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SV Seeker is on the move

zlathim said:
Is he still waiting on insurance, or did he finally launch the boat? I kinda gave up watching the videos after he hauled it to the port or wherever he had it sitting.
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Waiting, and puttering with cabinetry, last time I looked. I too quit watching.
 
Last update said they got most of the insurance issues worked out so should be launching soon-ish.


The problem was that the port (or their attorneys) decided they needed a $2m policy on the boat/operation before it could be launched at their facility. Nobody would insure it because it hasn't been surveyed and documented....which can only happen once it's in the water. Basically they won't touch it because to them there's not enough proof that it won't sink or flip over as soon as it hits the water.....blocking access to hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars per day in port operations.
 
bgaidan said:
Last update said they got most of the insurance issues worked out so should be launching soon-ish.


The problem was that the port (or their attorneys) decided they needed a $2m policy on the boat/operation before it could be launched at their facility. Nobody would insure it because it hasn't been surveyed and documented....which can only happen once it's in the water. Basically they won't touch it because to them there's not enough proof that it won't sink or flip over as soon as it hits the water.....blocking access to hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars per day in port operations.
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Sounds like piss poor planning on his part, not to have investigated as to whether they would let him launch from the port
 
bigun said:
Sounds like piss poor planning on his part, not to have investigated as to whether they would let him launch from the port
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He admitted as much but I think its a issue of don't know what you don't know.

The port is launching for free, storing for free etc. but they wanted him to have xyz insurance (which he had for the boat) but they actually wanted a bond IMO, which may or may not have been clear until the nut cutting.
 
Russell said:
Can't the guy go dump it in a slough somewhere and see if it floats?
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Moving that thing is a PITA, even with the heavy equipment company doing it free. I could see running around the countryside being a problem, especially if the tall parts are bolted back on.

Twiddling your thumbs for 3 months is a hassle too, though...
 
bgaidan said:
Last update said they got most of the insurance issues worked out so should be launching soon-ish.


The problem was that the port (or their attorneys) decided they needed a $2m policy on the boat/operation before it could be launched at their facility. Nobody would insure it because it hasn't been surveyed and documented....which can only happen once it's in the water. Basically they won't touch it because to them there's not enough proof that it won't sink or flip over as soon as it hits the water.....blocking access to hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars per day in port operations.
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I don't know if that is a State to State thing. We had ours surveyed both on the water and sitting on the lot at the ship yard. Or boat was about the same size

Thinking they guy needs to man up and put it in
heavy part is in the bottom, light part is up top....it will float :beer:
 
SomeGuyFromOlympia said:
man up and put it in
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:lmao: Dude just drops a gear and makes a run for the ramp, throws it in, fires up the engine, and roars away. :lmao:

Jones-Mayer.gif
 
bigun said:
Sounds like piss poor planning on his part, not to have investigated as to whether they would let him launch from the port
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They kind of dropped it on him AFTER the boat was at the port. He's been pretty clear that he's not holding anything against them. They're launching it for free and so is the crane company that's doing the actual lift. I suspect it got a bit of media attention and somebody much higher up in the port made a phone call.


subybaja said:
Moving that thing is a PITA, even with the heavy equipment company doing it free. I could see running around the countryside being a problem, especially if the tall parts are bolted back on.

Twiddling your thumbs for 3 months is a hassle too, though...
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There's literally no other place to launch for a couple hundred miles around. No ramps nearby deep enough to roll it and no other piers big enough either. Also speculation that if they tried to get a huge crane with enough reach to launch it from the river somewhere the corps would get involved and put a stop to it in fear of stopping shipping traffic.

SomeGuyFromOlympia said:
I don't know if that is a State to State thing. We had ours surveyed both on the water and sitting on the lot at the ship yard. Or boat was about the same size

Thinking they guy needs to man up and put it in
heavy part is in the bottom, light part is up top....it will float :beer:
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More of a coastguard thing. But the big difference in yours is that it was done at a shipyard who likely already had the proper insurance. They also weren't risking shutting down port operations if things went to shit. :laughing:

He ha no control over it going in the water. Lawyers and insurance agents are doing their thing. When it all first hit the fan he said they even talked to and got rejected by Lloyd's of London. Basically it's really bizarre situation in which it's almost impossible to comply with the insurance requirements - you can't get insurance until it's in the water and you can't put it in the water until you have insurance.
 
He still had plenty to do before splashing, I don't really see it as a problem except for his whiny fans.
Its like camping in your driveway, much better to do the shakedown on ground then in the water.

I think he is going to have hell with the torque converter in the trans.
Not knowing too much about the variable pitch stuff etc.
 
CarterKraft said:
I think he is going to have hell with the torque converter in the trans.
Not knowing too much about the variable pitch stuff etc.
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well, with an infinite radiator and a few thousand gallons of fuel tank it might not matter too much
 
bgaidan said:
More of a coastguard thing. But the big difference in yours is that it was done at a shipyard who likely already had the proper insurance. They also weren't risking shutting down port operations if things went to shit. :laughing:

He ha no control over it going in the water. Lawyers and insurance agents are doing their thing. When it all first hit the fan he said they even talked to and got rejected by Lloyd's of London. Basically it's really bizarre situation in which it's almost impossible to comply with the insurance requirements - you can't get insurance until it's in the water and you can't put it in the water until you have insurance.
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correct, we were a function legit business/corp at the time. I am sure that makes a difference

It just seems wonkey that he cant get insurance.......unless its a scam for more money
 
SomeGuyFromOlympia said:
correct, we were a function legit business/corp at the time. I am sure that makes a difference

It just seems wonkey that he cant get insurance.......unless its a scam for more money
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They got boat insurance not insurance for the port, symantics it seems but due to the volume of $$$ through the port daily the standard boat liability insurance would not cover the possibility of sinking in the port.

That is my take anyway.
 
[486] said:
well, with an infinite radiator and a few thousand gallons of fuel tank it might not matter too much
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You don't think it's going to make the prop feel "variable speed" at below stall speeds?
 
CarterKraft said:
He still had plenty to do before splashing, I don't really see it as a problem except for his whiny fans.
Its like camping in your driveway, much better to do the shakedown on ground then in the water.

I think he is going to have hell with the torque converter in the trans.
Not knowing too much about the variable pitch stuff etc.
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[486] said:
well, with an infinite radiator and a few thousand gallons of fuel tank it might not matter too much
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CarterKraft said:
You don't think it's going to make the prop feel "variable speed" at below stall speeds?
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It is supposed to be under sail more than under power
 
SomeGuyFromOlympia said:
ever been to a marina?
every seen "I got a sail boat" guy?
I will bet it is under power for quite a ways :laughing::stirthepot:
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I guess I should have worded my comment Except for those times they are in a harbour or docking, they planning on using the sails for forward propulsion!
Does that make more sense professor? :shaking:
 
bigun said:
I guess I should have worded my comment Except for those times they are in a harbour or docking, they planning on using the sails for forward propulsion!
Does that make more sense professor? :shaking:
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Relax sweet pea, it was a light hearted joke.....see the little laughing guy?(:laughing:)

But I stand by my comment, this guy is going to hit shit :grinpimp:
 
It sounds to me like he needs a marine architect to sign off on the boat. Did one help him make the plans in the beginning? He should be able to acquire that while its on the hard. I bet its going to be pricey though.

This is well beyond the average survey.
 
SomeGuyFromOlympia said:
Relax sweet pea, it was a light hearted joke.....see the little laughing guy?(:laughing:)

But I stand by my comment, this guy is going to hit shit :grinpimp:
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He has a few season sailing pros and experts in river nav that will be helping him learn the boat. You can bet that part will be entertaining. It's not like there's a handbook on sailing a Chinese junk rig.


Bacho said:
It sounds to me like he needs a marine architect to sign off on the boat. Did one help him make the plans in the beginning? He should be able to acquire that while its on the hard. I bet its going to be pricey though.

This is well beyond the average survey.
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Still wouldn't satisfy the insurance requirements. Part of it requires proof that it floats....not just theoretical proof. It was built of a set of plans but obviously with quite a few changes.


The "easy" solution is to but down $2m in cash for a bond. He hasn't directly asked for help with that, but i'm sure if some rich mofo showed up and offered he wouldn't turn it down.
 
SomeGuyFromOlympia said:
Relax sweet pea, it was a light hearted joke.....see the little laughing guy?(:laughing:)

But I stand by my comment, this guy is going to hit shit :grinpimp:
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He's a hard headed mofo for sure..
No bow thruster on a single screw boat that size seems just foolish.

What I am talking about with the torque converter is a scenario where during docking you engage fwd and prop at 1/2 pitch. 1/2 pitch doesn't have enough force to move the boat due to wind, current etc. so you either increase pitch or RPM. If you increase pitch the prop could theoretically slow down due to converter stall speed making the problem worse. Then if the RPM was increased to a point where the converter locks the instant speed increase to the prop may be less desirable.

I have mentioned it to him but he is a wait and see type, nothing wrong with that.

On another topic where he had those 24v CAT hydraulic pumps I and others tried to help him with wiring/cable sizing as they are a product I am familiar with.
He avoided my input then much later suggested he was on the right track to getting them working, who knows if he did.

His style doesn't bother me but It is odd to see someone with so much conviction to ignore help. To be fair I have read the comments and he getsA LOT of help from some real dip shits. :homer:
 
CarterKraft said:
[UWSL]His style doesn't bother me but It is odd to see someone with so much conviction to ignore help. To be fair I have read the comments and he getsA LOT of help from some real dip shits. [/UWSL]:homer:
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I got the square that boat don’t make it a year before sinking do to operator error. I hope I’m wrong but the people he hangs around with pushes me to this conclusion.
 
So why couldn't he seal the water chests(i believe thats what the hull piercings are called), any openings and hatches and just pressurize the hull to 5 psi. If it won't hold pressure there's a leak in the hull.

Preface: I have no experience with boat hull repair/manufacture and I haven't watched any of his videos in over a year. Last I saw he was putting in the engines.
 
Pocahontas said:
So why couldn't he seal the water chests(i believe thats what the hull piercings are called), any openings and hatches and just pressurize the hull to 5 psi. If it won't hold pressure there's a leak in the hull.

Preface: I have no experience with boat hull repair/manufacture and I haven't watched any of his videos in over a year. Last I saw he was putting in the engines.
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To simple?
 
CarterKraft said:
What I am talking about with the torque converter is a scenario where during docking you engage fwd and prop at 1/2 pitch. 1/2 pitch doesn't have enough force to move the boat due to wind, current etc. so you either increase pitch or RPM. If you increase pitch the prop could theoretically slow down due to converter stall speed making the problem worse. Then if the RPM was increased to a point where the converter locks the instant speed increase to the prop may be less desirable.
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The low stall converter in his trans shouldn't really have that problem. It's not like the high stall shit you get in cars where it's nothing, nothing, nothing, little bit of something, everything.
 
bigun said:
To simple?
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The top side holes and hatches aren't designed for pressure in that direction and they're probably not 100% air/water tight due to the flexing of the structure. A slight drip is ok in that kind of application.
 
3-5psi shouldn't cause enough flexing in steel I would think? Doesn't need to be completely air tight but I would think you could scab something together with rtv/caulk enough to show the marina that the boat is not going to sink when launched.
 
Pocahontas said:
3-5psi shouldn't cause enough flexing in steel I would think? Doesn't need to be completely air tight but I would think you could scab something together with rtv/caulk enough to show the marina that the boat is not going to sink when launched.
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I can’t remember how big that hatch is. Let’s say it’s WAY smaller than it really is. Let’s say it’s 6’ x 8’. That’s 6912 sq inches. 5 psi would be 34560 lbs of upward force.

And none of the seals are designed for positive pressure, either.

I don’t mean to talk down or anything like that. But people tend to lose sight of how much force a small pressure can apply.
 
I have no idea what the boat looks like hold wise or how the hatches are set up. When I'm looking for leakes in black pipe I pressurize it to 5-10 psi and wait for it to leak down. The utility usually pulls an inch of vaccume, you could do that as well. In my experience its easier to find leaks with positive pressure than negative pressure.

If the plate was 6x8 you would have some way of bolting it down evey foot or so as well as whatever gasket material you were using. Conservatively a bolt evey foot would be 28 bolts if you used 3/8 they have a clamping load of 3k lbs each. So 84k lbs of clamping pressure with 35k of force applied by the air pressure pushing out.

I was just trying to make the point there has to be some way of pressure testing the hull on dry land before dropping it in the water.
 
With as many people that it was their first time doing all kinds of what I would qualify as important shit I can't see how it doesn't have some huge failure early on. Maybe not right away. But there is no way in hell I would be on that thing in 5-7 ft seas. Just the pressure from the water on all those sketchy ass welds would make me pucker.
 
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