What was the cause of losing your boat? Fail safe questions learned the hard way.

[Monahan Steam Models]

Hopefully the majority of you have not lost a boat to a forever on patrol situation but to those of you who have lost a boat and have been able to recover the boat, what was determined was the cause of loss?

Check lists are a must have before deciding a boat is ready to sail, so let’s cut out the “whoops I forgot to seal this” cause. I want to hear first hand accounts of “x” “y” or “z” happened.

[goshawk823]

Back in the 90s, I had the hose to the gas cylinder pop off the WTC on my DeBoer’s Skipjack, standing right next to David M at Mount Trashmore. Dave dived for it and pulled it back to the surface from about 9 feet down. It was missing the fitting that keeps the hose connected to the bottle.
I had a 1/96 Thor LA flight III pop the end cap off the WTC at the Regatta in Groton. Luckily I was in shallow enough water and it wasn’t too far off shore so I was able to get to the boat back myself. My fault completely; I neglected to vent the air in the battery section using the valve on the end cap.

[Ken_NJ]

Lost my Marlin August 2018, found & recovered April 2019. It was found about 15-20 feet where I last saw it on the surface. Cause, unknown, could have been water infiltration in the cylinder. When recovered the cylinder had something like 1/4 to 1/2" of water in it but that could also been to sitting underwater for nearly 8 months. I did not have the fail safe setup.

[Das Boot]

Lost my Marlin August 2018, found & recovered April 2019. It was found about 15-20 feet where I last saw it on the surface. Cause, unknown, could have been water infiltration in the cylinder. When recovered the cylinder had something like 1/4 to 1/2" of water in it but that could also been to sitting underwater for nearly 8 months. I did not have the fail safe setup.

Now by God, that’s some good weathering!

[trout]

I'll tell you when my Type XXIII is recovered.

[Monahan Steam Models]

Great feedback so far guys.

Tom,

I really hope you’re able to retrieve your type XXIII someday. That was a fantastic boat you built.

Ken,

Glad you were able to get your Marlin back after all that time. Was it easy to locate? Prior to losing the Marlin, what were the operating events leading up to the loss? Had the boat already been in the water sailing that day for long period of time. Was it lost as it was beginning of a dived from a surface running condition?

Sam,

Happy you were also fortunate in recovering your boats. Thank you for sharing the details about the cause of the losses.


The details of what caused the losses are important because it directly relates to how a fail safe could or could not have saved the boat. For example, a gas blow fail safe triggered by signal loss or low battery would not save a boat with good radio signal and plenty of battery life if the dry space was actively taking on water or if the boat became hung up with a underwater object.

Please keep the first hand accounts of experiences relating to this topic coming.

Thanks,

Nick

[Schmitty1944]

Great topic and some great stories. We can all learn from each others mistakes.

I've got a slightly odd story. I lost a 1/72 Type VII with a gas ballast system for a day. Had to dive in and find it the next day. I was running in a fairly clear lake at around 4 foot deep when I lost sight of my model. I blew ballast but nothing came up. Spent a couple hours searching but did not see it again until the next day. After a sleepless night I went back prepared with goggles and swim clothes. It had surfaced under a floating dock on pontoons and was stuck in a narrow gap in-between them. If I had dived again It could have escaped but who would do that when you don't know where your model is? Nothing was actually wrong with the model, just my bad driving.

Jason

[rwtdiver]

No sinking or lost boats to report, but I do have a shore fire method of retrieving!



Running in swimming pool only does have some advantages.

Rob
"Firemen can stand the heat"

[Monahan Steam Models]

Jason,

That is a great story and surprising plot twist. Good point of why you would not diving the boat again. Makes me think if part of the fail safe was one of the high pitch pingers, maybe you might’ve heard it stuck under the floating dock?

Nick

[Monahan Steam Models]

No sinking or lost boats to report, but I do have a shore fire method of retrieving!



Running in swimming pool only does have some advantages.

Rob
"Firemen can stand the heat"

Very true!!

[Das Boot]

Around 1995, I took my Deboer Skipjack to a local rock quarry popular with divers. All was well until I dove a little deep and lost her. I immediately turned off the radio but I guess the emergency gas was depleted and seeing as the boat was not buoyant, it sank in 40 feet of water. Lucky for me, the rescue squad dive team was practicing and long story short, found her an hour later. The cylinder had not leaked, which was amazing, as it had to be taking about 50 lbs. psi. Anyway, lesson learned. Carry plenty of backup gas and keep the sub sail above the water.

[Das Boot]

I'll tell you when my Type XXIII is recovered.

How long ago and where?

[trout]

About 8 years ago - Keystone Colorado.

Empty stand.....sigh.

[Ken_NJ]

Ken,

Glad you were able to get your Marlin back after all that time. Was it easy to locate? Prior to losing the Marlin, what were the operating events leading up to the loss? Had the boat already been in the water sailing that day for long period of time. Was it lost as it was beginning of a dived from a surface running condition?

I have the Marlin painted primer gray (medium gray) which with the sun shining at the right angle you can see it underwater. Where it was lost was about four feet deep with about three feet of weeds. At that time the boat always had a problem steering to starboard (hopefully fixed now). It was running surfaced OK for a while. The boat was close to the the dock trying to make a starboard turn and I might have been going to submerge. Then it was gone. Probably stuck in the weeds 15-20 feet from last visual.

A contact where we run knew I lost the boat. He would occasionally check the lake for it. One day in April, the sun was at a good angle, and he saw the glow of the gray Marlin about four feet down, about ten feet
from shore. Him and another gent went out in his rowboat (with electric motor) and they pulled it up.

[Das Boot]

About 8 years ago - Keystone Colorado.

Empty stand.....sigh.

Clear water? How deep? Tell us the story.