Hi all, I can tell you of a sinking. We were rammed! We had thought about a ping pong ball on a string but did not fit it. The boat was steam powered and ran on gas.
Well the flame went out, how did we find it? Follow the stream of emerging bubbles!
The boiler suffered most and had to be rebuilt and there was a hatch gone as well.
I now hold down hatches with clips or an elastic band under tension.
I also do an upside down test on all models at home before their first (ever) sailing. Nothing should come off or rattle inside.
On the other hand I have a very fast 16 inch loa Huntsman that will nose dive and travel under water, quite amazing to watch.
Building in a blanked off, sealed, section in the hull is not a good idea as that is where you will get your first leak. I had this happen when I used simple box type building system and then strip planked down to the keel, so sealing in the underwater part. Don't do this! This is the well known 'Sxd's Law'
I always strip and store this kind of packing from purchased items.
I tend to build a model with a big open space inside and then use hard foam cut to size to hold the RC and servos in place.
Of the above the upside down test is best.
As far as being at the lake side goes, don't let a conversation distract your view of your model on the water. People asking questions often feel they have to stand in front of you and hold eye contact.
New members often do this, I lost control of a small catamaran (sail) like this, it dashed into the bank (the concrete part) and shattered some plastic and sank, so losing a receiver, which didn't like being under water with the power switched on.
I have always since then wrapped my rx's up in a plastic bag and sealed them. Not tried the balloon system yet though.
I am contemplating building a Coaster next, lots of ballast, now that will take some thinking about, maybe a flooding system with a couple of plastic bottles for ballast? Should they be free flooding or have a pump to fill them up?
Anyone had experience of this? A sort of semi controlled sinking!
Would appreciate comment on this.
Good luck and regards to all, Roy