Lost Treasure Boat,The R/V Deep Venture,sebastian

[FISHEYE]

I work with HRD(Historic Shipwreck and Developement) the 37 foot R/V Deep Venture (FL4974MA)was anchored behind a island in from of Finns Marina in sebastian apparently it either broke anchor or when the water rose up 5 foot it drifted over the sand bars surronding it,its most likely anywhere south of sebastian inlet in the river,beached on some lonely island,worse it could be sunk or turned turtle.if anyone is out an about in that area an sees it anywhere,please contact me here or Ernie Kling at HRD 407-421-5304 i will be gone most of the day out on the ICW with Greg Bounds looking for it. heres a pic of the deep V what it looked like before the storm.

 

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[Broco]

Mr Fisheye - she looks top heavy I pray she did not go turtle and you find her - a man and his boat! Good luck today searching may you find her in one piece.

 

[Rich in Texas]

Good luck! I hope you find it.

Rich

 

[FISHEYE]

Thanx everyone for the good luck comments,well we did have some luck today we found the DV! it didnt go very far from we we had her anchored,(cant be seen from land)the bow anchor held,the 1" rope didnt,in 80mph+ winds the boat got blown about 100 yards and into a shallow cove dragging the stern anchor.no holes in the boat,min damage,bow railing bent an twisted i guess from hitting some trees or maybe some other boat that was near it,the ladder is bent,our archie hit a dock before an it was kinda bent from that,the wood post thats now missing (thanx to wilma)was broken when we smashed into the dock we were leaving in west palm with rita's 50mph winds blowing us into the dock.we removed everything that was worth something off the boat.in case (pirates or looters) come along.its not abandoned,its just in dry dock till we can find out a way to get her back in deeper water.we do have TowBoat insurance,will call them tomorrow an see what they say.the coast guard,FWC and the local sebastian police dept and finns marina knows shes there.we could have another storm comming so a high storm surge could move her to the south over the small mangrove trees behind her to deeper water.but someone will have to be on board.(most likely me or some other crazy volonteer)

see photo an any ideas will help.
also more pics here:
http://68.205.197.69:81/DV/index.htm

 

[Cablava]

Was that taken at high tide?

 

[Cablava]

Does she have twin shafts and rudders ?
Approximate weight about 3 to 4 Tons ?
How deep is the water immediately below the outboard starboard side ?
Is that sand and mud or just sand ?

I would think it would not take much to pull her off, but you want the pull in the right direction so as not to damage the running gear any more than you have to.

Check the tides and hope the springs are rising not falling go for the best convienent tide.

The viz looks like zero so you will have to feel the status of the running gear. once you are comfortable with the position of the running gear, if you can dig a channel for the gear to move through it will help minimize the damage. If you can have some people to rock her a bit to help. Try to pull her stern straight out at about 70 to 90 degrees to the bank, It may also help to have some 40 gallon drums filled woth water on the starboard side to give her a list to starboard, not to many but as you probably know the boat well then you can guess how many you could safely put there so you do not have to many when she floats.
Once the stern moves out she will slide off the bank easily.

The main thing is to clear as best you can for the gear to move out.

She would probably come easier from the bow but you will cause more damage that way, try the stern first, then if all else fails try to pull off the bow.

Just take it easy and think off the damage you can cause before you pull, then make the decision for the lease damage. The running gear may be OK so no point to ruin it now.

 

[Cablava]

Just a thought if you have a good anchor winch and you are comfortable with the running gear you may be able to winch her off.

 

[Cablava]

Have you got her afloat yet??

 

[FISHEYE]

not yet,i had to fix the mud dredge that im gonna use to dredge out under the prop an rudder an under the keel.the pump engine was neglected,all rusty,no spark,got it running,sandblasted it an painted it today,tomorrow ill pump some water out of a 55 gallon drum to test it.i was thinking about useing one of my jet skis with a long hose on the jet nozzel to blast out the sand.the boat has both water tanks full,ill drain the starboard side first since the port side is closer to the beach,the boat wont roll that way.each tank is about 75 gallons so that weight will be gone.once the prop is clear i can run it in reverse to clear out from the keel.once its all clear ill have another boat pull from the stern back out to deeper water.

 

[Cablava]

Sounds like a plan, Jet ski's make great sand movers if you can harness the thing without damaging it.

Good Luck

 

[billinstuart]

I've got "towing insurance" too, but I'll bet that's "salvage", which ISN'T covered, and is often based on the value or size of the vessel. Could be $10 grand to get towed. Be very careful, find out exactly! Maybe even get it free from the shore, anchor it, THEN call for a "tow".

 

[99*]

HRD and Fisheye,? this looks like a serious task that only pure grunt will overcome.? The water is too shallow for any floatation attempt.? Digging the boat out is an option after removing the running gear if possible.? Personally I would look for a landing craft and backhoe, fork out a few hundred bucks and a million favours and pull the vessel out with force.? Its aluminium hull or fibreglass so bulkhead integrity can be no worse than when it was put there by the storm.? The landing craft and backhoe, or a few weeks of very hard work and valuable treasure hunting time lost.? Whichever way you choose may God be with you. 99*

 

[Selma Hunter1]

Cornelius and the "Camels" will get you where you want to go. Most of the marine engineers are very familiar with the use of "Camels". They were used extensively during the war of northern agression to float deep drafted ironclad gunboats over inside bars, etc. to deeper water. And I'd use straps and not ropes.

Good luck.

 

[99*]

Nice theory, for one without brains please explain how to reduce the drag and stop the drums being peeled off by the mud. Intriguing, I would just go the route of hauling the boat out, its not a galleon its someones income and the drums may work well on harder sand but mud with turtle grass and mangrove slick would be awesome to see. Then again it may slide over but again the drums, maybe the boat vee would make a better sled for cutting before sliding....the whole idea and task seems daunting. I wish Mr.Fish all the luck. And Mr.Cornelius and Engineer man the idea seems awesome I can visualise the Iron Clads bouncing their way to freedom.99*

 

[99*]

Cornelius I never said your idea would not work my idea was stated before in a previous post, I was only curious as to how one avoids the snagging off the barrels in the mud and how to get momentum up in zero tp 2 feet of water? Good Luck Fisheye and thank you Cornelius.99*

 

[FISHEYE]

floating it off with barrrels wont work due to the shallow water,i thought about big air bags under the stern when i first saw it.i have HRd's pump running an borrowed a 5" dredge head from another friend of a treasure co.just have to weld it in a few spots.got the hose adapted to fit the pump and the head.its gonna have to be dug out around the rudder an running gear,plus all along the keel too.MO with the Virgalona offered to come an help if we need twin blowers to do some big holes around the DV.plus i have another high volume water pump ill rig with a hose an small nozzel to loosen the sand before it can be sucked up with the dredge head.actually its sand an shells,this island that the DV is on is a spoil island made by dredgeing the channels.

 

[Dinkydick]

Get yourself a good 2-1/2inch "JET" pump and some hose and jretting nozzle.
Dig the sucker out and pull it of the hill (bank). I did this with a five day old
68-foot Desco shrimp boat on the beach in St. Augustine a few years ago. We
had two 1500hp tuge pulling in tandom at the same time. The tugs were one mile
off shore for the towing operation. Used a hellicopter to deliver tow line between
the beach and the deep water. Also wait for favorable winds, tides and seas. Watch
the moon phases.

Doesn't sound like a major problem. Just do it right and don't be in a hurry.

FWIW the boat was worth $780,000.00 and had 500pounds of shrimp onboard.

Dinkydick

 

[99*]

There have to be plenty of shallow draft vessels, ask for favours beg , but get a landing craft put a backhoe or small excavator on it and crank the f...er out! Listen to Dinky Dick, I have pulled more than my share of boats out of the same situations ahving owned a salvage comapny for ten years now, there is o easy trick and this is not a floater is a sticker , either way make sure your pathsis clear so she can slide!!!! Get her sliding and youve won. Good luck Fisheye.99*