I have a question for the group. This past summer I had a hard grounding in the San Juan Island of Washington, but was only going perhaps one to 2 kn at most. I was able to back off the unmarked rocky shoal and dove beneath the boat and looked and everything seemed to be fine. The bilge was dry and remains dry three months later. The keel bolts all look fine as well. I had the bottom of the boat cleaned the other day, and the Diver said there was some lead exposed at the bottom of the keel. Could anyone tell me whether this is a problem that needs to be addressed immediately or whether it could wait until I have the next bottom repainting done, which will probably be about two years from now since I just had it done last year. thanks very much for your thoughts.
John Waldhausen
N36
Northern Star #57
Bainbridge Island WA
If it was my boat, I'd wait till it's next hauling. Just remind the diver
to check it when it get's cleaned.
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
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I concur with Joe. Slow speed knock, dry bilge, damage at the bottom means that only relatively soft lead gave. You should be ok.
If you’re really worried about it, you could ask your diver to slap some cures-in-water epoxy over it for added peace of mind and to minimize environmental exposure to lead. But from what you’re saying, there’re no symptoms of anything that threatens the integrity of the boat.
– Bob
I agree, the next hauling would be the time to do a more complete inspection.
I did some keel work on Soave last winter. ( HERE ) is a link to my notes. The process of of prepping the lead may be of interest for you.
In Soave’s past someone had used fairing compound on bare lead. It lost adhesion and came loose in spots allowing water to get between the fairing and lead.
The prep I followed was :
- Sand to bright lead with 80 grit. In places where the lead was pitted, I did my best to clean the pits, but avoided removing too much lead. Lead oxidizes fast so be ready to prime immediately after prep.
- Prime. Lots of options and opinions. I choose thinned epoxy. Making sure any pits in the metal get filled no bubbles.
- Next fair with a compound that is compatible with the primer you used.
- Finally bottom paint.
I also addressed a weepy keel joint also and replaced some corroded keel washers and nuts.
Good Luck,
Rob
s/v SOAVE
NS33 #009
Cedar Point YC
Westport, CT
Just curious where the incident happened. I live on Lopez Island by Spencer Spit and our NS260 is at Spencer’s Landing, a mile south of the ferry terminal. Although we have lived here for 39 years, we are new to sailing and always eager to hear of hazards.
Coming out of deer harbor just south of McConnell island. We were looking for a place to anchor to have lunch. The chart said 10 feet of water, so did my depth finder until suddenly there wasn’t.
John Waldhausen
N36 #57
Northern Star
John have you marked the location on Navionics?
Mark Powers
No I did not . I’ve heard of navionics but don’t have it. I have Aquamap and my Garmin but didn’t think to mark it. I didn’t know one could do that and make it public.
John Waldhausen
Well I wish I’d known about Navionics or been using Aquamap at the time. The shoal is on both maps ( I just checked). It was not however on my chart plotter and marked as less than 10 feet. Lesson learned.
John Waldhausen
N36
Northern Star
Depth surveys are done with the commercial vessel in mind. Anytime you are in less than 20 feet , close to shore all bets are off. Digital charts and paper charts vary widely . Those of us using Aqua Maps can switch between the two. I have seen differences in the order of 30 feet in bays any inlets. Wrecks and obstructions also show variation.
A bow watch it a good idea in unfamiliar waters close to shore less than 20 feet
I have been using Aqua Maps for 4 yers and Debbie and I are very happy with it. To a point I may discard my Garmin 76Map at the helm and replace it with a waterproof android phone I can pick up new for under %150. We mount the Aqua Map on the dodger rail so it is visible to both Debbie and I. One person can concentrate on steering and the other can easily be checking things like ferry lanes, reef distances etc…
I use Navionics app on my iPad as a backup navigation tool. It allows users to place community edits on the chart. For example there is an anchorage off of Thetis Island, known as Clam Bay. I snagged my anchor on an old ships windlass. The anchor rode wrapped around the windlass as we swung at anchor over 3 days. While waiting for the diver to come and release the anchor (I had installed the anchor and rode two weeks prior to the event) I marked the location on the Navionics chart. In Clam Bay you now see people stay away from that spot.
Mark Powers
I go to Clam Bay. I’ll look for it.
John Waldhausen
Look in the south west corner.
Mark Powers