Topic: Stavros's Salvage Squad (Read 4351 times)

SteamboatPhil · « **on:** February 15, 2009, 04:41:53 pm »

Rang Stavros this very morning to check details of our stand at the Model World show, South Shields. Where was he...........
Go back two weeks.............one of his fellow club members goes down to the lake at Llanberis (note lake not pond)
The wind is blowing (quite a lot)
The lake is a little choppy (quite choppy actually)
Club member feels his Boston Blenheim is well up for the slightly challenging weather (for a 4ft model----typhoon season)
Of he sails..................Now it becomes apparent that one 4ft long Boston Blenheim is not as, how shall we put it........up for the challenge
Result, bubbles from the lake bed, hardly used model boat stand going cheap, spare transmitter.
Phone call to Stavros--------tales of woe etc etc
Stavros rings Steamboat-------20 mins of hysterical laughter (at someone Else's missfortune) from Phil, followed by "try the local scuba club."
OK first find the boat...................
Today at 11am
Now picture this

Stavros in his small rowing boat, out in the lake, borrowed anchor, underwater video camera on a 20ft pole searching the lake bottom around the area the boat did its (one and only) impression of a submarine.
Its at this point, I mention that is took two years to find the Titanic and it was 800ft long !!!!
At the last conversation, still no sign of the boat, large salvage fee still only a dream, but on the plus side, there are plenty of fish in the lake, so Stavros won't go hungry
So panic not visitors to the Llanberis Boating weekend, The Stavros Salvage Company will always be there for you, in fact he mights still be in the middle of the lake.

dave301bounty · « **Reply #1 on:** February 15, 2009, 04:52:01 pm »

I know just the fella, Garston 1 ,he has the search gear ,he can find most things .plus he will make a movie of the lot ,.try him .

Stavros · « **Reply #2 on:** February 15, 2009, 06:08:18 pm »

just got back from the lake no joy have searched an area of approx 200x150mtrs but to no avail,consensus of opinion is she went a fairly neutral buoyancy when she hit the deck and has skipped along the lake bed certainly not towards the shore but into the deep unknown till the batts or esc gave up.Will have another go next weekend widen the search area BUT the joke is that Six divers went down today and they could not find her !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.Now how do I put it needle in a haystack me thinks.

Now we don't know if this is true but rumour has it that it was found by some divers from the Manchester area ?????????????????? so if anyone out there in Mayhem land is offered or given a Boston Typhoon like Tug Kenny's in a sorry state please PM me or if anyone outthere sees one for sale give me a pm REWARD given.This model is very distinctive does not matter how you try and hide it it can be identified,no me not telling you.

Stavros

TCC · « **Reply #3 on:** February 15, 2009, 07:23:16 pm »

Quote from: Stavros on February 15, 2009, 06:08:18 pm

rumour has it that it was found by some divers from the Manchester area ?

How did it sink? Too much water over the side and over it's coaming? Some other deck openings?

Stavros · « **Reply #4 on:** February 15, 2009, 07:32:00 pm »

sorry to say this but daft sod was sailing in lake when 50 to 60 mph winds hit her side on,nothing holding superstructure down !!!!!!!! batts LOOSE inside her over she blew,batts move superstructure fell off water goes inside glug glug hasta lavista baby

Stav

TCC · « **Reply #5 on:** February 15, 2009, 08:00:42 pm »

Jeez.. it is unfortunate as that's a fair chunk of ££ that's been lost.

I remeber my first model was the Lindberg fltcher class and the deck was just screwed on with 4 screws, iirc, and that was it, no seals around them of nothing and she had a nasty lean on her during those turns when a destroyer heels over and the stern was very low in the water. So on account of that, I filled the hull, superstructures and funnels with polystyrene hoping that if she ever did take on water, at least she'd float.

So one windy day, I took it to the local canal and in scale terms, it must have been like a hurricane to it. The waves were so choppy, the MELVIN was bobbing about with the bow and props out the water while the midships was on the crest of a wave. I had my heart in my mouth!!!

The session that day didn't last long! ;-) But MELVIN did have a few mins 'sailing the cruel sea' and very realistic it looked too!

Is this a stupid idea? To make a 'wreck buoy', place something witht he story in an easily readable form and site it over the 'wreck'. Think pop bottle on a weighted string. That way, only divers or someone with a boat could read it and they'd proably be responsible enoughto leave it alone,, plus the divers may find it and return it for the reward 'as per the message'. That's what I would have considered.

Cheers

tigertiger · « **Reply #6 on:** February 16, 2009, 01:28:34 am »

A wreck buoy is a good idea and feasible.
It was discusses on here about 18 months - 2 years ago.

In theory you only need to support the weight of the line and be seen.
Some line floats, and a pingpong ball to help visibility.
The problem would be if the line got caught in the superstructure/rigging and the ball did not surface.

Another idea was to pack every space with polystyrene foam, so she cannot sink,

Bunkerbarge · « **Reply #7 on:** February 16, 2009, 09:05:07 am »

Always very sad to hear of someones pride and joy being lost I this way and all credit to Stavros for trying to recover it. It's not the money for me it is the hundreds of hours that have gone into building it.

We should all learn from these things though to help prevent it happening to us. Paying attention to the conditions as well as preparation of the model are all equally important and loose batteries, low coamings, poor ballasting, over powerful motors and poorly sealed hull openings can all combine to get water into your model and ultimately cause it to sink.

TCC · « **Reply #8 on:** February 16, 2009, 03:00:43 pm »

Quote from: tigertiger on February 16, 2009, 01:28:34 am

A wreck buoy is a good idea and feasible.
It was discusses on here about 18 months - 2 years ago.

In theory you only need to support the weight of the line and be seen.
Some line floats, and a pingpong ball to help visibility.
The problem would be if the line got caught in the superstructure/rigging and the ball did not surface.

Another idea was to pack every space with polystyrene foam, so she cannot sink,

Hi
I was meaning that thepoor fella should have returned the next day and placed a weighted pop-bottle over the spot where she sank, maybe with a little message and a reward notice.. especially if it's a place divers go. Then as long as it's out far enough, no kids or adults with idle hands can remove it. But anyone with a boat or divers would probably be decent enough to leave it (the buoy) alone... indeed they'd probably try to retrieve the boat and return it for him as most people are good like that.

I've stumbled across stuff before, I think it was scientific research stuff.. I just had a nose about and walked on as it was nothing to do with me.

But do motors, etc, carry on working under water? If so, that's just increased you're search area by an order of magnitude.

Bunkerbarge · « **Reply #9 on:** February 16, 2009, 03:15:21 pm »

I once had a Joffre tug that sank, hence my awareness of the dangers!! It was underwater for about 25-30 minutes before I was extreemly lucky enough to be able to retrieve it with a dingy and a grappling hook, mind you it was only in about 2 foot of very muddy water.

When I pulled it out of the water the prop was still turning!!

Bill D203 · « **Reply #10 on:** February 16, 2009, 05:17:49 pm »

Opp's Stav.
If you look in my Makara it is full of Noodles " Swimming aids" When you build a OMRA boat sods law says that at some point it will end up flipped over. Noodles just keep it afloat till a rescue boat can come to its aid. I have turned my boat over a few times now. We also try to make sure all the radio gear is in a 100% waterproof box.
Did some more runs with my hydro yesterday. I hit some rubbish on the water and flipped it over on its top. I now know that it floats on the surface. I don't recommend this methard to test it but it's nice when it works.
Stav. Hope yo find it soon, and you can dry it out OK .

Stavros · « **Reply #11 on:** February 16, 2009, 10:59:03 pm »

Having read what Bunkerbarge has said all I camn say is OH FIDDELSTICKS dammed lake is 3 miles long 3/4 mile wide and at it's deepest 160 feet so if the organiser of the boat rally in August is missing I am still searching !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Phil phone me to remind me of the event couple of days before incase I am still on the lake

Stav (still searching)

andyn · « **Reply #12 on:** February 16, 2009, 11:37:40 pm »

If youre still searching by August, I'm sure everyone will help you

Keep it hush hush and all, but I might be there to help too

Stavros · « **Reply #13 on:** February 16, 2009, 11:52:54 pm »

No Andy I was not serious wit the suggestion that getting yourself deported would work !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stav

andyn · « **Reply #14 on:** February 17, 2009, 12:04:56 am »

No need to get deported if I'm not going in the first place

SteamboatPhil · « **Reply #15 on:** February 17, 2009, 09:05:30 pm »

I'll be waiting round the corner with the engine running then Andy (oh and a echo sounder on the roof just in case Stav's still out in the lake searching)

BarryM · « **Reply #16 on:** February 17, 2009, 11:29:00 pm »

Calls to mind my mate 'Admiral Jim' who was out on the loch in his new toy, a cabin cruiser, when he decided to anchor for a spot of fishing. Standing on the bow, humming a sea shanty and striking a nautical pose, he flung the anchor overboard. Out it went followed by six feet of chain. Unfortunately and much too late, he realised the anchor warp which should have been shackled to the chain was still in the stern locker.
Returning to base he asked me to bring along my grapnel the following week to try fishing for the anchor as he knew "exactly where it went into the loch".
"Where was that Jim?" I asked.
" It was 30' from the bank where a trailer full of kayaks was parked."
Needless to say the trailer had long gone and one bit of bank looked very much like another. The anchor's still there.

BarryM

malcolmfrary · « **Reply #17 on:** February 18, 2009, 02:03:49 pm »

Quote from: BarryM on February 17, 2009, 11:29:00 pm

Calls to mind my mate 'Admiral Jim' who was out on the loch in his new toy, a cabin cruiser, when he decided to anchor for a spot of fishing. Standing on the bow, humming a sea shanty and striking a nautical pose, he flung the anchor overboard. Out it went followed by six feet of chain. Unfortunately and much too late, he realised the anchor warp which should have been shackled to the chain was still in the stern locker.
Returning to base he asked me to bring along my grapnel the following week to try fishing for the anchor as he knew "exactly where it went into the loch".
"Where was that Jim?" I asked.
" It was 30' from the bank where a trailer full of kayaks was parked."
Needless to say the trailer had long gone and one bit of bank looked very much like another. The anchor's still there.

BarryM

Could he not have used a waterproof marker to put an "X" on the side of the boat?

Martin (Admin) · « **Reply #18 on:** February 18, 2009, 02:29:39 pm »

Quote

Could he not have used a waterproof marker to put an "X" on the side of the boat?

bigH · « **Reply #19 on:** February 18, 2009, 03:00:32 pm »

don't be silly Malcom, he should have put the cross on the top of the nearest wave... bigH

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Author Topic: Stavros's Salvage Squad (Read 4351 times)

dave301bounty

Stavros

TCC

Stavros

TCC

TCC

Stavros

andyn

Stavros

andyn

bigH