped (h)aitch at 100 paces.
Conkers, bonkers. Kids can only play if wearing safety goggles.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/ne...00/6036847.stm

Pericles