Legacy on the Hard

YachtForums · 04-21-2006, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hawk

On the west coast we have huge Ocean-going tugs that could easily drag half the planet to a different location.

That's the best laugh I've had in a while!

YachtNews · 04-21-2006, 08:27 PM

well mabe its not that easy then ? mabe that might cause more damage to the yacht's hull...? i dunno..

wdrzal · 04-22-2006, 12:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hawk

On the west coast we have huge Ocean-going tugs that could easily drag half the planet to a different location. .

Thats great you guys have such powerfull tugs,They might be needed one day soon to drag California back to the mainland.

I do hope there is at least one drunk captian that can't read a compass and drags the 5th circuit court farther out to sea.

mattias · 04-27-2006, 05:18 PM

Any new info about Legacy?
It annoys me that I don't know what is happening with the yacht. I'm living in Europe so I'm unfortunately not able to swim out to the yacht myself to have a look. I'm therefore dependent on your reports... Please tell me what's going on!

CaptPKilbride · 04-27-2006, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hawk

I'm surprised given the obvious level of talent of some of the members on this site, that no-one has blown huge holes in this idea.

I will take a shot at your theory...

Those huge ocean going tugs need deep water to operate in. Hard to say how long the hawser would be before they got into water deep enough to be used effectively.

Kevin · 07-04-2006, 02:26 PM

Courtesy the fine (cough) folks at the SA forum:

According to the pics from Google Earth Legacy dug her own trench!

From keysnews.com:

Quote:

Yacht removal plan least damaging to seagrass

BY TIMOTHY O'HARA

Citizen Staff

Engineers on Wednesday will begin the slow process of floating a 158-foot luxury sailing yacht off the flats several miles north of Key West.

Hurricane Wilma pushed the multimillion-dollar sailboat into shallow seagrass beds between Calda and Blue Fish channels. The Legacy, owned by a private company registered in the Cayman Islands, usually draws 11 feet of water, but has a retractable keel that allows it to draw less.

The owners and government officials are working with FAS-DAM, a private engineering company, to build a 700-foot-long motelike structure, called a cofferdam.

The plan calls for wrapping a vinyl cover over a steel frame, then filling the watertight enclosure with 10 to 11 feet of seawater. The Legacy should float inside the cofferdam, so workers can move it off the flats into deeper water, according to the salvage plan FAS-DAM filed with the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

Moving the yacht — like an inchworm — will be a three-week process, the plan says. Workers will move the yacht 500 feet to the edge of the cofferdam, then dismantle and re-erect the enclosure farther away. Then they'll move the yacht another 500 feet. Each interval will take about four days.

The operation will damage the seagrass beds, but less so than any other alternative for moving the boat, sanctuary spokeswoman Cheva Heck said. A sanctuary seagrass monitoring team that surveyed the area Monday said the vessel already has taken a large swath of seagrass and created a long scar in the flats.

"They [the owners] are being cooperative," Heck said. "If there is any additional damage they will work with us to restore it. There is significant damage already."

brandonw · 07-04-2006, 02:53 PM

Nice find Kevin

Kevin · 07-04-2006, 02:58 PM

Quote:

The operation will damage the seagrass beds

Yeah... like the trip in didn't make a mess already.

Loren Schweizer · 07-05-2006, 12:40 PM

"Legacy" is stranded between Bluefish and Calda channels.
The NOAA chart shows between 1 and 3 feet, Mean Low Water, oh yeah, and 'Mud, Grassy'.
If you are familiar with this real estate, you might argue that the surveyors should have more accurately termed the bottom 'Oatmeal, Watery'.

I know how "Legacy" found her way to her current resting spot. The question is how this 'FAS-DAM' (check out their site and look at the metal framework that is central to their design) will be set up and not yet sink into the muck.

Fearless prediction: this'll never work.

The dictionary defines 'legacy' as ...that which remains from a previous generation or time.

Hope she don't aim to live up to her name!

Kevin · 07-05-2006, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loren Schweizer

The question is how this 'FAS-DAM' (check out their site and look at the metal framework that is central to their design) will be set up and not yet sink into the muck.

Thought about that myself... after reading about the operation, I think the way they distribute the weight of the cofferdam will be what keeps it from sinking into the muck. A keel and hull is a relatively small surface area to sink down, but a large, flat, 500 foot long section of cofferdam might not go in so easily (one would hope).

Loren Schweizer · 07-05-2006, 02:01 PM

Kevin, that makes sense.. sort of like crawling prone off the quicksand as opposed to standing & sinking.
Something else, though... in order to construct this swimming pool, er, cofferdam, do they not have to get the pool bottom under the ship so that the water doesn't leak out?
Assuming I am all wet, and that the cofferdam idea is viable, can you imagine an outdoor "pool" that rises a dozen feet off the bay bottom and is yaaaaaayyy long that contains all that water.

This will be an artform that dwarfs anything Christo has ever pulled off!

wes69hunt · 07-09-2006, 01:52 PM

my name is wes. i just tody joined the forum, so i'm new at this. i live in key west and have been out to the legacy. there ARE armed guards aboard. the reason she is in such shallow water is because of wilmas 8 foot tidal surge. what most people on the mainland don't know is the extent of flooding key west had. my house at the center of the island sits at 6' elevation. i had 2' of saltwater in my house. most of the island flooded. story goes, legacy was anchored in deeper water about 10 miles off. wilma was a very powerful storm. the 8 foot surge picked her up, carried her 5 miles and sat her down in 2-3 of water. it was not just wind that put her there. the nearest deep water is approx 3/4 mile away off her bow. even then, it is a very narrow cut. there are several tight bends that i'm not sure she could make before getting to the main channel. hope this answers some of your questions. i will try to answer any more yhat you have.

Norseman · 12-09-2006, 11:03 PM

Big article in "Vanity Fair" this month on Legacy and her owner.

He came across as arrogant and ignorant:
Did not think a hurricane was a big deal as he could not hear the wind while sitting inside the boat.

According to the article, the anchors came "apart."

Felt like I needed a shower after reading that article....

CaptTom · 12-10-2006, 11:09 AM

Is it possible to lift a yacht like that with a heavy-lift helicopter or a sky crane (those funny looking copters with no middle section)? I'm thinking why drag it out and do all that damage when you can lift it out and drop back into deeper water? Any thoughts?

Norseman · 12-10-2006, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Is it possible to lift a yacht like that with a heavy-lift helicopter or a sky crane

In theory it would be possible, if ya have enough Skycranes hovering/lifting in formation.
In reality you would probably need 50 of them to pull at the same time to lift porky Legacy, too risky as rotorblades would hit cables even using 3 or 4 copters.

What you could do instead: Dismantle the yacht and lift the large pieces away with Skycranes.
Going that route, one could just dump pieces in a barge instead...

Dunno the answer, perhaps wait for the highest tide of the year, airbag the hull, dig a trench for the keel and off she goes.

Or just wait for the next 'cane to blow her back to where she came from....