Sailboats and sidescan/magnetometers...

[Silvestri]

Been awhile everybody....I havent been on T-net in awhile as my spare time has been devoted to sailboats the last 3-4 years but it's good...taken awhile...but I finally got a boat that might be good for hunting shipwreck treasure. It's really good to be back in here and I hope the new format grows on me..which I think it will. It's good to see the old cast of characters is largely intact...I wish I could make it over to the cook-out in Wabasso and meet some of you guys finally but it's just not in the cards...Hope everybody has a crackin' good time. Sorry to hear about Peg-leg...must be grinning down as we speak...I hope everyone else is fine...glad to be back...Look forward to posting in here again..and hearing from you Ivan, Aqua-nut, Cornelius, Fish-eye, Chagy, and all the rest of ya's...

Now to the present...I aquired an older but solid 40-foot sailboat that's in Ft Myers waiting on a few fairly minor repairs...she's a strong boat with wide side-decks and very very high sea-comfort ratio due to 8,400 lbs of lead in her belly...I think she's make a fine salvage boat as far as locating the treasure...after that I don't know ...mailbox blowers,etc just dont do well on s/v's obviously but sailboats seem to me to be a natural choice for endless hours of running grid patterns and could save big bucks in fuel costs while in treasure-locating-mode....though possibly grid patterns may occasionally be not as tight as with a powerboat at times when the wind pipes up....this boat is very stable and around 19,000 lbs without gear and supplies.No droning engine noise hour after hour...except for onboard generator here and there... Could be a very good platform it seems. I am wondering if anyone has used sailboats for towing fish and for side-scan...I'd be glad to talk with folks interested in the topic of using this vessel as a platform with their equipment. I want to get a "fish" or make my own though. In the meantime maybe we can work something out...Wish I could get over to Wabasso this weekend...might still be able to pull it out but we'll see..

Either way good to know the gang is pretty much intact in here still and I look forward to talking shipwrecks and shipwreck booty again with ya's..,

Regards,

Silvestri...(aka Cap'n Morgan)

 

[Salvor6]

I hate sailboats.

 

[Jason in Enid]

If it's not a motor - sail, you are going to have a lot of trouble running any patterns.

 

[ropesfish]

I believe you may need a separate vessel for doing much survey work. It's one of the drawbacks of sail power, additionally, the depth of her keel would make it a bit dicey to get too close to the reefs that cause most of the wrecks.
I have an alternate plan that may be of interest which I am going to post in a separate thread so as not to hijack yours.
and here it is:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/d...running-lanes-toting-towfish.html#post2768863

 

[Silvestri]

I hate sailboats.

...Anything constructive to say ...? Appears to be just drivel ...so bugger off and find another thread then...

 

[Jason in Enid]

...Anything constructive to say ...? Appears to be just drivel ...so bugger off and find another thread then...

If you don't find the "constructive" in his critisism, you might want to read a little deeper. You obviously are new to this and Salvor is, well, a SALVOR. I would heed his words.

 

[Silvestri]

I'll definitely check out that site/link. Keel depth isn't really an issue as my boat only draws 4 and a half feet but there are some changes that one would have to incorporate ...I have never run a tow fish from any boat so there's alot to learn ....but sailboats can use morning land breezes and afternoon sea breezes effectively going up and down coastlines in the same fathom range quite easily...It could be demonstrated... most who know a bit about sailboats know what i am talking about....but it would take some different thinking but could put you on the search box area twice as much I bet and for half the cost...It would be for those with time but not money... but could save boatloads of cash vs. searching a large area with a big powerboat...

 

[Silvestri]

If you don't find the "constructive" in his critisism, you might want to read a little deeper. You obviously are new to this and Salvor is, well, a SALVOR. I would heed his words.

Salvor had nothing constructive to say other than he hates sailboats...so he is useless to this thread ...because this thread is discussing sailboats ....I cannot arrive at any other conclusion at the moment...there are plenty of other threads in here...now if there is constructive criticism..that is fine...I am all ears...

 

[Chagy]

Try to contact Capt. Brad Dalton aka Scubadude Not only he is a hell of a Capt. but he is also a great surveyor using both SSS and Mag's...Plus he also has allot of experience with sailboats actually he is fixing one right now. he may be the right person to give you some good advice. Not like Pete who hates sailboats....LOL

 

[GOHO]

From my experience towing a Mag and Side Scan.... You have to be able to drive tight lane spaces... I dont see that happening under sail. Speed is a determining factor. You have to be able to maintain the same speed in order to keep the towfish at the correct depth.

To conduct a good Side scan survey you need to drive straight lines and keep your speed consistent. Sail boats have to tack so i dont see how you can conduct a GOOD survey with a sail boat.

If you snag your towfish... under sail would be a PROBLEM! The Mag has to be close to the seafloor or your spining your wheels! I tow my mag about 1 meter off the bottom.

My advise would be to survey out of a dingy and leave the sail boat as a mother ship.

 

[Silvestri]

Chagy...Goho...Thanks for posting...I remember Scubadude I think...I wonder if Scubadude is doing what GOHO suggested and using his sailboat as a mothership...and has a smaller powerboat of some kind to do the actual scans with...That actually would make alot of sense...I guess I forgot that for our scale of operations generally...the "fish" has to to be close to the bottom...The big boys like Bob Ballard and Oddyssey probably can tow big fish several yards off the bottom ...but in our case the fish and sidescanners will tend to be alot smaller and less powerful and hence need to be just off the bottom...eliminating a sailboat in all practicality.
As motherships however yeah...and with their low profile windage-wise, they can handle a t-storm better usually and stay on site till it blows over...then back to work...They do attract lightning a bit more I guess is a downside but Sailboats can carry a fair amount of supplies...Living quarters can be a bit more cramped than powerboats and they don't have near as good of a work-deck area...that would be cramped...but do-able...for small ops... Using a small motor-tender for the scanning does make alot of sense instead....

 

[Chagy]

No he has a motor boat for survey, diving etc...And has a sailboat because he likes them not to use for surveys....How ever Greg aka GOHO also has allot of experience in surveys and I believe he gave you very good advice...I really don't think a sailboat will work for surveys...Good luck!!!

 

[Motorhead]

Silvestri,

My Dad (Treasure Writer) says.....
We've owned both power and sail up to 68'.
When you're towing a mag you'll be relying on your GPS and charts to pull nice straight lines. (We used Loran) You'd have a very difficult time doing this under sail because you'd have to tack back and forth going into the wind. Sort of like riding a bicycle up a hill. You wouldn't be able to search a nicely laid out grid and would be likely to miss something. I'd get a smaller powerboat to tow the mag and then once you locate something, live on and dive from your sailboat.

You can then hang your sailboat out on a hook for cheap money in Florida and access it with your powerboat from the dock. Since the powerboat is smaller it will be cheaper to dock as well.

 

[stevemc]

I agree with the lot of them, I know most of them, and I have sailed on many sailboats, owned a bunch and have run and owned a whole lot more motorboats. Sailboats have their place, and yes, you could run them with little to no fuel. But as was suggested, you cannot ALWAYS run straight North and South as needed with magging for the magnetic thing. Sailboats can be used as a stable mothership, but normally they are hard to dive out of, and get back into. They are good for long open runs, and can save fuel, but for magging or even side scanning, are not really set up for it. Yes magging is out, and they could side scan, and could do it cheaply. You could do a Humminbird 997 or a 1197 with a fish, and do well. But you also need to keep the speed constant, like exactly 5 mph. But magging would not be as efficient (cheaper, but wont get the consistancy that you need.) in a sailboat, as a motorboat. I enjoy sailboating, have raced at Davis Island Yacht club-Tampa Bay, with "You know where" in the early 80s in the Thursday night weekly races, a mini tonner and won first place over all( handicap ratings overall) several years in a row. There are lots of plaques up there with that. I also used to race Hobie 16s and won many class races after that. Pretty easy since most people that sail dont have a clue about how to get speed and how to read the water, and how to properly handle a sailboat. I would try to tell them how to read the water and how to react,( I got tired of winning and no competition) but they just dont get it, I would just blow past them. They kind of just sit there and let the people who know whats happening pass them up. They would go straight to each orange triangle, and I tried to get them to read the water, and how to set their sails, where to aim for each wind pattern and how much main to have out, etc. How to steer etc, how to read their tell tails, how to feel the tiller, what you sails should look like when you are in the groove, but they really couldnt comprehend. I really tried, but I got really tired of trying to tell them how to go fast, so I quit racing all together, and just had fun on my own. They just had no idea. It has to click I guess. I do remember you years back.

 

[Oddjob]

I have seen countless sails scanning in the Mediterranean & Adriatic. Currently that massive archaeological dig in near the Gibraltor Straits at the Parque Nacional de Doñana in the coastal flats they have not only proven the Schulzten Theory using sails but they continue to map with this for over five year now.

Physicist Rainer Kuehne solely funds the project and most would argue he has a low budget and can not afford to deploy some real rigs but the man is loaded and backs his intelligence using geospatial intel on this project. He is just very GREEN to say the least.

So even with sails you can discover a good find.

Best of luck to you with that.