Part 1: Northern Marine 90' Yacht Capsizes Upon Launch...!

Stability Test

I'm surprised no mention has been made of the stability test the USCG required before the boat could be moved.

The stability test was done Tuesday morning I believe, and as the crane lowered the tension on their slings the boat went right over to port and at 15 degrees list the crane still had quite a load and the test was stopped.

The crane is the only thing keeping the boat upright after she was pumped out.

They have just moved the boat a mile to the north still attached to the crane and barge, where there is a barge dock, and I believe a very large crane will put the vessel on land.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine accidents, pipeline incidents and railroad accidents. When requested, the NTSB will assist the military and foreign governments with accident investigation.

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Will the NTSB Investigate this type of accident ??? My opinion is they probably should, before someone does die. Any thoughts ???

Walt

Stability

The crane and barge are both entirely too small to lift the deadweight of the boat, but it could easily control it after the water was pumped out, and it was able to manuver the sunken hull when it was not aground. There is one strap under the hull about 20 feet or so aft of mid ships.

The USCG required both the stability test and a written transport plan for the vessel to be moved out of the launch area. By the way, there were about 15 or so yachts trapped in their slips because of the sunken vessel and the barge and tug, and the launch ramp that several dry land yards use was closed as well, right before the Holiday weekend.

Right now, 6:05 Pacific Daylight Time, the convoy is approximately half way between Fidalgo Marina where th launch ramp is located, and the barge dock on the North end of Anacortes Marina, it looks to be stopped now I assume waiting for high tide which is at 1:34 AM Saturday morning.

As does Olderboater/BB about the "business end" of yacht design and construction. Some find a paragraph or two are necessary sustitutes for a few well chosen words.

Clarification

I might not have described it clearly enough...there is one strap under the after portion of the hull the ends of which are attached too two halyard cables so that tension could be added to either the port or starboard ends of the strap to help roll the boat upright. The crane provided righting moment while the pumps provided buoyancy. At higher tides the crane and tug could manuver the hull around, and as she was de-watered the crane had enough lift to roll her upright. At lower state of tide the hull must have been partially aground.

There was early speculation that the port list had snagged the port stabilizer and perhaps damaged the hull, but apparently underwater integrity is still intact, so the water must have come through the transom door, the air intakes and the salon door.

The lurching or tilting of Northwrn Marine hulls on this launch ramp was common as the poured concrete ramp only went so far past Mean Low Water, and beyond that, precast concrete slabs were placed to be able to get carriage wheels deeper in the water. The slabs have not stayed as level as the poured and re-in forced concrete portion.

The after launch stability test showed that the vessel could not stay upright in perfectly calm water and wind with the bilge pumped without the support of the crane on the barge. I have no knowledge of any pre-launch stability data or tests.

The barge dock is located at 47.30.336 N x 122.36.343 W, on private land. The site was originally built for the Alaska Pipeline Construction. This is only about 1/2 mile north of the launch ramp, and the only other facilty that could possibly take this job is Dakota Creek Shipyard, which is about 1 mile further North on Guemes Channel.

I do not know for certain that the barge dock is where a large enough crane will be set up to lift the vessel, but it is the closest, and the upland yard is presently not used.

I do not know any more details on the stability test results beyond what I posted earlier, that is that the barge mounted crane and it's sling is what is keeping this vessel upright, if they slacked off the cables far enough, the vessel would probably lay on her side again.

The vessel is now on land, see a couple of cell phone pictures taken from perimeter fence.

This is the barge dock just north od Anacortes Marine, location:

48.30.334 North
122.36.434 West

I wonder how well the underwater windows will work? Or will they be filled in with bondo?

Lmao, sounds good to me.

There was zero visible activity Saturday when I took the pictures, I think the Lights were there for the night crane activity getting her out of the water, and I doubt there is any in ground power there that could provide anything. I doubt you would want any of the ship's circuits energized after the submersion.

She is sitting out in the weeds...who would ever buy it?

Even if the owner's insurance dose not kick in inntil after launch and commission, the yard's insurance should kick in, even if they are out of business but if the bills were paid on time...?