underwater salvage

[southern maine diver]

A $300,000 dollar boat... should net us around 10 to 15%...

I'm happy with that... This is my kind of wreck salvage...

Wayne

 

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[southern maine diver]

Update on the salvage...

Just completed it. Had to "un shrink-wrap" the boat, attach lifting straps and inflatable air bags. Raised her by the bow first because the stern was so deep in the mud. Used 30,000 lbs of lift to get the vessel up high enough to install a temporary patch on the stern quarter. Pumped her dry and hauled her out.

Took an extra day because of the bad weather...

A shame to see a $330,000 boat reduced to heartbreak. The owner was literally in tears...

It'll probably go up for salvage auction, so if there is anyone who wants a year long "winter" project, this 48' Viking would be the one.

Enjoy,

Wayne

 

[southern maine diver]

putting the diver into the water...

 

[southern maine diver]

bow comes up first...

 

[southern maine diver]

floating the boat to the rails..., pumping it out and repairing the damage.

 

[southern maine diver]

patched and pumped out...

 

[southern maine diver]

Towed it upriver for 9 miles to the repair facility and hauled her out..

Will probably go up for auction if anyone is looking for a good "winter" project...

Wayne

 

[ScubaFinder]

Wayne, does it have Diesel or gas engines, and what size.

Jason

 

[southern maine diver]

Hey Jason...

it has twin diesels (500 HP turbo charged each) with Allison gears... a real fast boat. It is a 48 foot sport fisher. Has two stand up heads, I think a 500 gallon fuel tank, spare props, running gear is in tact, big forward berth, smaller passenger accommodations...

Shame to pick it up off the bottom. It was built in 1986.

Thanks for looking. Have a great day. Looking forward to meeting you in Jupiter or at the Treasure Expo!

Wayne

Oh, the insurance company is Arcadia. Don't know the numbers for contact, but I can get them if you are interested.

Take care and dive safe.

 

[ScubaFinder]

Wayne,

I should definitely be at the treasure expo, if I don't run into you at Jupiter first. I'm kind of torn right now, have a place in Ft. Pierce, and a job in West Palm...and my heart is in Sebastian. LOL. Those don't mesh too well. Great job...the place is cheap...gotta figure out what to do. LOL

I'd be interested in keeping an eye on the auction...it'll probably be out of my price range and I'm not sure i'm ready for a project quite like that just yet (have to keep reminding myself I'm an amatuer at all of this still). I'll probably get something smaller to start with, I do like those engines though...I'd like to strap some blowers to them!

Jason

 

[ScubaDude]

Wayne, did anyone do anything to the engines yet?

What are they 6-71's? They are easy to save if they don't sit much longer, get em started and let em run. I also know how insurance companies work though, they could care less at this point.

 

[southern maine diver]

Morning NC...

I know the mechanics were working on them yesterday. Pickling them, so as far as I know they want to try and save them a pair of big Detroit's, 2 1/2' shafts, Allison reverse gears... the insurance company is trying to save as much of the vessel as possible.

I'll be up at that marina all day today working on some boat bottoms, so I'll go over and take a peek.

Wayne

 

[ScubaDude]

I've not seen too many pickling jobs that worked real well. You wind up with trapped air or water that leads to a rust spot on a cylinder wall, or bearing, or a cam or something.

Detroit's are easy to get running again:

Change the oil, engine and gear, don't worry about the filters yet.
Remove the air box inspection plates
Take the valve covers off and put pennies between the rocker arms and the valves
Loosen the exhaust manifolds
Re plumb the fuel supply and return to run out of a 5 gal. can
Remove the starters and go through them and reinstall: fresh water rinse, dry it out, then lots of CRC.
Disconnect the alternator
Turn it over by hand a few times to make sure the cylinders are clear

Motor the engine with the starter to blow things out for a little bit

Replace the airbox covers

Remove a couple of the pennies at a time and she should fire right up, take out the rest of the pennies
and the remaining cylinders should fire, it is going to smoke like heck...

Let it run a minute or two then shut it down and re tighten the exhaust

Fire it back up and let it run, keep an eye on the oil and don't let it get milky

Exercise the gear if the boat is in the water

Your going to have to change the oil a few more times, and the starters and alternators will likely need to be rebuilt/replaced but internally the engine should be fine.

 

[southern maine diver]

NC-Brad...

Was at the marina today and I saw the mechanics working on the boat. they were turning her over and starting her up. Changing and re-changing the oil. I was at the other end of the marina stripping the bottom paint off a 36' aluminum boat. Just got home a little while ago.

Thanks for the directions about getting the boat started up... I'm not much of a diesel mechanic, so I usually leave things to the pro's. I know my underwater stuff and I try to stick to that area of expertise...

Take care and maybe I'll see you at the Treasure Expo?

Wayne

 

[B.R.P.I.T.A]

I've got a question......what is a way to find shipwrecks named after a mathematician?

 

[FISHEYE]

wayne,

nice salvage job you did on that boat.
heres some pics of the first boat we raised.its a 28 foot carver sunk at the dock from hurricane jeane.the boat was busted up pretty bad.we used over 50 garbage bags to fill holes in the hull.we had no lift bags so we jacked the stern up useing winches.the bow was tied to the bow on my boat an lifted with another winch.all by hand.no electric winches at the time.while we were pumping an just before the rails came above water the stern hit a pole an dam near tore it off.had to screw metal straps around it to hold it on.had another winch holding the sides together.the carver was a mess,dead fish,crabs,lots of mud,wood debris.after 1 day it was getting really ripe,so it had to go.it was sunk for 2 years.it took me,frank and paul 3 days to raise it an have it towed to sebastian marina to be hauled out an taken to the dump.we put on quite a show for the patrons at the marina resturant.it was fun.i even got a working halon fire system out of that boat to use in my boat.

 

[B.R.P.I.T.A]

We finally figured out the answer to the question I posed here! It is the Bayesian method! Thanks again to those of you that tried steering me in the right direction on the Canadian thread. Oh and nice salvage job! Thanks for the pictures!

 

[ropesfish]

Fisheye...was that Carver sunk at Squid Lips? With the number of added customers they pull in there with any live entertainment, maybe they could advertise before your next job there and pay you guys something extra for the added revenue.

Nice work, though. There wasnt much left of that vessel, and from what I have seen, the less structural integrity left, the harder it is to get off the bottom.

 

[southern maine diver]

Hey Fisheye...

Now that looked like a mean, dirty, nasty, smelling , miserable kind of salvage job... a real challenge! Just how I like them!!

Great piece of work. I hope you are being compensated well for this. I know I make good money when I do a salvage job. I get anywhere from from 6 to 10 a year, depending on how bad the storm season is, but for the most part, these are fresh "sinkers" and not something that has been hanging around for a couple of years getting silted in

Anyway, congrats on a great job. looks like the only thing salvageable are the shafts, struts and props. A big, fat insurance check would be helpful too

Good luck and stay safe,

Wayne