i re-read the old forum here about adding flotation to cats... not a lot of useful info but some ideas...
add as many fun-noodles as you can jam in there?
10000000 ping pong balls? (jk - do not do that)
Submerged cat, best way to"raise"
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Posted: Dec 30, 2016 - 05:52 PM
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Posted: Dec 30, 2016 - 06:47 PM
Wow- u mates are informative, innovative & ingeneous, right now ordering tire inner tubes that will also fit in my tubeless tires so that after this fiasco(which is the name of 1of my 2 N.Y. darts),Will try to fit tubes under around rear/aft port hull now almost entirely submerged(front of pontoon must have air pocket so still a wee bit out of water.) No ,Dart 18s do not have drain plugs like my Nacras5.7,5.2, & myHobie 16s &prindel 16s, but are really water tight & never leak! that's why I suspect cat sabatoged ,boat was moored on lake 3 years ,never took on any water and day I left I had thoroughly cleaned craft and never had to use my excellent hand pump- which I have had occasion to use up on Long Island by inserting in ports from above & between the separated sections inside hulls of n5.2 (lost hurricane Sandy )or n5.7 (lost to n'or Easter.) Can't relate how many times my friends & or myself sailed out thru Atlantic surf and forgot to screw in plugs of prindels & Hobie 16 or 18, we always got back when we realized our folly and lifted hulls and drained cats- in fact that was the normal routine before & after sailing in the surf off the beach. Pump should be here in Fla before I leave for big apple,port screw out approx 3&1/2 inches wide(only 1 aft) under water), inner tubes should lift hull enuf above water to turn on battery power pump and voila. There is styrofoam type flotation material in hulls of all my darts but it sometime 'deglues'with time and I suspect floated forward which area is partially above water, yes, compartmental section in Dart 18 similar to Nacras but aft of rear crossbar and I can't insert inner tube there and shoulder shot so hand pump out of the question -
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Posted: Dec 30, 2016 - 10:05 PM
Ingenious,illuminative, inventive solutions, to my predicament, I appreciate your deliberations & suggestions, and am in the process of ordering tire inner tubes To inflate and hopefully place at the stern of the sunken port hull and raise the cat to the surface. dart 18s don't have drain plugs;they have access ports with plastic screw off tops/hatch cover. They are very water tight and rarely leak, the fully submerse able water pump should remove the water from the hull, it is battery powered so no need to find a solution to run electric out Into the lake, or to prime my trusty hand pump after shoulder surgery. Dart 18s do have compartments/sections in the hulls similar to my nacra5.2&5.7 but water flows freely thru small spaces left open for that purpose- there is a styrofoam type of flotation in each hull which is approximately 5 ft long and 18 inches high but with age becomes unglued from the hull. The tip of the hull at the bow is out of the water I surmise there is an air pocket or the flotation material is now there. I can't tell you how many time my friends and I foolishly sailed out thru the surf and left our drain plugs open after just living the hulls to drain our prindel 16s or Hobie 16s or 18s, we always made it back to the beach,but this is different almost entire hull submerged! -
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Posted: Dec 30, 2016 - 10:33 PM
Hope you get it all worked out soon. I know it's got to be heartbreaking to see your boat like that, and with a shoulder out of commission makes doing anything very difficult and painful. What really sucks also is that some degenerate person did this. I have heard stories of people having boats messed with or flat out vandalized when left out on beaches or even right in a yard. Why can't people just leave other people's things alone? Good luck with the project and hope for a speedy shoulder recovery.
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Marty
1984 Hobie 16 Redline Yellow Nationals, "Yellow Fever"
Opelika, Al / Lake Martin
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Posted: Jan 01, 2017 - 01:12 PM
Thank you all for innovative,ingenios,imaginative solutions they are all much appreciated. dart 18s watertight and usually don't leak at all, this one moored on mile long lake on mushroom no water till believed sabatoge but have good hand pump which I use on Long Island for 2 Dart 18s, Nacra 5.2, nacra5.7 prindel16s,hobie16s,18in addition to rear drain plugs which Dart 18s doesn't have! waiting for submersable portable pump from defender marine, since no safe power source out into lake. may order car tire tubes to try to fit around sunken port hull- the bow is a bit above water from flotation stryrafoam? Material approx 4ft long by 12 inches that may have unglued fromhull with age, hope to post photos, am going to tie on a dozen plastic jugs for buoyancy, sit on port hull where pit is above water and enlist my wife to try to spin cat so it points to shore and will try to get rubber tire cat trax under cat. -
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Posted: Jan 01, 2017 - 03:19 PM
Thank for your suggestions,happy new year -
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Posted: Jan 03, 2017 - 01:32 PM
4th attempt to send reply a thank you all for ingenious ,innovative,and imaginative solutions to my delemma-Hdart18s have no drain plugs, very seaworthy and don't leak this one moored to mushroom anchor in lake 3 years and no need to use my hand pump which I do have to use on nacra5.7 &/or Dart 18 on muhrooms in GreatSouth Bay off Fire Island NY. Waiting for submersable pump that runs on batteries have- couldn't come u with safe way to run power lines out into lake cat surrounded by water! Will try tubes to squeeze around aft area of port hull and am saving gallon jugs to tie to hull for buoyancy- hope to have 1 or more sit on starboard hull as well and attempt to spin cat & point her to shore -
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Posted: Jan 05, 2017 - 06:13 PM
Cat is afloat! I hand pumped it out with left arm. The submersible pump sold by Defender is a gem but was too wide to fit in 4 inch port. Thus the hand pump. Boat was definitely sabotaged since its floating. Maybe a garden hose was brought out into the lake and it was filled with water to the top. Cat looks no worse for wear. Will post if I ever figure out how to put up the pictures. -
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Posted: Jan 05, 2017 - 06:15 PM
Cat is afloat! I hand pumped it out with left arm. The submersible pump sold by Defender is a gem but was too wide to fit in 4 inch port. Thus the hand pump. Boat was definitely sabotaged since its floating. Maybe a garden hose was brought out into the lake and it was filled with water to the top. Cat looks no worse for wear. Will post if I ever figure out how to put up the pictures. -
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Posted: Jan 05, 2017 - 09:31 PM
Good to hear you're back on top.
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Tom
NACRA 5.7 (1984 Sail 181)
Pennsylvania
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Posted: Jan 06, 2017 - 05:39 PM
I still find it hard to believe someone went through the trouble of bringing a hose to a lake, unscrewing your lids, and spent the time to suck water through the hose strongly enough to create sustained flow, then held it in place (or secured it another way) and let it fill and sink your boat. - seems like more work and risk to the "vandal"... when someone could kick a hole, shoot or blow up your boat much easier.
I live in florida so i know how INSANE people can be around here.. so it is possible, but i still think it make more sense that you had a failure somewhere /somehow.
I would recommend you put the boat on a trailer or lift it somehow and fill it with a few 100 lbs of water and see if it leaks out somewhere... and do a compressed air bubble test
glad your afloat!
