Sailboat on the beach at Treehouse?

[brownsd54]

The problem here is the fixed keel. Most sail boats like that have a very heavy keel, some with concrete or even lead in them to keep the keel down. Keel facing skyward is not a good thing. Just attaching a large boat to pull, or an excavator to push will make the keel dig into the sand and then it's not going anywhere. I think they had the right idea with the barrel weights on top of the mast pulling the boat over so the keel was out of the sand. That had to cause a huge amount of stress on the mast and rigging opposite the barrels, so maybe they are waiting for a tug boat and then try that again with the barrels and rolling it so the keel is out of the sand.

[Seamuis]

@johng she likely needs 6 feet under her. The excavator needs to get close to the side the keel is on and start digging a trench perpendicular to the shore line. The sand has always seemed firm there and I know this is how other boats are freed, but it's not my $100k+ excavator

[johng]

brownsd54 interesting comments!! As I have said in earlier posts it doesn't seem to me that any real strategy has been employed by anybody in the 5 or 6 weeks she has been stuck. Yes there have been a couple of small efforts but nobody really in charge of a major operation. Who knows what damages will have been caused by the time it's finally freed.

Seamuis it has been a few years since I was last in Negril but I remember the beach being shallow in that area. Six feet under her would mean quite a way out from shore?? Or do you mean trying to bring it up on the beach?

[Seamuis]

@johng What I am inferring is they dig a trench straight out to deeper water and to start that trench so that the keel slips into it, yes they need to dig it six feet down and perhaps they will not be able to dig six feet all the way out. Once upright and close to six feet divers with air hoses can agitate the sand below while the tow boat pulls.

[TuffGong]

They are cutting up a ship off the coast of Georgia, time to say game over and get out some torches/cutters. As someone else noted, what's left to salvage? Anything of value was most likely already removed and whatever's left has to be in rough shape. Start cutting it up and get it out of there. These are the times when you remember that JA is a Third World country. And don't take that the wrong way, the fact is JA has limited resources and using them to salvage some dude's boat would seem pretty low on the list. That being said, if tourism is your bread and butter you gotta spend money to make money...

[JDd]

anyone here ever try digging a 6ft hole in the ocean?

[mjf2]

These are a few pics and a video people have not seen.
We arrived at Almond Tree Rooms (next to Tree House) in Negril on Jan. 21st just before sunset. I took a picture of the Tolovnana ancored off of the Palms.
We could hear the waves building all night and when we looked out early the next morning we could see the sailboat coming in. Over the next 45 minutes too an hour we watched it bounce down the shore towards the Tree House. I think it was about 8am it came to rest where it is now bouncing back and forth for a few hours till the sea calmed and the sand filled in around it.
We watched the whole thing from our yard for the next 16 days. All the cement, earth movers, backhoes. They turned it around so it was facing out. They tried to pull it with a boat, but the water is only about 3 feet deep for about 100 feet out. The keel is 7’7” and is weighted with lead (605 lbs. per sf). On the night of Feb. 4th the sea got rough again and at 5:30am the next morning the boat turned around to face the beach again. Needless to say that is where it was when we left Negril on Feb. 6th. We’ll see how long it lasts, I bet Gale is getting tired of looking at it.

[johng]

mjf2 thanks a million for the great photos and video!! Your write up fills in a lot of blanks too!! That was my thinking from the get go with a keel that big and the water so shallow for so far out it would be almost impossible to dig a trench very far into the sea before the excavator was submerged!! Almost seems like they need a shallow draft barge with dredging capabilities to trench out a canal in sync with a tug or other capable boat. Any idea it's worth?? Hard to tell I know as who knows what damage it has suffered so far?? Wasn't it also undergoing repairs prior to the beaching?? If Gail or anyone else is waiting on the Jamaican Government, "Soon Come Mon" Hahhaha

[Kold Ass Mofo]

mjf2 - Great pic of how she got away. Look at the anchor line off the bow. Not exactly the 5 to 7x anchor scope you need to hold her in place in rough waves over sand.

We saw the excavator and at least one attempt to pull her with a boat. Did they every try popping the sails and using the wind to set her free? Seems that would provide a ton of force in the right place.

[brownsd54]

They are cutting up a ship off the coast of Georgia, time to say game over and get out some torches/cutters. As someone else noted, what's left to salvage? Anything of value was most likely already removed and whatever's left has to be in rough shape. Start cutting it up and get it out of there. These are the times when you remember that JA is a Third World country. And don't take that the wrong way, the fact is JA has limited resources and using them to salvage some dude's boat would seem pretty low on the list. That being said, if tourism is your bread and butter you gotta spend money to make money...

But you're wrong. The boat looks like it is in good shape. All the rigging is still there. Sails, radar, everything is in-tacked and looks good. The hull looks sound, and in fact there is a light atop of the mast at night sound there must be a running generator.