We were preparing to have our 4588 lifted at our marina to have shaft work done. I had arranged to lift at 9:30 am. According to the marina that would pose no problem despite a low tide. The type of lift is a sling type.
We pulled into the lift area all seemed to be fine. They positioned the straps and began the lift. As they did you could see the sides of the hull beginning to compress. I asked if this was normal and they indicated a little flex was normal. They continued the lift then all of a sudden BANG! You could see a small hair line crack on the outer deck just below the cap rail. Holy S***! I had them put the boat down immediately, despite their suggestion to just continue the lift.
Upon closer inspection, once the pressure from the sling was removed the crack all but disappeared.The rub rail was a little displaced but you would not know it had you not seen what just took place. Inspection of the interior bulkheads showed no damage either.
After sharing this story with people in the know, or at least who know more than the idiots that tried to lift us, this is what was done wrong and what should have been done.
1) Lifting at low tide. This was part of the problem, their lift already sits very high off the water even at high tide. At low tide the slings are almost vertical. That put extreme crushing force right on the rub rail the most protruding part of the hull. They should have used either a spreader or waited for high tide. At high tide the slings would have been more of a V configuration and there would have been much less force at the rub rail.
2) They attempted to lift her with a single strap in the front and rear. They indicated they have had trouble with 45's before. What they should have done is lifted her using two straps at the front and rear. When they do this the straps are attached to a small spreader that separates them about 18"-24" thereby spreading the load along the hull.
3) When they positioned the straps they didn't use blocks below the chine area on the hull. The blocks takes some of the pressure off the side of the hull especially off the rub rail area. It also has a tendency to spread the loads out even more.
We are leaving tomorrow for Anacortes to have North Harbor Diesel pull her and do the shaft work we were expecting to have done at the Port of Everett. NHD has a unique lift that is basically an over sized, self propelled, hydraulically driven trailer that slides under the boat and lifts it out of the water via hydraulics then they just drive it out. Really cool to watch.
While we are out, I intend to have them do a closer inspection to see if there was any serious damage that will need to be addressed. God I hope not as this is our home and that would surely take some time to be done.
So I share this with you so that when you have you boat lifted, ensure that they use proper care in doing so. All boats have characteristics that require special attention to being lifted. Make sure that the people doing the lift know, if not ask. We rely upon these people to know what they are doing. Sadly and too often they don't.
We pulled into the lift area all seemed to be fine. They positioned the straps and began the lift. As they did you could see the sides of the hull beginning to compress. I asked if this was normal and they indicated a little flex was normal. They continued the lift then all of a sudden BANG! You could see a small hair line crack on the outer deck just below the cap rail. Holy S***! I had them put the boat down immediately, despite their suggestion to just continue the lift.
Upon closer inspection, once the pressure from the sling was removed the crack all but disappeared.The rub rail was a little displaced but you would not know it had you not seen what just took place. Inspection of the interior bulkheads showed no damage either.
After sharing this story with people in the know, or at least who know more than the idiots that tried to lift us, this is what was done wrong and what should have been done.
1) Lifting at low tide. This was part of the problem, their lift already sits very high off the water even at high tide. At low tide the slings are almost vertical. That put extreme crushing force right on the rub rail the most protruding part of the hull. They should have used either a spreader or waited for high tide. At high tide the slings would have been more of a V configuration and there would have been much less force at the rub rail.
2) They attempted to lift her with a single strap in the front and rear. They indicated they have had trouble with 45's before. What they should have done is lifted her using two straps at the front and rear. When they do this the straps are attached to a small spreader that separates them about 18"-24" thereby spreading the load along the hull.
3) When they positioned the straps they didn't use blocks below the chine area on the hull. The blocks takes some of the pressure off the side of the hull especially off the rub rail area. It also has a tendency to spread the loads out even more.
We are leaving tomorrow for Anacortes to have North Harbor Diesel pull her and do the shaft work we were expecting to have done at the Port of Everett. NHD has a unique lift that is basically an over sized, self propelled, hydraulically driven trailer that slides under the boat and lifts it out of the water via hydraulics then they just drive it out. Really cool to watch.
While we are out, I intend to have them do a closer inspection to see if there was any serious damage that will need to be addressed. God I hope not as this is our home and that would surely take some time to be done.
So I share this with you so that when you have you boat lifted, ensure that they use proper care in doing so. All boats have characteristics that require special attention to being lifted. Make sure that the people doing the lift know, if not ask. We rely upon these people to know what they are doing. Sadly and too often they don't.
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