On the south coast of england we have a wood slick. It stretches for about 100 miles and has filled the beaches, so anyone thinking of sailing down here should think again, I have seen bundles of wood 2mx2m10m floating off the beach. I am sure glad this didn't happen during the sailing season.



Gareth

Holy c**p!
Who is going to clean up this, and who owns it now that it is on the beaches? Is most of the stuff going to hit land in Engand, or will this spread with the currents?

I think I would have to gather some of that up, that is alot of good lumber.

The police are patrolling stopping people picking it up, officially its meant to be picked up by contractors appointed by the owner of the ship that sunk. However lots of locals are taking advantage. A smaller quantity came ashore last year in a similar incident. I got a fair bit then but I haven't really used it so I am not sure if I will bother again.

I don't know how good the wood will be for anything structural after a a few days at sea.

Gareth

We are always looking for free wood for our bonfires we have at the Texas City Dike. You don't even need to haul it to the beach! Anybody got a match! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

As long as its dried it will be fine. Lots of old growth flooring is being pulled up from rivers in the US and sold for big dollars. Loggers used to float the logs down the rivers to the mills, some of them sank and are being reclaimed after a couple decades.

A couple of days in the ocean wont hurt that lumber at all.

Sticker and stack it and weigh it down so it doesnt warp when it dries.

Thanks for that I can feel the scavenging instinct coming on strong <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />.

How much wood does it take to made a cat anyway? (a Blade or Tornado for example).

Not that much!
I think you could build more than one of everything.

If you are building in strip, you dont need many planks to build a set of hulls. 7-8 square meters of surface area and some bulkheads, transoms, beam seats, daggerboard wells etc. But you need some epoxy and glass, which I dont think you will find in an uncatalyzed state on a beach <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Rolf,
Good point, we need a boat carrying epoxy.........

Wood slick, that's funny.

Some of the reclaimed lumber that is being pulled up from the bottom of rivers and the Great Lakes can be upwards of 150 years old.

Let me know when one comes past and I'll light a fire on the cliffs.

in new zealand they are making expensive furniture out of trees that seem to have fallen over in a peat swamp 45,000 years ago!

http://www.ancientkauri.co.nz/index.php/extract_raw_logs

Doesn't the law over there give people salvage rights?

From the BBC report http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7198735.stm

"Under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, it is both an offence to conceal or keep possession of such cargo, or to fail to report the cargo.

The MCA has warned that anyone who keeps the washed-up timber from the Ice Prince could be arrested and fined up to £2,500."

more from the same article

"West Sussex County Council has issued an urgent plea to mariners, windsurfers and canoeists because of concerns that the floating wood could cause a serious accident.

Windsurfers have also been criticised for pursuing their sport among the huge timber planks lost overboard from the ship. We think it is madness to go windsurfing among all this wood," said Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) spokesman Mark Clark, who added that people were causing "quite a lot of problems"."

Great Quote that...
"people were causing "quite a lot of problems"".

Its those darn people trying to enjoy the sea as normal and helping to clear the beaches, not the 1000's of tons of wood that has been dumped on our coast.

Gareth

Wonder what the cost of salvaging and collecting all the wood will be, compared to letting those who want it take it away.. It sounds a bit improbable that the insurance agency will make up their losses by trying to collect and sell this on the market.

And the cost of all the police that have been deployed to stop all the "whiskey galore" wood thieves from descending on the Sussex beaches. I hope the insurance company is picking up the tab for that cost as well. If not then they should be told to use a private security company not our tax £'s. As this is likely to be coming ashore for weeks to come.

The reason for the over reaction by the police is because of a sinking last year when The MSC Napoli ran aground off the Devon Coast. Scavengers swarmed to Branscombe in search of plunder. Scavenged goods include several BMW R1200RT motorcycles, empty wine casks, nappies, perfume, and car parts. After initially tolerating a "salvage" free-for-all, by 23 January the police had branded the activity of scavengers "despicable", closed the beach, and announced that they would use powers not previously used for 100 years in order to force people to return goods they had salvaged without informing the authorities, pointing out that under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 such actions constituted an offence equivalent to theft.

Gareth

Do the government take responsibilty for damages due to collisions with this lumber in the sea as well? Since they claim responsibilty once it is on the beach it only makes sense that they also take responsibilty when it is still in the sea within the UK economical zone. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
I dont know what the law says here in Norway, but I suppose this "Merchant Shipping Act of 1995" is an international law.

Not sure the BBC is quite right there.

IIRC if you take stuff, you have to report it to the register of shipping or LLoyds and then it is up to the ins. co. to come and collect it?

Yes, the police can (I believe) close the beach, but even so, "salvage" is allowed.