Nootka Dancer

A remodeled Pahi?

This from Yachting World:

The yacht, Nootka Dancer, is a bluewater cruiser designed by British catamaran pioneer James Wharram, built 23 years ago and modified by Canadian sailor John Eisen for heavier displacement to accommodate the extra gear and systems he wished to incorporate, and the boat sported an Aerorig freestanding rig.
http://www.yachtingworld.com/news/t...-53ft-catamaran-broke-half-off-coast-florida/

However there is an ad listing the boat for sale states that this is a 2002 model. If this did start out as a Pahi then it was modified to the extreme.

This is in a thread on CF too.
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f48/53-foot-cat-breaks-in-half-138798-4.html

 

http://www.thebrunswicknews.com/new...994-5654-5351-a345-a5d114ec4be9.html?mode=jqm

Local paper finally did a write up. not much detail, other than the rotted beam part.

 

Richard was right on the rotten beams and fishengirl hasn't posted again after the "steel beam" red sinking herring....

 

I would still like to know is why it sank. There must have been some considerable excess weight to it.

It is a bit weird that a surveyor missed that all the beams were rotten. It raises some flags about getting wooden craft, surveyed in the modern world. I have only done one such survey. As it happens, I found massive delamination of balsa core, not rot per se. The delamination was present in the hulls and the beams.

 

I assume the rot was not in the aft netting beam, but in the only main structural aft beam, under the cabin. Without that beam there is nothing holding the back of the boat together, so the hulls are bound to twist and break apart

I wouldn't take too much notice of the "sinking" report. All journalists assume that a boat will sink when its a wreck

RW

 

Im not at all surprised that a surveyor missed rot in the beams, we have 3 glass boats in the shop this winter for major core replacement, 2 of which the recent surveys missed some or all of the rot or delam. I see this over and over again,imho there are very, very few competent surveyors out there. We once had a wood Alden design in the shop for work that the surveyor had found, the new owner had hired a surveyor who had achieved near guru status by writing many articles in wooden boat in the early days and bought the boat based on his survey, had it shipped from the east coast to Minnesota to us to do the repairs needed based on the survey, we noticed unfairness in several plank lines and on further investigation found that many of the frames were broken. I personally cant recommend any surveyor in our area without caveats.

Steve.

 

its not just in the US and not just wood monohulls. I was once asked by a surveyor how much ballast there was in the catamaran keels of the boat he was surveying

But wooden crossbeams are so susceptible to rot and so essential for the boats seaworthiness that they really should be a first priority for all multihull surveyors.

The only surveyor I would use if I paid for one for my own boat would be Rob Feloy. Even though he is in the UK I'd pay travel expenses for him to survey a big boat in the US, just for my peace of mind

Richard Woods

 

How long does it take a wooden beam to rot in the heat and humidity of Florida?

A key question is, when was the survey done? When the boat was sold 4 years ago? - or, just before it set sail?

 

I survey my own boats....it is worth it to get the background and experience in whatever construction you are interested in for your own peace of mind.....much better than encountering boat pieces after someone else missed something. Wood is becoming more of a special knowledge these days which is a pity because it is such a great material, strong, light, excellent fatigue resistance...but learning about species and grain takes effort and is individual to every piece of wood in a boat because it is a grown rather than manufactured fiber.

Basic research into Wharrams shows that the external beams and their wells are a potential trouble spot and need to be checked thoroughly...if the surveyor is inexperienced on type you might as well not have one. I've encountered many people with "belief". Belief in the things they are told, belief in the assumptions others have made... but belief has nothing to do with the reality of materials and construction that aren't checked out. Or a design that is asked to do something it wasn't intended for.

 

speedy rot

I am in Atlanta, not so far from Florida's climate, and we are at least as hot in the summer. I keep some wood samples in my back yard- around here, it takes from one to three years for most untreated samples to turn to mush. Its pretty much the same with solid wood or ply.
B