Re: Unidentified subject! - flotation

From: Jim Nolan (panache426@hotmail.com)
Date: Thu Jan 27 2000 - 12:25:13 PST


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        West Wight Potter Mailing List maintainer
                dfarrell@ridgecrest.ca.us
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Robert:
Another alternative to save the P-15 from floundering and perhaps make self
rescue a possibility is to install enough flotation in the boat to get the
gunwales above the water. One way to help this along is to install a large
bilge drain plug (mine at first did not have one) on the lower part of the
transom. When capsized, simply (haha!) unscrew the transom drain and right
the boat. This can also be done with the boat upright and swamped. The
bouyancy of the boat and flotation will lift the boat up and drain the water
from the boat to the point where it can be bailed.

This magic levitation can be demonstrated as follows:
Get a cheap styrofoam cooler. Ballast the bottom of it so it floats upright.
Fill completely with water. Note the waterline. Punch a hole in the bottom
of the cooler. The cooler will begin to rise, note the new waterline.

  A P-15 with the proper flotation should do the same and make self rescue a
possibility. It's my opinion that it is better to have this inherent
flotation ability rather than sealing the hatches, cutting lots of holes in
the boat and having a pumping race against the keel trunk and the grim
reaper. That's how other small sailboats work. Remember you don't have much
time in cold water.

  BTW, that was not a dire analysis, it was a dire experience. Flipping and
swamping a boat in winter in Colorado is not fun. Especially with the
mainsheet wrapped around your ankle pulling you under.

Jim Nolan P-19 #426 Panache

>From: Robert Skinner <robert@140.com>
>To: Jim Nolan <panache426@hotmail.com>
>CC: wwpotter@tscnet.com, ECPA <ecpa@onelist.com>
>Subject: Re: Unidentified subject! - flotation
>Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 14:24:05 -0500
>
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> West Wight Potter Mailing List maintainer
> dfarrell@ridgecrest.ca.us
> List hosted by www.tscnet.com
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>As I carry a big battery, generator, etc. heavy gear in Little Dipper
>for overnight trips, I am concerned with the possibility of her
>sinking if holed, capsized, or broached, and with a way to get water
>out of the cabin, should I be knocked down when the hatch is open,
>etc. A sealable (gasketed) main hatch cockpit door would allow the
>cabin to be pumped out from the top of the roof, albeit slowly, even
>if the water level were up to the windows. You would have to caulk up
>the centerboard trunk to keep water from flowing in there, but this is
>possible with rags, etc. But if the hatch and CB trunk cannot be
>sealed, you will require a tow to the shore.
>
>In addition to modifying the hatch, I am also toying with the idea of
>using something like the auto-inflating mechanism of a life jacket
>mounted on the inside of the cabin roof. I have not heard of anything
>like this being on the market, but I'd buy one or two in a flash. To
>me, they would be as essential as a ballistic parachute on a hang
>glider. One major downside: If it deployed when you were in the
>cabin, you might have to cut your way out. I _always_ carry a knife,
>but some don't.
>
>I note that at least one very checked-out sailor attempted to get IM
>to install a small gasketed bail-out hatch in the aft floor of the
>cockpit of the p15 he bought -- to no avail. Based on his advice, and
>Jim's dire analysis of the consequences of flooding, I am installing a
>bail-out port in the center of the cockpit floor adjacent to the
>scupper. BoatUS sells one with a transparent screw-in cover -- ideal
>for a quick check for water in the bilge.
>
>Note that with this installed (and opened after a flooding), you can
>s-l-o-w-l-y winch the potter up onto a trailer, allowing the water
>level time to drop between cranks. It will flow out of the cabin
>bilge into the cockpit, and from there out of the scupper. The last
>bit of water (below scupper level) may then be pumped out with your
>$20 2-lb manual plastic bilge pump.
>
>--
>Robert Skinner, Rockville, MD
>'87 Potter 15 HMS #1618 "Little Dipper"
>
>Jim Nolan wrote:
> > ... If you attempt to pull it up on the trailer
> > full of water you will strip the gears of the winch. If you pull it up
>on
> > the trailer full of water via a 4wd truck you will collapse the cross
> > members of the trailer. It is very difficult to get the water out from
>under
> > the cockpit with a bucket...
>
> > >From: "Bill and Linda Farris" <eaglesv@mwt.net>
> > >... The Potter 15 is advertised as unsinkable and is shown afloat with
> > >holes drilled through the hull. Why then is there so much discussion
>about
> > >adding additional flotation to them in the form of foam, inner tubes
>and
> > >air bags. Why is the additional floatation needed? There must be
> > >something I am missing here.
>

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