It's not a great day when...

[TrueBlue]

That event appeared to test AND defy the laws of gravity. Truely amazing that Alchemy didn't topple.

High winds 2 weeks ago, toppled a 54 ft Swan off it's cradle at my marina. You should see the damage to that fiberglass hull . . . enough to make any grown man cry.

[sailortjk1]

Very scary!
An experienced yard crew can make all the difference in choosing a yard.
Most pick a yard simply by location, convenience, and price.
The crews are rarely a factor.
I have seen some pretty shaky characters running those lifts.
Thank God I have never had the experience you had.

[Giulietta]

Valiente...did you become a prayer???

You should thank whoever designed your boat for making it with flat surfaces underneath, and that nice big heavy keel. My boat would have crashed, for sure. Nice recovery.

[Valiente]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

V-

Looks like it is a damn good thing that you have a steel boat. I don't think a fiberglass boat would have fared quite so well in that situation. You're also quite lucky that the boat didn't tip completely over and land on its side, which probably would have done a lot more damage than what did happen.

If it had gone, it would have rolled into a ditch, and would have sliced the mast off on a nearby steel garbage skip. The batteries are NOT secured for full inversion and would have dumped acid on the engine, mixed with 100 gallons of diesel.

When people list the virtues and vices of steel, they don't usually talk about "roadworthiness".

[Valiente]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

BTW, why did they have to launch the boat with the cradle attached??? Did they have to tie the straps to the cradle to prevent the straps from slipping off the forward part of the keel??

The keel was resting on the centerline of the cradle and they couldn't get the travelift behind the boat. Consequently, they had to lift cradle and boat together, otherwise the aft strap would've shot the boat forward into the "grounded" cradle. They had a hell of a time getting the straps under the cradle itself.

They wanted to undo the staysail stay as well and didn't understand why I opposed this course of action.

[Valiente]

Originally Posted by tdw

Actually Sd they just leave it there. Slows her down a bit but makes running aground a less worrying prospect. Isn't that right V ?

It's the coming thing in bilge keels, and the great leap forward from the wing keel (aka "the plow").

[Valiente]

Originally Posted by SimonV

Nice pics must be one of them new cameras with the built in anti shake feature.

I have the ability to separate my mind into panic and "record this for insurance purposes" hemispheres, a handy trait for the urban sailor to possess, I find. So I was shooting and muttering "holy ****" simutaneously...

[Valiente]

Originally Posted by Giulietta

Valiente...did you become a prayer???

You should thank whoever designed your boat for making it with flat surfaces underneath, and that nice big heavy keel. My boat would have crashed, for sure. Nice recovery.

I will now never regret giving up a knot or two to a plastic fantastic boat. This proves at least that we have the right boat for land-based operations....

[RickBowman]

What were the the top ten mistakes made during this launching?

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[Giulietta]

Originally Posted by Valiente

I will now never regret giving up a knot or two to a plastic fantastic boat.

Watch it....watch it.....I resent that remark.....photoshop is not dead.......




My boat is not plastic.....its not a sharp edge rust pot, but defenately not plastic... .