Desperate Marine Solutions

Discussion in 'All Things Boats & Boating' started by rwatson, Dec 10, 2012.

  1. rwatson
    Joined: Aug 2007
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    Location: Tasmania,Australia

    rwatson Senior Member

    JosephT suggested a new thread on innovative marine solutions, and i hope he will post his photo on a Cuban escapee.

    In the spirit of this thread, I will re-iterate a build technique that came up in the Shackleton re-creation thread
    http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/al...voyage-reconstruction-expedition-45519-2.html

    The expeditions carpenter re-inforced the escape boat by cannibalizing one of the other boats.

    "McNishes special construction materials.

    "McNish used the mast of another of the boats, the Stancomb Wills, to strengthen the keel and build up the small 22 foot (6.7 m) long boat, so it would withstand the seas during the 800 mile (1480 km) trip. He caulked it using a mixture of seal blood and flour, ""

    I look forward to being regaled with other amazing innovation.
     
  2. JosephT
    Joined: Jun 2009
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    Location: Roaring Forties

    JosephT Senior Member

    Floating Cubans

    I did some further digging on the crafty Cuban boat fabricators. It seems they have a fondness for steel hulls ;)

    [​IMG]
    Truck raft

    [​IMG]
    Floating Buick

    [​IMG]
    Mercury taxi boat​

    Gives a whole new meaning to a steel hulled, blue water cruiser.

    Ref: http://www.floatingcubans.com/
     
  3. El_Guero

    El_Guero Previous Member

    RW,

    How would you top Shackleton's Epic? WHEW! Even with a 100 foot boat, diesel engine assist, and GPS, that would be a rough journey.

    I am not sure I would want to try a mile in tropical storm conditions in the Gulf of Mexico, much less hurricane and gale conditions for most of 800 nautical miles, in a 20 foot whaling boat, and only occasional navigational sightings. Using the sun. Captain Worsley earned his pay that trip.

    And they rode one of the largest recorded rogue wave .... recorded. Gale winds for days, and hurricanes on others?

    And about all they had to eat was Bovril 'tea' ....

    "Back when the ships were made of wood, and the men of iron".

    Do you think you would make it?

    Wayne
     
  4. JosephT
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    JosephT Senior Member

    Oh hell no. Couldn't go a day without that big diesel engine, genset, radar, sonar, iPhone and...:p
     
  5. watchkeeper

    watchkeeper Previous Member

    If the owner of the Merc, looks like a 48 or 49 model sold the car overseas (could export it) he would have enough money to buy a production built taxi boat.
     
  6. rwatson
    Joined: Aug 2007
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    rwatson Senior Member

    I wouldn't survive - I know !

    The important thing to remember in this thread, we can only marvel at those who actually survived.

    For every say ... half dozen ... desperate solutions, there may be only 1 survivor.

    The rates of survival in the Antarctic and from Cuba over the years are not great.
     
  7. El_Guero

    El_Guero Previous Member

    I know I wouldn't make it. Those men barely made it.

    Shackleton decided to beach, because he knew some of his men would not survive another night at sea. That is leadership.

    But he got to do what he loved till he died at 47 of a heart attack doing what he loved to do.
     
  8. hoytedow
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    hoytedow Carbon Based Life Form

    But the ones who survived are great!
     
  9. El_Guero

    El_Guero Previous Member

  10. rwatson
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    rwatson Senior Member

    Interesting story El G. I found an explanation of it at

    http://www.chriswhitedesigns.com/news/anna_capsize/lessons_learned.shtml

    Basically a huge squall, autopilot and no mainsheet release.

    Not wanting to be a grumbler - but this particular story doesnt fit in with the theme of the thread, as the topic is " innovative marine solutions", [Desperate Marine Solutions ] not disasters at sea, so if anyone would like to discuss multihull V monhull safety and other disaster stories, I think their are other threads for that.
     
  11. jehardiman
    Joined: Aug 2004
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    jehardiman Senior Member

    Only ~800 nm, but there were earlier, longer, more desprate voyages

    1870, USS Saginaw gig (~1400 nm)

    [​IMG]

    1789, HMAV Bounty launch (3618 nm)

    [​IMG]
     
  12. rwatson
    Joined: Aug 2007
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    rwatson Senior Member

    Excellent contributions, I am going to look up the USS Saginaw.
     
  13. El_Guero

    El_Guero Previous Member

    My bad.

    There is always the Essex.
     
  14. daiquiri
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    daiquiri Engineering and Design

    Makes me think... Perhaps some of those were just smart attempts of smuggling the old-timer cars from Cuba? ;) :p
     

  15. jehardiman
    Joined: Aug 2004
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    jehardiman Senior Member

    You know, those "iron men" of sail were another breed altogether compared to todays expectations. Think that in ships (boats really) just twice as long (~50') as the James Card and above mentioned the gig and launch, Columbus took the Nina and Pinta with 25 men each off the edge of the known world...and brought them back again. The Victoria of Magellan wasn't too much larger. There are many of us who have long ocean cruises under our belts, but would we do them with without a safet net? Stirling Hayden summed it up in Wanderer...
    So are all "voyages" "desperate".
     
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